Positioning for Big Tech's Next Move 8/12/26

Summary

Halftime Report Podcast Summary

Episode: Positioning for Big Tech's Next Move
Date: August 12, 2026
Host: Scott Wapner (CNBC)
Guests: Joe Terranova, Shannon Sokotia, Brian Belsky, Brin Goldman, Alex Sherman, Mark Ganis

---

Episode Overview

This edition of CNBC’s Halftime Report focuses on the current state and outlook for Big Tech, market positioning in the face of surging AI-fueled earnings, financials’ rebound, and a late-breaking sports business story: the record-shattering sale of the Los Angeles Lakers. With the latest CPI data and bullish earnings spurring green markets, the Investment Committee examines momentum in tech, software, financials, and industrials, and debates how investors should think about cash versus equities and bonds. The episode closes with notable calls of the day and final trade recommendations.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Market Momentum and Ed Yardeni’s S&P Target

[00:45-02:59]

• CPI in line with expectations brings relief to markets; yields moving down boosts markets, especially tech and AI-linked names.
• Ed Yardeni raises S&P target to 8,400 from 8,250, citing unprecedented consensus earnings growth since mid-2025, leading to a “melt-up” in stocks.
  • Quote: "We've never seen consensus earnings expectations rise so quickly for the current and coming years as they have since mid-2025. The result has been an earnings led melt up in the stock market to record highs.” — Scott Wapner on Yardeni’s note ([01:16])
• General consensus among Wall Street watchdogs that 8,000 now feels like a “floor” for S&P.

Panel Analysis:

• Joe Terranova: It’s “the Roaring 20s,” driven by earnings—they note profit margins pushing toward 17% from around 10% five years back, driven by “systematic funds” driving participation if records keep falling.
  • Quote: “Ed is the highest on the street. And I think what we will benefit from is continued participation as we move higher from the systematic funds.” ([02:28])
• Brin Goldman: While typically ignoring year-end price targets, directionally agrees. She details compositional shifts in the S&P, with Broadcom and Micron joining Nvidia among top holdings—a fundamental “shift” that makes Yardeni’s call “plausible.”
  • Quote: "You can math out very easily why his number at 8,400 sounds plausible. Investors need to understand that huge shift in the constitution of the S&P and Nasdaq is going to continue to push those earnings growth numbers higher." ([03:26])

2. AI-Led Tech Surge and a “Validation Week”

[04:31-08:15]

• Highlights: Nvidia financing announcements, Coreweave and Super Micro’s strong results validate the AI trade.
  • Brian Belsky: “It’s been about validation. It's been about the messaging and how they're doing it...We’ve never seen in the history of watching earnings revisions for well over 30 years, we've never seen revision of earnings like that. And when you see that, that is real." ([06:27])
• Tech earnings “beat rate” at historic highs (85.1% per Bespoke); 2nd biggest ever tech inflow week per BofA.

3. Nvidia: Pre-Earnings Positioning

[08:14-11:32]

• Joe Terranova: Analyst community sees 96% buy rating, $303 target, revenues and earnings both re-accelerating—expects Nvidia to guide $100bn in revenue:
  • Quote: "Earnings growth 114%. Free cash flow generation at $47 billion next quarter, they're going to guide to $100 billion in revenue...that is staggering." ([08:50])
  • Warns of possible volatility “on the other side of earnings.”
• Brin Goldman: Points out Nvidia’s “ginormous” growth, continued underperformance vs. peers like Micron, makes it “cheap” at current valuations, upside if it breaks through technical resistance (~$230).
  • Quote: "The stock is cheap. It should be at 282. 20...When it does, I do think it will. I think it's off to the races." ([10:24])

4. Software/Cybersecurity: On the Rebound?

[14:45-18:24]

• Brian Belsky & Joe Terranova: Cybersecurity (CrowdStrike, Palo Alto) showing persistent strength—“If you are a CTO, you are not cutting the budget as it relates to security.” ([15:35])
• Shannon Sokotia & Brin Goldman: Argue that software providers are crucial for AI integration (especially in Fortune 500 companies), and the “application layer” has staying power. Microsoft’s last earnings seen as “game changer.”
  • Quote: “They want that software to be enhanced, improved, created greater efficiency by introducing AI...they’re going to rely on software providers...in this AI introduction and implementation.” — Shannon Sokotia ([16:10])
• Panel is cautiously optimistic: Awaiting major software earnings from Salesforce, Oracle, Adobe before declaring a full sector rebound.

5. Financials: Is the Next Big Earnings Trade Here?

[19:47-22:13]

• Brian Belsky: Sees financials as "the next great earnings win aside from tech,” with moderating rates and strong broker dealer performances.
• Focus on Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and particularly JP Morgan, also mentioning the “long runway” for wealth management.
  • Quote: "The next great earnings win, aside from tech, is going to be financials. And we’re going to see rates moderate, we're going to see spreads continue to increase.” ([20:08])
• Belsky discloses trimming regional banks (Fifth Third), while overweighting financials overall (~33% of value portfolio).

6. Sports Business: Shocking $12.5B Lakers Sale

[24:05-33:19]

• Alex Sherman breaks the news: The Lakers flip hands at a record-breaking $12.5B less than a year after the last ownership change ($10B). Buyers are a consortium led by Thrive Capital’s Josh Kushner and Disney’s Bob Iger.
  • Many unknowns: Details about Iger’s stake, NBA ownership rules (cap at 30% for private equity), Jeannie Buss’s involvement.
  • Possible motivating factors: Mark Walter selling amid a federal probe into insurance co’s. "But it is certainly unusual that you would buy a team and then turn around and sell it less than a year later." — Alex Sherman ([24:36])
• Mark Ganis: NBA easier for private equity/swf deals than NFL, which enhances valuations. Buyers likely have a deep bench of backers; expects ongoing growth in “trophy asset” valuations.
  • Quote: “Sports is an asset class that is going to continue to grow. As we move to AI and globalization, sports is the one asset class that will be advanced, will not be hindered by AI and globalization.” ([32:28])

7. Calls of the Day: Consumer & Industrials

[36:11-40:26]
Belsky takes the hot seat on:

• McDonald’s: "Strong growth the second half of the year" ([36:35])
• Target: “Own it in one portfolio—prefer Walmart more, but it’s a turnaround name to trim.” ([37:27])
• Hilton: “Great play on the hotel space, RevPAR ahead of Marriott.” ([38:20])
• Lowe’s & Home Depot: Home Depot better on integration; look for Lowe’s M&A to add upside.
• TJX: “Countercyclical, great products, runway for growth” ([39:19])
• Integris: “AI play, their gas enables chip components, firing on all cylinders.” ([39:33])
• General Dynamics/Boeing: Robotics and defense, strong fundamentals, especially Boeing’s international orders.

8. Cash Conundrum: How Should Investors Approach?

[40:27-45:10]

• Shannon Sokotia: Barbell of stocks and cash has worked, but bond yields are now attractive, especially in munis—even with the legacy of the post-2022 bond bear market and higher equity-bond correlations.
• Brin Goldman: Covered calls are an effective tool for investors seeking yield without relying on bonds, particularly appealing to wealthier, older clients.
• Joe Terranova: Institutions are strong buyers of corporate debt, but sees the new investor generation favoring equities.
• Brian Belsky: Reminds investors not to “run away from bonds” despite the long bull market now having reset.

9. Data Center Power Stocks and Regulatory Uncertainty

[45:10-48:33]

• Data center power stocks (Vertiv, Quanta, Vernova, Eaton) have soared but face regulatory risks (NIMBY, grid constraints).
  • Joe Terranova: “Still building out data centers…while there are some regulatory obstacles, manufacturing and revenue growth will continue.” ([46:43])
• Texas, once a leader in data center builds, now faces new headwinds.
  • Brian Belsky (on CenterPoint): “Not going to let the political environment dictate what I know about owning a company…Data center side of CenterPoint will be strong going forward.” ([47:53])

10. Final Trades

[48:54-49:16]

• Brian Belsky: LPL Financial (independent advisor channel)
• Brin Goldman: Option play—Britain Dram, sell October 60 calls, collect $4.60
• Shannon Sokotia: Healthcare sector (no specific ticker)
• Joe Terranova: JB Hunt
• (Alex Sherman declines a pick)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It is the Roaring 20s, specifically attributable to the earnings growth.” — Joe Terranova ([02:01])
• “Tech is becoming the consumer staples of the US, period. Earnings have become excessively stable.” — Brian Belsky ([06:27])
• “Valuation: Sports is an asset class that is going to continue to grow...these things are going to keep going up. We're not anywhere near the end of the road on this.” — Mark Ganis ([32:28])
• “Covered calls...really squares that. You get equity exposure but you can create a 6, 7, 8, 9% annual yield while also having some equity exposure.” — Brin Goldman ([42:47])
• “These trophy assets cannot be replicated...as we move to AI and globalization, sports is the one asset class that will be advanced.” — Mark Ganis ([32:28])
• "The best way to go downscale as a consumer [is TJX]." — Brian Belsky ([39:19])
• Shawshank Redemption reference: “Get busy living or get busy dying, Scott.” — Brian Belsky ([48:31])

---

Timestamps of Key Segments

• S&P 8,400 target & market context: [00:45-03:26]
• Tech/AI earnings surge (Nvidia, Coreweave, Super Micro): [04:31-08:14]
• Nvidia pre-earnings debate: [08:14-11:32]
• Software & Cybersecurity rebound: [14:45-19:47]
• Financials positioning: [19:47-22:13]
• Lakers $12.5B sale panel: [24:05-33:19]
• Calls of the day (consumer/industrials): [36:11-40:26]
• Cash vs. bonds & covered calls: [40:27-45:10]
• Data center power trade/risk: [45:10-48:33]
• Final trades: [48:54-49:16]

---

This summary omits advertisements, podcast disclaimers, and non-content sections for clarity and focus.

Transcript

[Brin Goldman]

The board recommends approving regarding that seat on the committee.

[Vanguard Marketing]

We're promoting quarterly earnings.

[Vanguard Investor Choice Announcer]

Every day, shareholders meet to discuss important matters about the companies you invest in. Now you can easily make your voice heard. Vanguard Investor Choice gives you a say in the companies you invest in. With just a few taps, you can set your proxy voting preference for your index funds. Visit vanguard.com investorchoice to learn more. Vanguard investors own shares of our index funds, which own shares of the companies they invest in. Available for Vanguard index funds that participate in Investor Choice. Vanguard Marketing Corporation Distributor Courage.

[Vanguard Marketing]

I learned it from my adoptive mom, hold my hand.

[Adopt Us Kids Announcer]

You hold my hand. Learn about adopting a teen from foster [e-mail] you can't imagine the reward brought to you by Adopt Us Kids, the U.S. department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council.

[Scott Wapner]

I'm Scott Wapner and you're listening to CNBC's Halftime Report, the podcast the most profitable hour of the trading day. We record this live weekdays at 12 Eastern. Listen in. Carl, thanks. Welcome to the Halftime Report. I'm Scott Wapner. Front and center this hour, food for the bulls. The CPI hits in line, yields down, core weave surging after earnings. We trade the markets with the investment committee. Joining me for the hour today, Joe Terranova, Shannon Sokotia, Brian Belsky, Brin talking to check the markets here. Green across the board today. So a little bit of relief obviously after the CPI print. Certainly the AI bulls getting a nice lift from Super Micro and Coreweave. The beats, the raises, etceter. Ed Yardeni goes to 8,400 now on the S&P. 8,250 was the prior target, which at the time he said could be a little conservative. All right, so the words then the action. So he raises it says quote, we've never seen consensus earnings expectations rise so quickly for the current and coming years as they have since mid-2025. The result has been an earnings led melt up in the stock market to record highs. That's where we find ourselves. There's no reason to think that that's going to change as long as the earnings picture what it is.

[Mark Ganis]

No.

[Joe Terranova]

And congratulations to Ed on calling the 20s for exactly what it is. It is the roaring 20s specifically attributable to the earnings growth. Now, Ed is the highest on the street. If you look at the S and P targets, the actual consensus price is 7845. But we're looking now at taking profit margins towards 17%, which is absolutely staggering if you think about where they were just five, six years ago, kind of wallowing around 10%. The earnings growth is the driving force for sure. Ed right now is the highest on the street. And I think what we will benefit from is continued participation as we move higher from the systematic funds. We're kind of sitting in place right now off of this 3% gain that we've had in the month of August. Really strong out of the gates. But I'll tell you what, we break out above that August 5, 7793 high. I expect systematic to engage further and move the market towards 8,000.

[Scott Wapner]

Okay, so I mentioned, you know, obviously you get the news that you really needed Brin today. Does the Yardeni target target sound reasonable now to you? Because I said Yesterday I think 8,000 is the floor. It feels like it. From the street, at least everybody's gotten now to at least 8,000 or certainly most people are getting there. And now he ups the ante at 8,400 because of this FIMO, right? Not FOMO FIMO. It's the earnings led momentum.

[Brin Goldman]

So I typically ignore year end price targets. That being said, Ed's been doing this for decades. He has a very good track record. And so I think directionally what he's saying makes, makes so much sense because you also have to think about how the construct of the S and P and the NASDAQ for the S and P for earnings has changed so much. So yes, Nvidia is still the number one holding in the S and P, but now Broadcom and Micron are also in the top 10. Obviously Broadcom's been there for a minute, but Micron's now broken to, I think it's like number seven or eight position. And those earnings from those three companies are going to continue just to be monster. And so I think if you are looking at earnings from these specific companies, especially the Micron and Video, you can math out very easily why his number at 8400 like sounds plausible. And so I do think investors do need to understand that huge shift of the in the constitution of the S and P and the NASDAQ has changed, which is going to continue to push those earnings growth numbers higher.

[Scott Wapner]

Chan, what do we think about this market?

[Shannon Sokotia]

Well, I mean the, the crazy thing right is that The S&P 500 is actually underperforming global equity markets. And so I think if you look at the Tech P E ratio, we've seen that compress pretty markedly. We're seeing the opportunity for this pivot, if you will, in terms of the next phase of AI But I think it's most important to kind of counter some of the enthusiasm with the fact that many are still concerned about like the recent unwind in memory was that fundamental feels more technical to us certainly the degrossing the reality is too you also have the news from Nvidia about these memoranda of understanding that clearly is indicating that there is going to be a wider participation We've seen it in the credit markets already in terms of funding investment this issuance increase in investment grade issuance. You're seeing it now utilizing the alternative private equity managers private credit managers to also fund this this this growth. The bottom line is that all of this is underlying the economic momentum that we have globally. We're no longer especially here in the US Scott Our economy is not based on what's happen consumer and so all of these concerns about the labor market and inflation and the Fed the reality is is that the tenor of economic growth has changed in the United States and the companies that are performing well from an earnings perspective are benefiting from that and are likely to continue to benefit from that even if there are pockets of weakness in parts of the

[Brian Belsky]

consumer market for big week for the

[Scott Wapner]

bulls undoubtedly right the Nvidia financing news no money to be seen yet obviously but the announcement enough speaks to the environment and the that's going to be there coreweave blows it out Stocks ripping Super Micro gives a good guide stocks higher so this has been a week of AI trade validation in many respects

[Brian Belsky]

it's been about validation. It's been about the messaging and how they're doing it. Remember people were worried about how and why companies like Oracle and Microsoft going out into the private sector and having gaining debt this consortium even though it's still not completely tied together this consortium in terms of how Nvidia put this together number one and number two how they communicated Scott we need information to the market and they did a great job talking about how that's good. That's Number one. Number two in terms of the tech trade we've said for 10 years that tech is becoming the consumer staples of the US period. And so earnings have become excessively stable. But Ed nailed it and we talked about this on the show yesterday in the second quarter. We've never seen in the history of watching earnings revisions for well over 30 years we've never seen revision of earnings like that. And when you see that that is that is real. And so what's going to end up happening is you're going to continue to see these Types of revisions over the next four to six quarters. And 8,400 is clearly in the way.

[Scott Wapner]

I mean bespoke today talks about the beat rate for tech. The highest 85.1% one of every 100 tech stocks that have reported 85 of them have beaten expectations you have had. According to bank of America who watches the flows of what their institutional clients are doing. Tech second biggest inflow ever. So driven by hedge fund clients. Remember we've been talking a lot about the de grossing from hedge funds. There's been a lot of deleveraging. The positioning environment, the field if you will, is cleaner now. Tech saw the second biggest inflow week of all time. Money's going where they think they can get a nice reward. There's no doubt about that. This trade seems to be back in a big way. If it's.

[Joe Terranova]

It was.

[Scott Wapner]

It wasn't gone. It was parts of it at least were just taking a rest. Now the chips and the momentum trade, they were taking more than a rest. They had to puke up a little bit before they felt good enough to get back in the party.

[Joe Terranova]

So we had this 19% move from the end of March through June 2nd that took you up to 70, 76, 20, an all time high. And then the market, to your point Scott, it kind of had this consolidation to the lower trade. As you move through the month of June we're now rebuilding positioning once again. The catalyst is clearly earnings. And I think, Scott, we're getting in front of Nvidia earnings. I think if you.

[Scott Wapner]

Exactly two weeks from today.

[Joe Terranova]

Exactly two weeks from today. So if I can let me just walk you through why I think we're getting in front of it. First of all, analyst community 96% buy rating 303 price target. Here's how, here's what happens with the revenue growth. The revenue growth reaccelerates. Remember we were hearing about revenue growth moderating. You're coming in. The consensus number is 96%. That's the best figure in nearly 12 months for Nvidia. Now you're going to see earnings growth 114%. You're talking about free cash flow generation. That's going to come in at 47 billion next quarter they're going to guide to $100 billion in revenue. Think about how staggering that ultimately is. So I think the market is getting in front of above what I think universally people believe is going to be a really good quarter. Be a little bit careful with that. On the other side of earnings.

[Scott Wapner]

I was exactly thinking be a little

[Joe Terranova]

Careful with that on the other side of earnings. But I think we are working ourselves up towards that. That previous high at 236 for sure

[Scott Wapner]

that we had in May. Brin Goldman says it's going to 285. They reiterate their Nvidia buy. But Joe makes I think a really great point that we just came off one of the best weeks that this stock has had in an awfully long time. It's been on a nice run here. Okay, you can look at it over. That's month to date. Thank you guys. That's a good chart that shows exactly what I'm talking about. Therein lies one of the problems. Okay, so expectations are elevated to watch out on the other side of earnings in a couple of weeks.

[Brin Goldman]

I mean the growth of this company though is, is ginormous that I think it's been a huge laggard with the growth. Which tells you it's like people just still don't believe this growth is going to continue. But to Joe, walking through those revenue and earnings numbers, they are. And to do 100 billion next year is amazing. And so the stock continues to get cheaper. I think it's just been consolidating. Right? What do we have? A $5 trillion market cap. This stock is cheap. It should be at 282. 20 is a 223 is. Is inexpensive. So we'll see if it can break through that technical ceiling around 230s. When it does, I do think it will. I think it's off to the races. But that 230 definitely is. Is a ceiling that it needs to pierce through. But it's been an underperformer relative to the Microns, a bunch of different stocks year to date. And so I do think there is an opportunity for catch up, especially with elon saying with SpaceX that they are pushing all of their chips chips in with Nvidia. That's a huge, huge new customer that was not underwritten a month ago.

[Scott Wapner]

You make a good reminder to people too about the valuation. Let's show that again if we could. Because the stock, we've been saying for the last few weeks the stock is the cheapest that it's been. I don't know what was. What was that since 087 or 29 years? Seven years. I was thinking 2007, 2008, but in like in seven years. So therein tells its own story, right, of a stock that earnings expectations continue to go up and the stock continues to get cheaper. There's other news today as well, so Morgan Stanley comments on Meta's new Muse Spark re entering the open weight game through Muse Spark reads positively for the ecosystem. So that's a story that we continue to follow. Google getting its first crack today at the iPhone. That. That's interesting. A new Pixel lineup. We're following that. There's the SpaceX news today of the target getting cut. The stock has been teetering right around the 135 level that it had gone out at. It got below that, now it's back, at least above it there. I want to move and talk about a stock that reports earnings tonight. We don't talk about it all that often. It is Cisco. Brian Belsky, you own it?

[Brian Belsky]

Yeah, we do. We've owned it for about 10 years, Scott. And this is a company that has really benefited from the Russell 1000 value technology sector being a place with respect to where momentum has been, especially when Micron was in the sector. So this is also a name that value investors have been able to buy, not only for the cash flow and the consistent earnings, but this stock throws off a dividend. So now that they've talked more and more the last couple 3/4 about their AI development, development, this stock has a lot of fundamental momentum behind it.

[Scott Wapner]

Why is this stock done so well?

[Joe Terranova]

I think two things. Number one, it is obviously participating in AI, but it's participating in AI through Optical. And you see today, look, momentum. So let's talk about how strong the optical story is. It is Lumentum. It's Corning. You'll see this strong earnings. Corning is the traditional way. It's more of a reasonable valuation. And that's how I'm playing the trade. You could look at Lumentum, you could look at coherent coherence, up 59% so far, month to date. Applied Opto, if we could show that, that's up 84% year to date. So Cisco is there. It's participating in that optical component, which is critically important because years ago everyone was saying, in AI infrastructure, what do you need? You need copper. Everyone said own copper. Well, now optical is replacing the copper wiring because the light is actually moving the data faster and more, more efficiently.

[Scott Wapner]

Copper has been ripping too.

[Joe Terranova]

Well, no, no, no. But optical is absolutely the trade. And if you don't believe that optical is the trade, Nvidia, earlier in the year announced $2 billion deals with Lumentum and with Coherent because they understand that's where you have to be. Last point is also, keep in mind, and this is not, this is not confirmed as of yet but the FCC consideration in terms of limiting Chinese imports of optical is obviously going to turn us more reliant on US Optical. That plays right into the names like Cisco, like Corning and the others I mentioned.

[Scott Wapner]

Let's talk more about software. Okta today upgraded to market outperform from perform at Citizens. The cyber trade, Brian has been really where it's at in terms of software. It had that momentary blip months ago and then has had just a strong rebound. CrowdStrike taken to 230 today from 195 also at Citizen. So they're sort of reevaluating the whole group. They take Palo Alto to 415. What do you think?

[Brian Belsky]

Stocks up 100%. But remember the blip. The blip came at a great time for this company because it was in the process of folding in cyber arc and everything that was happening in terms of their operations. And now Palo Alto to us is is the creme de la creme in terms of that type of space with respect to cybersecurity. So we like the company, we've been adding to the company over the last few months and it's our core holding in that space.

[Joe Terranova]

You have some crowdstrike fortinet Palo Alto Cybersecurity that was the dominant theme as software was entering this corrective phase. And even as we've now witnessed other parts of software come back and have the mean reversion recovery, cybersecurity is maintaining the strength and it's attributable to the fundamentals and also the fact that if you are a CTO you are not cutting the budget as it relates to security.

[Scott Wapner]

Starting to get more conversation that software has some legs that this rebound is not punk.

[Shannon Sokotia]

No, I was just going to say that. I mean we heard so much about both software and business services, this AI disintermediation and what I think was overlooked or under acknowledged by the market is that the companies that are outside of the technology sector that are going to be integrating and implementing AI, they are accustomed to utilizing the software that they have on their desktop today. They want that software to be enhanced, improved, created greater efficiency by introducing AI into that software, not necessarily upsetting their entire stack, especially large Fortune 500 businesses. Scott, they don't have the opportunity to just tuck something entirely new. And so they're going to rely on software providers perhaps at, you know, lower take rates in terms of of annual revenue, but they're going to rely on their software stack in this AI introduction and implementation that they're going to have to to achieve.

[Scott Wapner]

How about this space, Brent? Software.

[Brin Goldman]

I think that Microsoft a week and a half ago when their earnings was a game changer. And so I think that puts a ton of support. Support. It's obviously a big position of igv and I do think that we're all starting to understand, especially with these open weight models, whether Medic can be successful, that's yet to be seen. But these open weight models is that ultimately these limbs become commodities. And you do need a trusted application layer, which is where the margins are. And so I think that you're going to continue to see IGB specifically make these higher lows. Higher lows, which is great for the chart. And I think it creepies, you know, up there for the remainder of the year. But I think that people that I was frustrated with Microsoft, I think it was a game changer to say this, you know, software application layer is here to stay and there'll be winners and losers. But I do think igv, because you have a little bit of everything, is a decent way to play the software space. If you don't want to have an individual, you know, risk of one single name.

[Joe Terranova]

I'm going to maintain a degree of skepticism until I hear from the three names in software that I think the problems exist.

[Scott Wapner]

Salesforce.

[Joe Terranova]

At the end of the month we get Salesforce. I think August 26, September 9, somewhere around there is Oracle and the following day is Adobe. Let's hear what each one of those reports are all about before we get this enthusiasm that a return to software in totality is warranted.

[Shannon Sokotia]

Do you think those are, those are equally important because I would think about Adobe and maybe a different context of that, just given the narrowness and, and the creative aspects of that company that might be unseated.

[Scott Wapner]

I was thinking the same thing. Yeah, I was going to say, sir. I thought you were going to say service now.

[Joe Terranova]

No, I actually think ServiceNow of those four is probably the best positioned.

[Scott Wapner]

And you're not as concerned about, I mean the stock. The stock has bounced nicely over the last month, but that's about the only green you're going to find if you look at it, at least on my fact set, quite literally week to date, it's down in the course of what's been a decent bounce over the last one month. Yes, it's up 15.5% year to date. Red. 12 months. Red.

[Joe Terranova]

I feel as though that the trouble has been spending and ServiceNow is challenged for sure, but I feel as though the real trouble is specifically related and it all began one year ago with Oracle and then it trickled down and it went to Adobe and it went to Salesforce. So I'm maintaining this disbelief.

[Brian Belsky]

So is that, is Oracle the number one problem child?

[Joe Terranova]

I think so.

[Brian Belsky]

Is that the one that needs to provide clarity in terms of getting out of the penalty box?

[Joe Terranova]

Well, candidly, Brian, I'd like to go three for three. I'd like to hear something really good from all three of them universally and that will shift my sentiment.

[Scott Wapner]

Okay, let's talk about financials for a moment because you put out a note today. The good folks at Humilis were working all night, all night. And they said today that they're buying into the rebound in financials.

[Brian Belsky]

We are?

[Scott Wapner]

Why?

[Brian Belsky]

Well, we wrote the report because we knew that you would really appreciate that today.

[Scott Wapner]

I appreciate that. I do.

[Brian Belsky]

It is really all about Wapner today. And this is a sector that we think you talk about earnings. The next great earnings win, aside from tech, is going to be financials. And we're going to see rates moderate, we're going to see spreads continue to increase. But more from a thematic perspective, you see the really big banks and the really small banks doing well. But the broker dealers, broker dealers are a great business. And that's why we highlighted bank of America, Goldman Sachs in terms of the two stocks in focus with respect to where and why we own those names. We think there's a long Runway here in financials.

[Scott Wapner]

And if I remember correctly, didn't you. You either sold or you trimmed Regional bank yesterday, right?

[Alex Sherman]

Yeah.

[Brian Belsky]

Fifth, third in our value portfolio because we are up 30% in the name. We're really worried about their loan book for the next couple of quarters. But we're already 32 or 33% financial financials in our value portfolio. So we just added to a couple of more or more favorite names, which jp, jp.

[Joe Terranova]

My take is JP Morgan continues to break out. If we could Show a chart, J.P. morgan trades to a new all time high today. Bank of America very quietly. I probably fail in mentioning this name enough as it relates to the money center banks. I tend to focus on Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, but it continues to work higher. And Brian, you pointed out yesterday, I thought it was excellent as we talked offset just about the value in the wealth management business for Merrill Lynch. Really strong.

[Brian Belsky]

Remember we talked also offset. All the good stuff is off. You know, that's really where the good comments come. You know, when the cameras are on.

[Scott Wapner]

Maybe you should bounce off right now if you're not going to.

[Vanguard Investor Choice Announcer]

Good night.

[Brian Belsky]

Everybody.

[Scott Wapner]

If you're not actually going to deliver when your mic is, not really.

[Brian Belsky]

I mean, I get so nervous on air. But if you, if you think about how they communicated their second quarter earnings, think about how much talk there wasn't about wealth management because they were talking about net interest, margins, commercial bank, the investment bank, the deal flow, the creme de la creme. I think in all these major banks it's going to be wealth management the next six to nine months period.

[Scott Wapner]

These guys deliver, by the way, their best stuff during the actual hour of the program.

[Brian Belsky]

I'm still a rookie compared to these two.

[Scott Wapner]

I mean, honestly, I don't know, man. Should we do with this guy?

[Vanguard Investor Choice Announcer]

The hook.

[Alex Sherman]

The hook, the hook.

[Scott Wapner]

Wow.

[Brian Belsky]

Okay.

[Scott Wapner]

Executive producer says the hook.

[Brian Belsky]

See you later.

[Scott Wapner]

Go to the bullpen. Go to the bullpen. All right. Coming up, speaking of sports, a bombshell basketball buyout. The Lakers sold for the second time in about a year. We have more on this still developing foreign.

[Chase Sapphire Preferred Announcer]

Preferred card.

[Vanguard Investor Choice Announcer]

We took a trip to a desert

[Chase Sapphire Preferred Announcer]

Oasis earning five times the points on Chase Travel, two times the points on all other travel, plus 100 hotel credit.

[Vanguard Marketing]

Chase, Sapphire Preferred a car that's preferred for a reason.

[Chase Sapphire Preferred Announcer]

Cards issued by JP Morgan, JAYS bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.

[Brin Goldman]

The board recommends approving regarding that seat on the committee.

[Vanguard Marketing]

We're promoting quarterly earnings.

[Vanguard Investor Choice Announcer]

Every day shareholders meet to discuss important matters about the companies you invest in. Now you can easily make your voice heard. Vanguard Investor Choice gives you a say in the companies you invest in. With just a few taps, you can set your proxy voting preference for your index funds. Visit vanguard.com investorchoice to learn more. Vanguard investors own shares of our index funds which own shares of the companies they invest in. Available for Vanguard index funds that participate in investor choice. Vanguard Marketing Corporation Distributor.

[AT&T Business Wireless Announcer]

Not every sale happens at the register before AT&T business Wireless checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long. Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people say during an awkward silence. Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold. That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sail or two. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time. Sometimes.

[Scott Wapner]

AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything.

[Adopt Us Kids Announcer]

Welcome back.

[Scott Wapner]

The Los Angeles Lakers changing hands for the second time in less than a year with some big name buyers in a deal reportedly valued now at $12.5 billion. To give us more context, put all of this into perspectives. Alex Sherman with CNBC Sports. This is a shocker to a lot of people.

[Alex Sherman]

I would say a shocker across the board, including to the league itself, to Jeannie Buss, the current governor of the Lakers. In fact, I would say even right now, there's still more questions than answers involved with this.

[Mark Ganis]

This.

[Alex Sherman]

Let's get to what we know off the top, which is that Mark Walter, who formally acquired the Lakers in October of last year, is now in essence flipping the team. He bought the team at a valuation of $10 billion. He's now selling it to a consortium led by Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for 12 and a half billion dollars. Of course, Joshua Kushner, founder of venture capital firm Thrive Capital Bob Iger, former CEO of Disney these two had been looking to buy the Las Vegas NBA team. They were one of many bidders potentially for that expansion team, now turning around and buying the Lakers instead for a record price. Now there's a few questions I just want to rattle off here. We can talk about it a little bit. Scott. We don't really know the financing at this stage. I don't know exactly what Bob Iger's net worth is. But he is not a multi billionaire like some of these tech founders that you see. So we don't know exactly what ownership stake he will have in it. The NBA has rules around private equity ownership that caps it at 30% in the aggregate. So we don't know exactly what percent of this will be owned individually by Joshua Kushner and how many other investors they're going to need to bring in in order to hit 12 and a half billion dollar valuation. Mark Walter bought more than 70% of the Lakers when he bought that stake from the Buss family. Like I said, we don't know what Jeannie Buss role is going to be moving forward. She's still the governor of the Lakers. She basically is the person in charge of that team's operations. Does that carry on moving forward? I'm not sure. We also don't really know why Mark Walters sold the team yet. There is a ongoing investigation into several of his insurance companies. I don't know if that factors into this or not. Nobody knows yet. But it is certainly unusual that you would buy a team and then turn around and sell it less than a year later. Now he is making a lot of money on this transaction, so it was clearly a good investment by him one way or the other. But we don't know exactly what the motivating factor in selling the team is to this point. So still a lot of questions to be answered.

[Scott Wapner]

Good point you make. Obviously the Headline is the sale. The subplot is the financial empire and the federal probe. And we do need more details. Most of the people that I've been speaking with in and around the sports investing landscape were just stunned by the news itself, as you alluded to at the top. Let's welcome in. You stay with us. I want to welcome in Mark Ganis. He's the CEO and the founder of Sports Corp. He's a consultant. He's sort of a sports deal guru, if you will. Has his hands in a lot of things that are going on in professional sports transactions. Mark, it's good to hear from you. Thank you for joining us.

[Mark Ganis]

Thanks, Scott. Pleasure to be here.

[Scott Wapner]

Just to get everything in full transparency, you didn't. Your company or yourself, you didn't have anything to do with this transaction, correct?

[Mark Ganis]

That's correct.

[Scott Wapner]

Okay. What do you make of it? I mean, I told Alex here, you know, the people that I've been speaking with this morning in and around the arena, if you will, are pretty stunned.

[Mark Ganis]

Yeah, it is stunning. And the speed by which from when Mark Walter bought the team to selling it, there's. There's a lot more going on here that we don't, you know, that has not been made public. He's not a person who flips his history in sports. His history in business has been he buys, he fixes, he develops and any holds. The Dodgers are a great example of that. What he's doing with the Cadillac F1 team, another example, the professional Women's Hockey League, so that. That he is flipping this so quickly. There's something more to the story here of why he's doing so, and it may have something to do with his personal situation.

[Scott Wapner]

Sure. People are trying to hypothesize, was this transaction pushed by the probe? We'll just have to wait and see. But it's certainly being discussed in sports circles today. I thought Alex made a good point as well in talking about the role that private equity can play when it comes to NBA deals relative to what the NFL, for example, allows. And that's where you really have your hands deep in so many of the biggest deals that have been done in the. In the NFL, we don't know a lot about the financing here. We know the parties that are said to be involved. But can you speak to the fact that trying to get a transaction done in the NBA and dare I use. You use the word easier, it may be just that relative to the NFL, in terms of the percentage of private equity that is allowed the introduction of sovereign wealth Money that is allowed in a way that the NFL does not.

[Mark Ganis]

Right. So transactions are much easier to do in the NBA and that is reflected in their high valuation of NBA teams as compared to the NFL. For example, the NBA, you can have corporate ownership, public company corporate ownership. The NFL doesn't permit that. Sovereign wealth funds you talked about, you could have direct pension funds investing in the NBA. You cannot have that in the NFL. Those are self imposed governors at the NFL that any time they want to release the break, they can increase valuation significantly. So Josh Kushner and Bob Iger have been out in the marketplace raising money for Las Vegas expansion team. So they have a pretty good idea of what's out there. And by doing so, I think they have probably a significant amount already lined up for this deal that has not been made public yet, and they don't have to compete for an expansion team like they would have in Vegas.

[Brian Belsky]

Interesting.

[Scott Wapner]

Alex, I'd love your opinion on that. You know, based on you've done so much reporting of late and we've had conversations about the role of private equity, maybe the ever increasing role of private equity in sports, and also to some degree, the growing criticism around it.

[Alex Sherman]

Yep. So just to tack on to what Mark was saying there, the speculated price for a Las Vegas NBA team was in the $10 billion range, up to $10 billion. Some people think maybe it would end up going for nine or something like that. But the point there is that quite a bit of money would have already been needed to be raised in order to make that a winning bid. So I do think that there's likely some credence to what Mark was saying there with this valuation at 12 and a half billion dollars, and again for only a 70% plus stake, rather than what would in essence be a 100% stake, because that stake was being built from the ground up. There is no previous owner, so you'd be buying the team from scratch. So all of that money would need to be raised by Iger and Kushner and whoever else. So it does. Logic suggests that there are multiple financial backers already backed up. And just by the way, even if there aren't yet, we saw as evidence with the Boston Celtics sale last year that you can always bring on investors after the announcement of a sale. So in the coming months here, this, this sale would need to be approved by the board of Governors of the NBA. So there could still be more money that comes to the table in order to get this deal approved by the league. You know, however many months down the road, that that happens.

[Scott Wapner]

Mark, lastly to you, the Lakers are obviously, I guess what we could call in our business a special situation in many regards. It's a trophy franchise obviously in professional sports to the degree that you can sell a franchise for 10 billion less than a year ago and command 12 and a half today and get it and just where valuations are going in your mind, the fact that the Seahawks just went for near 10 to Vinod Khosla. This is a one way train it appears. And every time I've asked you where valuations are going, you continue to say higher. You told me many months ago that the Seahawks would get 10 or close and here we are. I'd love your insight into where we go next.

[Mark Ganis]

These strong trophy assets in sports in particular are going to continue to go up in value. Look at what just happened with the Yankees with Apollo at 2.6 billion coming in and basically selling almost none of the team. These trophy assets cannot be replicated. Sports is an asset class that is going to continue to grow. And as we move to AI and globalization, sports is the one asset class that will be advanced, will not be hindered by AI and globalization. So when you take the combination of, of the asset class, the future and the limited trophy assets that are out there, these things are going to keep going up. And we're not, we're not anywhere near the end of the road on this is a lot of Runway left to go.

[Scott Wapner]

Should certainly seems to be that way. Great insight, Mark. Appreciate it as always. Great reporting from you and your own insight. Alex. We'll see you later at 3:00'. Clock. That's our Alex Sherman. Now to Pippa Stevens with a CNBC news update. Hi Pippa.

[Pippa Stevens]

Hey Scott. A specific thread about a shoulder fired missile was reportedly behind the decision to move President Trump off of Air Force One as he left the NATO summit in Turkey last month. That's according to cnn, citing a person familiar who said the threat was detailed enough to hide the president in a catering truck and move him to an unmarked military jet. Air Force One departed separately as a decoy carrying aides and reporters. A desperate search continues for survivors of Colombia's magnitude 7.4 earthquake as the critical 72 hour rescue window closes. At least 181 people are dead and nearly 2,600 are injured. In Pereria, crews pulled a young woman alive from the rubble after a painstaking 12 hour operation. Thousands are now living in shelters and parks and millions are gathering across Spain, Iceland and Greenland for today's total solar eclipse. With darkness lasting up to two and a half minutes. Spain has deployed more than 33,000 officers as crowds enter wildfire prone rural areas. Authorities are urging viewers to use search certified eclipse glasses and avoid anything that could spark a fire. Scott, back to you.

[Scott Wapner]

All right, thank you, Stevens. Coming up, calls of the day, including a number of bullish calls on the committee's top consumer place. Today we'll debate those names. Coming up,

[Brin Goldman]

the board recommends approving regarding

[Joe Terranova]

that seat on the committee.

[Vanguard Marketing]

We're most quarterly earnings.

[Vanguard Investor Choice Announcer]

Every day shareholders meet to discuss important matters about the companies you invest in. Now you can easily make your voice heard. Vanguard Investor Choice gives you a say in the companies you invest in. With just a few taps, you can set your proxy voting preference for your index funds. Visit vanguard.com investorchoice to learn more. Vanguard investors own shares of our index funds which own shares of the companies they invest in. Available for Vanguard index funds that participate in Investor choice. Vanguard Marketing Corporation distributor the new LinkedIn

[Vanguard Marketing]

hiring pro can't undo your last hire. The human postponer. They were the master of one phrase. I'll circle back on that. But three months later you are the one doing all their work and wondering how big that circle is. But LinkedIn Hiring Pro can take the hiring load off your plate by automating the hiring busy work from the initial job post to scheduling interviews. Hire right the first time with LinkedIn Hiring Pro. Post a free job today at LinkedIn.com Pandora courage I learned it from my adoptive mom.

[Adopt Us Kids Announcer]

Hold my hand. You hold my hand. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care@adoptus kids.org you can't imagine the reward brought to you by Adopt Us Kids, the U.S. department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council.

[Scott Wapner]

So some calls of the day Wolf today says they love the setup on McDonald's Belsky they say it's one of our favorite setups after a stock has suffered a significant drawdown. It's a weekly oversold signal at support coupled with a bullish inflection in momentum. Now you didn't say say anything about McDonald's off camera. So now you have to deliver your best stuff.

[Brian Belsky]

Church mouse off camera. The real concern on McDonald's is that the same people coming in, they call it renewed traffic is down less than 1%. So they need to try to find a way to crank that up. They're really working more on the app. Their sales are pretty flat and the Internet side was a little bit light. So they've got a new focus on the US Scott and we think that there's going to be strong growth the second half of the year.

[Scott Wapner]

Here you buy this turnaround in Target because B of A today you own the stock. B of A reiterates underperform. Okay. They do put the target at 124. It's at 153. Okay. The stock is up 56 and a half percent year to date. It's up more than 13% over the last month. They're not believers, obviously. Are you?

[Brian Belsky]

We own it in one portfolio, so that kind of tells you. Come on. But we prefer Walmart.

[Scott Wapner]

That means you like it, by the way.

[Brian Belsky]

We prefer Walmart more here. So we do think this is the first full year. The new CEO, he's done a great job operationally to turn the company around. That would be a name that is on our list. List to trim.

[Scott Wapner]

Scott. Okay, see, let's just cut to the chase and get to that then. You know what I mean?

[Brian Belsky]

Just trying to add a little bit more.

[Scott Wapner]

I understand, but if you own it in one portfolio, that means you like it. If you run nine portfolios, maybe that means you love it.

[Pippa Stevens]

Okay.

[Brian Belsky]

Okay, thank you for clarifying that.

[Scott Wapner]

Well, I mean, our viewers are sitting

[Brian Belsky]

there like, come on, Bill.

[Scott Wapner]

Again. Yeah, I get it.

[Brian Belsky]

I get it.

[Scott Wapner]

Hilton, coming right back to you.

[Vanguard Investor Choice Announcer]

You're on the hot seat, please.

[Brian Belsky]

I love it.

[Scott Wapner]

You are on the hot seat. Upgraded to buy the target. 365 from 360. How many portfolios you have this in one. Does that mean you.

[Brian Belsky]

Well, it's a mid cap. Well, it got upgraded, so it's a mid cap. Name. Scott Revpar. Numbers are higher than Marriott. Marriott had a tougher quarter from, from the, from the FIFA perspective, they've actually outpaced Marriott with respect to what they saw. So Hilton, we think is a great play on the healthcare space or a hotel space.

[Scott Wapner]

I'm sorry it's your unlucky day. I know you're a little bit flustered now, but I know I'm coming right back to you.

[Alex Sherman]

Please do.

[Scott Wapner]

Lowe's.

[Brian Belsky]

Yeah.

[Scott Wapner]

The Target cut to 262 from 281. Home Depot target cut to 344 from 346.

[Brian Belsky]

Yep.

[Scott Wapner]

Lowe's story.

[Brian Belsky]

Lowe's is down 11% year to date. Home Depot's flat. Home Depot's done a better job with their integration of the new properties. Lowe's not so much. And so we think that there's an opportunity there to see increased earnings growth from some of their new M and A activity that they see in the last six Months.

[Scott Wapner]

They're telling me to go to break. But I'm just coming right after TJX outperform Telsey at Telsey ahead of earnings on Wednesday. Joe owns it, but I'm coming right at you.

[Brian Belsky]

5,200 stores around the world. There's still a Runway to continue to grow that this is a countercyclical play on the consumer that has great products and we think it people, people are going. We talked yesterday about some consumers going downscale. This is the best way to go downscale as a consumer.

[Scott Wapner]

Integris upgraded today. Target 200 at Deutsche.

[Chase Sapphire Preferred Announcer]

You know what they do?

[Brian Belsky]

They make the gas that goes into the components that make chips. That's why it's an AI play and that's why from a demand perspective, this company is firing on all cylinders.

[Scott Wapner]

General Dynamics, that's you top pick. Wells Fargo Robotics Robotics are two. But I'm coming right.

[Brian Belsky]

Robotics Robotics Robotics. This company company is done from the robotic side and the defense side. We think that from a revenue perspective this company is going to continue to

[Scott Wapner]

beat Boeing on that list also.

[Brian Belsky]

You got that Boeing, everyone's stock favorite stock to hate last year. This company continues to have new orders go up for flying more especially on the international side. Their orders kit in that from the, from the CEO perspective, this is another company that has done a great job in terms of balance sheet management and

[Scott Wapner]

cash flow control room. I'm sorry. Sorry. Give them a financial minds. Deservedly they're losing their minds. They try to get me to go like two minutes ago, but this had to be done.

[Brin Goldman]

I know.

[Joe Terranova]

I get it.

[Halftime Report Disclaimer Announcer]

All right.

[Scott Wapner]

We'll come back with the cash conundrum. There's some new data showing that investors are hoarding trillions of dollars on the sidelines, raising the question of what the ideal portfolio looks like right now. We discuss next. All right, good Wall Street Journal story today. Wealth management has a $3 trillion problem. Investors are keeping too much cash. Got us thinking about what the ideal portfolio does look like right now. So they point out that individual investors are sitting on a mountain of cash. That there's over $3 trillion in retail money market funds. That's around a record high. Not to mention the trillions of institutional dollars as well that are sitting in money markets. David Solomon of Goldman Sachs has talked about that. Advisors continue to pitch bonds. People don't want any part of it. They want cash. They want cash and stocks. What do you think?

[Shannon Sokotia]

Well, that's the barbell that's worked and they don't. They don't want bonds because if they're, they're anchoring themselves back to 20, 15, 16, 17 where bond yield yields weren't particularly attractive. Plus the post Covid period where the Fed was actively hiking rates and frankly with an inverted yield curve, cash was the most attractive, attractive place to be. But if you look just at the yield increase or pick up that you get from December 31st to today, Scott, you're actually being able to lock in some very attractive yields both on the taxable side and on the muni side. Just, you know, tax exempt.

[Scott Wapner]

Yeah, no munis. Rich Saperstein, every single time he is on this show talks munis.

[Shannon Sokotia]

But I feel like this is part of the experience for investors is that they haven't looked at their bond portfolio portfolio in years. And so they feel like the relative opportunity is, you know, cumbersome and the potential for there to be, you know, opportunities in the equity market remains. The other thing that's the challenge, Scott, is that the correlation of bonds and stocks has increased. And so people are like my 6040 isn't as elegant or effective as it used to be. The bottom line is though, is that there are, you know, pretty attractive absolute yields available and that just going out to out even from cash to two years or three years or four years in duration, you don't have to go out to the 10 year and pick up that volatility.

[Scott Wapner]

Brin, how are you advising your clients as it relates to this issue that the Journal brings up today and we decided to talk about.

[Brin Goldman]

Yeah, well, I mean we say all the time, especially longer duration bonds have been a great way to grow poor safely. They haven't kept up with inflation. The AG is flat from a total return over the last five years. And that's why, you know, I talk a lot about covered calls because what hasn't changed is people do want cash flow. It's just how do they want to get it and bonds from a total return. Long duration bonds have been horrific for investors. And so I think they felt more comfortable institutionally as well as on the private client side staying in cash. But when you have covered calls that to us really squares that squares that you get you equity exposure but you can create a 6, 7, 8, 9% annual yield while also having some equity exposure. And then finally, I think that most of this cash, once again the baby boomers, which are now in their 70s, 80s plus, they just have a different risk tolerance. And so I think this cash number is not going to change anytime soon institutionally is on the private client Private client side. But this is why covered calls are such a great investment for people wanting cash flow because you're not going to get that on the bond side.

[Scott Wapner]

Well you're one of the experts certainly in our orbit on that Joe.

[Joe Terranova]

So institutions are the buyers of corporate debt. Very strong demand coming from institutions, not so much retail. To Bren's point I see in front of us that we are raising a next generation generation of investor that is going to specifically focus on equities because that is what they know, that is what they have got paid on and that is what they understand. So I think as we move through time, I think it's be more difficult for people to understand the benefits of bonds. They're going to want equities.

[Scott Wapner]

You need a break or you got something to say?

[Brian Belsky]

All I have to say is 40, 40, 40 year bull market and bonds and they had the unwind from 2022 and now people the majority of returns and bonds have been price performance. Now we're seeing what you've adeptly said is that we're seeing interest rates, we're seeing the fixed income part of bonds working again. And I think people are missing that. And that's why Rich does a great job talking about the muni bonds because you need that interest part of it. So I think that's more important than most people think. I think you're spot on with respect to stocks is the place to be. But I don't think that people should completely run away from bonds.

[Scott Wapner]

Okay, so let's take a break and come back. We want to talk about power play problems. There's a backlash as you know against data centers. The power names today are getting a lift because of what coreweave Nebby is. Some of these other companies had to say Nvidia what they've had to say recently too. What does this trade do do because they've had a huge run this year. We discuss next. Welcome back. Data center power stocks have had a huge year. I think everybody knows that at this point. For example vertiv's up 81.5%. Quanta 63, Vernova 58 and a half. Eaton 46. Even caterpillar right, right in the mix there has been a 50% gainer. So you had a couple of events. Caterpillar got downgraded a couple weeks ago at Baird they said quote state and local regulations could further limit the ability of hyperscalers to deploy Capex potentially impacting future orders backlog progression. Okay, that's talking about the data center buildout New York has the data center moratorium. Texas is pausing connecting data centers to the grid until there is an audit. Recent polling has suggested, at least one poll that we saw 71% of people oppose data centers. Right. It's this not in my backyard debate. If they're not in somebody's backyard, they're going to be in another one. However, which is why people haven't gotten too negative on the stock performance. From here forward, I'm wondering what we think. Jyoti, you have Vertiv, you have Quanta, you have Renova and you have Eaton

[Joe Terranova]

just recently sold Caterpillar at the last rebalance and that was were related to debt to equity. We own 22 industrials. These are the top four performing industrials. If you're trying to make an investment decision based on the note that you just read, I would first turn to utilities and I would step away from ownership of utilities. I still think we're in the process of building out these data centers. While there are some regulatory obstacles ahead and if we're continuing to build that out, manufacturing going to continue. It's going to support the revenue growth that we're seeing. The four companies that we own in the most recent quarter, revenue growth above 20% for all of them.

[Scott Wapner]

Bank of America with a note today. Belsky. They say everything's bigger in Texas, including the political risk. Texas has been one of the country's most constructive data center markets, but that position is now at risk. They. They highlight specifically in their basket of names within the risk center, CenterPoint, which you own. CNP. Most exposed. One of most exposed to the current uncertainty. What do I. What do I do?

[Brian Belsky]

Well, they're in the Houston area too, which Bryn knows a lot more about than I do.

[Scott Wapner]

I know. But you own it.

[Brian Belsky]

I do.

[Scott Wapner]

So you're stepping into it again.

[Brian Belsky]

I know I am.

[Joe Terranova]

So did such a good job.

[Brian Belsky]

I know. I really. Anyway, this stock from the growth perspective, it's crawled through. I'm not to going.

[Scott Wapner]

Going to be 500 miles.

[Brian Belsky]

I know.

[Scott Wapner]

Smelliness, I can't even imagine. I'm not going to be on the other side. You put your hands in the air, the rain was coming down.

[Brian Belsky]

I'm not going to let the political environment.

[Scott Wapner]

The sheriffs are circling.

[Brian Belsky]

I'm not. I'm not going to let the political environment dictate what I know about this about owning a company. We think the data center side of the center point is going to be very, very strong and the demand going forward is there.

[Scott Wapner]

That was a Shawshank Redemption reference. Did you get it?

[Adopt Us Kids Announcer]

It?

[Brian Belsky]

Oh, yeah, I got it.

[Scott Wapner]

All right.

[Brian Belsky]

We're busy living or get busy dying, Scott.

[Scott Wapner]

All right, Finals next. You notice that, too? All right, Tom Lee, Stephanie Gilb, Courtney Garcia, Sherry Paul, Jeff DeGraff, Malcolm E. We'll have more on that Lakers sale today as well.

[Joe Terranova]

Four Men's aggressive yelling at you, raising

[Scott Wapner]

his voice at us. Belsky, what's your final trade?

[Brian Belsky]

LPL Financial play on the Independent Channel

[Brin Goldman]

Britain Dram and sell the October 60

[Scott Wapner]

calls Collect 460 Shan Healthcare Joe, JB

[Alex Sherman]

Hunt, Bill, you want one?

[Brian Belsky]

I mean, no.

[Scott Wapner]

All right, I'll see you at three. You've been listening to CNBC's Halftime Report, the podcast. You can always catch us live weekdays at 12 Eastern only on CNBC.

[Halftime Report Disclaimer Announcer]

All opinions expressed by the Halftime Report participants are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC or its parent company or affiliates and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, Internet or another medium. You should not treat any opinion expressed on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of opinion. Such opinions are based upon information the Halftime Report participants consider reliable, but neither CNBC nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. To view the full Halftime Report disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com halftimereportdisclaimer with my Sapphire

[Brian Belsky]

Preferred card, we took a trip to

[Chase Sapphire Preferred Announcer]

a desert Oasis, earning five times the points on Chase Travel, two times the points on all other travel, plus $100 hotel credit.

[Vanguard Marketing]

Chase Sapphire Preferred a card that's preferred for a reason.

[Chase Sapphire Preferred Announcer]

Cards issued by JP Morgan, J's bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.