Tag: Stock pick

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

Let’s turn the calendar back six months to early June. 

Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was down over 10% year to date, while the S&P 500 had recovered from the tariff-induced sell-off in April and was roughly flat on the year.

Fast-forward to today, and Alphabet is up 67% year to date, has more than doubled off of its 52-week low, and surpassed Microsoft to become the third-most valuable company in the world behind Nvidia and Apple. In 2025, Alphabet is by far the best-performing “Magnificent Seven” stock, with Nvidia in a distant second place with a 35.1% year-to-date gain.

Here’s why Alphabet’s rise wasn’t a fluke, how you can identify Alphabet-like stocks before they pop, and why Alphabet has room to run in 2026. 

Alphabet was epically mispriced

Finance classes will teach you theories such as the efficient market hypothesis, which essentially posits that asset prices are accurately determined based on available information. In practical application, the hypothesis attributes outsize gains to taking on outsize risks — effectively discrediting the finding of true value independent of risk in the market.

Alphabet is a prime example of why the hypothesis is incorrect.

Earlier this year, Alphabet got so cheap that it traded at a discount to the S&P 500. It was the least expensive Magnificent Seven stock, despite the company generating substantial free cash flow, achieving steady high-margin growth, repurchasing a significant amount of stock, paying dividends, and maintaining a solid balance sheet.

Simply put, Wall Street failed to price in Alphabet’s growth potential and labeled it as an artificial intelligence (AI) loser. That assumption couldn’t be further from the truth.

From laggard to leader

Alphabet has a massively diversified business, spanning Google Search, Google Cloud, YouTube, Android, Google services like Gmail and Google Drive, “other bets” like Waymo and Google Fiber, research and development arm Google DeepMind, and more. But despite all these moving parts, Alphabet still depends on Google Search for over half of its revenue and the majority of its operating income.

Large language models (LLMs) present the greatest threat to Google Search in its history. And for a while, there were fears that tools like OpenAI, Claude, Copilot, DeepSeek, Grok, and others would slowly erode Alphabet’s once-dominant share of the search market. If queries shifted from web-based text links to conversational, that would disrupt the very fabric of Google Search’s identity.

Instead of sitting on its hands and letting the LLM wave weather its once-impenetrable moat, Alphabet integrated its model, Gemini, into Google Search, as well as a stand-alone app. Rather than reinvent the wheel, Alphabet essentially upgraded Chrome with AI features, making it more powerful and providing an incentive for users to stay on the platform instead of switching to a different tool entirely.

The strategy worked. Google Search continues to grow despite upgrades from rival LLMs. Alphabet is generating all-time-high earnings and investing heavily in long-term projects, including the expansion of Google Cloud infrastructure. Alphabet is thriving and is far from being a legacy tech giant, with its best days in the rearview mirror. And yet just six months ago, the market was pricing Alphabet like a washed-up relic.

Engagement continues to rise on Gemini — with the app surpassing 650 million monthly active users.

As an added vote of confidence, Berkshire Hathaway announced a stake in Alphabet — marking a stark contrast from quarter after quarter of trimming its Apple position — indicating Warren Buffett and his team perceive Alphabet as a good value.

Meta Platforms is considering purchasing Alphabet’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chips, which Alphabet developed with Broadcom. Custom-made TPUs are a cost-effective solution for data centers, offering a more affordable alternative in certain applications than graphics processing units, such as those manufactured by Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices.

Flipping the script

Alphabet’s investment thesis has evolved, but the bigger change impacting its stock price is perception. Now, the market views Alphabet as a leader in search through its reimagined Chrome and Gemini. Google’s TPUs are recognized as a leading method for training AI models, opening a new revenue stream for Alphabet by selling TPUs to hyperscalers.

Alphabet is a textbook example of the upside potential that comes with investing in dirt cheap growth stocks rather than simply betting big on red-hot highfliers. When growth expectations are virtually nonexistent, a company doesn’t have to do much to garner a favorable response from Wall Street.

If we examine Alphabet’s timeline over the last six or so months, I would say that a significant change occurred in late summer and fall, when Alphabet began to be recognized as a major player in AI rather than a laggard. The recent run-up over the last few weeks is attributed to a positive response to Gemini 3, which was announced in mid-November, and news that Meta was interested in buying TPU chips.

These announcements are undoubtedly great news for Alphabet investors, but they didn’t emerge from nowhere. Alphabet’s Google Search and Gemini results have been exceptional for several quarters. Alphabet and Broadcom’s seventh-generation TPU is 30 times more powerful than the first cloud TPU from 2018. But still, the partnership has been going on for a while now.

Alphabet remains a solid buy now

Alphabet has room to run in 2026 because its valuation is still reasonable at 30 times forward earnings. With multiple levers to pull to grow earnings, Alphabet is a balanced buy now. But it isn’t the dirt cheap value stock it used to be. Now, Alphabet is at a similar valuation to peers like Microsoft and Amazon, and more expensive than Meta Platforms.

All told, Alphabet is a great example of why there’s a lot of money to be made in the stock market if you can find quality companies that are mispriced because fears are overshadowing fundamentals and growth potential.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Here’s why Alphabet is the best-performing “Magnificent Seven” stock in 2025 (and why it has room to run in 2026) appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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Daniel Foelber has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Broadcom and has recommended the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

It’s no surprise to me that the best Australian stocks are able to outperform the ASX share market. Quality is appealing for a reason.

Investing in great businesses seems like a winning formula, in my opinion. They can continue re-investing the generated profit into great opportunities inside their existing operations which are already performing well.

Following recent share price declines, I believe both of the Australian stocks below are compelling investments that I’d happily put $10,000 into today.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)

This investment conglomerate has been demonstrating its quality for a number of decades and it remains a leading example of how to manage a business for the long-term.

The Australian stock has built an impressive portfolio of assets across a number of industries, including building products, industrial properties, resources, telecommunications, swimming pools, electrification, farming, water entitlements, financial services, credit, healthcare and plenty more.

The business has designed its portfolio to be defensive and generate strong cash flow in all economic conditions for shareholders. This makes it likely the business can continue growing the cash flow its portfolio generates, which is a key statistic of focus, as it invests in additional opportunities.

The Soul Patts share price has dropped close to 20% since 10 September 2025, making it a lot cheaper to grab a piece of this excellent business.

I’m confident the company has a compelling future ahead because of how it can adjust its portfolio when it sees new opportunities arise. Additionally, it can sell assets if it’s no longer optimistic about an investment.

I think this business is likely to be around in another 20, 30 and 50 years thanks to its investment flexibility, while delivering a solid dividend along the way.

Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME)

Pro Medicus describes itself as a leading healthcare informatics company, which provides a full range of medical imaging software and services to hospitals, imaging centres and healthcare groups around the world.

The business aims to provide an end-to-end offering in healthcare imaging across radiology information systems (RIS), picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), AI and e-health solutions.

Pro Medicus’ software is clearly resonating with customers, with the number of large new contracts it’s winning, as well as add-on modules.

For example, at the start of December, the company announced a seven-year, $25 million contract to add another module for Baycare, which is one of Pro Medicus’ largest existing contracts.

The Australian stock has rapidly ramped up its revenue – in FY25 alone, revenue climbed 31.9% to $213 million, while net profit after tax (NPAT) surged 39.2% to $115.2 million.

While revenue growth is strong, the company’s underlying operating profit (EBIT) margin is an extremely high 74% – that’s one of the highest on the ASX. Such a high EBIT margin means most of the revenue translates into profit for the company.

The Pro Medicus share price has dropped more than 20% since September, making its forward price/earnings (P/E) ratio seem more reasonable. It’s now trading at 99x FY28’s estimated earnings, according to the projection on Commsec at the time of writing.

The post 2 strong Australian stocks to buy now with $10,000 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Pro Medicus and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Pro Medicus. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pro Medicus. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

You don’t need to wait until you have a big starting balance to build real wealth in the share market.

Plenty of everyday Australians have grown six-figure portfolios not because they started rich, but because they invested consistently, let time do the heavy lifting, and avoided trying to get rich quickly.

Here’s how someone starting with almost nothing can grow a $100,000 portfolio over time.

Where to start

The perfect time to start investing in ASX shares is now. Markets go up, down, sideways, and sometimes all at once. What matters isn’t timing the market; it is the time you spend in the market.

Even a modest weekly or fortnightly contribution into ASX shares can build real momentum surprisingly quickly.

For example, investing just $50 a week, which is an amount that many people spend on takeaway or subscriptions, adds up to $2,600 a year.

Combined with a long-term market return of around 8% to 10% per annum, that can snowball dramatically.

This is the quiet power of compounding. Each dollar you invest works for you, generating returns that begin generating more returns. The earlier you start, the more years you give those dollars to multiply and build wealth.

Choose investments that grow

If the goal is a $100,000 portfolio, your money needs to be working in assets with long-term growth potential. That means avoiding low-yielding savings accounts and instead leaning on high-quality ASX shares or exchanged traded funds (ETFs).

ASX shares like Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO), TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE), or Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV) are examples of high-growth options.

Alternatively, there are ETFs like the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ), the Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK), and the Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS) that could be worth considering.

How long does it take to reach $100,000?

If you invest $50 a week or the equivalent of $220 a month and earn 10% per annum, your portfolio could hit the following:

• $9,000 in around 3 years
• $50,000 in around 11 years
• $100,000 in roughly 16 years

If you can stretch to $100 a week or $440 a month, you could reach $100,000 in 11 years.

Foolish takeaway

Reaching a $100,000 portfolio isn’t reserved for high-income earners. It is achievable for almost anyone who starts early and invests regularly.

The sooner you start, the sooner you will get there.

The post How to build a $100,000 ASX share portfolio starting at zero appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF, Lovisa, Technology One, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF, BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF, Lovisa, Technology One, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Lovisa, Technology One, and Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Catapult Sports. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Catapult Sports. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Are you hunting for new ASX shares to buy? If you are, it could be worth hearing what analysts at Morgans are saying about the three below.

Does it rate them as buys, holds, or sells? Let’s find out.

Catapult Sports Ltd (ASX: CAT)

This sports performance technology company has been given a buy rating by Morgans with a $6.25 price target.

It likes the company due to its large addressable market and strong growth outlook. With respect to the latter, the broker believes Catapult is positioned to deliver a compound annual growth rate of 20% for its annualised contract value through to FY 2028. It explains:

Catapult Sports Ltd (CAT) is a global leader in sports performance technology that provides a comprehensive all-in-one platform for elite professional and collegiate sports. This encompasses coaching, scouting, analytics and athlete management. Initially landing with its core wearables technology, CAT has since expanded its service offering and opened up new key verticals assisting its penetration into a large addressable market of ~20k teams globally.

We forecast strong topline growth for CAT, estimating a ~20% ACV 3-year CAGR, reaching ~US$180m by FY28. A scalable platform and strong SaaS metrics should see CAT join the ‘Rule of 40’ club by FY27. We initiate coverage on Catapult Sports (CAT) with a Buy recommendation and a A$6.25 per share price target.

Step One Clothing Ltd (ASX: STP)

This beaten down online underwear seller has copped a downgrade from Morgans following its disappointing trading update.

The broker has downgraded its shares to a hold rating with a reduced price target of 30 cents. It said:

STP has provided a materially weaker than expected trading update for 1H26. Revenue for 1H26 is expected to be down 31-37% to $30-33m and EBITDA is expected to be a loss of $9-11m, including a $10m provision for inventory obsolescence. Excluding inventory obsolescence, EBITDA for 1H26 would be a loss of $1m to $1m profit.

As a result of recent trading, STP has withdrawn its FY26 earnings guidance. We have materially lowered our earnings estimates for FY26/27/28 based on this trading update and uncertainty around the path forward. We have moved our recommendation to a HOLD (from SPEC BUY), with a blended EV/EBIT and DCF valuation of $0.36, we have applied a 15% discount to this valuation to set our price target at $0.30 due to earnings uncertainty.

WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)

Finally, this logistics solutions technology company could be in the buy zone according to Morgans.

It was pleased with its investor day update and believes it is well-placed to continue its strong growth in the coming years. It has a buy rating and $112.50 price target on its shares. Morgans said:

WTC’s FY25 investor day highlighted the group’s progress and broader outlook for a number of key near to medium-term growth initiatives, which in our view continues to see the group in a solid position to drive value. We retain our BUY rating, with a revised PT of $112.50ps.

The post Buy, hold, sell: Catapult, Step One, WiseTech Global shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) shares have been sliding in recent months, losing momentum after what began as a strong year for the global insurer.

The finance stock has drifted toward multi-month lows as investors reassess the company’s growth outlook and brace for softer earnings ahead.

During Monday afternoon trade, QBE shares were changing hands for $18.97 apiece, a plus of 0.7%.

In the past 6 months, the $29 billion ASX stock has lost almost 20% of its market value. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) lost 4.3% in the same period.

Slowdown premium increases

After rallying earlier in the year, QBE shares reversed course quickly as investors worried that the company’s strong first-half performance might not carry through to the end of the financial year.

Investors were rattled after QBE revealed that premium-rate increases had slowed sharply across several key business lines, particularly in commercial property insurance.

Improved underwriting and share buyback

The irony is that the underlying business hasn’t collapsed. QBE delivered solid half-year results, boosted by improved underwriting, stronger investment income, and a cleaner, more disciplined portfolio.

It even launched a sizeable on-market share buyback, signalling confidence in its financial footing. However, markets are looking forward, and the softer 2025 third-quarter update overshadowed earlier gains.

QBE’s business remains built on global diversification and underwriting discipline. The company operates across multiple regions – North America, Australia and the Pacific – and insurance classes. This gives the insurer a spread of risks and a buffer against volatility in any one market.

Rising natural disasters

Nevertheless, the drawbacks are also evident. The main issue now is the slowing growth of premium rates. Insurers depend on consistent rate increases to safeguard their profit margins against higher claims, inflation, and rising reinsurance expenses.

Slower pricing makes earnings less predictable, particularly in property insurance, where disasters quickly reduce profits. QBE shares are also exposed to global market risks. The company’s performance can be affected by rising natural disasters or fluctuations in reinsurance prices.

What do brokers think?

Most analysts see the recent sell-off as overdone, arguing that QBE’s balance sheet is strong, its underwriting is improving, and investment returns remain supportive.

Most analysts rate QBE shares as a buy or strong buy, with the average 12-month price target sitting at $22.63. That suggests a 19% upside at the time of writing.  

UBS has assigned a buy rating to the ASX share, with a price target of $24.15, indicating a potential 25% rise over the next year.

The broker noted that the outlook for FY26 “continue to track in-line with expectations” despite a softening in the premium rate cycle.

UBS commented:            

With FY26E COR [combined operating ratio] guidance of ~92.5%… supporting a ~16% ROE outlook, mid-single digit volume growth ambitions retained, investment yields stabilising and A$450m buyback announced (~1.5% shares), its FY26E earnings outlook remains well underpinned. At a 10x FY26E PE (0.54x ASX200, 18% disc to 5yr avg) we continue to see compelling value and retain a Buy rating.

The post Are QBE shares a buy after recent slump? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Marc Van Dinther has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Investors in Felix Gold Ltd (ASX: FXG) have had a stunning run in 2025.

Shares in this ASX mining stock have rocketed by more than 300% since early January, reaching $0.365 apiece at the time of writing.

For context, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up by 5.25% across the same period.

However, today has seen a setback with Felix shares sliding by 12% in Monday’s trading.

In essence, the drop follows news of an $18 million capital raise.

The strongly supported placement to institutional investors was executed at $0.36 per share, marking a 12.1% discount to the five day VWAP price in the lead-up to last Wednesday.

And today’s sinking share price appears to be adjusting to that discount.

That said, the cash injection could be a blessing for the ASX mining stock as it looks to move its Treasure Creek antimony and gold project in Alaska closer to mining.

Let’s find out why.

Strategic project

Antimony is classified as a critical mineral in the US.

Amongst others, the metalloid has military applications including its use in night vision goggles, explosive formulations, flares, and infrared sensors.

In addition, global supply of antimony is highly concentrated, with about 95% coming from China, Russia, and Tajikistan. And China recently imposed a ban on exports to the US.

This geopolitical setting could present a strategic opening for Felix as it looks to become the first antimony producer in the US in more than three decades.

Throughout the year, the ASX mining stock has been reporting rich antimony intercepts from exploration drilling at Treasure Creek, along with shallow and high-grade gold hits.

And proceeds from the placement will now fund further exploration, economic evaluations, and broader operational activities designed to move Treasure Creek closer to mining.

Management viewpoint

Management appears confident in Treasure Creek’s ability to help fill the US antimony supply gap.

In particular, it pointed to the project’s strong potential for delivering military-grade stibnite – a mineral form of antimony.

Felix Gold executive director, Joseph Webb, commented:

Recent technical work has confirmed exceptionally high-purity, near-surface stibnite capable of meeting military-grade concentrate specifications – a capability not achieved outside China in decades – at a time when China’s export restrictions have further elevated the need for a US-aligned supply source.

Webb added that Felix is now fully funded to complete updated resource and economic studies, and to advance key engineering and permitting activities throughout 2026.

The ASX 200 mining stock is also preparing a bulk sampling program that could facilitate near-term production and early cashflow, whilst generating data to support longer-term development plans.

Separately, results from more than 100 recent drill holes at Treasure Creek are expected in the coming weeks.

The post Up 308% in 2025, this high-flying ASX mining stock is sinking on Monday. But why? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bart Bogacz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

With so many shares to choose from on the Australian share market, it can be difficult to decide which ones to buy. The good news is that brokers across the country are doing a lot of the hard work for you.

Three top ASX shares that leading brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here’s why they are bullish on them:

Catalyst Metals Ltd (ASX: CYL)

According to a note out of Bell Potter, its analysts have resumed coverage on this gold miner’s shares with a buy rating and $9.30 price target. The broker is feeling positive about the company’s outlook, noting that it has derisked the Plutonic gold hub with a clear line of sight to a 200,000 ounces per annum steady state production in FY 2029. This is double its current production and is expected to be achieved by developing five mines under a hub-and-spoke model and leveraging latent processing capacity at its processing plant. In addition, Bell Potter highlights that Catalyst Metals remains debt free with no gold hedging contracts. This provides full exposure to gold price upside, which it feels is particularly attractive in the current gold bull market. The Catalyst Metals share price is trading at $6.57 on Monday.

Liontown Ltd (ASX: LTR)

A note out of UBS reveals that its analysts have upgraded this lithium miner’s shares to a buy rating with a vastly improved price target of $1.80. The broker made the move after increasing its lithium price forecasts materially for the coming years to reflect increasing demand. UBS believes that the lithium market could move into a deficit next year. It expects this to lead to significant improvements in free cash flow generation for lithium miners. As a result, it sees now as a good time for investors to pick up Liontown shares. The Liontown share price is fetching $1.45 at the time of writing.

NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)

Analysts at Ord Minnett have retained their buy rating on this data centre operator’s shares with an improved price target of $20.50. According to the note, the broker was pleased to see that NextDC has signed a memorandum of understanding with ChatGPT’s owner OpenAI for its proposed S7 data centre in Eastern Creek, Sydney. This centre will be a hyperscale AI campus and the largest in the southern hemisphere with 650MW capacity. It sees big positives from the plan and believes it could be a big boost to its valuation if it goes ahead as expected. The NextDC share price is trading at $14.10 this afternoon.

The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Hub24. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Hub24. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Monthly dividend payers are highly valued among the ASX investing community for the obvious reason that they provide regular dividend cash flow. Most investors have to wait at least three, but usually six, months for their ASX dividend stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to pay out a dividend.

As such, any investment that shortens that span to provide income every four weeks or so is automatically going to draw some attention.

There aren’t too many ASX dividend stocks on our market that pay out a monthly dividend. In fact, there are only a handful. But only one seemingly offers a dividend yield of about 8% today.

That one ASX dividend stock is the Metrics Master Income Trust (ASX: MXT).

An ASX dividend stock with an 8% yield?

The Metrics Master Income Trust is a listed investment trust (LIT), which means it owns a portfolio of underlying assets that it manages on behalf of its investors.

This trust is a rather unique offering in that, instead of holding other ASX stocks, it invests in ‘alternative assets’. In this case, that means a portfolio of corporate loans. These loans are domiciled in a range of sectors of the economy, including consumer discretionary, financial, and industrial companies and investments. But a majority of the Master Income Trust’s loans are in real estate. These loans are mostly rated either ‘BB’ or ‘BBB’.

The stated aims of this trust are to provide income certainty to investors, alongside relatively low capital volatility and risk of permanent capital loss.

But let’s talk about dividends.

As we’ve already touched on, this LIT’s dividend distributions are paid out 12 times a year. Over the past 12 months, investors have received a total of 15.52 cents per unit. The latest of these payouts comes out today, as it happens – a December dividend worth 1.24 cents per unit.

At the current Metrics Master Income Trust unit price of $1.92, these payouts give this ASX dividend stock a trailing yield of 8.08%.

Is the Metrics Master Trust a buy for income?

Before yield-hungry investors rush out to buy this ASX dividend stock for income, they should take note of a few things.

Firstly, due to this investment’s nature, its payouts don’t usually come with franking credits attached.

Secondly, private credit investments are not stocks, and don’t behave in the same way. They are incredibly sensitive to interest rates, for one. For another, they can be highly unpredictable in hard economic times.

And private credit investments don’t offer the same kinds of growth and compounding potential as stocks do.

To illustrate, Metrics Master Income Trust units haven’t really gone anywhere since listing back in 2017. Today, you can buy the Trust’s units for a lower price than what was available for most of 2018. Investors are down about 7.7% over just 2025.

As such, that big dividend yield is probably all you are going to get from this dividend stock. That might suit some investors just fine. But others who might want to get the best bang for their buck, perhaps not.

The post The 8% dividend stock that pays cash every month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The “Magnificent Seven” stocks — which include Apple, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla — turned in another solid performance in 2025, up a cumulative 25%, as of Dec. 3.

Alphabet, which was my pick to be the top-performing “Magnificent Seven” stock in 2025, has led the way, easily outperforming its peers.

Data source: PortfoliosLab.

While Alphabet remains one of my favorite stocks to own for the long haul, I think another surprising stock will emerge to lead the group higher in 2026. That stock is Amazon.

Breaking out in 2026

Amazon has admittedly been a laggard among the Magnificent Seven in recent years, with the stock up less than 50% over the past five years. However, that’s the same setup stocks like Alphabet and Meta experienced in recent years before they broke out. And while its stock has underperformed in recent years, the company has been doing a lot of things behind the scenes that are improving both its e-commerce and cloud computing operations.

Amazon came to dominate the e-commerce landscape not by just selling goods online, but by building out the largest fulfillment and logistics network on the planet that could get customers these items quickly. More recently, it has been turning to robots and artificial intelligence (AI) to further this mission, while also creating huge operational efficiencies.

One area that is greatly underappreciated at Amazon is its leadership in robotics. Because the company is designing and making these robots for its own use, it does not get nearly the recognition it deserves in this field. However, it now deploys more than 1 million robots at its fulfillment centers, some of which can perform advanced tasks. For example, earlier this year, it introduced a robot called Vulcan that has a sense of touch, which allows it to handle many more types of items than the average robot. It also has robots that can detect damaged products before they are sent out, saving money on costly returns, as well as robots that can fix themselves.

These robots are all now coordinated by its DeepFleet AI model to operate in the most efficient way possible. The company is also using AI in other areas, such as helping optimize delivery routes, determining the best-located warehouses to store items closer to last-mile delivery, and helping drivers find hard-to-locate drop-off spots in places like large apartment complexes. This all helps speed up delivery times and reduce costs.

Another overlooked area Amazon is seeing success with is digital advertising. The company is now the third-largest digital advertising company in the world, behind only Alphabet and Meta Platforms. This is a higher gross margin business that Amazon is growing quickly through the use of AI tools, which can help merchants create better campaigns and listings and improve targeting.

All of these efforts are driving strong operating leverage in Amazon’s e-commerce business. This could be seen last quarter when the adjusted operating income for its North American segment surged 28% on an 11% increase in revenue.

Cloud computing leader

Amazon’s largest segment by profitability is its cloud computing business, AWS (Amazon Web Services). The company created the entire infrastructure-as-a-service business model, and it remains the market share leader today. However, AWS’ growth has trailed that of its rivals: Microsoft’s Azure and Alphabet’s Google Cloud. That has likely hurt the stock.

But AWS’ revenue began to accelerate last quarter, increasing by 20%, and it has strong growth prospects ahead. It is still ramping up its massive Project Rainier data center, which was built exclusively for Anthropic. The data center is fully operated with its custom Trainium 2 AI chips, and it expects the AI cluster to reach 1 million chips by the end of the year. Additionally, the company signed a $38 billion deal with OpenAI, which will run some of its AI workloads on Amazon’s data center infrastructure that employs Nvidia graphics processing units.

Like other cloud providers, AWS is capacity-constrained, and the company is ramping up its capital expenditures to meet increasing demand. Earlier this month, it introduced a number of new AI hardware (including its Trainium3 AI chip) and software tools. It also sees a huge opportunity with AI agents and its AgentCore offering. 

The top “Magnificent Seven” stock for 2026

Amazon is expanding its AI capabilities and moving to capture more AI revenue streams within the cloud, which should bode well for growth next year. Meanwhile, its e-commerce operations are seeing strong operating leverage and could get a boost from any economic improvement that comes from lower interest rates or reduced or eliminated tariffs in 2026.

With the stock entering the new year at one of its lowest historical valuations, trading at a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of below 33 times, Amazon is my choice to be the best-performing Magnificent Seven stock for 2026. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post My surprising top “Magnificent Seven” stock pick for 2026 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet and Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.