WEBVTT - Gene Munster Talks Mag Seven Earnings

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's get more now on the big tech story. We

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<v Speaker 2>could say it's two very different stories when it comes

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<v Speaker 2>to the earnings overnight from Amazon and Apple. Joining us now,

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<v Speaker 2>someone who follows these companies very closely, Gene Munster, the

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<v Speaker 2>managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management. Gene, great to speak

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<v Speaker 2>with you. As always, Let's start with what we can

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<v Speaker 2>say is the good news based on the reaction to

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<v Speaker 2>the results from Apple. The shares are up nearly two

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<v Speaker 2>percent pre market, the fastest quarterly revenue growth for this

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<v Speaker 2>company in more than three years. In your note, you're

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<v Speaker 2>saying that this reaction should be a little bit better.

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<v Speaker 1>Why yeah, Nathan, I guess if you'd put me in

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<v Speaker 1>some sort of a stock lab, I would say the

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<v Speaker 1>stock should be of five percent or seven percent today.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the best quarter they've had and the best

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<v Speaker 1>guide in the last three and a half years, and

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<v Speaker 1>so revenue grew at nine percent and excluding that impact

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<v Speaker 1>of terrorists, the street was looking for four percent, I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>just at the most basic level. They guided revenue in

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<v Speaker 1>the September quarter to be up about eight percent. Street

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<v Speaker 1>was looking for up three percent. They guided margins up

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<v Speaker 1>and the stock's up two percent. I think it really

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<v Speaker 1>underscores this gap that we've seen really over the past

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<v Speaker 1>six months with Apple, and that gap is that regardless

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<v Speaker 1>of what's happening with the fundamentals, there's this concern that tariffs,

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<v Speaker 1>that changes in regulatory environments and how it impacts their

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<v Speaker 1>services growth and just a slowest start to AI is

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<v Speaker 1>somehow going to cause this company to hit the wall.

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<v Speaker 1>And I've been following Apple for a long time and

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<v Speaker 1>I've never seen I think the reaction tonight to the

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<v Speaker 1>stock and this morning relative to the guidance and the results,

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<v Speaker 1>I think is as big of a gap as that

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<v Speaker 1>I've seen, and so it is noteworthy, and I think

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<v Speaker 1>it just begs the questions a very simple question, what's

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<v Speaker 1>Apple going to grow at next year? In fiscal twenty six,

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<v Speaker 1>the streets at five and a half percent growth, and

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<v Speaker 1>my sense is it's probably going to be well above

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<v Speaker 1>seven percent just based on what they have coming down

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<v Speaker 1>on the pipeline, and so I'm in the camp that

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<v Speaker 1>they are going to continue to grow well. But that

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<v Speaker 1>is this really surprising gap that we have picked up

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<v Speaker 1>on Apple.

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<v Speaker 2>Just to play devil's advocate, is that gap warranted given

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<v Speaker 2>the big strides that we've seen from a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>Apple's competitors when it comes to the AI race In

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<v Speaker 2>this sense that you mentioned from a lot of analysts

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<v Speaker 2>watching this company, that Apple has more to do when

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<v Speaker 2>it comes to showing that they're keeping up in the

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<v Speaker 2>AI race.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, at the service level, it would, but the substances

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<v Speaker 1>is that there is no feature in consumer tech consumer

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<v Speaker 1>tech hardware it's powered by AI that has changed people's behavior.

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<v Speaker 1>And so Apple basically, even though the headlines are that

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<v Speaker 1>they have been losing ground, they're not in the business

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<v Speaker 1>of making a chatbot. And so I think that the

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<v Speaker 1>results of the iPhone iPhone up thirteen percent that had

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<v Speaker 1>a benefit from pull forward. You back that out, it

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<v Speaker 1>would have been up eleven percent. You know, you don't.

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<v Speaker 1>The reason why you have that kind of growth is

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<v Speaker 1>because consumers are seeing that there's no other alternative out there,

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<v Speaker 1>and so the narrative is warranted. They have to do more.

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<v Speaker 1>They need to infuse AI into their products, There's no

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<v Speaker 1>doubt about that. But I think that this concept that

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that they're slow out of the gate is

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<v Speaker 1>going to cause some sort of irreparable damage to the

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<v Speaker 1>growth rate I think is misplaced.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, they might not be in the business of making chatbots,

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<v Speaker 2>but of course they are in the business of making products.

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<v Speaker 2>And it has been quite a while since we've seen

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<v Speaker 2>not only a really significant update to the iPhone line,

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<v Speaker 2>but also something besides the Vision Pro that's been slow

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<v Speaker 2>to take off as well. Does Apple need to do

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<v Speaker 2>more when it comes to coming out with some kind

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<v Speaker 2>of they can get investors excited.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean they do. In the world of consumer tache,

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<v Speaker 1>you always have to, and that's a fair criticism. This fall,

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<v Speaker 1>we're likely going to see a new form factor, a

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<v Speaker 1>new hardware on the iPhone, a much slimmer think of

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<v Speaker 1>this as iPhone Air. It's probably going to be the

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<v Speaker 1>biggest hardware redesign we've seen in the past four years. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>that's that's incremental. It's something that will be good for

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<v Speaker 1>the iPhone growth. But to your bigger questions, they knew,

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<v Speaker 1>they knew something like a new category and it came

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<v Speaker 1>up in a kind of a roundup houtway on the

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<v Speaker 1>call last night. Is this conversation related to Johnny ive

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<v Speaker 1>and moving to open AI. That, of course is the

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<v Speaker 1>long time great at Apple who left a few years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>but now with he's working on like this a screen

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<v Speaker 1>list device that is AI powered, and Cook said they

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<v Speaker 1>would work with the device, but I think the ringing

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<v Speaker 1>between the lines, they probably want to compete with that device,

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<v Speaker 1>and so that's probably a few years away, but that's

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<v Speaker 1>something that's on the horizon.

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<v Speaker 2>Speaking with Gene Munster, managing partner Deep Asset Management, who

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<v Speaker 2>covers the tech space, let's move on from Apple to

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<v Speaker 2>Amazon getting hammered pre market right now down seven and

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<v Speaker 2>a half percent. Is that kind of reaction warranted to

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<v Speaker 2>the results that we saw, particularly when it comes to

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<v Speaker 2>the miss I guess on operating income from Amazon.

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<v Speaker 1>That level of the reaction is not warranted. So what

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<v Speaker 1>happened was AWS was up seventeen and a half percent.

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<v Speaker 1>The whisper that was that it was going to be

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<v Speaker 1>up twenty percent, and of course Azure grew at thirty

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<v Speaker 1>nine percent. It accelerated almost six percentage points from March

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<v Speaker 1>to from March to June, so you have a similar

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<v Speaker 1>kind of acceleration from Google Cloud. So you have this

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<v Speaker 1>big accelerations. Amazon did not do that on the call. Notably,

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<v Speaker 1>they did say that backlog accelerated to twenty five percent,

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<v Speaker 1>up from twenty percent three months ago. That's a good

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<v Speaker 1>lead indicator. So reading between the lines, I mean, aws

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<v Speaker 1>US is supply constrained. They've got more demand than they

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<v Speaker 1>have capacity, but that investors don't want to hear kind

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<v Speaker 1>of the explanation. They just want to see the results.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think that if you look at what their

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<v Speaker 1>guidance is, they got it revenue to thirteen percent growth

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<v Speaker 1>for September the street was at nine percent. They guide

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<v Speaker 1>it operating income up. So I think that, yeah, the

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<v Speaker 1>stock should be down. I would have guessed that have

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<v Speaker 1>been down a few percent, not down seven.

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<v Speaker 2>A lot of attention as well on the record amount

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<v Speaker 2>of spending, not just Amazon there and you know so

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<v Speaker 2>many other of these companies that have been reporting this

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<v Speaker 2>season thirty one point four billion dollars in cap x

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<v Speaker 2>man was on ninety percent more than this time last year.

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<v Speaker 2>Is that justified? Can Apple justify that kind of spending

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<v Speaker 2>based on the results that they've put out there on.

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<v Speaker 1>AI, I mean they can. And I think that you're

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<v Speaker 1>getting to what really is the big story here over

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<v Speaker 1>the last last two days, which is that the capex

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<v Speaker 1>the expectations for Amazon is that it's going to grow

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<v Speaker 1>now about forty seven percent this year. Before the call,

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<v Speaker 1>the expectations that it was going to grow at twenty

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<v Speaker 1>five percent. That's a similar step up that we saw

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<v Speaker 1>at Meta for next year in terms of their CAPEX.

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<v Speaker 1>We're seeing this across the board, and why that's so

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<v Speaker 1>important is the capax results. On top of we are

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<v Speaker 1>seeing real benefits in Amazon's business related to AI and

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<v Speaker 1>their margins. Of course, in Meta and their growth rate,

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<v Speaker 1>Microsoft and their growth rate, Google and what's happening and Search.

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<v Speaker 1>All of this really points back to that this massive

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<v Speaker 1>investment that these companies have had in infrastructure is paying off.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think that this narrative that AI doesn't have

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<v Speaker 1>an ROI has really been proven wrong. And I think

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<v Speaker 1>that this was a turning moment. I feel very optimistic,

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<v Speaker 1>more optimistic about these companies today than I did three

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<v Speaker 1>days ago.

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<v Speaker 2>So we are at the near the tail end of

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<v Speaker 2>magnet in seven earning season. We're going to hear from Nvidia,

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<v Speaker 2>I guess in a little while from now, But based

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<v Speaker 2>on what we've seen Gene, is it still mag seven?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I think MAG seven is a good place to be.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't think all mag seven's created equal. My bigger

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<v Speaker 1>sense is that there's an opportunity, and with the bigger

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<v Speaker 1>opportunities with some of these smaller cap companies. Some of

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<v Speaker 1>the companies like Verted, for example, had a great quarter.

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<v Speaker 1>They do power and cool management. So my sense is

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<v Speaker 1>that you will still see a good performance in the

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<v Speaker 1>MAG seven, but I think the outperformance is going to

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<v Speaker 1>come with these companies that are sub five hundred billion

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<v Speaker 1>in market cap, and just simply because they're not not

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<v Speaker 1>as well that the valuations are more attractive.

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<v Speaker 2>And in terms of which of the MAG seven have

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<v Speaker 2>done better, which have done worse? How do you how

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<v Speaker 2>do you see things going forward? Got about thirty seconds.

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<v Speaker 1>Left going forward? I think you're gonna If I was

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<v Speaker 1>going to pick a couple of top performers, I think

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<v Speaker 1>Apple is actually going to be a top performer. The

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<v Speaker 1>MAG seven. I think they're going to prove people wrong

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<v Speaker 1>over the next nine months. Very low Ai bar and

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<v Speaker 1>I think in Video is going to just keep cranking

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<v Speaker 1>at least in the for all this hardware spend and

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<v Speaker 1>benefits them. And finally, don't forget about Tesla. Yes, it's

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<v Speaker 1>going to take them longer, but what they're doing around

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<v Speaker 1>physical AI at scale is something that is unique amongst

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<v Speaker 1>any company.

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<v Speaker 2>Really appreciate your thoughts as always, Gene, thank you for this.

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<v Speaker 2>Gene Munster is managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management and

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<v Speaker 2>following the latest MAGS seven earnings