Tencent Holdings демонстрирует сильные финансовые показатели в большинстве ключевых метрик, несмотря на некоторые слабости. К примеру, долгосрочная задолженность составляет 40.50, что не является критичным, учитывая низкий коэффициент задолженности к капиталу (0.28), который значительно ниже медианы отрасли. Однако выручка на уровне 21.42 значительно ниже медианы, что вызывает обеспокоенность относительно роста компании. Высокие показатели рентабельности, включая чистую маржу 27.05, подчеркивают эффективность управления, что является значительным плюсом. В то же время, валовая маржа на уровне 45.98 ниже медианы, что может указывать на необходимость улучшения в области ценовой политики или контроля затрат. Сравнительно высокий показатель ROE (19.74) подтверждает, что компания эффективно использует капитал для генерации прибыли. В целом, несмотря на определенные риски, связанные с выручкой и валовой маржей, Tencent сохраняет сильные позиции в отрасли благодаря высокой рентабельности и устойчивой долговой нагрузке, что дает основания для умеренного оптимизма относительно будущих финансовых результатов.

TENCENT HLDGS UNSP/ADR

Would you believe that the best way to play China's AI ambitions may be a South African stock?
Artificial intelligence has the potential to change the economy. As such, investors should have exposure to some AI companies in their portfolios -- and that includes Chinese exposure. Even Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently noted that China is home to half of the world's AI researchers. And the January unveiling of the groundbreaking DeepSeek R1 model showed how China is able to innovate cutting-edge AI, even with limited silicon access.
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Nevertheless, investing in China carries risks pertaining to its economy, its government, and the market mechanics of owning Chinese stocks. That's why the best way to expose oneself to Chinese AI may be South African holding company Naspers (OTC: NPSNY).
Tencent may be the best Chinese AI company in the long run
It's still very early in the AI races, and in truth, it's hard to know who is going to win out. It could be an upstart AI lab such as DeepSeek in China or OpenAI in the U.S., or one of the existing big tech giants.
In this investor's opinion, the existing incumbents are the best bet. These companies have huge technological and financial resources to invest in AI, and AI should also enable existing large businesses to boost revenue and lower costs through better automation and data science.
That's why Tencent (OTC: TCEHY) seems like good bet to be a big winner from Chinese AI. Tencent has the largest social media platform in China in WeChat, with more than 1.4 billion users. It's also the largest video game publisher in the China, the largest video and music streaming company, one of the two large digital payments companies, and one of China's cloud computing giants.
In addition, Tencent is building its own large model, called Hunyuan, which could lead to vast new AI opportunities if it ends being more performant than DeepSeek and other competitors over time.
And Prosus/Naspers is the better way to play Tencent
Tencent stock doesn't trade on U.S. stock exchanges, but it does trade over the counter as an American depositary receipt. However, a better way to play Tencent may be through its largest shareholder, European-domiciled Prosus (OTC: PROSY), which owns more than 23% of Tencent's stock. And the best way to invest in Prosus may be in its largest shareholder, Naspers, which owns 43% of Prosus.
Naspers is a 110-year-old South African media company that was fortunate enough to invest in Tencent when it was just a startup in 2001. That investment eventually grew to be worth hundreds of billions, dwarfing Naspers' original business.
Naspers then sold portions of its Tencent stake over time, investing in new businesses across food delivery, fintech, classifieds, e-commerce, ed-tech, and other tech startups.
However, Naspers began to trade at a huge discount to the value of not only its net assets but also its Tencent stake alone. Management attributed that growing discount to its large size relative to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The thinking was that large index funds cap their asset weightings, which meant they had to sell Naspers stock once it reached a certain-sized allocation.
In 2019, Naspers created Prosus, a new entity it listed on the larger Euronext Exchange in Amsterdam, and spun it off to shareholders. Today, Naspers owns about 43% of Prosus, which owns all of Naspers' assets outside of South Africa, while Naspers owns some small additional South African assets on its own.
The plan didn't really work, though, as, Prosus still trades at a 30% discount its total net assets and even a 9% discount to the value of its Tencent stake alone. Meanwhile, Naspers trades at an even bigger 36% discount to the value of its assets, which is mainly just its 43% stake in Prosus.
But Naspers'/Prosus' other businesses are now profitable
Owning Tencent at a discount is an attractive proposition, but of course it won't make much of a difference if the valuation gap never closes. That being said, a new development at Prosus could change this dynamic.
Before this year, Prosus' businesses were free cash flow negative, so the company was dependent on Tencent stock sales and Tencent's dividend for cash for funding. However, in fiscal 2025, which ended in March, Prosus' non-Tencent businesses turned free cash flow positive for the first time, excluding Tencent's dividend, generating $36 million in positive free cash flow and improving free cash flow by nearly $1 billion over the past three years.
Prosus also has a new CEO in Fabricio Bloisi, who took over the job exactly one year ago. Bloisi is an entrepreneur and the very successful former CEO of iFood, now the largest food delivery company in Brazil, which Prosus fully acquired back in 2022.
Having a proven startup operator is a contrast with Prosus' prior leadership, and recent results appear to show Bloisi is raising the bar on execution.
Self-funding could mean a valuation rerating
Before today, if Prosus wanted to buy a company or repurchase its stock at a big discount, it would have to sell part of its Tencent stake. That probably played into the "conglomerate discount," as investors may not have liked the capital allocation of selling a high-quality business in Tencent to buy more risky and unprofitable startups.
However, if the other operating businesses continue to grow positive free cash flow outside Tencent, that could change sentiment. Prosus wouldn't have to sell as much or any Tencent stock and could benefit from future compound earnings growth.
If a Prosus/Naspers valuation rerating occurs, that could make Prosus and/or Naspers the most attractive way to play Tencent -- and with it, the growth of Chinese AI.
Should you invest $1,000 in Naspers right now?
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Billy Duberstein and/or his clients have positions in Naspers and Prosus. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia and Tencent. 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.

Is This Stock the Best Way to Play Chinese AI?

Pony AI (NASDAQ: PONY) is leading the race to deploy fully autonomous robotaxis -- and its recent advances could propel the stock to new highs. Discover how partnerships with Uber, Tencent, and Toyota position Pony AI for breakout growth, why analysts are bullish, and what this $1 trillion disruptor might deliver next.
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Stock prices used were the market prices of June 16, 2025. The video was published on June 23, 2025.
Should you invest $1,000 in Pony Ai right now?
Before you buy stock in Pony Ai, 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 Pony Ai 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 $676,023!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $883,692!*
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Rick Orford has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tencent and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick Orford is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link, they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Pony AI: The Next $1 Trillion Robotaxi Play?

Baidu BIDU and Alphabet GOOGL share roots in Internet search and have evolved into global AI heavyweights, each riding the wave of generative AI and cloud services. Baidu, China’s dominant search engine, has leveraged its platform to develop and deploy advanced AI models—like ERNIE 4.5 and ERNIE X1—as well as autonomous driving technology through its Apollo initiative. Alphabet, Google’s parent, spans search, advertising, Cloud, YouTube, and hardware, and is spearheading AI progress with Gemini 2.5, AI-powered Cloud services, and TPUs such as Ironwood.
The recent surge of interest in generative AI and language models has put companies like Baidu and Alphabet in the spotlight. Google’s rollout of AI features (like its Bard/Gemini AI for search) and Baidu’s launch of its ERNIE Bot (an answer to ChatGPT) underscore how both are racing to monetize AI innovations. Investors are wondering which company is better positioned today for upside.
Let's dive deep and closely compare the fundamentals of the two stocks to determine which one is a better investment now.
The Case for Baidu Stock
Baidu is the unrivaled search leader in China, controlling roughly 60% of China’s search engine market. This core search dominance provides a massive user base and ad platform akin to Google’s in its home market. Beyond search advertising, Baidu has aggressively invested in next-generation tech: its Apollo autonomous driving unit and Apollo Go ride-hailing service are growing (Apollo Go saw a 75% year-over-year increase in rides in first-quarter 2025), and Baidu’s AI Cloud division is booming with 42% revenue growth in the last reported quarter. AI Cloud's non-GAAP operating margin now sits at the level of teens, aided by improved revenue mix and scale efficiencies.
The company’s focus on full-stack AI infrastructure and rapid model iteration—most notably the release of ERNIE 4.5 Turbo and ERNIE X1 Turbo—has significantly reduced inference costs while enhancing performance. These improvements make Baidu’s AI Cloud offerings highly cost-competitive, especially as enterprise clients increasingly look to deploy Gen AI applications at scale.
Baidu faces several key challenges as it pivots aggressively toward AI. Its online marketing revenue declined 6% year over year, reflecting weakness in its traditional ad business amid a transition to AI-powered search that is not yet fully monetized. While AI-generated content now powers 35% of mobile search results, monetization remains in early testing, putting pressure on near-term revenue and margins. Additionally, Baidu reported negative free cash flow of RMB9.2 billion (excluding iQIYI), driven by rising investments in AI infrastructure, cloud services, and autonomous driving.
The company also faces intensifying competition from rivals like Alibaba BABA and Tencent TCEHY in the AI cloud space, while U.S. restrictions on advanced AI chips could disrupt its infrastructure scale-up. Although Baidu touts flexibility in chip sourcing and strong GPU utilization, these constraints could still impact efficiency. Moreover, the wide scope of its AI initiatives, from foundation models to digital humans and robotaxis, raises execution risks and may strain resources in the near term.
The Case for Alphabet Stock
Alphabet, by contrast, is a global behemoth with a far more diversified and resilient business. The company’s revenue base is not only larger but also more diversified than Baidu’s. Besides core search ads, Alphabet owns YouTube, which is a $30+ billion-a-year business on its own, and it operates the world’s third-largest cloud computing platform. It is also a truly global company, generating revenue across all continents, which diversifies its economic exposure (unlike Baidu, which is tethered to China’s economy).
The company has invested in AI research for years (Google AI, DeepMind, etc.), and it’s now moving aggressively to integrate AI across its products. It recently merged Google Brain and DeepMind into a single unit to accelerate innovation.
Alphabet’s financial strength further sets it apart. It ended last quarter with $95.3 billion in cash and marketable securities on its balance sheet, against only about $10.9 billion in long-term debt. Its operations churn out enormous cash flows – roughly $19 billion in free cash flow in the most recent quarter – giving Alphabet the strength to invest in AI, fund strategic acquisitions, and return capital to shareholders (Alphabet has been steadily buying back stock). Such financial firepower is a huge advantage in the AI arms race, where computing infrastructure and top talent are expensive. By contrast, Baidu (while financially solid by most standards) operates on a much smaller scale, with roughly $18 billion in annual revenue (in 2024) and just $3 billion in free cash flow in 2024. Alphabet simply has more resources to deploy.
Alphabet is not without challenges. Alphabet faces mounting cost pressures from its aggressive AI infrastructure investments, with CapEx set at $75 billion for 2025 and depreciation rising 31% year over year in the first quarter of 2025, a trend expected to accelerate throughout the year. Operating expenses rose 9%, driven in part by a 17% spike in G&A costs due to legal and regulatory matters. In Google Cloud, while demand is strong, tight supply constraints are causing variability in revenue growth, tied to the timing of capacity deployment.
In advertising, Alphabet warned of slower growth ahead due to tough comparisons in the Financial Services vertical and new APAC regulatory changes that may reduce ad revenue from regional retailers. Additionally, monetization of AI Overviews and AI Mode remains flat, raising concerns about the profitability of these new experiences. The Gemini app also trails competitors in user engagement, with only 35 million daily active users.
BIDU & GOOGL Stock Performances
BIDU and GOOGL’s share price performances have diverged amid different market conditions. Alphabet’s performance has been steady, whereas Baidu’s has been constrained by China’s economic challenges.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Valuation of BIDU & GOOGL Stocks
Alphabet’s valuation has become very stretched compared to Baidu. Alphabet’s forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio stands at 5.89, above Baidu’s 1.51. While regulatory and competitive headwinds exist, Alphabet’s diversified business and proven adaptability give it resilience. In contrast to Baidu’s situation, Alphabet does not need a macro turnaround or a breakthrough to justify its valuation. It’s already delivering solid growth and profits.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Earnings Estimates Trend & Growth Rate for BIDU and GOOGL Stocks
For BIDU, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings per share (EPS) has decreased over the past 60 days, while the same for GOOGL has trended upward, as you can see below. The estimated figure for BIDU indicated a 10.5% decline, while for GOOGL, the figure depicts 18.3% growth.
For BIDU Stock
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
For GOOGL Stock
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Which Stock Is the Better Bet Now?
After weighing both cases, Alphabet emerges as the stronger candidate for investors’ cash today. Alphabet’s diversified revenue base, global scale, strong AI integration, and disciplined capital returns outweigh valuation concerns and regulatory risks. Baidu, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), although deeply undervalued and rich in AI ambition, faces steeper execution and policy hurdles. Alphabet currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and reflects a more reliable footing for investors seeking AI-related gains today. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Baidu vs. Alphabet: Which AI Powerhouse Stock Deserves Your Cash?

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) was down by as much as 15% earlier this year on the back of simmering global trade tensions, which were ignited by President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs in April. The index has since recovered its losses, and it's now sitting on a modest year-to-date gain of 2%.
But investors who bought Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) stock at the start of the year have earned an eye-popping 57% return as of this writing (June 18). In fact, the stock never dipped into the red at all, despite the turmoil in the broader market.
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Shares of the music streaming giant are now trading at a record high, and while the company's future looks extremely bright, there is one glaring reason investors should be cautious from here.
The undisputed leader in music streaming
According to Statista, Spotify has a 31.7%global marketshare in the music streaming industry. It's a long way ahead of Tencent Music in second place, with 14.4% of the market.
Most music streaming platforms feature very similar content catalogs, so they have to compete with one another on price, technology, and by offering other content formats. That's why Spotify invested heavily to become one of the world's top podcast platforms. Plus, during the first quarter of 2025 (ended March 31), the company said users spent 44% more time watching video content compared to the year-ago period, so it introduced a new compensation model to encourage creators to make video versions of their podcasts to capitalize on that engagement. This new system paid out over $100 million during the first quarter alone, which could result in a flood of new content from creators who want to earn more money.
Spotify is also investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver the best user experience from a technological perspective. AI is a big part of the platform's recommendation engine, because it quickly learns what each user likes and feeds them more of it. But Spotify has also launched a series of user-facing features powered by AI like AI Playlist, which can generate a list of songs based on a simple prompt from the user, whether it be a movie, feeling, animal, or even a color.
These AI features are designed to keep users engaged so they spend more time on the platform, which increases the chances Spotify becomes something they can't live without.
Strong revenue growth and soaring earnings
At the end of the first quarter of 2025, Spotify had 268 million paying subscribers, and 423 million free users monetized through advertising. The paying subscriber base is growing slightly faster, which is a big positive because it accounts for 90% of the company's revenue.
According to Wall Street's consensus estimate (provided by Yahoo! Finance), Spotify could generate a record $20.5 billion in revenue during 2025, which would be a 13.7% increase from the prior year. Analysts then expect revenue to come in at $23.7 billion in 2026, representing an accelerated growth rate of 15.7%.
But the real growth story is on the bottom line, because Spotify is carefully managing its costs to drive profitability. The company's total operating expenses fell by 2% during the first quarter, which helped send its free cash flow soaring by a whopping 158% year over year to $615 million.
Wall Street thinks Spotify will deliver $10.33 in earnings per share (EPS) in 2025, which would be a 63% jump from last year. Analysts will then look for $14.88 in EPS in 2026, representing a further 44% growth.
The big reason investors should be cautious
I've painted a very positive picture of Spotify so far, but investors need to carefully consider its valuation before buying the stock. It's trading at a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 8.6, which is uncharted territory, because it's the most expensive level since the stock went public in 2018:
Plus, based on Spotify's trailing-12-month EPS, its stock is trading at a hefty price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 119. In other words, it's an eye-popping five times more expensive than the S&P 500 index, which trades at a P/E ratio of 23.7.
Even if we value Spotify stock using Wall Street's forecast EPS for 2025 and 2026, the stock is still trading at forward P/E ratios of 69 and 48 for those years, respectively. In other words, if you buy Spotify stock today and the company's financial results come in exactly as Wall Street expects, it will still be twice as expensive as the S&P 500 in 18 months from now. That doesn't leave much room for upside.
SPOT PE Ratio data by YCharts
Simply put, Spotify stock just doesn't seem like a great value for investors who want to see gains in the next couple of years. But the picture might look a little different for investors with a longer-term horizon, because CEO Daniel Ek previously issued a forecast suggesting the company could achieve $100 billion in annual revenue by 2032.
That would be a fivefold increase from where Spotify's 2025 revenue is expected to come in, so its stock actually looks cheap right now from that perspective. However, several things can change over the next seven or eight years -- new competitors might emerge, and technologies like AI could change the way we consume content entirely. As a result, buying Spotify stock at the current level still takes some resolve.
Should you invest $1,000 in Spotify Technology right now?
Before you buy stock in Spotify Technology, 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 Spotify Technology 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 $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $891,722!*
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Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Spotify Technology and Tencent. 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.
Founded in 1993 in Alexandria, VA., by brothers David and Tom Gardner, The Motley Fool is a multimedia financial-services company dedicated to building the world's greatest investment community. Reaching millions of people each month through its website, books, newspaper column, radio show, television appearances, and subscription newsletter services, The Motley Fool champions shareholder values and advocates tirelessly for the individual investor. The company's name was taken from Shakespeare, whose wise fools both instructed and amused, and could speak the truth to the king -- without getting their heads lopped off.

Spotify Stock Has Soared 57% in 2025, but Here's 1 Big Reason Investors Should Be Cautious

Despite reporting mixed Q1 results Wednesday evening, Nvidia NVDA stock has pooped as much as +6% in today’s trading session and had retaken the top spot as the market’s most valuable company ahead of Microsoft MSFT.
Briefly hitting a market cap of $3.44 trillion, Nvidia’s superior Blackwell series GPUs have powered its data center growth and AI factory build-outs, which are driving significant revenue for the chip giant. That said, let’s see if the surge in NVDA will continue or if there are still better buying opportunities ahead.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Nvidia’s Q1 Results
Enduring what it called a challenging operating environment, Nvidia’s Q1 sales of $44.06 billion topped estimates of $42.91 billion and soared 69% from $26.04 billion a year ago. Data Center revenue was the main contributor, increasing 73% year over year to $39 billion.
However, Q1 EPS of $0.81 missed expectations of $0.85 despite spiking 33% from $0.61 a share in the prior period. Nvidia has surpassed sales estimates for a remarkable 25 consecutive quarters and his exceeded earnings expectations in three of its last four quarterly reports with an average EPS surprise of 3.87%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
H20 Headwinds
Watering down Nvidia’s bottom line was the U.S. government's export controls on its H20 data center GPU, which is designed specifically for the market in China. While Nvidia was previously able to sell its H20 AI chips to China with no restraints, the Trump administration now requires a license to do so, leading to a $4.5 billion charge due to excess inventory and purchase obligations.
Nvidia hasn’t publicly disclosed the exact cost of obtaining the license, but CEO Jensen Huang has criticized the export controls, stating they will weaken the U.S. chip industry and unintentionally strengthen Chinese competitors. Notably, Huang sees Huawei Technologies as a formidable AI rival and has pointed out that Tencent Holdings TCEHY and other major Chinese tech companies are shifting toward domestic alternatives to power their AI endeavors due to restrictions on U.S. chip exports.
Nvidia’s Revenue Guidance
For the second quarter, Nvidia expects Q2 sales to be $45 billion, plus or minus 2%. This falls within range of the current Zacks Consensus of $45.29 billion or 51% growth (Current Qtr below), and includes a projected loss in H20 revenue of approximately $8 billion.
Based on Zacks' estimates, Nvidia’s total sales are expected to increase 49% in its current fiscal year 2026 to $194.7 billion from $130.5 billion in FY25. Furthermore, FY27 sales are projected to rise another 24%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Conclusion & Final Thoughts
For now, Nvidia stock lands a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Seeing as NVDA has rallied nearly +30% in the last month, there could be better buying opportunities ahead, especially considering export headwinds to China.
Although Nvidia's data center growth is very appealing to investors, Jensen Huang has reiterated, that as one of the world’s leading AI markets, China will be crucial to its global success, stating the platform that wins China is positioned to lead globally.
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Chase the Surge in Nvidia Stock After Q1 Earnings?

With more and more capital going into artificial intelligence (AI) development and infrastructure, and investors growing increasingly excited about the tech's potential impact on various businesses, stocks connected to the trend have been some of the market's biggest winners over the last two and a half years.
Despite that rapid growth, many of those stocks could still have plenty of room to keep climbing. The world's biggest tech companies plan to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on building out data centers this year alone. And from the way their leadership teams talked on their most recent earnings calls, most of them don't expect to slow that capital spending down anytime soon.
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Of course, not every company will come out ahead from their investments in AI. And even if a company looks poised for financial success, the stock still needs to offer good value for investors. If you have a small amount available to invest at the moment, like $250, finding a good stock to buy could be even harder.
I've identified three AI stocks you can buy now with just $250 that can help you capitalize on the next phase of growth in the industry.
1. Amazon
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is the largest public cloud computing infrastructure provider in the world. That said, it was caught flatfooted when the AI trend kicked off. It has worked hard to catch up with its competitors by focusing on providing a diverse range of AI services and making a strategic investment in Anthropic, a leading developer of foundational AI models. Now, when it comes to everything from raw computing power to platforms to build new large language models on top of, Amazon Web Services can meet clients' needs.
Amazon is also working on its own purpose-built AI accelerator chips for both training and inference. It has seen strong demand for its custom silicon, and says customers are seeing significantly better price performance for both training and inference with its chips compared to the leading GPUs on the market.
Importantly, Amazon expects to lay out more than $100 billion this year in capital expenditures, mostly focused on AI data centers. It wouldn't be spending that much if it didn't see strong demand for computing power. Management reiterated during its most recentearnings callthat it remains capacity-constrained, so as more of its new data centers come online later this year, revenue growth for Amazon Web Services (AWS) should accelerate.
Outside of AWS, the company continues to operate a massive online retail business. It has seen strong margin expansion over the last few years as a result of optimizing its logistics network and scaling its advertising business.
While Amazon's massive spending on data centers is cutting into its free cash flow, the long-term trend remains positive. Despite its huge step up in investments over the last year, free cash flow still topped $25 billion over the trailing 12 months. With the stock trading at around $200 per share -- more than 15% below the all-time high it reached earlier this year -- it looks like a no-brainer buy.
2. Tencent
Tencent (OTC: TCEHY) is the company behind WeChat, the massively popular Chinese super-app. If you took WhatsApp, combined it with Facebook, added Netflix and Spotify, built an app store on top of that, and extended payments from the app store to other websites and even physical stores, you'd have something that looks like the all-in-one app that is WeChat. Tencent also has a massive mobile gaming business, and it's the third-largest cloud computing provider in China.
It has already seen the benefits of putting machine-learning AI algorithms to work in its advertising business. More targeted content leads to higher engagement rates and supports higher ad prices. That has been reflected in the strong gross margin expansion for its value-added services over the last two years. Tencent has also rolled out AI tools for marketers to improve their ad generation.
With its strong operating leverage, it is reinvesting its excess capital into AI development to further improve ad targeting and content recommendations, and expand its cloud computing infrastructure. But it has not yet laid out timelines for monetizing newer features like its AI chatbot within WeChat, its AI-powered search engine, or its image generator. As a result, management says it expects its increased AI spending to hold back its margin expansion for the foreseeable future. Still, the long-term benefits should be worth it for investors.
Tencent stock does come with some meaningful risks, not least of which is its position as a Chinese company. Management has long dealt with assertive regulators in Beijing exercising control over its industry and operations. Still, increasingly tight regulations could strangle Tencent's advancements.
Even after considerable price appreciation this year, Tencent stock trades for less than 20 times trailing earnings. Given that it's trading at around $66 per share, investors with about $250 to deploy now could add three or four shares of the stock to their portfolios.
3. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Somebody has to manufacture and package all of the high-end chips that go into AI data centers, and more often than not, that somebody is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM), aka, TSMC. It commands roughly two-thirds of the third-party semiconductor fabrication market, and it's responsible for a particularly large share of those semiconductors made with the most advanced processes, which are required for high-end AI accelerator chips.
As a result, the Taiwan-based company has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the boom in AI spending, and it should continue to benefit well into the future. Management expects revenue from AI accelerators to double in 2025 and grow at an average annual rate of 40% through the end of the decade. That supports its long-term view that its total revenue will grow at a 20% compound annual rate between 2025 and 2029. Meanwhile, the company should be able to maintain its high gross margins.
TSMC benefits from a virtuous cycle. Its industry-leading technology and scale make it the top foundry choice for any company that's designing cutting-edge chips for data centers or personal computing devices. As a result, TSMC collects a lot more revenue than its competitors, which gives it more money to invest in research and development. In turn, that ensures it can maintain and even extend its technological lead and continue winning more contracts.
TSMC has been in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump's tariffs, and the ongoing trade policy changes he is engaging in present a major risk for the company. However, strong demand for AI chips will likely limit the impact on TSMC's non-AI business, and since AI is driving a significant portion of its growth these days, the overall impact should remain manageable.
After the stock touched a 52-week low in April due to investors' tariff-related fears, it has recovered and is trading in the range it was in last fall. But it's still a relative bargain. Investors can buy shares for just 20 times forward earnings, as its price remains below $200 per share.
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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adam Levy has positions in Amazon, Netflix, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Netflix, Spotify Technology, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Tencent. 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.
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3 No-Brainer Artificial Intelligence (AI) Growth Stocks to Buy With $250 Right Now

Stocks surged on Monday as the U.S. and China announced a deal to temporarily reduce their high reciprocal tariffs, leading to much optimism that a global economic recession may be avoided.
Easing an ongoing trade war, the U.S. is cutting tariffs on China to 30% from 145%, with China reducing tariffs on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%. The agreement will last 90 days, as the two sides work on building a sustainable, long-term trade relationship.
The S&P 500 rose +3% in today’s trading session, with the Nasdaq spiking over +4%, as investors flock to big tech stocks that had sold off during rising trade tensions.
The Mag 7
At the center of what has been a historic market rebound are the mega-cap big tech stocks, with Apple AAPL, Amazon AMZN, Meta Platforms META, and Tesla TSLA leading the market gains on Monday and up over +6% respectively.
It’s likely that analysts may become more bullish on Apple’s short-term outlook as most of the electronic giant’s production comes from China.
A continued run-up in Apple, Amazon, and Meta stock looks fundamentally plausible, but it’s noteworthy that Tesla lands a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) based on a trend of declining earnings estimate revisions. Suggesting now may be a good time to fade the rally in Tesla stock is that TSLA has spiked +25% in the last month. Furthermore, Tesla has the highest P/E valuation among the Mag 7 at 161.4X forward earnings, with Alphabet GOOGL being the cheapest at 16.2X.
Nvidia NVDA and Microsoft MSFT have started to gain nice momentum as well, although the latter was only up +2% today. Still, Microsoft is the only Mag 7 stock that currently has a buy rating with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) while the others all land a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) outside of Tesla’s strong sell rating. This comes as fiscal 2025 EPS estimates for Microsoft are up 2% over the last 60 days, with FY26 EPS estimates up 1%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Alibaba & Tencent
Optimistically, Chinese tech stocks have already benefited from higher investor sentiment before the tariff truce with the U.S., as Chinese President Xi Jinping has been more supportive of their independent growth. With regulatory issues being less of a concern to investors, Alibaba BABA and Tencent TCEHY are two Chinese tech stocks to pay attention to and currently sport a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Their ADR’s (American Depository Receipts) have been two of the top performers on U.S. stock exchanges this year, with BABA soaring nearly +60% year to date and TCEHY up over +20%. The strong price performance has been due to their artificial intelligence expansion, leveraging AI to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve customer experience, as Alibaba has seen higher e-commerce sales, and Tencent has benefited from growth in its gaming and cloud services.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Retail Stocks
Outside of Amazon and Apple, retailers like Nike NKE, Starbucks SBUX, and even Walmart WMT and Target TGT rely heavily on supply chain operations from China. Nike and Starbucks also generate a significant portion of their revenue from their operations within China, which would make better trade and political relations between the U.S. and China beneficial to their outlook.
Nike and Walmart stock stand out with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), while Starbucks and Target have a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Plus, China accounted for 14% of Nike’s revenue in 2024, with $5.5 billion coming from footwear sales alone, as shown in the chart below.
Image Source: Statista
Energy & Transportation Stocks
Energy and transportation stocks will also be important to watch, as they could receive a continued boost in the following weeks thanks to today’s trade agreement. While geopolitical tensions can often cause an uptick in crude oil prices, the trade war between the U.S. and China had an adverse effect in regard to how the market saw future demand for travel and other activities that require higher energy production. Crude prices were up as much as +2% to over $62 a barrel but are still down 20% in 2025.
Image Source: Trading Economics
Bottom Line
The U.S. and China trade agreement gave the market what it was looking for, as investors now have more reassurance that the global economy will be less impacted by higher tariffs. That said, keeping an eye on the progress that is hopefully made in the next 90 days will be critical, considering the U.S. and China are the world's two largest economies.
Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor Stock
It's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.
With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.
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Target Corporation (TGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Tencent Holding Ltd. (TCEHY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Stocks to Watch as the U.S. & China Reach a Trade Deal

Tencent TCEHY is scheduled to release first-quarter 2025 results on May 13.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings is pegged at 88 cents per share, unchanged over the past 90 days, indicating 18.92% year-over-year growth.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $24.26 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 8.89%.
TCEHY surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 11.65%. (See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.)
Tencent Holding Ltd. Price and EPS Surprise
Tencent Holding Ltd. price-eps-surprise | Tencent Holding Ltd. Quote
Let us see how things have shaped up for the upcoming announcement.
Key Factors to Consider for TCEHY
Tencent’s performance in the first quarter of 2025 is expected to have been shaped by multiple ongoing initiatives across games, advertising, fintech, and AI infrastructure.
In domestic games, momentum from the fourth quarter of 2024 is expected to have been carried over, supported by evergreen titles like Honor of Kings, Peacekeeper Elite, Valorant and also contributions from recently released games, DnF Mobile and Delta Force. All five of Tencent’s highest-grossing games recorded year-over-year daily active users (DAU) increases during the 2025 Spring Festival period, suggesting sustained engagement. Deferred revenue, which grew by a high-teens percentage year over year in 2024, is expected to have contributed positively to the top line in the quarter under review.
In marketing services, revenues increased 17% year over year in the fourth quarter, with AI-driven enhancements to the advertising platform and strong advertiser demand across categories such as e-commerce, financials, FMCG, healthcare and education. Video Accounts Marketing Services revenues grew over 60% year over year, while Weixin Search ad revenue more than doubled. These trends are expected to have supported continued advertising growth in the quarter to be reported.
In FinTech, commercial payment revenues were flat year over year in the prior quarter, with volume of transactions rising but average selling prices under pressure. The same dynamics are expected to have continued in the first quarter, with consumer demand improving but supply-side pricing pressures still remaining.
The company reported that AI-native application Yuanbao saw rapid growth, with DAU increasing 20-fold from February to March. However, the revenue impact in the first quarter is expected to have been limited due to supply constraints in GPU availability. Increased allocation of GPUs for internal use initially limited external cloud services revenue, though installation activities during the first quarter are expected to have laid the groundwork for stronger growth in subsequent periods.
Tencent heavily invested in AI development in the fourth quarter of 2024, marked by a 21% year-over-year increase in R&D expenses and a 421% year-over-year rise in capital expenditure. The company intends to further increase both R&D spending and capital expenditures in 2025 to support AI infrastructure and model development across business groups. The bottom line in the first quarter of 2025 is expected to have reflected the increased R&D spending, driven by higher staff costs and GPU service depreciation related to AI initiatives.
What Our Model Says
According to the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the exact case here.
TCEHY has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Stocks to Consider
Here are a few companies worth considering, as our model indicates that they possess the right combination of factors to exceed earnings expectations in their upcoming releases:
Capital Southwest CSWC currently has an Earnings ESP of +3.23% and a Zacks Rank #2.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Capital Southwest shares have plunged 8.3% year to date. CSWC is slated to report its fourth quarter fiscal 2025 results on May 14.
Baidu BIDU has an Earnings ESP of +8.67% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.
Baidu shares have gained 3.1% year to date. BIDU is scheduled to report its first-quarter 2025 results on May 21.
Applied Materials AMT has an Earnings ESP of +1.94% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.
AMT shares have gained 19.9% year to date. It is scheduled to report its second-quarter fiscal 2025 results on May 15.
Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor Stock
It's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.
With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.
See This Stock Now for Free >>
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American Tower Corporation (AMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Tencent Holding Ltd. (TCEHY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Capital Southwest Corporation (CSWC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

TCEHY Set to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in Store for the Stock?

Shares of Pony AI (NASDAQ: PONY) are flying higher on Tuesday. The stock has gained 34.3% as of 12:12 p.m. ET and was up by as much as 37% earlier in the day. The move comes as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes slipped 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
Pony, a Chinese autonomous vehicle company, will partner with Uber Technologies to deploy its technology in Middle East markets later this year.
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Pony will power self-driving cars globally
Uber announced Tuesday that it will partner with Pony AI to begin offering autonomous robotaxi services in key markets in the Middle East before expanding to additional global markets in the future. The rollout will begin with "safety operators" in the driver's seats until the human operators are phased out.
Another step forward for Pony
The collaboration is a key partnership that helps Pony AI in its quest to expand globally. Currently operating in select Chinese cities, the company is already exploring expanding to South Korea, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong.
The company had announced another partnership just weeks ago with the Chinese tech giant Tencent, boosting its profile. This latest partnership further validates the company's technology outside the Chinese market.
The robotaxi market is crowded
Pony AI and Uber are up against big players with robotaxi aspirations like Tesla and Alphabet's Waymo. Competing with them is a tall order, but the company's strategy of partnering with larger, more established companies that already have massive user bases is a smart one. The company is still operating in the red and has relatively minimal sales, but that will change as the company's robotaxis are deployed globally. This is definitely a higher-risk stock, but if you have a tolerance for that, I think it's a good pick.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Tesla, and Uber Technologies. 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.

Why Pony AI Stock Is Skyrocketing Today

Shares of Pony.ai (NASDAQ: PONY) are flying higher on Monday. The company's stock rose 40.2% as of 12:16 p.m. ET today. The move comes as the S&P 500 lost 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.3%.
A key big-tech partnership
The company, which develops self-driving technologies, announced a new partnership with Tencent Holdings, a large Chinese tech company headquartered in Shenzhen. Pony.ai will integrate its autonomous robotaxi services into Tencent's Weixin Mobility Services platform and Tencent Maps.
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A boost for the company's profile
The deal validates the company's technology, demonstrating its usefulness to a company as powerful as Tencent. The collaboration will likely help Pony.ai gain more clients and drive revenue growth. It also benefits from exposure to Tencent's tech ecosystem, whose advanced cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence muscle will enhance Pony.ai's platform and help refine its models.
The business is currently bleeding cash and has fairly meager revenue. Last quarter, it lost roughly $180 million on $35 million in sales.
These numbers look concerning, but they're not unusual for a relatively young company still proving its technology. It is well funded and has a strong balance sheet with nearly $750 million in cash on hand.
The new partnership will undoubtedly help it move toward profitability. For those with patience and a higher risk tolerance, I think Pony.ai could pay off.
Should you invest $1,000 in Pony Ai right now?
Before you buy stock in Pony Ai, 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 Pony Ai wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
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Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tencent. 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.