That's the takeaway from this morning's brief, which you can do Sign up Also to receive in your inbox every morning:
Earnings have begun to snowball.
And what does that mean?
You probably missed a lot other Stories that can impact your portfolio. After all, there's more to one's investment life than building a 2050 profit model for Nvidia ( NVDA ) and wondering if Tesla ( TSLA ) will sell $10 billion from humanoid robots.
In that spirit, here are a few of my convos this week that will (hopefully) leave you thinking.
AI fills extra spicy hot sauce: I was at a CEO dinner this week where an analyst specializing in AI shared the profound impact on business as AI expands. I agree that the way business is done will change profoundly and that will include a good bit of job losses.
An example of the impact of AI is Cholula Hot Sauce. Its parent, spice maker McCormick ( MKC ), held an investor day this week.
“We used generative AI to understand where all the comments were going [for hot sauce]We learned there were some Cholula lovers who wanted a hot version So in January, we're launching an extra-hot version of Cholula,” McCormick CEO Brendan Foley told me about Yahoo Finance's market dominance overtime.
McCormick reiterated its long-term sales growth guidance of 4% to 6% and earnings growth of 9% to 11%. Shares are up 16% for the year, compared with the S&P 500's 22% gain.
You can catch that whole spicy episode here.
Building a 21st Century Media Company: The traditional media industry is being disrupted by everything from new streaming networks to creators posting on YouTube. And why do you think Disney ( DIS ) said this week that its CEO Bob Iger will stay on until 2026 (he was rumored to leave in 2025)? He must leave the business in a much better place than his last exit.
One of these disruptors in the last 15 years has been Dude Perfect. The company was started by five friends who went to Texas A&M and gained fame for viral trick-shot videos posted on YouTube. The company now boasts 60.5 million subscribers and produces a steady, wide range of content.
Armed with a new $100 million capital infusion from Highmount Capital, Dude Perfect is gearing up for more unique programming and a headquarters in Frisco, Texas. The responsibility of bringing that vision to life? Dude Perfect's first CEO is Andrew Yaffe, who took the job a few weeks ago.
“I think people underestimate how big YouTube is,” Yaffe told me about the Google-owned ( GOOG ) platform on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast (video above; listen here ). “YouTube is the largest media platform in the U.S. in terms of usage. Bigger than Netflix (NFLX). And it's growing fast. It's also the biggest outside of the U.S. It's huge — it's how people under 34 consume content.”
Not huge: Google's stock price year to date Shares have trailed the S&P 500's 23% gain, rising just 16%.
Big Blue is a big AI player: A lot is lost on a company's earnings day because traders zoom in on the numbers and few trends on the earnings call. Ultimately this is why I think companies should report twice a year, but that's a discussion for a different day.
One number missing from IBM's earnings release on Wednesday (which sent the stock price reeling as advisory sales missed estimates): $3 billion in AI-related project support. Jim Kavanaugh, IBM's veteran CFO, told me the company is looking to add $1 billion to its AI project backlog in a quarter.
That's huge and a long runway for building AI infrastructure in line with what Kavanaugh thinks.
“In my personal opinion, I think it's going to be the longest [adoption] The curve that we're going to see as it plays out in so many different industries and so many different clients,” Kavanaugh said.
That bullish sentiment was echoed this week in a convo I had with BofA analyst Vivek Arya at Opening Bid, where he discussed how the buildout of AI will require the use of nuclear power. More insight into it and how it will benefit market darling Nvidia.
Our Morning Brief presenter Seanna Smith will lean into IBM's AI future with Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna at our annual investment conference on November 12. Want to stop by and say hi and stay in the room for some wealth-building chat? Register here!
Still a Marriott running Marriott: Meet David S. Marriott, 50, who took over the role of chairman of Marriott ( MAR ) in 2022 from his legendary father, JW “Bill” Marriott Jr., 92. David's father – who is chairman emeritus – served as chairman for 60 years and CEO for 40 years. Mind blowing! Bill's parents, Alice Marriott and J. Willard Marriott founded the company in 1927 as an A&W root beer stand.
Suffice it to say, the younger Marriott rarely gives interviews (she travels a lot and has four children) — so spending time with her at Opening Bid was a treat.
“I spent several summers doing internships in the kitchen, learning how to prepare food, hot food, cold food and how to line cook. And, I spent a summer as a bellman and some time making beds and working in the back. . front desk,” Marriott told me about his job training.
Our full chat pod drops Monday at 8:30am. Be sure to tune in to Yahoo Finance or listen on your favorite podcast platform.
And since you were wondering: Marriott shares are up 111% over the past five years. Hilton (HLT) is up 155%.
David S. Marriott (left) prefers to be called David. His father is known within the company as Mr. Marriott. ·Yahoo Finance
Three times per week, I field insight-filled conversations with the biggest names in business and the market Bid opening. Find more of our episodes Video Hub. Keep an eye on you Preferred streaming service. Or listen and subscribe Apple Podcasts, SpotifyOr wherever you find your favorite podcasts
Brian Sozzi Executive Editor of Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi And LinkedIn. Tips about contracts, mergers, staffing situations, or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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