Travis Hoium
Travis Hoium
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avatarTravis Hoium
02-03 09:29

Autonomous Driving Fits and Starts

Waymo Charges ForwardWe can debate the launch timing of $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ Mobileye, and a dozen other autonomous companies. But $Alphabet(GOOG)$ $Alphabet(GOOGL)$ Waymo is here and expanding.Waymo has been operational in Los Angeles for a while and is now adding freeways, initially for employees, and if history is any indication this will launch to the broader audience in a few months. Ironically, Waymo has kept to the higher-risk city centers and kept off the highway, so this will be a key expansion around the country to make longer haul trips more viable and increase the addressable market.Waymo also announced that it will be going on a “road trip” to Las V
Autonomous Driving Fits and Starts
avatarTravis Hoium
02-03 09:24

Tariff Tantrum 2025: Into the Unknown

There will be an impact from tariffs on the economy, but outside of some simple impacts to the cost of avocados and $Nike(NKE)$ shoes, the biggest changes will largely be second and third-order effects that are unknown, despite every voice in the media saying they know the exact impact. I’ll get to that in a moment. To start, I want to level set what I think the market will be reacting to this week.Most “smart money” thought the threat of tariffs was a negotiating ploy and wouldn’t happen, at least not yet. I expect there to be some surprise for those who thought tariffs would be more targeted and wouldn’t impact their businesses directly.Investors will need to rethink growth assumptions, inflation expectations, and the impact of tariffs on earning
Tariff Tantrum 2025: Into the Unknown

Is the AI Bubble Bursting?

On Monday, $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ 's shares fell 17%, and the company lost $593 billion in value, the most in a single day in history.The cause was the DeepSeek AI model that was open-sourced from China, competing on a level playing field with OpenAI’s o3 model and similar models from Anthropic and Google.The debates around whether DeepSeek cost more than they said or what chips they used aren’t relevant to the industry long-term. What’s relevant is model training getting cheaper and models getting smaller.Both trends are a big deal for the AI bubble inflating the market.What is going on? Everyone is reevaluating how much spending is going to go into AI this year and beyond. And the answer may not be as bullish as it was a few weeks ago.Is Capex Growing?W
Is the AI Bubble Bursting?

SoFi Stock Drops, Why I'm Not Panicking

One of our biggest advantages over Wall Street is our ability to think in years and decades rather than the weeks and quarters most analysts and fund managers are judged by.Wall Street analysts are trying to fill out their spreadsheets and predict what the next quarter will look like, while we can sit back and relax knowing the companies we own are compounding year after year.SoFi sits firmly in that compounding category after fourth quarter 2024 results were announced on Monday. And while the stock is down 9.9% in the past week, the drop hasn’t changed my long-term view and I may be even more bullish than before earnings.The stock is down, but the business is hitting on all cylinders.
SoFi Stock Drops, Why I'm Not Panicking

NVIDIA's 971% Gain from Multiple Expansion, GM Dominates with EVs & Buybacks

1. $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ 971% of NVIDIA's gains over the past decade has been from multiple expansion. Margin compression alone could cause a ~90% drop in the stock. Something to think about.Image2. $General Motors(GM)$ GM crushing the competition in the auto business right now. EVs and SUVs all growing and buybacks at a 5 P/E fueling EPS growth.ImageThe stock market thinks short-term. Your biggest advantage is thinking long-term.The current stock market hates positive FCF companies that are using cash to back stock at low P/E multiples.You can guess where I'm finding opportunities.Tech Stocks 1999: This time is different.2000: It wasn't different.Housing 2007: This time is different.2008: It wasn't different.3D P
NVIDIA's 971% Gain from Multiple Expansion, GM Dominates with EVs & Buybacks

Why is NVDA down today?

1. $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ Why is NVDA down today? 1. Revenue growth slows as dominance in pre-training turns to competition in inference. 2. Margins fall because of ⬆️ 3. Multiples compress from sky-high levels to “normal”. The stock could fall 80-90% depending on the change in growth and margins.90% of beating the market is really just:Buy great companiesDoing nothing for YEARSProfitIt's harder than it looks, but the formula is simple.2. $SoFi Technologies Inc.(SOFI)$ SoFi stock now only up 40% in the past 3 months. What a disaster.ImageResults look great. The reaction may be negative because it wasn’t a blowout. But long-term a 24% revenue growth rate is phenomenal and more people are CHOOSING to use the produc
Why is NVDA down today?

Big Tech's Ticking Time Bomb

It was a slow and steady week of gains for the stock market this week. Bank earnings began and results were mostly ahead of expectations. This week, we begin earnings season in earnest with companies like $SoFi Technologies Inc.(SOFI)$ $General Motors(GM)$ $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ $Apple(AAPL)$ The Ticking Time Bomb on Big Tech’s Balance SheetThis week, I explored the world of data center investment and depreciation. It’s not an exciting world, but it may be a place to find risk where most investors are seeing opportunity.As I’ve highlighted before, the economics of AI aren’t the same as technology companies are used to. Norma
Big Tech's Ticking Time Bomb

RGTI, SOFI & MGM Under Pressure

1. $Rigetti Computing(RGTI)$ Rigetti has $11.9 million in revenue and a $3.7 billion market cap.Even if quantum is the future, this is a bad stock to bet on because the fundamentals are so bad.Image2. $SoFi Technologies Inc.(SOFI)$ If SoFi is becoming more of a platform company, facilitating loans through its "lending platform" like we saw with the $2 billion Fortress deal, that growth will show up here, not in lending revenue.Image3. $MGM Resorts International(MGM)$ MGM stock is down 23% in the past year.If management just keeps the buyback level flat, it could reduce shares outstanding at a 20%/yr pace right now.Image
RGTI, SOFI & MGM Under Pressure

MSFT, TSLA, COIN, MGM and LYFT Face Bearish Trends

1. $Microsoft(MSFT)$ Something I'm thinking about a lot. What happens to the economics of the tech industry when capex goes exponential with unknown payoff?Is there balance sheet risk (mis-understanding depreciation of GPUs)?Are these now utilities?Image2. $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ Tesla's energy business happened to reach an inflection point in Q3 2022.What else happened in Q3 2022? The IRA was passed!If Trump rolls back the IRA (in particular PTC for batteries) the energy business likely goes to zero margin because...batteries are a commodity.3. $Coinbase Global, Inc.(COIN)$ Look at how the revenue mix has shifted over the past 5 years.Coinbase isn't the company it
MSFT, TSLA, COIN, MGM and LYFT Face Bearish Trends

AI's Napster Moment

Napster’s fundamental disruption was building a world of abundance in the music industry, forever changing the access users expected to music.Simultaneously, it destroyed the economic value of creating music in the first place.It would be seven years between the launch of Napster (1999) and the business model that would save music — brought to us by $Spotify Technology S.A.(SPOT)$ . But it would be a full 22 years, not until 2021, that the music industry would fully recover from Napster’s fundamental disruption.This fundamental disruptive tension has made its way to artificial intelligence.What happens to artificial intelligence and the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested if there’s no payback on the initial breakthrough?What happens wh
AI's Napster Moment

Meme Coins and Peak Absurdity

In 30 years as an investor, the only time we have rivaled the absurdity of the current meme coin craze is the dot com bubble. In that case, there were very real companies with VERY crazy valuations because people were making up values for a new business model. They used eyeballs, page views, and all kinds of other crazy metrics to justify the valuation of companies with little revenue and nothing but losses as far as the eye could see.Eventually, sanity returned to the market when the bubble burst in 2000 and it would take more than 17 years for the $.IXIC(.IXIC)$ to get back to bubble highs.The latest bubble is in memes, which are quite literally, an “expression of support” for “ideals and beliefs” which seems even more absurd in a lot of ways t
Meme Coins and Peak Absurdity

One Asymmetric Crypto Opportunity: Why This Game Stands Out

You probably don't follow me for crypto takes and I don't post about crypto often anymore, so I'll keep this short. This is the one asymmetric opportunity I'm in.1. The team has been building the game for years through the bear.2. Economics and gameplay are innovative and only possible on the blockchain.3. Multi-chain and crypto isn't required to play, opening up the market.4. The assets seem extremely undervalued with YAKU at a ~$4 million market cap.Enough said.
One Asymmetric Crypto Opportunity: Why This Game Stands Out

10x Stocks: Valuation, Buybacks, and Massive Gains

Why I Bought More MGM Resorts StockI’m going to use $MGM Resorts International(MGM)$ as a proxy here because I recently bought more in the Asymmetric Portfolio, but the same thesis can be applied to $Crocs(CROX)$ or $General Motors(GM)$ (which I recently sold).The analysis is pretty simple. I’m looking for:Strong cash flow from a business with a wide moat.They aren’t adding land to the Las Vegas Strip.Macau has limited land, only 6 concessionaires, and limits both buildings and tables/slots.Only 1 casino is approved in Japan (2030).People need/want to go to destinations to get together and have fun. This goes for parties and businesses, which are increasingly remote
10x Stocks: Valuation, Buybacks, and Massive Gains

The market is still extremely highly valued

Red is P/E multiples over 20. $Alphabet(GOOG)$ $Alphabet(GOOGL)$ $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ Dark red is P/E multiples over 30. $Microsoft(MSFT)$ $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ $Broadcom(AVGO)$ $Apple(AAPL)$ $Amazon.com(AMZN)$ $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ $Netflix(NFLX)$ The market is still extremely highly valued.Remember, 10x returns are often generated by buying stocks at 10-15x multipl
The market is still extremely highly valued

Disney's Fubo Deal & the Start of M&A Madness

I’ve written extensively about $Walt Disney(DIS)$ ’s plans to bundle Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN to make a new streaming bundle in 2025. I think that could also include more content than we see today like a potential deal to include Fox’s sports programming on ESPN streaming, which would be compelling competition to $Netflix(NFLX)$ .What Bob Iger has done is create a clear streaming strategy on the scale side of the Smiling Curve. But this streaming strategy doesn’t address what happens to legacy assets, non-core assets, or how to squeeze value from over-the-top cable. Until this week.Disney announced a plan to trade its Hulu+ Live TV asset for a 70% stake in $fuboTV Inc.
Disney's Fubo Deal & the Start of M&A Madness

Silicon Valley Is Built on Zero Marginal Cost

The internet of the past 20 years and the multi-trillion dollar tech companies we see today are built on two assumed truths.The addressable markets are nearly infinite in sizeMarginal costs round to zeroThis is why $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ Facebook was trading for 100x earnings in 2014 and 2015. Investors knew it could eventually scale profits to the $55.5 billion in net income we see today.ImageIt’s why $Uber(UBER)$ could raise tens of billions of dollars chasing ride-sharing.It’s whywinner-take-all markets are valuable. It’s why theSmiling Curve works.Margins are 80% to 90% for most of these companies. The marginal cost isn’t important. What’s important is growing. Fast.ImageAI may not look like thi
Silicon Valley Is Built on Zero Marginal Cost

The best investing advice - Learn, Implement, Repeat

They say it takes 10 years to master a craft.I'm 29 years into my investing journey and I'm no master. But I have learned this:1. Embrace uncertainty2. Accept diversification is good for you3. The less you look at your portfolio the betterWhat did I miss?The best investors are on a constant learning journey.Buffett started buying "cigar butt" stocks and evolved to a buy-and-hold strategy.Bill Gurley has made a fortune on internet companies and the internet didn't even exist when he started.The best trade is not to trade at all. Compounding takes time...and patience.Learn, implement, repeat.
The best investing advice - Learn, Implement, Repeat

GOOG, SPOT, MSFT and COIN Show Strong Bullish Trends

1. $Alphabet(GOOG)$ $Alphabet(GOOGL)$ Pull out Google Cloud and Waymo and you still have an amazing business with Alphabet's core. 2. $Spotify Technology S.A.(SPOT)$ When a tech company gets religion about cash flow the turnaround can happen fast. 3. $Microsoft(MSFT)$ At the current rate of capex growth, Microsoft will be FCF NEGATIVE in ~2026. This is a company with falling ROIC trading for 12.5x sales. Makes you think... 4. $Coinbase Global, Inc.(COIN)$ A reminder that Coinbase is much more than an exchange business. And with the growth of USDC the stablecoin business is gett
GOOG, SPOT, MSFT and COIN Show Strong Bullish Trends

Hims & Hers: From GLP-1s to Menopause

One of the Asymmetric Universe stocks that I fundamentally disagree with most of the market’s commentary is $Hims & Hers Health Inc.(HIMS)$ . Even today, a Wall Street analyst downgraded the stock to a sell with a $25 price target because of changing expectations for GLP-1s. 🤷 He expects GLP-1s to be only $135 million in revenue in 2025 from previous expectations of $400 million. Reminder, this is a business that didn’t exist 8 months ago!The company swings wildly day-to-day on GLP-1 news but GLP-1s account for very little of the company’s revenue or subscriptions. A long-term view of the company — which is what I do on Asymmetric Investing — shows a very different story than the GLP-1 focus and I think presents an opportunity for investo
Hims & Hers: From GLP-1s to Menopause

Artificial Intelligence & The End Of Silicon Valley's Money Factory

This week, Sam Altman gave away the economics of the AI world. And they may not be all that attractive.The fact that OpenAI is losing money isn’t surprising. WHY OpenAI is losing money on a $200/month subscription is what’s new to Silicon Valley.AI Scaling 1.0 - Pre-TrainingTo explain how the economics of AI have been upended in the last few months, we need to go through some history.Most of the scaling that took place through the end of 2023 was related to pre-training.Simply, developers were able to use more data and more compute to make AI models smarter. This is often called the foundation model and it’s the core of the models we see today.This type of scaling is also why you heard talk about a model costing $1 billion and $100 billion models being just a few years away.But the idea of
Artificial Intelligence & The End Of Silicon Valley's Money Factory

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