Nike's Softer Revenue Outlook

And, the best-performing 2023 stocks.

Today is Friday, December 22, 2023.

The Early Bird Index today is 64.10.

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🗓️ Break Dates: December 25th, 2023 - January 1st, 2024

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Nike's Softer Revenue Outlook

Nike (NYSE: NKE) fell by 11.38% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company reported mixed financial results.

Financials: Nike reported earnings of $1.03 per share, which was better than expected. But revenue was $13.4 billion, which was lower than expected.

Details: While the company said that it found ways to cut $2 billion in costs, the CFO said that Nike expects to have “a softer second-half revenue outlook.”

Final Thoughts: Nike was only up 3% this year before the earnings report. It is struggling to increase sales in this environment.

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Notables

Notable Earnings Today: N/A.

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Notable IPOs Today: N/A.

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: IX Water (Wefunder), SaReSai (Honeycomb), Wefunder (Wefunder).

Notable Economic Events Today: PCE Price Index / Core PCE Price Index (8:30 a.m. ET), Durable Goods Orders (8:30 a.m. ET), Personal Spending (8:30 a.m. ET), New Home Sales (10:00 a.m. ET), Michigan Consumer Expectations / Sentiment (10:00 a.m. ET), Atlanta Fed GDPNow (11:30 a.m. ET).

Best-Performing Stocks in 2023

The stock market had a great year in 2023. Technology led the way, but there were also other standout sectors.

AI Craze: 2023 was all about artificial intelligence. Investors couldn’t get enough AI. It felt like every company mentioned “AI” during their earnings call. Two stocks that benefited from the AI bounce in 2023 were C3.ai (NYSE: AI), which grew by 165%, and NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA), which grew by 242%.

Technically Great: And it wasn’t just AI stocks that soared in 2023. Most tech stocks had an excellent year. Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) surged by 175%. In cybersecurity, Palo Alto Networks (Nasdaq: PANW) saw a 116% gain.

Going Social: Social media stocks rebounded in a big way this year. Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META) led the way by jumping 183%. Snap (NYSE: SNAP) jumped 94% and Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) increased by 63%.

Revenge Travel: 2023 was the year that the travel industry came roaring back, with several high-performing stocks. Travel giants Booking Holdings (Nasdaq: BKNG) and Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE) each witnessed 73% gains in 2023. A big winner in the year included Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), which sported a 160% stock price increase.

Big Winner: Finally, with the economy strong in 2023, sports gambling stocks won big. DraftKings (Nasdaq: DKNG) mounted a 217% gain.

Final Thoughts: While these stocks dominated 2023, there’s no guarantee that they will be the big winners in 2024.

Cryptocurrency’s 2023 Rebound

After a terrible 2022, cryptocurrency prices had a rebound year in 2023.

Details: With interest rate hikes slowing down, traders turned to riskier investments such as crypto. Plus, there’s a lot of positive sentiment regarding the eventual approval of a spot crypto ETF (exchange-traded fund) in the United States.

The Leaders: Bitcoin, the most popular crypto, soared by 151% this year. Ethereum, the second most popular crypto, grew by 77%.

Final Thoughts: In fact, most altcoins had a great 2023. Will the good times continue for crypto in 2024?

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