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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: I'm curious to learn more about evaluating valuation metrics such as fwd P/E and P/S when analyzing a company and its expected growth rates. You often mention that a company is trading at X fwd PE which is cheap or that it is expensive. How do you know this and what exactly does this mean in the context of looking at its rev and earnings growth rates? You often say if the E or S is rising faster than the P, then yes, over time the valuation can come down quickly with the stock rising fast as well, just like how NVDA has done over the last few years. I've heard maintaining a +30-50% growth rate is very hard over a long period of time and not many companies do it and growth rates will slow down.


For example, lets quickly compare PLTR vs CRWD vs VRT over the next few years:

PLTR shows 173x PE and 54x PS.
Rev growth is 25% and 22% for 25/26
EPS growth is 26% and 21% for 25/26

CRWD shows 99x PE and 21x PS.
Rev growth is 28%,21%,21% for 25/26/27
EPS growth is 21%,26%,25% for 25/26/27

VRT shows 34x PE and 5x PS
Rev growth is 18% and 14% for 25/26
EPS growth is 32$ and 25% for 25/26

Looking at these numbers, PLTR is by far the most expensive valuation wise and WAY above any other software name in the universe. So at the current valuation of PLTR, what kind of rev and eps growth rate does it have to maintain in order to justify this valuation? What is the relationship between the fwd PE/PS vs the EPS/Rev growth rates and how do you analyze this? Any color you can add to this would be great, thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Keith on February 03, 2025
Q: Do you prefer CRM or NOW. It seems CRM is down in sympathy with NOW results. Were they really that bad? CRM trailing PE is almost 30 but NOW is much higher I believe. I have sold half my NVDA with the idea to move it into the next phase of AI adoption, software. Am thinking one of these and perhaps PLTR. You have much posted on it, any information you could add regarding buying it, would be helpful. Any other software companies you would consider? Thank you so much.
Read Answer Asked by John on January 31, 2025
Q: Hi,

Looking to replace NVDA and VRT. I wish to avoid the AI theme and Mag7. Do you have an handful of tech alternatives to suggest in the US?

Many thanks.
Michael
Read Answer Asked by Michael on January 31, 2025
Q: I'm over weight Technologies with the following securities KSX, SHOP, CLS, TOI, PLTR, CSU and NVDA. If you had to sell one or two which ones would you sell, or would you trim some from each and keep all?
Read Answer Asked by Mike on January 29, 2025
Q: While picking up the pieces from the Deep Think carnage on my tech stocks, it occurs to ask which stocks will benefit from the possible reduction in the cost of AI......can you provide a short list 5 - 10 of potential beneficiaries of that? Many thanks for your excellent service.
Read Answer Asked by Leonard on January 29, 2025
Q: I am looking for your top five CA and US stock ideas which capitalize on the AI boon, regardless of market cap. As well, what are your top three US cyber security ideas? Reasons for your picks would be appreciated. THX.
Read Answer Asked by Dona on January 09, 2025
Q: I have made some updates to my portfolio before heading into the new year and am looking for your thoughts on total portfolio. I have it all in TFSA and am 28 years old with a long time horizon. Could you give me your opinion over next 1, 3, 5 years of portfolio.

What changes might you make to this portfolio to stengthen it?

Portfolio Breakdown:
Stock Amount Invested (USD) % of Portfolio
NVDA $6,500 12.04%
SHOP $2,840 (converted from CAD) 5.26%
AMZN $2,650 4.91%
MSFT $2,520 4.67%
MELI $2,483 4.60%
PLTR $2,250 4.17%
TSM $2,000 3.70%
CRWD $1,830 3.39%
GOOGL $1,780 3.30%
TTD $1,767 3.28%
ISRG $2,180 (converted from CAD) 4.04%
META $2,150 (converted from CAD) 3.98%
BRK.B $1,470 2.72%
AXP $1,560 2.89%
LLY $1,500 2.78%
DIS $1,280 (converted from CAD) 2.37%
NBIS $840 1.56%
CELH $700 1.30%
SMCI $392 0.73%
SPCE $188 0.35%
XRP $120 (converted from CAD) 0.22%

Thanks,
Dan
Read Answer Asked by Daniel on January 07, 2025
Q: Happy New Year Peter and Colleagues.

I want to set aside a small percentage of my TFSA for more speculative and less serious investments. With that in mind, could you please provide a few of your best guesses for stocks with quick growth potential? I understand that these will be higher risk but have a chance of outsized growth.
Thanks.
David
Read Answer Asked by David on January 02, 2025
Q: Hello 5i
Could you rank the above stocks for a 3-5 year TFSA hold with a medium to high risk tolerance in mind.
Thank you
Dave
Read Answer Asked by Dave on December 17, 2024
Q: Hi There, I am trying to stear my portfolio decisions going into 2025, and looking for some of your feedback. I am 28 with 55k in myTFSA ( all after home purchase, so longer time horizon), I have about 5K of the 55K to invest, and the other 50K in the stocks below with their respective weightings of the 55K. I am trying to decide if I should add any other specific stocks or top up weightings to 2% on BSX / BKNG / ISRG / TSM / CELH / SMCI and add to CRWD, DIS, GOOGl, another 1.0%.

Are there any other stocks you would recommend to diversify this portfolio some more. Do you have any concerns with any holdings or their weightings?

Please deduct however many questions you feel necessary, I don't often ask Q's.

NVDA - 15%
SHOP - 10.7%
MELI - 9.8%
TTD - 9.2%
PLTR - 9.0%
MSFT - 7.6%
AMNZ - 7.6%
META - 4.1%
GOOGL - 3%
DIS - 2.5%
AXP - 2.45%
CRWD - 2%
NBIS - 2%
SMCI - 1.75%
NU - 1.64%
CELH - 1.54%
BSX - 1.12%
BKNG - 1%
ISRG - 0.7%
TSM - 0.7%


Thanks,
Dan
Read Answer Asked by Daniel on December 12, 2024
Q: Hi,
PLTR has had an incredible run but I believe the fundamentals are disconnected from the stock price. Trading at fwd P/E 150x and P/S 46x!! I believe this not sustainable with the estimated growth. What would PLTR have to grow rev and eps by for the next 5-10 years to get to this valuation? I'm looking to short PLTR and I know the risks of shorting stocks but I believe the risk/reward is good here and the stock will pullback. I am long the tech sector so this is somewhat of a hedge. Your thoughts?
Read Answer Asked by Keith on December 03, 2024
Q: What is 5i opinion of Investor Business Daily service? They publish an IBD50 and IBD Big Cap 20 list. Have you looked at these names on the list over any period of time and is it a valuable tool? You may not be able to answer this if you don't use the service but if you do out of the names on the lists what would be your top 5-7 names?
Read Answer Asked by Sal on December 03, 2024
Q: Hello
I have a large cash position at 19% & would like to allocate 15% now through to Q2 2025.

What would 5is recommendations for Tech,, Comm Services, Industrials and "any misc."Momentum" plays Top 3 USA & CDA for each would be great.

*Assume 4+yr holds
Read Answer Asked by Brant on November 25, 2024
Q: Good Day,

POWL went basically up 100$ and down almost as much within a week or 2, what happened? Any significant news?

My personal experience with these types of moves has been mixed, sometimes I let them run, and sometimes "Something doesn't seem right/too good to be true". The exits have been on 'psychology' type stocks and have been pretty successful (TSLA, first buy on SMCI, etc). I know it comes down to position sizing, but are some general guidelines or metrics to look at that can help decide whether it's worth trimming your position or not?

Secondly, PLTR. I have read a lot of the comments on it, and see the value in where they have positioned themselves, but am also concerned about the valuation, and how only a small slowdown could significantly tank the share price.

With the addition to the SP500 being one of a list of its catalysts, are there other companies with solid fundamentals, market share, and or momentum that are on the shortlist/likely to be added to a major index in the coming year or 2? Could you provide 2 or 3 condidates for the TSX60, SP500, NASDAQ100 and any other significant ones that may be of interest.

Thanks!

James
Read Answer Asked by James on November 20, 2024