Amazon.com, Inc. engages in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscriptions service through online and physical stores in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TVs, Echo, Ring, Blink, and eero; and develops and produces media content. In addition, the company offers programs that enable sellers to sell their products in its stores; and programs that allow authors, independent publishers, musicians, filmmakers, Twitch streamers, skill and app developers, and others to publish and sell content. Further, it provides compute, storage, database, analytics, machine learning, and other services, as well as advertising services through programs, such as sponsored ads, display, and video advertising. Additionally, the company offers Amazon Prime, a membership program. The company's products offered through its stores include merchandise and content purchased for resale and products offered by third-party sellers. It serves consumers, sellers, developers, enterprises, content creators, advertisers, and employees. Amazon.com, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Amazon.com, Inc.

Key Points
One of these stocks finished the first half unchanged, and the other fell in the double-digits.
Both represent great long-term bets, and at today’s reasonable prices, are ripe for a rebound.
Over the past two years, investors put their money into an industry set to become the next big thing in technology: artificial intelligence (AI). This billion-dollar market is set to reach into the trillions in a few years as it potentially changes the way business is done and how our daily lives are organized. All of this is great news for companies that get in early and play a key role, and investors, recognizing this, drove these stocks higher.
But, earlier in the first half, many of these players lost their momentum. Investors worried that President Trump's import tariffs would hurt economic growth -- and that made any high-growth industry, such as AI, vulnerable. AI stocks and other growth players led declines in April on these concerns. In recent weeks, though, signs have emerged that headwinds may not be as strong as expected -- the U.S. has been negotiating tariffs with other countries, for example -- and this has helped optimism return to the stock market. The S&P 500 even reached record highs in recent days.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »
Now, my prediction is the following two AI stocks -- one that stagnated and another that fell in the double-digits in the first half -- will rebound in the second half of the year.
1. Amazon
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) stock, after rising early in the year and dropping on import tariff concerns in April, then began to rebound -- and finished the first half unchanged. Today, there's reason to believe the positive momentum will continue and this stock will climb in the second half.
It's important to remember that Amazon is a well-established leader in both e-commerce and cloud computing and has delivered earnings growth over many years. So, investors who may have been a bit skittish about investing a few months ago may feel more comfortable with Amazon than with a newer player that hasn't yet proven itself. The company also revamped its cost structure a few years ago, a move that helped it through the challenge of higher inflation and that should help it face other cost challenges in the future -- such as import tariffs.
Amazon also is well positioned to benefit as the AI boom continues as the company is a user and a provider of AI. In e-commerce, Amazon uses AI across its fulfillment network to gain in efficiency, lowering its cost to serve. And Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud business, offers customers a wide range of AI products and services -- from chips to a fully managed service that gives users access to AI models they can tailor to their needs. All of this has helped AWS reach a $117 billion annual revenue run rate.
Right now, Amazon trades for 36 times forward earnings estimates, a reasonable price that could attract investors in the second half -- and help this top AI stock to rebound.
2. Apple
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has faced two problems in recent times. The company has been slower than other tech giants to adopt AI, and it also is viewed as a player that may suffer the most from import tariffs due to its reliance on production abroad -- most iPhones have generally been manufactured in China.
All of this has weighed on Apple stock, and in the first half, the shares fell 18%. Though the headwinds haven't disappeared, the situation is improving. Apple is in the early days of its Apple Intelligence growth story, meaning this array of AI features could offer a catalyst for growth in the quarters to come. And, as mentioned above, trade negotiations are happening -- it's also important to note that the U.S. is unlikely to make decisions that would destroy the earnings potential of one of its biggest companies. Apple is the third-largest in market value after Nvidia and Microsoft.
And, like Amazon, Apple is a company that's proved itself over time, delivering many years of earnings growth into the billions of dollars. It also has a solid brand moat, with customers flocking to the iPhone -- the world's No. 1 smartphone -- regardless of the price or wait time for the latest release. Investors looking for a growth pick that doesn't come with a great deal of risk may notice these points.
Finally, this established leader also has a newish growth driver, and that's services revenue. Now that it has more than 2.2 billion devices active worldwide, these devices, are bringing in recurrent revenue through services subscriptions -- from cloud storage to digital content.
All of this could prompt investors to set aside near-term challenges and get into Apple today at a bargain 29 times forward earnings estimates -- and that could power shares of this solid long-term stock higher in the second half.
Should you invest $1,000 in Amazon right now?
Before you buy stock in Amazon, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Amazon wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,056,790!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025
John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adria Cimino has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Prediction: These 2 AI Stocks Will Rebound in the 2nd Half

Following a tremulous start to the year, Alphabet GOOGL stock has helped lead the broader market’s historic rebound. Rebounding and soaring over +20% in the last three months, Alphabet stock is now virtually flat in 2025 with the tech giant’s much-anticipated Q2 results approaching on Wednesday, July 23.
Notably, outside of tariff headwinds, investors have been concerned about Alphabet’s Google Cloud services losing market share to Microsoft’s MSFT Azure and Amazon’s AMZN AWS. Signaling potential growth challenges, Alphabet announced job cuts in its cloud division, which rattled its stock in February, as the company’s core search business has also faced rising competition from AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT.
This makes it a very worthy topic of whether it’s time to buy, hold, or sell Alphabet stock ahead of its Q2 report.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Alphabet’s Q2 Expectations
Although Alphabet’s cloud segment revenue will be under a scope, Q2 sales are expected to be up 11% to $79.25 billion compared to $71.36 billion in the prior year quarter. Furthermore, Q2 EPS expectations of $2.14 would reflect a 13% increase from earnings of $1.89 per share a year ago.
It’s also noteworthy that the internet-services leader has exceeded top and bottom-line expectations for nine consecutive quarters, with an average sales and earnings surprise of 1.24% and 14.64% over the last four quarters, respectively.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Alphabet’s CapEx Spend & Balance Sheet
Amidst the artificial intelligence boom, Wall Street will also be paying close attention to Alphabet’s capital spending. To that point, investors have voiced concerns about Alphabet's plan to spend $75 billion on AI infrastructure this year, up from $52.4 billion in 2024.
That said, Alphabet's focus on revamping and innovating its technical infrastructure could help defend its core search business with plans to boost its servers, data centers, and networking capacity. This is also aimed at supporting ambitions across its AI-powered virtual assistant model Gemini and Google Cloud, with the latter being amplified by Alphabet’s $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Wiz.
Completed in March, Wiz is Alphabet’s largest acquisition and should strengthen its position in multicloud security and AI-era threat protection. Despite the increased AI spend, Alphabet still had more than $95 billion in cash & equivalents at the end of Q1, and $475.37 billion in total assets, which was nicely above its total liabilities of $130.1 billion.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Monitoring Alphabet’s Valuation
Appealing to long-term investors is that at under $200 a share, Alphabet stock still has the cheapest P/E valuation amongst its “Magnificent 7” big tech peers. Trading at 19.3X forward earnings, GOOGL offers a nice discount to the broader market, as the benchmark S&P 500 is currently at 24.3X, with the next cheapest valued company among the Mag 7 being Meta Platforms META at 27.6X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
In terms of price-to-sales, GOOGL checks in as the second most affordable Mag 7 stock with a forward P/S ratio of 6.8X. While this trail’s Amazon’s 3.4X forward sales multiple, most of the other Mag 7 players trade at more than 10X, with GOOGL being closer to the S&P 500’s 5.4X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Bottom Line
Following an extensive rebound in the last three months, Alphabet stock lands a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at the moment. On pace for double-digit top and bottom-line growth in fiscal 2025, Alphabet stock should remain a viable long-term investment. Still, the company’s Q2 report will be crucial in regard to hopefully addressing future growth and capital spending concerns, even with a strong balance sheet and such an enticing valuation compared to its Mag 7 peers.
One Big Gain, Every Trading Day
To help you take full advantage of this market, you’re invited to access every stock recommendation in all our private portfolios - for just $1.
Zacks private portfolio services that closed 256 double and triple-digit winners in 2024 alone. That’s about one big gain every day the market was open. Of course, not all our picks are winners, but members have seen recent gains as high as +627% +1,340%, and +1,708%.
Imagine how much you could profit with a steady stream of real-time picks from all our services that cover a number of strategies to suit a variety of investing and trading styles.
See Stocks Now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Will Alphabet's Stock Keep Rebounding as Q2 Earnings Approach?

Amazon’s AMZN North America segment continues to be the backbone of its business, playing a critical role in driving overall growth. With strong consumer demand, wide product selection and an expanding seller network, the region is helping Amazon maintain its leadership in e-commerce.
In the first quarter of 2025, Amazon’s North America segment (59.7% of total revenues) generated $92.9 billion in revenues. The segment saw an 8% year-over-year growth, reflecting strong performance despite economic uncertainties. Our model estimate for second-quarter 2025 North America revenues is pegged at $97.2 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 7.9%.
To support this growth, AMZN is continuing to improve its fulfillment network across the region. The company has redesigned its inbound network to better distribute inventory across its regions, which allows it to place products closer to customers. This has helped reduce delivery times, lower the cost to serve and increase the likelihood that multiple items in a customer’s order arrive together. In the first quarter, Amazon achieved its fastest-ever speeds for same-day and next-day deliveries, helping it maintain a lead in convenience.
Looking ahead, Amazon is expanding its use of automation and robotics in its operations, continuing to build out its same-day delivery network and adding more delivery stations in rural areas in the United States. These steps are aimed at reducing handling costs, improving speed and expanding reach. The company is also focused on offering low prices and great value, which remains especially important for customers given broader economic uncertainty. Together, these efforts are central to Amazon’s strategy to drive continued growth in the North America segment.
Amazon Faces Stiff Competition in North America
As Amazon sharpens its focus on the North America segment, competition from major retailers like Walmart WMT and Target TGT is intensifying.
Walmart remodeled 40 U.S. stores in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, improved three-hour delivery coverage to 93% of U.S. households and saw a 21% jump in U.S. e-commerce sales. Additionally, Walmart has undertaken several initiatives to enhance e-commerce operations in the region, including buyouts, alliances and improved delivery and payment systems.
Target is strengthening its position in North America by combining digital expansion with store investments. Target has an outstanding pipeline of new stores and is committed to ongoing remodels of existing locations. Additionally, it has been ramping up its digital solutions and strengthening delivery capabilities through services like doorstep delivery, curbside pickup, or buy online and pick up at the store.
AMZN’s Share Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
AMZN shares have gained 3.8% in the year-to-date (YTD) period, underperforming the Zacks Internet – Commerce industry and the Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector’s growth of 9.5% and 5.1%, respectively.
AMZN’s YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, AMZN stock is currently trading at a forward 12-month Price/Sales ratio of 3.28X compared with the industry’s 2.17X. AMZN has a Value Score of D.
AMZN’s Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.32 per share, which has been revised upward by a penny over the past 30 days, indicating 7.32% year-over-year growth.
Amazon.com, Inc. Price and Consensus
Amazon currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
One Big Gain, Every Trading Day
To help you take full advantage of this market, you’re invited to access every stock recommendation in all our private portfolios - for just $1.
Zacks private portfolio services that closed 256 double and triple-digit winners in 2024 alone. That’s about one big gain every day the market was open. Of course, not all our picks are winners, but members have seen recent gains as high as +627% +1,340%, and +1,708%.
Imagine how much you could profit with a steady stream of real-time picks from all our services that cover a number of strategies to suit a variety of investing and trading styles.
See Stocks Now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Amazon Intensifies Focus on North America: What is the Path Ahead?

Netflix NFLX delivered another solid quarterly performance in second-quarter 2025, beating analyst expectations and raising full-year guidance across multiple metrics. (Read More: Netflix Q2 Earnings Beat on Squid Game Finale, 2025 Outlook Raised)
The streaming giant's results demonstrate continued momentum in subscriber growth, advertising revenues, and content engagement, though investors face the question of whether current valuations offer attractive entry points or warrant a patient approach.
Netflix has delivered impressive returns for shareholders so far in 2025, with the streaming giant's shares surging approximately 35.7% year to date, significantly outpacing other streaming competitors like Apple AAPL, Amazon AMZN, and Disney DIS, as well as the broader Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector and the S&P 500. Shares of Apple have lost 14.5%, while Disney and Amazon have returned 8.8% and 3.6% in the same time frame, respectively.
NFLX Outperforms Sector, Competition
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Strong Revenue Performance Drives Guidance
The company reported second-quarter 2025 revenues of $11.079 billion, representing 16% year-over-year growth that exceeded the consensus estimate. More significantly, Netflix raised its full-year 2025 revenue forecast to $44.8-$45.2 billion from the previous range of $43.5-$44.5 billion. This upward revision indicates anticipated growth of 15%-16% on a reported basis, or 16%-17% when adjusted for foreign exchange fluctuations.
The increase in revenues stems from multiple growth drivers working in tandem. Member growth accelerated toward the end of the second quarter, exceeding internal forecasts, while the company's advertising business continues gaining traction with expectations to roughly double ad revenues in 2025. Currency effects also provided a tailwind, as U.S. dollar weakness against major currencies enhanced international revenue contributions when translated back to dollars.
For third-quarter 2025, Netflix projects revenues of $11.526 billion, representing 17% growth on both reported and currency-neutral bases. This guidance suggests sustained momentum across pricing, membership expansion, and advertising monetization.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NFLX’s 2025 revenues is pegged at $44.85 billion, indicating 15% year-over-year growth. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $25.81 per share, indicating a 30.16% increase from the previous year.
Netflix, Inc. Price and Consensus
See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.
Margin Expansion Reflects Operational Efficiency
Netflix's profitability outlook has similarly improved, with the company raising its full-year operating margin target to 29.5% on a currency-neutral basis from the previous 29% forecast. At current exchange rates, this translates to approximately 30% reported operating margin for 2025. The second-quarter operating margin of 34% demonstrated the company's ability to scale efficiently while investing heavily in content.
The improved margin guidance primarily reflects the revenue upside flowing through to profitability, as operating expenses remain largely unchanged from previous forecasts. This operational leverage underscores Netflix's maturing business model, where incremental revenue growth translates more directly to bottom-line expansion.
Free cash flow projections have also increased to $8.0-$8.5 billion from approximately $8.0 billion previously, reflecting the enhanced revenues and margin outlook. This cash generation capability supports continued content investment while enabling shareholder returns through share repurchases.
Robust Content Pipeline Supports Long-Term Growth
Netflix's content slate in the second half of 2025 represents one of its strongest lineups, featuring highly anticipated returns of marquee franchises. The fifth and final season of Stranger Things headlines the offering, alongside the second season of Wednesday and the third season of Alice in Borderland. These established properties have demonstrated significant global appeal and engagement metrics.
The new content pipeline spans diverse genres and international markets, including Billionaires' Bunker from Money Heist creator Álex Pina, the thriller Black Rabbit starring Jason Bateman and Jude Law, and House of Guinness from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. This international approach aligns with Netflix's successful "local for local" strategy while creating content with broader market potential.
Film offerings include major sequels like Happy Gilmore 2 and prestige projects from Academy Award winners, including Kathryn Bigelow's A House of Dynamite and Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein. The diverse slate positions Netflix to capture engagement across demographic segments and viewing preferences.
Live Programming Expansion Creates New Opportunities
Netflix's expansion into live programming continues with significant sporting events, including marquee boxing matches and the NFL Christmas Day doubleheader. These events serve multiple strategic purposes: driving subscriber acquisition, commanding premium advertising rates, and creating appointment viewing that enhances engagement metrics.
The live programming strategy represents a differentiated approach within the streaming landscape, potentially creating competitive advantages in both subscriber retention and advertising monetization as the company scales these capabilities.
Investment Considerations and Outlook
Netflix's second-quarter results and raised guidance demonstrate continued execution across key operational metrics. The combination of subscriber growth, advertising revenue expansion, margin improvement, and strong content pipeline suggests the company remains well-positioned for sustained growth.
However, investors should consider current valuations relative to growth expectations and competitive dynamics within streaming. Netflix trades at a premium with a forward 12-month P/S ratio of 10.81 compared to the broader Zacks Broadcast Radio and Television industry's forward earnings multiple of 4.48. The raised guidance may already be reflected in current share prices, potentially limiting near-term upside despite strong fundamentals.
NFLX’s P/S F12M Ratio Depicts Premium Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Conclusion
For existing shareholders, the results support a hold strategy given the company's demonstrated ability to execute across multiple growth vectors. New investors might consider waiting for more attractive entry points, particularly given the strong execution already evident in current valuations. The company's improving cash generation and margin expansion provide downside protection while the content pipeline supports long-term growth prospects. NFLX currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
One Big Gain, Every Trading Day
To help you take full advantage of this market, you’re invited to access every stock recommendation in all our private portfolios - for just $1.
Zacks private portfolio services that closed 256 double and triple-digit winners in 2024 alone. That’s about one big gain every day the market was open. Of course, not all our picks are winners, but members have seen recent gains as high as +627% +1,340%, and +1,708%.
Imagine how much you could profit with a steady stream of real-time picks from all our services that cover a number of strategies to suit a variety of investing and trading styles.
See Stocks Now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Netflix's Outlook Remains Strong Post Q2 Earnings Beat: Time to Hold?

ServiceNow NOW is scheduled to release its second-quarter 2025 results on July 23.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues is currently pegged at $3.12 billion, indicating 18.79% growth from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.
The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $3.54 per share, indicating growth of 13.1% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter. The earnings figure has climbed a penny over the past 30 days.
ServiceNow’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 6.61%.
ServiceNow, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Let’s see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.
NOW’s Q2 to Aid From Strong Subscription Revenue Growth
ServiceNow expects second-quarter 2025 subscription revenues of $3.031 billion, suggesting 20% year over year on a non-GAAP basis. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2025 subscription revenues is pegged at $3.03 billion, indicating 20.2% year-over-year growth.
ServiceNow’s AI-powered portfolio is helping the company win clients regularly. In the first quarter of 2025, the company reached 508 customers, generating more than $5 million in annual contract value (ACV), representing 20% year-over-year growth. NOW had 72 transactions of more than $1 million in net new ACV. The momentum is expected to have continued in the second quarter of 2025.
ServiceNow’s enterprise workflow automation suite has been gaining traction as enterprises increasingly adopt digital tools to streamline operations across departments. Through the Now platform, ServiceNow supports diverse workflows, ranging from IT service management and customer service to HR, employee experience and app development.
However, NOW shares have suffered from a worsening macroeconomic environment due to higher tariffs and trade uncertainty. The company’s federal business is expected to suffer from DOGE-related issues in the to-be-reported quarter. In first-quarter 2025, revenues from the U.S. public sector grew more than 30% year over year with six new logos. ServiceNow had 11 federal deals worth more than $1 million, including two that were over $5 million.
NOW Shares Lag Sector, Beat Industry
NOW shares have dropped 9.2% year to date (YTD), outperforming the Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s return of 9.1%. However, ServiceNow shares have outperformed the Zacks Computers – IT Services industry’s decline of 10.2%.
NOW Stock’s YTD Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Since the company reported first-quarter 2025, NOW shares have returned 18.5%, underperforming the sector’s return of 28.9% but outperforming the industry’s appreciation of 7.8%.
Technically, ServiceNow shares are displaying a bearish trend as they trade below the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
NOW Trades Below 50-day & 200-day SMAs
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
ServiceNow’s Value Score of F suggests a stretched valuation at this moment.
In terms of the forward 12-month Price/Sales (P/S), NOW is trading at 13.92X, higher than the sector’s 6.69X.
Valuation: NOW Shares Overvalued
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
NOW Benefits From Strong Portfolio, Rich Partner Base
ServiceNow is extensively leveraging AI and machine learning technologies to boost the potency of its solutions. NOW’s expanding portfolio has been a major driver. In May 2025, the company introduced its Core Business Suite, an AI-powered solution designed to streamline and transform core business operations, including HR, finance, procurement, facilities and legal, by unifying workflows and automating processes across departments to improve efficiency, reduce time to value and enhance employee experiences.
ServiceNow announced the launch of AI agents in its Security and Risk solutions, transforming enterprise security by enabling self-defending systems, improving response times, and enhancing risk management in collaboration with Microsoft MSFT and Cisco. Expanding its portfolio in May 2025, NOW announced advancements in autonomous IT, introducing agentic AI capabilities on the ServiceNow AI Platform to drive zero outages, zero downtime and zero service desk incidents.
A rich partner base that includes the likes of Alphabet, Amazon AMZN, Microsoft and NVIDIA NVDA is noteworthy. In May 2025, NOW partnered with Amazon’s cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services, to launch a bi-directional data integration solution, enabling enterprises to unify data and trigger AI-powered workflows by connecting ServiceNow with Amazon Redshift.
NVIDIA and NOW collaborated to launch AI agents for the telecom industry. The AI agents were built with NVIDIA AI Enterprise software and the AI platform NVIDIA DGX Cloud. ServiceNow has expanded its partnership with NVIDIA to enhance agentic AI by integrating NVIDIA Llama Nemotron reasoning models and AI agent evaluation tools into the ServiceNow Platform for optimized business transformation.
Acquisitions have also played an important role in expanding NOW’s portfolio. In April 2025, ServiceNow announced the acquisition of Logik.ai, a company specializing in AI-powered and Configure, Price, Quote solutions. This move is set to bolster ServiceNow’s CRM offerings, particularly in sales and order management, by integrating advanced AI capabilities. The Moveworks acquisition combines ServiceNow’s agentic AI and automation strengths with Moveworks’ front-end AI assistant and enterprise search technology.
Conclusion
ServiceNow’s robust GenAI portfolio and strong partner base are expected to drive its subscription revenues in the long term. However, tariff-related headwinds are major concerns along with a stretched valuation.
ServiceNow currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), which implies investors should wait for a favorable point to accumulate the stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
One Big Gain, Every Trading Day
To help you take full advantage of this market, you’re invited to access every stock recommendation in all our private portfolios - for just $1.
Zacks private portfolio services that closed 256 double and triple-digit winners in 2024 alone. That’s about one big gain every day the market was open. Of course, not all our picks are winners, but members have seen recent gains as high as +627% +1,340%, and +1,708%.
Imagine how much you could profit with a steady stream of real-time picks from all our services that cover a number of strategies to suit a variety of investing and trading styles.
See Stocks Now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Buy, Sell or Hold ServiceNow Stock? Key Tips Ahead of Q2 Earnings

Shopify SHOP shares are overvalued, as suggested by a Value Score of F. SHOP stock is trading at a significant premium with a forward 12-month Price/Sales (P/S) of 13.75X compared with the Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s 6.69X.
SHOP is trading at a premium against its competitors like Amazon AMZN, Alibaba BABA and Etsy ETSY. Amazon, Alibaba and Etsy shares are currently trading at P/S of 3.28X, 1.98X and 2.22X, respectively.
SHOP Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Shopify shares have gained 19.5% year to date, outperforming the sector’s return of 9.4% and the Zacks Internet Services industry’s decline of 0.2% in the same time frame. Amazon, Etsy and Alibaba have returned 3.1%, 12.7% and 41.8% in the year-to-date period, respectively.
Shopify has been benefiting from robust growth in its merchant base driven by its merchant-friendly tools, including Shop Pay, Shopify Pay Instalments, Sign in with Shop and the Shop App.
SHOP Stock Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The stock is currently trading above the 50-day and the 200-day moving averages, indicating a bullish trend
SHOP Stock Trades Above the 50-Day & 200-Day SMAs
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Is Shopify an attractive stock for investors at the current valuations? Let’s delve deep to find out.
SHOP Benefits From an Expanding Portfolio
Shopify’s expanding portfolio across payments, AI and automation continues to drive platform adoption. The company’s merchant-facing tool Shop Pay processed $22 billion in Gross Merchandise Value in the first quarter, up 57% year over year, with deeper adoption from brands like Birkenstock, Johnny Was and Kate Spade. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter merchant solutions revenues is pegged at $1.88 billion, up 8% sequentially, implying sustained demand for Shopify’s checkout and payment tools.
Shopify launched a number of updates in summer ’25 Edition with more than 150 upgrades, including Horizon and AI Store Builder. The company launched a redesigned POS app that serves, sells, and connects even faster with a checkout. Shopify Payments has now been expanded to more countries, including Mexico and 15 new markets in Europe.
Building on its AI strategy, Shopify rolled out upgrades to its Sidekick assistant and introduced a new AI Store Builder to help merchants automate onboarding and streamline workflows. These enhancements are expected to support subscription growth, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter subscription solutions revenues pegged at $659.92 million.
Further extending its global reach, Shopify partnered with Coinbase and Stripe to enable USDC payments through Shopify Payments. This integration is expected to drive broader participation in cross-border commerce as global GMV scales.
Expanding Partner Ecosystem Aids Shopify’s Momentum
Shopify’s expanding partner network is expected to play a key role in driving the next phase of merchant adoption and global expansion. The ecosystem, which includes TikTok, Roblox, PayPal, Snap, Pinterest, Criteo, IBM, Cognizant CTSH, Alphabet’s GOOGL Google Cloud and Adyen, positions Shopify to scale faster across key commerce markets.
Shopify’s partnership with Cognizant and Alphabet is expected to help retailers accelerate modernization efforts through AI-led personalization and cloud-based operations. Aligning Shopify’s commerce infrastructure with Alphabet’s cloud services and Cognizant’s delivery capabilities, the collaboration is likely to support enterprise growth and broader adoption.
The integration with Roblox opens new monetization opportunities by enabling merchants to reach younger, highly engaged audiences in immersive environments. This move is expected to strengthen Shopify’s position in the evolving digital commerce landscape.
SHOP Offers Positive Q2 Guidance
For the second quarter of 2025, Shopify expects revenues to grow in the mid-twenties’ percentage year over year, supported by strength in merchant adoption and platform expansion.
Gross profit is expected to grow at a high-twenties percentage rate, implying continued operating leverage. GAAP operating expense as a percentage of revenue is expected to remain in the range of 39 and 40%. Free cash flow margin is anticipated to land in the mid-teens, reinforcing Shopify’s improving profitability trajectory.
SHOP’s 2025 Earnings Estimates Revisions Are Steady
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SHOP’s 2025 earnings is currently pegged at $1.40 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days and indicates year-over-year growth of 7.69%.
Shopify Inc. Price and Consensus
The consensus mark for SHOP’s 2025 revenues is currently pegged at $10.86 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 22.28%.
Conclusion
Shopify’s expanding merchant base, strong partner momentum and solid performance across core revenue segments reinforce its long-term growth potential. Continued focus on AI-driven tools, seamless payments and global integrations is expected to support deeper adoption and business scalability.
Shopify currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), which implies that investors should start accumulating the stock right now. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
One Big Gain, Every Trading Day
To help you take full advantage of this market, you’re invited to access every stock recommendation in all our private portfolios - for just $1.
Zacks private portfolio services that closed 256 double and triple-digit winners in 2024 alone. That’s about one big gain every day the market was open. Of course, not all our picks are winners, but members have seen recent gains as high as +627% +1,340%, and +1,708%.
Imagine how much you could profit with a steady stream of real-time picks from all our services that cover a number of strategies to suit a variety of investing and trading styles.
See Stocks Now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

SHOP Trades Higher Than Industry at 13.75X P/S: Is the Stock a Buy?

Key Points
The U.S. government just changed its rules to allow Nvidia to ship its H2O chips to China.
Most AI is still limited to large companies, and as Nvidia expands into new regions and clients, the technology will scale up and become more affordable.
As the support for AI infrastructure grows, Nvidia stands to gain in the long term.
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has had an almost unreal ascent over the past few years. It crossed the $1 trillion market cap threshold in 2023 and became the fifth-largest company in the world. And it has skipped over the front-runners in two years, increasing by 329%, to become the most valuable company in the world, as well as the first to reach $4 trillion in value.
The stock got a further boost this week when President Donald Trump relaxed the government's stance on selling Nvidia's chips to China. Let's see why this is important for Nvidia and what it means about artificial intelligence (AI) adoption trends globally.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »
Nvidia, the U.S., and China
Nvidia is the premier graphics processing unit (GPU) company, making the most powerful chips for several industries. Before OpenAI changed the tech landscape with the launch of ChatGPT a few years ago, Nvidia was most known for its gaming chips. Today, its greatest growth and potential are in generative AI.
Nvidia is based in California, and as a U.S. company, it's subject to government rules and guidelines. Both the Biden administration and today's Trump administration have leveraged the U.S. lead in AI in its favor and attempted to curtail some of the country's best technology outside of the U.S., specifically in China.
The situation has changed several times, and from this past April until this week, the U.S. had implemented new restrictions on what chips Nvidia could export to China. In the short term, the company had to take a $4.5 billion charge on its fiscal first-quarter (ended April 27) financial statements related to its H2O chips for orders it couldn't fulfill in China.
CEO Jensen Huang has been outspoken in his disagreement with these policies and how he sees this working against the U.S. in the long term. Without Nvidia's products, he believes, Chinese tech companies will figure out how to build their own AI chips and models.
"General-purpose, open-source research and foundation models are the backbone of AI innovation," Huang said. "We believe that every civil model should run best on the U.S. technology stack, encouraging nations worldwide to choose America."
On Monday, the company announced that the government would grant it licenses to resume selling chips in China.
Global AI adoption
Nvidia notes its commitment to open-source research and democratizing AI globally. The company's explosive growth is itself a testament to how AI continues to flourish, and it's only serving a portion of theglobal market
As the top chip company, Nvidia's chips are in high demand from the largest companies, like Amazon and Microsoft, that are building out huge AI businesses. They themselves are serving other giants with AI tools and services in partnership with Nvidia, offering access to the chipmaker's powerful technology.
They also service many smaller companies that would like to participate in generative AI but don't have the funds or scale to develop potent AI apps. According to Motley Fool research, AI adoption is only 9.2% today in the U.S., up from 3.7% nearly two years ago when the U.S. Census Bureau started collecting data on the subject.
Huang envisions his company's technology supporting a global infrastructure for the proliferation of AI to companies of all sizes worldwide. He says that benefits the U.S. as the source of the infrastructure, and of course, it benefits Nvidia acutely.
Even with the relaxing of regulations, the company could still be highly affected by increased tariffs, and the laws could keep changing. But there doesn't seem to be any way to stop AI at this point.
According to Statista, the AI market is expected to more than triple over the next five years, and like most other technology, it will eventually become cheaper and easier to use. As Nvidia reaches more markets and supports more AI efforts, it's likely to keep growing and rewarding shareholders.
Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now?
Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,056,790!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025
John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Jennifer Saibil has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Nvidia Chips Are Flowing to China Again -- What That Means for AI Adoption Trends

For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – July 21, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Alphabet GOOGL, Amazon AMZN, Microsoft MSFT and NVIDIA NVDA.
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
Buy, Sell or Hold Alphabet Stock? Key Tips Ahead of Q2 Earnings
Alphabet is set to report second-quarter 2025 results on July 23.
For second-quarter 2025, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $2.13 per share, up by a penny over the past 30 days and indicates 12.7% year-over-year growth.
The consensus mark for second-quarter revenues is pegged at $79.22 billion, indicating growth of 11.02% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.
Alphabet has an impressive earnings surprise history. GOOGL’s earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 14.64%. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)
Let’s see how things have shaped up for the upcoming announcement:
Growing AI Usage in Search to Aid GOOGL’s Q2 Results
Alphabet’s to-be-reported quarterly results are expected to benefit from solid momentum in Search and Cloud businesses.
The integration of Generative AI (Gen AI) technology into the search engine has been benefiting Google Search. AI-powered Circle to Search is now available on more than 300 million Android devices, with people using it to shop, translate text, and learn more about the world around them. Circle to Search is driving additional Search and is gaining popularity among younger users. The addition of AI mode expands AI Overview’s advanced reasoning, thinking and multimodal capabilities.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2025 Search and other revenues is pegged at $52.36 billion, indicating 8% growth over the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.
GOOGL Cloud Gaining Market Share
Alphabet has been rapidly growing in the booming cloud computing market. Google Cloud has solidified its position as the third-largest provider in the highly competitive cloud infrastructure market against Amazon’s cloud arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Microsoft’s Azure. The solid adoption of the Google Cloud Platform and Google Workspace is expected to have driven growth in the Google Cloud segment.
According to Synergy Research Group data, Google Cloud, along with Microsoft, is gaining market share, while AWS continues to lead with a 29% market share in the first quarter of 2025. Alphabet and Microsoft had 22% and 12% market share, respectively.
The consensus mark for second-quarter 2025 Google Cloud revenues is pegged at $13.04 billion, indicating 26% growth over the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.
However, GOOGL is suffering from a lack of capacity, and until new capacity comes online in 2025, cloud revenues are expected to see increased variability. This is expected to have hurt Alphabet’s Google Cloud revenues in the to-be-reported quarter.
GOOGL Shares Lag Sector, Industry
Alphabet’s shares have declined 3.1% year to date, underperforming the Zacks Internet Services industry and the Zacks Computer & Technology sector. Over the same timeframe, the sector has returned 9.5% while the industry has dropped 0.9%.
GOOGL Stock’s Performance
GOOGL shares are overvalued, as suggested by Value Score C.
Currently, GOOGL is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month Price/Sales of 6.43X compared with the industry’s 5.49X.
Technically, GOOGL shares are displaying a bullish trend as they trade above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
GOOGL Trades Above 50-day & 200-day SMAs
Cloud Growth to Drive GOOGL Prospects
Alphabet is benefiting from an expanding clientele and rich partner base. Google Cloud is benefiting from its partnership with NVIDIA. Google Cloud was the first cloud provider to offer NVIDIA’s B200 and GB200 Blackwell GPUs and will be offering its next-generation Vera Rubin GPUs. Google Cloud is becoming a preferred choice for enterprises planning to deploy AI agents thanks to the Agent Development Kit and a low-code tool offering Agent Designer. The addition of Wiz to Google Cloud will boost competitive prowess against the likes of Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud computing space.
Google Cloud’s expanding clientele is expected to boost Alphabet’s top line. Google Cloud is now expanding its footprint based on the latest deals with Ecobank in Africa and BBVA. BBVA’s deal with Google Cloud will enable Alphabet to deploy Google Workspace with Gemini across the global operations of the bank. Meanwhile, the Ecobank collaboration aims at transforming financial services with advanced analytics and AI and driving digital empowerment across Africa. This offers a significant growth opportunity for Google Cloud in one of the most underpenetrated regions of the globe.
GOOGL Stock: Buy, Sell or Hold Ahead of Q2?
Alphabet’s growing Gen AI capabilities present a potential catalyst for future growth. Its dominant position in the Search market is a strong growth driver. However, a stretched valuation, stiff competition in the cloud space and growing regulatory headwinds make GOOGL shares risky for investors ahead of second-quarter 2025 results.
Alphabet currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), suggesting that it may be wise to wait for a more favorable entry point in the stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Research Chief Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
This company targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter alone. A recent pullback makes now an ideal time to jump aboard. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
https://www.zacks.com
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
One Big Gain, Every Trading Day
To help you take full advantage of this market, you’re invited to access every stock recommendation in all our private portfolios - for just $1.
Zacks private portfolio services that closed 256 double and triple-digit winners in 2024 alone. That’s about one big gain every day the market was open. Of course, not all our picks are winners, but members have seen recent gains as high as +627% +1,340%, and +1,708%.
Imagine how much you could profit with a steady stream of real-time picks from all our services that cover a number of strategies to suit a variety of investing and trading styles.
See Stocks Now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and NVIDIA

For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – July 21, 2025 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Netflix NFLX, Disney DIS, Amazon AMZN and Paramount Global PARA.
Buy, Hold or Take Profits in Netflix After Q2 Earnings Report?
Investors appear to be a bit underwhelmed by Netflix’s Q2 report, despite the streaming king posting favorable quarterly results after market hours on Thursday.
Down 5% in this morning's trading session, some profit taking may also be attributing to the post-earnings dip in Netflix stock as NFLX is still up more than +30% year to date and is sitting on monstrous gains of nearly +500% in the last three years.
This makes it a worthy topic of whether it's time to get in on the profit taking, buy the post-earnings dip, or hold Netflix stock.
Netflix’s Favorable Q2 Results
Exceeding earnings expectations, Netflix’s Q2 net income came in at $3.13 billion or $7.19 per share and above the Zacks EPS Consensus of $7.07. Year over year, Netflix’s Q2 EPS spiked 47% from $4.88 in Q2 2024. This came on Q2 sales of $11.07 billion, which increased 16% from the comparative quarter but slightly missed estimates of $11.08 billion.
Notably, Netflix’s operating margin during Q2 was 34.1%, up from 24% a year ago, with free cash flow soaring 91% to $2.3 billion.
Netflix’s Q2 Subscriber Growth
Although Netflix no longer reports official quarterly subscriber numbers, the streaming giant is thought to have added 5.1 million new net subscribers during Q2. However, this fell below many analysts' forecast of 6 million and was down from 8.05 million new net subscribers in Q2 2024.
Still, Netflix’s total subscribers have risen to over 300 million thanks to its global reach, strong content pipeline, and the growth of its more affordable ad-tier, keeping the company firmly ahead ofDisney’s streaming services and other platforms such as Amazon’s Prime Video and Paramount Global.
Netflix's Revenue Guidance & Margin Outlook
Optimistically, Netflix raised its full-year 2025 revenue guidance to $44.8-$45.2 billion from its previous forecast of $43.5-$44.5 billion. The current Zacks Consensus calls for Netflix’s top line to expand 14% this year to $44.55 billion, with fiscal 2026 sales projected to increase another 12% to $50.05 billion.
It’s also noteworthy that Netflix slightly increased its full-year operating margin guidance from 29% to 29.5%, although many analysts were looking for a margin range between 30-31%.
Monitoring Netflix’s P/E Valuation
What may have dampened excitement for Netflix’s favorable Q2 report is that at 50X forward earnings, NFLX does trade at a noticeable premium to the broader market, with the S&P 500 at 24X. This is also well above Disney and Paramount at 21X and 9X forward earnings, respectively, and even Amazon at 35X.
Bottom Line
For now, Netflix stock lands a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Enthusiasm for Netflix’s growth expectations appears to be already priced into its stock, as investors may have been looking for more exceptional upside surprises in its Q2 results.
That said, holding NFLX in the portfolio is still worthwhile considering Netflix’s market dominance, as more than 20% EPS growth is in the forecast for FY25 and FY26, and should help the streaming king grow into its somewhat stretched P/E valuation.
Research Chief Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
This company targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter alone. A recent pullback makes now an ideal time to jump aboard. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
https://www.zacks.com
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
One Big Gain, Every Trading Day
To help you take full advantage of this market, you’re invited to access every stock recommendation in all our private portfolios - for just $1.
Zacks private portfolio services that closed 256 double and triple-digit winners in 2024 alone. That’s about one big gain every day the market was open. Of course, not all our picks are winners, but members have seen recent gains as high as +627% +1,340%, and +1,708%.
Imagine how much you could profit with a steady stream of real-time picks from all our services that cover a number of strategies to suit a variety of investing and trading styles.
See Stocks Now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Netflix, Disney, Amazon and Paramount Global

Key Points
Sellers have arguably overshot their target with beverage and snack-chip outfit PepsiCo.
The social media landscape’s increasingly toxic vibe is driving users to sites where they can better shield themselves from it.
E-commerce remains a major growth opportunity.
Is it time to reset or reallocate your portfolio? Maybe you just need some new places for idle cash that's been slowly building up.
Don't sweat it. I think I can help. Here's a closer look at five stocks I've had an eye on for a while, all of which have become some of my top prospects. I think they'll work for plenty of other investors, too.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »
1. PepsiCo
PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) stock has dramatically underperformed shares of its rival Coca-Cola since late 2023, when lingering inflation turned downright painful.
Whereas Coca-Cola's business model largely punts expensive bottling operations to its third-party bottling partners, PepsiCo owns most of its manufacturing facilities, which were suddenly more expensive to operate.
It would also be naïve to pretend Coca-Cola doesn't have at least a little more pricing power than PepsiCo does, particularly in comparison to PepsiCo's Frito-Lay snack chip business.
However, while the backdrop put pressure on PepsiCo's profit margins, it was never the existential threat that the stock's 30% pullback from its 2023 peak suggests. The sell-off has done investors a huge favor, though. It's pumped this stock's forward-looking dividend yield up to 4.2%.That yield is also based on a dividend that has now been raised for 53 consecutive years.
2. AppLovin
Ever heard of AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP)? It would be a bit surprising if you had. It's anything but a household name. There's a good chance you or someone in your household has been exposed to its service, however.
AppLovin helps app developers advertise their apps. This description still understates what the company brings to the table, though. The company's turned digital marketing into an art and a science. From streaming TV to mobile apps and more, AppLovin helps marketers create, manage, and measure advertising campaigns.
Its target market clearly loves what it offers, if this year's projected top-line growth of more than 21% is any indication. This pace of revenue growth is also expected to last at least through 2027. This technology company is also profitable, and increasingly so. In fact, its per-share profits are expected to triple from last year's $4.53 to more than $14.00 per share by 2027.
There's been some drama, for the record. In March, short-selling specialist outfit Muddy Waters argued that AppLovin's advertising tech didn't actually work as effectively as it was said to. Shares tumbled on the news.
It's quite telling, however, that the stock has since more than reclaimed that lost ground.
3. Snap
When Snapchat parent Snap (NYSE: SNAP) went public in 2017, investors were understandably hesitant. Twitter (now X) and Meta Platforms' Facebook were well-entrenched by then, and still growing. The last thing the world seemed to need at the time was yet another social media platform. Investors needed an unprofitable one even less.
A funny thing's happened in the meantime. Snapchat's continued to make forward progress in terms of revenue, profitability, and user headcount. Its first-quarter daily user tally of 460 million extends a slow and steady growth streak to another new record. Sales growth and progress toward consistent profitability remain equally impressive, firmed up by the company's willingness to consistently try new things, and learn from its failures as well as its successes.
What gives? It's arguably an underappreciated theory, but it's possible that more and more people are finding Facebook and X to be a bit too toxic, and increasingly so. It's easier for users to shield themselves from this noise with the Snapchat app.
4. MercadoLibre
There's a good chance you've never heard of MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI). Don't let that deter you. It's a fantastic growth opportunity.
MercadoLibre is often referred to as the Amazon of Latin America, by virtue of its e-commerce platform that serves the entire region. From payment processing to delivery logistics to technological tools for brick-and-mortar retailers, MercadoLibre is a turnkey solution for a bunch of South American consumer-facing businesses. Last year, its tech facilitated the sale of $51.5 billion worth of goods and services, and it also served as the intermediary for nearly $200 billion in digital payments. Both were well up from year-earlier comparisons.
This still only scratches the surface of its opportunity.
In many ways, Latin America's telecom landscape is where North America's was 25 years ago, when Amazon first began growing into a powerhouse. Research outfit Canalys reports that smartphone shipments to Latin America reached a record-breaking 137 million units just last year, in step with the region's now-rapid growth of wired and wireless broadband.
As was the case in North America, this access is driving strong interest in online shopping. A forecast from Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence predicts that the Latin American e-commerce market is set to double in size between 2023 and 2027.MercadoLibre is perfectly positioned to capture more than its fair share of this growth.
5. Alibaba
Last but not least, I'm adding Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) to my list of favorite stocks to buy right now.
Alibaba is parent to China's powerhouse e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall, which collectively control about half of China's online shopping market. Its e-commerce sites AliExpress and Alibaba.com -- largely aimed at customers outside of China -- don't boast the same sort of reach, but they're still respectable presences in their own right.
The company is much more than e-commerce. It operates a digital entertainment arm, a logistics service, and a cloud computing business that's developed a powerful AI-powered chat tool called Qwen that can be used -- and monetized -- in several different ways.
What about the tariff standoff that's part of a much bigger trade war being fought between the world's two economic superpowers? It may not matter nearly as much as you might think it should.
China (in general) and Alibaba (in particular) largely operate within silos that don't outright require superstrong relations with top trade partners. As evidence of this argument, after Alibaba's first-quarter top-line growth of 6%, China reported that its retail spending improved 4.8% in June, following May's 6.4% increase. Industrial output remained firm as well.
This isn't to suggest that China wouldn't love to have better trade relations with the U.S. It's simply to point out that the country -- and this company -- can still thrive despite the trade impasses.
Should you invest $1,000 in MercadoLibre right now?
Before you buy stock in MercadoLibre, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and MercadoLibre wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,056,790!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025
Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. James Brumley has positions in Coca-Cola. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, AppLovin, MercadoLibre, and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Amazon.com, Inc.

Tech analysis