Category: 3. Business

Story Continues

During the Thanksgiving-shortened week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 3%, the S&P 500 surged nearly 4%, and the Nasdaq leapt more than 4%.

That’s after selling off sharply earlier this month on fears that the AI bubble will burst and hints that the Federal Reserve won’t cut interest rates as much as anticipated.

“Santa’s back,” market veteran Ed Yardeni declared in a note on Saturday.

But panic-selling of bitcoin, which he and others on Wall Street have said was a factor in the earlier downturn, has subsided, and stocks are poised for a year-end rally.

Yardeni backed his view that the S&P 500 will hit 7,000 by the end of the year and suggested the broad market index could even reach that milestone in the coming week.

If that happens, the S&P 500 will finish 2025 with a 19% gain, following surges of more than 20% in each of the past two years.

And the market could still post double-digit advances from there. Earlier in the week, Yardeni reaffirmed his forecast for the index to soar to 7,700 in 2026, indicating a 10% increase from his 2025 view.

“We expect that 2026 will be just another year of the Roaring 2020s, which remains our base-case scenario,” he wrote. “Our Roaring 2020s scenario has had a good six-year run since we first predicted it in 2020.”

GDP growth, consumption and corporate profits have been chugging along, and Yardeni said the decade should avoid an economy-wide recession, while “rolling recessions” may hit different industries at different times.

Deutsche Bank is even more bullish and predicted the S&P 500 will finish next year at 8,000, representing a 17% jump from Friday’s close.

“We see equities continuing to benefit from the cross-asset inflows boom,” analysts wrote in a note. “With earnings continuing to rise and companies indicating they are sticking with their capital allocation plans we expect robust buybacks to continue.”

Elsewhere, JPMorgan expects the S&P 500 to end 2026 at 7,500, but added that it could go to 8,000 if the Federal Reserve keeps cutting rates.

Analysts cited above-trend earnings growth, the AI capital spending boom, rising shareholder payouts, and fiscal policy easing via tax cuts in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

And if inflation cools more than anticipated, that would clear the way for extra Fed rate cuts beyond the two addition reductions JPMorgan sees.

“More so, the earnings benefit tied to deregulation and broadening AI-related productivity gains remain underappreciated,” the bank said.

US retail sales on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, climbed 4.1% compared with last year, according to data released Saturday by Mastercard SpendingPulse. Online shoppers alone spent $11.8 billion, up 9.1% from 2024, according to data collection platform Adobe Analytics.

But those gains don’t account for higher prices due to inflation, so actual spending could be flat.

“We have 3% inflation, so maybe (the 4.1% increase in spending) is a real increase of just 1% or so, which is not that much of an increase,” Rick Newman, who writes The Pinpoint Press, a newsletter on the US economy, told CNN on Friday.

There’s also a bifurcation in who’s spending. The Federal Reserve’s most recent Beige Book, a collection of anecdotes about the economy, showed consumer spending among low- and middle-income consumers is on the decline. Meanwhile, the Fed found high-end consumers are continuing to spend — including on luxury items and travel.

Consumers have bought fewer items this holiday season, but the average selling prices are higher, according to Claudia Lombana, a national consumer expert.

“The ones that have higher income are spending at will, but those who are less affluent are budgeting,” Lombana told CNN’s Omar Jimenez on Saturday.

It’s part of the so-called K-shaped economy, in which higher earners get a boost from their stock market investments and home valuations and use their fatter paychecks to spend. But lower earners increasingly live paycheck to paycheck and look for discounts — or curtail their spending to cope with rising prices.

“The story of the economy right now is it’s a bifurcated economy. If you’re lucky enough to own stocks and own a home, you’re part of the upper slant of that cave, that K-shaped economy … you’re going to be comfortable spending a fair amount of money this year,” Newman said.

But Newman added that people on the lower slant of the K — those who don’t own stocks or a home — are increasingly worried about job security.

“I think those people are going to be pinching pennies this holiday season,” he said, adding that they will be more frugal with gift purchases and necessities. Heating bills, for instance, are higher because of natural gas prices going up. And grocery prices are on the rise, while rent hikes outpace income growth, he noted.

Eighty-five percent of consumers expect higher prices because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, according to the National Retail Federation, or NRF. And it’s a factor in how they shop.

“Nobody is sort of going on an item-by-item basis and saying, ‘Oh, the Trump tariffs have pushed up costs here by 4% or 10%,’ but it’s on people’s minds,” Newman said.

Value is more important than ever these days for consumers. Consumer sentiment is glum, job growth has slowed, and the federal government shutdown forced low-income shoppers to pull back spending amid a pause in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding.

As goods and services become harder for everyday Americans to afford, shoppers have grown pickier about how they spend their money and hunt for deals. They are gravitating toward retailers they feel can help them stretch their dollars further on groceries, household essentials, clothing and electronics.

Chains such as Walmart, TJ Maxx, Gap and others are benefiting, reporting strong sales during their latest quarters. Walmart is now gaining market share against competitors across all income groups and in several merchandise categories.

But others, such as Target and Bath & Body Works, are struggling.

And people are splurging less on gifts for themselves, according to Bath & Body Works.

Shoppers are expected to continue to splash out this holiday season, despite the cost-of-living squeeze and other economic pressures. The NRF expects retail sales in November and December to grow 3.7% to 4.2% compared with a year ago. That growth would be similar to last year’s rise.

The NRF projects a record $1 trillion in holiday spending this year, up from $976 billion last year.

Spending growth on apparel grew 6.1% online and 5.4% in-store on Black Friday, with Mastercard suggesting that “shoppers refreshed wardrobes while leaning into value-driven choices and convenience.” Consumers spent a record $6.4 billion online on Thanksgiving, up 5.3% from a year ago, according to Adobe Analytics, as big deals drew them to shop online.

“The magnitude of discounts was the big story on Thanksgiving yesterday, as retailers leaned into delivering great deals to drive consumer demand online,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe, said in a statement Friday.

Meanwhile, “buy now, pay later” continues to be an important payment option for consumers this holiday season. Adobe forecasts $20.2 billion will be spent through the payment method from November 1 to December 31, an 11% uptick over 2024.

“We saw half the people in America already shopping by Halloween this year for the holiday period,” said Lombana. “Of course, this five-day period from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday is significant for retailers, both online and in store. We are expecting to see Cyber Monday deliver strong.”

She noted that “consumers are definitely being more cautious, but during the holidays, they also want to engage in the holiday spirit.”

Airbus said Friday that an examination of the JetBlue incident revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls on the A320 family of aircraft.

The FAA joined the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in requiring airlines to address the issue with a new software update. More than 500 U.S.-registered aircraft will be impacted.

The EU safety agency said it may cause “short-term disruption” to flight schedules. The problem was introduced by a software update to the plane’s onboard computers, according to the agency.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury apologized to customers after the required fix led to “significant logistical challenges and delays.”

“Our teams are working around the clock to support our operators and ensure these updates are deployed as swiftly as possible to get planes back in the sky and resume normal operations, with the safety assurance you expect from Airbus,” he wrote in a message posted on LinkedIn on Saturday.

Thanksgiving disruptions in US

In Japan, All Nippon Airways, which operates more than 30 planes, canceled 65 domestic flights for Saturday. Additional cancellations on Sunday were possible, it said.

The software change comes as U.S. passengers were beginning to head home from the Thanksgiving holiday, which is the busiest travel time in the country.

American Airlines has about 480 planes from the A320 family, of which 209 are affected. The fix should take about two hours for many aircraft and updates should be completed for the overwhelming majority on Friday, the airline said.

On Saturday, the airline said in a statement that only four planes still needed to be updated and that it “expects no further operational impact.”

Air India said on X that its engineers were working on the fix and completed the reset on more 40% of aircraft that need it. There were no cancellations, it said.

Delta said it expected the issue to affect less than 50 of its A321neo aircraft. United said six planes in its fleet are affected and it expects minor disruptions to a few flights. Hawaiian Airlines said it was unaffected.

Pope’s plane also needs a software fix

Pope Leo XIV is on his inaugural foreign trip, to Turkey and Lebanon, and is flying along with the papal delegation and press corps aboard an ITA Airways Airbus A320neo charter.

The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said Saturday that ITA was working on the issue. He said the necessary component to update the aircraft was on its way to Istanbul along with the technician to install it. Leo was scheduled to fly from Istanbul, Turkey to Beirut, Lebanon on Sunday afternoon.

European flights return to normal

In France, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said the situation has stabilized as several software updates had already been installed. He told BFM-TV that the impact was limited in the country with an “almost complete return to normal in French airports.”

In the U.K., disruption also was minimal. British Airways, for example, said only three of its aircraft required the update, while EasyJet indicated there may be changes to its flying schedule as a result of the update, in which case passengers will be informed.

Germany’s Lufthansa said most software updates were completed during the night and on Saturday morning. No Lufthansa Group Airlines flights are expected to be canceled due to the current situation, but there may be minor delays over the weekend, it said.

Scandinavia’s SAS said its flights were operating as normal Saturday, after teams worked overnight to install the required software.

Mike Stengel, a partner with the aerospace industry management consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, said the fix could be addressed between flights or on overnight plane checks.

“Definitely not ideal for this to be happening on a very ubiquitous aircraft on a busy holiday weekend,” Stengel said from Ann Arbor, Michigan. “Although again the silver lining being that it only should take a few hours to update the software.”

At least 15 JetBlue passengers were injured and taken to the hospital after the Oct. 30 incident on board the flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey. The plane was diverted to Tampa, Florida.

Airbus, which is registered in the Netherlands but has its main headquarters in France, is one of the world’s biggest airplane manufacturers, alongside Boeing.

The A320 is the primary competitor to Boeing’s 737, Stengel said. Airbus updated its engine in the mid-2010s, and planes in this category are called A320neo, he said.

The A320 is the world’s bestselling single-aisle aircraft family, according to Airbus’ website.

___

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Samuel Petrequin, Pan Pylas in London and Nicole Winfield in Istanbul contributed to this report.

• CoreWeave and Nebius are growing at incredible rates thanks to the booming demand for data center compute.

• Both companies seem set to deliver outstanding growth in the long run thanks to their huge backlogs.

• However, one of these names is trading at a much cheaper valuation than the other one.

• 10 stocks we like better than CoreWeave ›

CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) and Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) are two companies that have been growing at an incredible pace owing to their business model. These companies are in the business of building data centers capable of running artificial intelligence (AI) workloads and renting them out to hyperscalers, AI companies, or anyone looking to buy dedicated AI data center capacity.

Formally known as neocloud companies, both CoreWeave and Nebius have seen incredible jumps in their stock prices this year. While CoreWeave is up 84% since its initial public offering (IPO) in late March this year, Nebius stock has shot up a stunning 231% this year. But if you had to choose from one of these two neocloud stocks for your portfolio right now, which one should it be?

Let’s find out.

CoreWeave went public toward the end of March, and it was the biggest tech IPO in the U.S. since 2021. Shares of the company rose impressively over the next few months and hit a high on June 20. However, it has been all downhill for CoreWeave since then, with the stock losing over 60% of its value.

CoreWeave investors got another shock recently after the company released its third-quarter results. Though it reported massive year-over-year growth of 134% in its revenue to $1.36 billion, CoreWeave had to slightly reduce its full-year guidance. It now expects full-year revenue to land at $5.1 billion at the midpoint of its guidance range, down from the earlier estimate of $5.25 billion.

The company had to trim its guidance because of a delay in the delivery of data center capacity by a third-party developer. CoreWeave said that this delay is temporary, and the impacted customer has agreed to maintain the total contract value and has adjusted the delivery schedule. So, this is a short-term impact that CoreWeave should be able to overcome.

Importantly, CoreWeave’s long-term growth story remains intact. That’s evident from the company’s massive revenue backlog of just under $56 billion at the end of the previous quarter. CoreWeave was sitting on a backlog of $15 billion a year ago, so this metric almost quadrupled. The massive leap in CoreWeave’s backlog can be attributed to the ever-growing demand for AI compute capacity.

The company has received massive contracts from Meta Platforms, OpenAI, and other hyperscalers who are looking to purchase AI compute capacity. As a result, CoreWeave is bringing new capacity online at an aggressive pace. It increased its contracted data center power capacity by 600 megawatts (MW) to 2.9 gigawatts in Q3.

Additionally, it brought online 120 MW of new capacity in Q3. CoreWeave had a total active data center capacity of 590 MW at the end of the previous quarter. The contracted capacity makes it clear that CoreWeave is on track to bring online more capacity, and that should allow it to convert its sizable backlog into revenue.

Another thing worth noting here is that CoreWeave has built a diversified customer base. It now has 10 large customers, thereby reducing its reliance on one or two names, and almost all of them have signed multiple contracts with CoreWeave. So, this AI stock seems primed to regain its mojo, and the huge demand for AI computing power should ensure that it keeps growing at a terrific pace in the long run.

Just like CoreWeave, even Nebius is getting massive contracts from customers such as Microsoft and Meta. Though Nebius is a relatively small company when compared to CoreWeave, it can scale up quickly thanks to its recent deals.

The company’s Q3 revenue was up by a whopping 355% year over year to $146 million. The multibillion-dollar contracts that Nebius has signed of late suggest that its remarkable growth is sustainable. Microsoft awarded a deal worth $17.4 billion to $19.4 billion to Nebius in September to purchase AI compute capacity from the latter over a five-year period.

Meta has also joined the company’s client list with a five-year contract valued at $3 billion. Nebius, therefore, is sitting on a revenue backlog of more than $20 billion. Fortunately, Nebius is now going to boost its data center capacity at a faster pace.

The company was earlier expecting to have 1 GW of contracted data center capacity at its disposal by the end of 2026. It has now bumped up that target to 2.5 GW. Even better, Nebius plans on boosting its active data center capacity from an estimated 220 MW at the end of 2025 to a range of 800 MW to 1 GW by the end of next year.

So there is a good chance of Nebius clocking much faster growth in revenue going forward, and that’s what even analysts are expecting from the company.

Clearly, both CoreWeave and Nebius are high-growth companies that can help investors capitalize on the AI infrastructure boom. However, when it comes to choosing one of these stocks, there is a clear winner.

CoreWeave stock trades at a significantly cheaper sales multiple right now. In fact, it can be bought at a discount to the U.S. technology sector’s average price-to-sales ratio of 8.4, despite its stunning growth. Moreover, CoreWeave has a more diversified customer base and a much bigger backlog, while much of Nebius’ growth is currently dependent on just two customers.

Of course, even Nebius can turn out to be a solid investment in the long run, but if you’re looking to choose from one of these two neocloud companies right now, CoreWeave looks like a better buy from a valuation standpoint.

Before you buy stock in CoreWeave, 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 CoreWeave 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 $580,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,084,986!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,004% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 194% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of November 24, 2025

Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms and Microsoft. 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.

Better Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock: CoreWeave vs. Nebius was originally published by The Motley Fool

Story Continues

Story Continues

• Ever wonder if Rockwool is trading at a bargain or charging a premium? You are not alone. Diving into the valuation story could make all the difference for savvy investors.

• After some swings, Rockwool’s share price has ticked up 3.6% over the past week, even though it remains down 14.5% year-to-date and 13.6% over the last 12 months.

• Much of this recent volatility lines up with headlines highlighting Rockwool’s ambitious plans to expand sustainable insulation offerings and ongoing sector shifts tied to green building regulations. Analysts have also been abuzz about increased investments in innovation, signaling both opportunities and evolving risks for shareholders.

• When it comes to valuation, Rockwool scores a solid 5 out of 6 on our undervaluation checklist, suggesting it passes most of the key value tests. In the next sections, we are going to dig deeper into the methods behind these numbers. Stick around, because we will also show you a smarter way to size up Rockwool’s real value.

Find out why Rockwool’s -13.6% return over the last year is lagging behind its peers.

The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) valuation method estimates a company’s true worth by extrapolating its future cash flows and discounting them back to today in order to account for risk and the time value of money. This approach offers a clearer gauge of intrinsic value compared to volatile market swings.

For Rockwool, the most recent twelve months’ Free Cash Flow stands at €383.88 million. Analyst forecasts extend for the next five years, projecting Free Cash Flow to reach around €287 million by the end of 2029. Beyond that horizon, projections are derived using long-term growth assumptions, with free cash flow expected to gradually increase through 2035. All estimates are provided in euros, as Rockwool reports in this currency.

The DCF model synthesizes these projections and arrives at a fair value of €219.12 per share. At the time of this analysis, Rockwool’s share price reflects a 0.8% discount to this theoretical fair value. This suggests the stock is trading almost in line with its underlying business fundamentals.

Result: ABOUT RIGHT

Rockwool is fairly valued according to our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), but this can change at a moment’s notice. Track the value in your watchlist or portfolio and be alerted on when to act.

Head to the Valuation section of our Company Report for more details on how we arrive at this Fair Value for Rockwool.

The Price-to-Earnings (PE) ratio is a favored metric for valuing profitable companies like Rockwool, as it provides a direct comparison between a company’s share price and its earnings. Investors use the PE ratio to gauge how much they are paying for each unit of earnings. This makes it especially relevant for established businesses with reliable profit streams.

A “normal” or “fair” PE ratio can vary significantly depending on a company’s growth prospects and risk profile. Companies with higher expected growth or lower risk often warrant higher PE multiples, while slower-growth or riskier companies typically command lower values.

Currently, Rockwool trades at a PE ratio of 12.2x. This is notably below the Building industry average of 19.1x and its peer group average of 19.9x. This suggests that the market is pricing Rockwool more conservatively than many of its counterparts. Instead of just comparing against these benchmarks, Simply Wall St uses a proprietary “Fair Ratio,” which reflects what a reasonable PE would be by taking into account factors like Rockwool’s earnings growth potential, profit margins, industry dynamics, market cap, and company-specific risks. For Rockwool, the Fair Ratio is calculated at 14.6x.

Unlike simple peer or sector comparisons, the Fair Ratio offers a more tailored view by considering the full financial picture rather than just superficial market links. This results in a much more relevant benchmark for fair valuation.

With Rockwool trading at 12.2x compared to a Fair Ratio of 14.6x, the stock appears slightly undervalued, but the gap is modest.

Result: ABOUT RIGHT

PE ratios tell one story, but what if the real opportunity lies elsewhere? Discover 1438 companies where insiders are betting big on explosive growth.

Earlier, we mentioned that there is an even better way to understand valuation. Let us introduce you to Narratives. A Narrative is your story about a company; it is how you connect your own perspective to Rockwool’s actual numbers, such as your fair value estimate and expectations for future growth and profitability.

With Narratives, you tie together the company’s underlying story, a financial forecast based on your assumptions, and a calculation of fair value, all in one place. Narratives make investment decisions more dynamic and personal by allowing you to capture not just what has happened, but what you believe will drive Rockwool’s future results.

This tool is available directly in the Community page on Simply Wall St, where millions of investors post and update their own Narratives. It is an easy, accessible way to track your viewpoint and compare it to others as new earnings, news, or market conditions come in.

By using Narratives, you can see instantly whether your fair value, based on your thesis, is above or below the current market price, helping you decide whether it’s time to buy, sell, or hold. For example, some investors are optimistic, projecting a price target for Rockwool as high as DKK360.00, while others are more cautious, seeing fair value closer to DKK249.89. Your Narrative can reflect whichever perspective you believe is most likely.

Do you think there’s more to the story for Rockwool? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying!

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Companies discussed in this article include ROCK-B.CO.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

Story continues