But the market seemed to focus more on the promise of future growth rather than the current numbers. The company talked about their plans for new factories in Texas and Berlin, as well as the upcoming launch of the Cybertruck and the Semi. Elon Musk also hinted at potential new products, including a compact car and a robotaxi service. Overall, investors seemed to be willing to overlook the current challenges in favor of the long-term potential of the company. It will be interesting to see if Tesla can deliver on these promises and continue to innovate in the electric vehicle space.
Asit Sharma: It’s interesting to see Chipotle expanding internationally, especially in Mexico where they can really capitalize on the cultural connection to the cuisine. But going back to the domestic market, it’s clear that Chipotle is facing some challenges with their comps and margins. It will be important for them to focus on improving throughput and managing costs in order to weather these headwinds. It’s always a tough balancing act in the restaurant industry, but Chipotle has proven resilient in the past and I’m optimistic that they can navigate through this rough patch.
Jason Moser: That’s right. They’re taking a proactive approach to it, assuming that these tariffs will be implemented. They’re not waiting around to see what happens. They’re planning for it and making adjustments accordingly. It’s definitely a smart move on their part to be prepared for any potential impact on their business. But the reality is that businesses are just starting to scratch the surface on how to effectively implement AI technologies into their operations. So, I think the spend will continue, maybe not at the same rate as before, but it’s definitely not going away anytime soon. And those companies that have made significant investments in AI and Cloud infrastructure will likely continue to see strong growth in the future.
Dylan Lewis: That’s a great point. And I think it speaks to the fact that these businesses are so integrated into our daily lives now that it’s hard to imagine them not continuing to find new ways to monetize what they’re doing. Malcolm, thank you so much for joining me. Always great to have you on the show.
Malcolm Ethridge: Dylan, always a pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Dylan Lewis: All right. Coming up next, we’ve got an interview with the CEO of a company that’s changing the way we think about online shopping. Stick with us. You’re listening to Motley Fool Money.
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Dylan Lewis: Welcome back to Motley Fool Money. I’m Dylan Lewis. Online shopping has been one of the biggest trends of the last decade, but there’s always room for innovation. Joining me now is the CEO of ShopSmart, Sarah Johnson. Sarah, thanks for coming on the show.
Sarah Johnson: Dylan, thanks for having me. Excited to be here.
Dylan Lewis: So, ShopSmart is a relatively new player in the online shopping space, but you guys have been making some waves with your approach. Can you tell us a little bit about what sets ShopSmart apart from other online retailers?
Sarah Johnson: Absolutely. So, at ShopSmart, we’re really focused on personalization and convenience. We know that consumers are bombarded with options when they shop online, and it can be overwhelming to try to find what you’re looking for. So, we’ve developed an AI-powered platform that learns from your browsing and shopping habits to curate a personalized shopping experience just for you. We also offer features like one-click purchasing and same-day delivery to make the shopping experience as seamless as possible.
Dylan Lewis: That’s really interesting. I think personalization is such a key trend in e-commerce right now. How do you see that evolving in the future?
Sarah Johnson: I think personalization is only going to become more important as consumers continue to expect tailored experiences when they shop online. We’re already seeing the rise of things like virtual try-on for clothing and AI-powered product recommendations. I think the next frontier will be even more advanced AI algorithms that can anticipate what you want before you even know you want it. At ShopSmart, we’re always looking for ways to stay ahead of the curve and provide our customers with the best shopping experience possible.
Dylan Lewis: That’s really exciting. It’s amazing to think about how far online shopping has come in such a short amount of time. Sarah, thank you so much for joining me today.
Sarah Johnson: Thanks for having me, Dylan. It’s been a pleasure.
Dylan Lewis: All right. That’s it for this episode of Motley Fool Money. Thanks for tuning in. We’ll see you next time.
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Malcolm Ethridge: And the second area I’m excited about is renewable energy. I think there’s a lot of potential for growth in that sector, especially as more companies and governments prioritize sustainability and environmental responsibility. These are the areas where I see opportunity for investors to make smart decisions and see returns in the long term. ” The one thing on there that is a do not touch is the security budget. If anything, it needs to be increasing. You can’t afford to be decreasing, and it’s like car insurance. You cannot operate a vehicle in the United States without car insurance. You cannot run a small, medium or large scale enterprise without some cybersecurity protection. I think that is a really great place be looking at recession resistant defensive type places to deploy capital, whether it’s CrowdStrike in Palo Alto or, at the very top end or coming downstream and looking at an ETF, even maybe BUG or CIBR, however you decide to play that space. Then separately from that, as counterintuitive as it to say it out loud, I think that Netflix is a very defensive play right here, as well as Spotify, simply because if we are indeed headed for recession, that means that people are pulling back on spending on things like travel on leisure. Brunch doesn’t have to happen every Sunday on schedule the way it used to.
But what am I not going to reduce my spend on or what may I maybe even be inclined to sign up for in that time period? Netflix, because it’s going to help me occupy more of those hours that I would have spent finding some other way to entertain myself. I think that obviously, based on the streets reaction to their reporting, a number of investors out there agree with me, but if you think that Netflix looks too expensive, Spotify is another way to play that same theme that’s probably a couple of years behind where Netflix has already built out their paid user base.
Dylan Lewis: We have this concept internally, we talk about a lot of the snap test for business, and just, if that company goes away, do people riot? Do people care? I think for Netflix and Spotify, absolutely and for the amount of money that it goes each month, you don’t think about it too too much. I would feel it, though, if my subscription went away. I say it as a shareholder and also as a user. I need the tunes. It’s a lot easier to get through some bad times.
Malcolm Ethridge: The real test for Spotify was back in, I think it was 2021 with the Joe Rogan experience, literally and figuratively. The time for people to revolt and go away was when that whole hubbub came to be. That’s what showed me just how elastic the demand for Spotify really was because at a moment when the rest of the country is in crisis and there’s social movements against everything else, the one thing that people weren’t really willing to do any work to leave was Spotify because they’ve already built their playlist. The algorithm knows them personally. They feel like, this is my service, and I don’t want to have to start over from scratch in a place like Apple Music or Amazon music or whatever else might exist that I can’t even think of. This is my service. When I saw that and the fact that they barely lost a single subscriber from that, I said, That is a defensive service, and they have a mote that they’re building. Now looking at their paid user base, I think that they’re following the Netflix subscription model. They’re probably just a couple of years behind on, Netflix is now talking about doubling their revenue mix, doubling the paid subscriber base. I know that that has a lot of global reach to it, and that’s how they’re planning on doing it. I think both of those are trend going in the same direction. They’re probably a lot of overlap in their users, between paid users on Spotify and paid users on Netflix.
Dylan Lewis: What I hear in both of your looks at companies is you’re looking at the way that the spend fits into the consumer’s mind or the business’ mind. That’s one of the main filters in how you’re looking at companies and how they’re going to succeed in this market in this environment. Any other things that you’re keeping in mind as you’re looking at businesses right now?
Malcolm Ethridge: One thing that I am interested in and I don’t have a good answer on just yet, because there’s so many other dynamics out there in the market today, where one tweet away from the market tanking or surging 10% in a day. One space that I’m keeping an eye on, though, is the real estate market in the sense that I think that the moment there’s a catalyst that gets us a roughly 50 basis point cut in the 10 year treasury that obviously sends mortgage rates down with it sustainably for more than a week, let’s say, so that the mortgage markets have a chance to adjust. I think that that’s going to be a great time to be buying and owning the larger wholesale mortgage service companies like United Wholesale, Rocket, and whoever else they compete against that are in, the third and fourth seat. That’s an industry that’s been asleep for a very long time and is waiting on its catalyst moment. I think because we look at the cycle, it usually is about a two year lull and then a two year surge and then a two year law. We’ve had our two year law already because interest rates have been so restrictive in the mortgage market. Now is time for us to be ramping up for that surge on that side. That’s a place I’m keeping my eye out.
Dylan Lewis: Malcolm, as always, awesome to talk to. Thanks for joining me.
Malcolm Ethridge: Glad to be here.
Dylan Lewis: Listeners, you can catch more of Malcolm on X. He’s got his Malcolm on money and weekly newsletter. You can get the info for that on his site, malcolmethridge.com. We’ve got more stock ideas ahead.”
Disclosure: Asit Sharma has positions in Adobe, Amazon, Intuitive Surgical, Microsoft, and ServiceNow. Dan Boyd has positions in Amazon and Chipotle Mexican Grill. Dylan Lewis has positions in Spotify Technology. Jason Moser has positions in Adobe, Alphabet, Amazon, and Chipotle Mexican Grill. John Mackey, Suzanne Frey, and Randi Zuckerberg are members of The Motley Fool’s board of directors.
Please note that the Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against the stocks mentioned. Personal finance decisions should not be based solely on the information provided in this segment. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions. The Motley Fool memiliki posisi dalam dan merekomendasikan Accenture Plc, Adobe, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Chipotle Mexican Grill, CrowdStrike, International Business Machines, Intuitive Surgical, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Netflix, ServiceNow, Spotify Technology, dan Tesla. The Motley Fool merekomendasikan Nasdaq dan Palo Alto Networks dan merekomendasikan opsi berikut: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft, dan short June 2025 $55 calls on Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool memiliki kebijakan pengungkapan.
“Tesla’s Rough Quarter, Alphabet’s Resilience, Chipotle’s Burrito Slowdown, and More” awalnya diterbitkan oleh The Motley Fool.