Marcos Milla
Former Analyst at the Federal Reserve, ETF/Stock Newsletter Author
Founder-led companies such as Robinhood, Nvidia, Meta, Tesla and Palantir outperform the S&P 500 because founders are the moat. Founders are relentless and will do everything they can to create shareholder value, producing higher returns. Even Berkshire Hathaway delivered amazing returns under Warren Buffett before he left the CEO seat. x.comÂ
Founder-led companies tend to deliver more growth, innovation, direction and profit, with longer tenure and structure, so they are the ones to own. Nvidia under Jensen Huang, Tesla under Elon Musk and MercadoLibre under Marcos Galperin have returned thousands of percent, alongside Palantir, Rocket Lab, Nebius, IREN, Strategy, Lemonade, Ondas, Robinhood, CrowdStrike, Spotify, Airbnb, Dell and The Trade Desk. Some are just getting started, while others have been around for years. x.comÂ
Founder-led companies have been proven to outperform over time, because a founder who still holds a large stake brings a sense of urgency that can't be replicated. Quality examples today include Dell, with Michael Dell holding 41%; Meta, with Mark Zuckerberg at 14%; AppLovin, with Adam Foroughi at 11%; Sea, with Forrest Li at 16%; and Nvidia, with Jensen Huang at 3.6%. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Seven stocks trade at forward P/Es far above the S&P 500's roughly 22x, leaving little room for disappointment. Tesla, at 186x, needs Robotaxi and Optimus to deliver. SpaceX, at about 108x, is valued near $2T on about $23B of sales. Arm, at 219x, already prices in heavy AI growth. Palantir, at 81x and 66x sales, can't afford slower growth. Intel, at 52x, prices in a foundry turnaround before profits. CrowdStrike, at 172x, and Palo Alto Networks, at 80x, are great businesses at huge premiums. … Show more
Company success largely depends on capable management, and leaders obsessed with realizing their vision make failure extremely difficult. This is one of the main reasons for adding Zeta Global, Oscar Health, Hims & Hers, Aduro, AST SpaceMobile, SoFi, Alibaba, AMD, Nvidia, Airbnb and Dell, but not Tesla or Robinhood. x.comÂ
Apple's ecosystem and services, Nvidia's AI chips and software, Palantir's AI platform, Tesla's potential growth drivers and Meta's scale make these five stocks hard to bet against. Apple has loyal customers; Palantir can help businesses and governments use complex data; Tesla is betting on autonomy, robotics and energy; and Meta's users, ad technology and cash flow support continued AI investment. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Upcoming SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI IPOs will probably pull liquidity out of Microsoft, Meta, software stocks and tax-loss-harvesting losers. A post the author quotes argues those listings over the next few months must draw money away from junkier stocks right after a big speculative run-up, and that it may be time to size up shorts. x.comÂ
Continued improvement in fundamentals and technicals could carry Palantir to megacap scale. A $1 trillion market cap is a realistic destination for strong growth companies, and Palantir appears on that path, though its timing is uncertain. Drawdowns remain opportunities to accumulate until the thesis changes. x.comÂ
Diversified cash flows in the billions make the AI-buildout basket more appealing than standalone model companies. Many members look reasonably priced and have longer records of delivering returns; Anthropic and OpenAI look much more like gambles at current valuations, though either could appeal at the right price. A possible equal-weight portfolio to revisit in five years includes Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle and SpaceX. x.com x.comÂ
Tesla looks like a potential loser as an unprecedented IPO pipeline concentrates capital in a few narratives. SpaceX ($75B), Anthropic (over $60B) and OpenAI ($60B) could absorb more capital than anything seen before, and public markets may struggle to support four massively capitalized, still cash-flow-light growth stories at once. Elon Musk may also not want the highest possible Tesla valuation if SpaceX is meant to have strategic flexibility around it. x.comÂ
These twelve stocks could dominate the next era by meeting infrastructure and consumer demand. TSMC makes AI chips; Palo Alto Networks secures cloud; GE Aerospace earns engine-service revenue; IREN builds AI cloud; Broadcom supplies chips and networking; Intuitive Surgical sells surgical robots. Strategy offers bitcoin exposure; e.l.f. Beauty serves Gen Z; Robinhood expands finance; The Trade Desk serves advertisers; Walmart adds ads and memberships; Vistra powers AI data centers. x.com x.com … Show more
