Microsoft is on a 20-year annual dividend growth streak. And while the company’s dividend yield is rather low, at just 0.84%, this company has been very generous with its shareholder returns. MSFT’s 5 and 10-year dividend growth rates are 9.4% and 13%, respectively.

investors who are fearful of ongoing inflation (especially in the energy markets) are likely looking for potential safe havens. Chevron (CVX) is one of the world’s largest integrated oil companies, it is important to see what the credible authors and analysts that we track with the Nobias algorithm have had to say about the stock recently.

Intel (INTC), which is widely considered to be a market darling, has fallen off of its pedestal. INTC shares are down 21% during the last year and they’ve drastically underperformed their peers over the last 5 and 10-year periods, posting gains of 30.6% and 78.69%, respectively. Intel recently experienced a management change and the company has embarked upon ambitious plans to return to growth. Therefore, we wanted to highlight the recent opinions expressed by authors/analysts which the Nobias algorithm deem to be credible, with regard to whether or not investors should consider buying into INTC’s recent dip.

Uber (UBER) is a highly followed name in the growth space because of the secular tailwinds that many analysts believe exist in the ride sharing industry. Uber’s IPO made headlines in 2019 due to the immense size of the company’s initial market cap. As you can see in this article, Uber’s $8.1 billion IPO price was one of the largest of all-time. And yet, the stock has been on a relatively bumpy road since then.

Cisco (CSCO), which has transitioned from a speculative high flier several decades ago into a equintessential cash cow of an “old tech” stock in today’s market, has regained its market darling status recently. Over the past year, the S&P 500 is up 11.11%. During this same period of time, CSCO shares are up 23.46%. Throughout 2022, both the S&P 500 and CSCO shares have experienced high single digit weakness; however, Cisco posted fiscal Q2 results last week which caused the stock to rally. Cisco shares rose 6.14% during the past week.

2022 has been a tough year for markets thus far. The S&P 500 is down 8.76% on a year-to-date basis. The Nasdaq has suffered even worse, down 13.4% on the year. However, that doesn’t mean that all tech stocks have been down and out during recent weeks. For instance, Datadog, Inc (DDOG) has rallied roughly 20% during the trailing 30 days. This move came on the heels of the company’s recent Q4 earnings report. We take a look at this stock to see what the credible analysts that cover it have had to say.

Cloudflare is a very interesting company to follow. The stock exists in an industry (edge computing)) that is expected to benefit from strong secular tailwinds for years (if not decades) to come. However, because of these growth expectations the company came into 2022 trading with a very speculative valuation and therefore, NET shares have been caught up in the selling pressure that we’re seeing surrounding speculative growth stocks throughout 2022 (largely driven by an increasingly hawkish Federal Reserve). After posting roughly 200% capital gains in 2021, NET shares are down 20.21% year-to-date thus far in 2022. But, their sell-off actually began in late 2021. NET shares are down a whopping 52.6% from their current 52-week highs of $221.64. 50%+ sell-offs aren’t uncommon to see in the tech sector right now.

AT&T (T) has been an under-performer for awhile now, in terms of share price performance. T shares are down 1.91% year-to-date, down 15.89% during the last year, down 41.69% during the last 5 years, and down 19.14% during the last 10 years. For comparison’s sake, it’s important to note that the last decade has represented a very strong bull market rally period. The S&P 500 is up 90.26% during the last 5 years and 227.82% during the last decade. In short, AT&T shares have sat out this strong rally, which has disappointed many of its shareholders.

Last week, PayPal (PYPL) shares fell 22.90%. This performance pushed the stock’s year-to-date performance down to -33.14%. PayPal’s ongoing sell-off means that its shares are trading down 59.35% from their 52-week highs. In short, this former market darling has fallen off of its pedestal and in this piece, we wanted to see why that is and what the credible authors and analysts tracked by the Nobias algorithm have had to say about the stock recently.

Meta Platforms (FB) just broke a record…and not the kind of record that you want to see as a shareholder. After reporting negative subscriber growth for the first time during its fourth quarter earnings report on February 2, 2022 and offering disappointing guidance when it comes to future growth, FB shares posted the worst single session performance of all time, related to the amount of market capitalization that it lost. Meta shares plunged more than 26% on Thursday, erasing more than $220 billion of market value. And yet, while these losses are impressive, the fact of the matter is, Meta remains highly profitable (the company produced more than $39 billion in net income during 2021, which was up 35% on a year-over-year basis).

Starbucks (SBUX) has long been one of the top performing consumer discretionary names in the entire stock market. Over the last decade, SBUX shares are up north of 310%, which beats the S&P 500’s performance during this same period of time by a wide margin (the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY) is up 244.70% during the trailing 10-year period). However, in recent years, SBUX has underperformed its sector, as well as the broader market, as we’ve seen a change in leadership (in 2018, Starbucks’ founder, Howard Shultz, stepped down from his CEO position) and concerns surrounding slowing growth as this $100+ billion company matures.

Microsoft is currently the world’s second largest company (in terms of market capitalization). This $2.25 trillion company is in many investors’ portfolios because its diverse operations, strong balance sheet, and reliable cash flows allow investment managers who hail from many different schools of thought to own MSFT shares. MSFT is one of only 2 companies in the world with a AAA-rated balance sheet (the other is Johnson and Johnson). For reference, this means that MSFT’s credit is considered to be of higher quality than the United State’s government’s (the U.S. government’s credit rating is AA+ after a 2011 downgrade). With that in mind, investors who focus on high quality defensive assets tend to own MSFT.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic period the vaccine producers have been in the spotlight. Shares of Pfizer (PFE), BioNTech (BNTX), Moderna (MRNA), and Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) have all had a regular place in the healthcare spotlight because of their vaccines. Pfezier and BioNTech have been the biggest winners here, with their shares up 51.51% and 47.47%, respectively, during the trailing twelve months. Moderna and Johnson and Johnson haven’t fared so well, trailing their peers, the healthcare sector, and the broader market, with trailing twelve month gains of just -0.05% and 1.55%, respectively. However, there is another company working hard on COVID-19 vaccines (which is usually outside of the spotlight). And, its shares have performed the worst, by far, compared to the stocks mentioned during the last year or so. After posting returns of approximately 3000% during 2020, Novavax (NVAX) shares have fallen 38.12% during the past year. With this major underperformance in mind, we wanted to take a look at what the credible authors and analysts that the Nobias algorithm tracks have had to say about the stock. Could this relative underperformance be creating a buying opportunity?

BABA ended 2021 on a down note, closing the year near its current 52-week low of $108.70. This ~$109 level was roughly 60% below BABA’s 52-week high price of $274.29. This significant sell-off continues to drive interest from dip buyers who are brave enough to attempt to time the bottom. And yet, the negative momentum that the stock has experienced during the last year or so remains largely in place, meaning that contrarian investors continue to struggle with this stock.

United Healthcare (UNH), which is a leader in the managed care and insurance industry, has become known for its top notch performance within the broader healthcare space. During the last decade, UNH shares have posted capital gains of 782.28% (drastically outperforming the S&P 500, which was up 232.96% during this same period of time). Not only is UNH known for strong share price appreciation, but reliable shareholder returns as well. UNH currently offers investors a dividend yield of 1.26%, boasts a 12-year annual dividend growth streak, and 5 and 10-year dividend growth rates of 18.7% and 24.8%, respectively.

During volatile times in the market, investors often seek cover in the consumer staples space. Why? Well, because regardless of what is going on in the world, companies in this sector sell products which are considered essential for everyday life. Therefore, even during economic downturns and financial crises, they tend to generate relatively strong sales and earnings outcomes. And, when it comes to the consumer staples space, one of the most popular stocks is Procter and Gamble.

Netflix (NFLX) was one of the best performing stocks over the last decade, up nearly 3,800%. The stock was a major winner of the pandemic period in 2022 as well, due to the stay-at-home economy driving tens of millions of households into the Netflix streaming universe. However, these strong results have made year-over-year growth comparisons difficult throughout 2021, causing NFLX shares to underperform. During the past year, the S&P 500 was up 22.79%. Netflix shares were up only 4.96% during this same period of time.

Nvidia has been one of the top performing stocks in the market during the last 1, 5, and 10-year periods (where it has posted returns of 96.4%, 927.75%, and 7,642.2%, respectively). The company is a semiconductor stock that offers unique leadership and exposure to secular growth stories in the gaming, the artificial intelligence, the data storage, and the metaverse markets. With this in mind, NVDA has been a favorite growth stock for investors for years; however, shares are down more than 22% from their recent 52-week highs.

Amazon (AMZN) was one of the biggest winners of the pandemic period during 2020. When business shut down, social distancing regulations were put into place which bolstered the world-from-home and stay-at-home economies, and ultimately, consumers changed their lifestyle and spending habits, Amazon’s sales and earnings soared.

On November 29th, 2021, Jack Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter stepped down from his CEO position at Twitter to focus on running Block (which was then called Square), the financial technology company that he also founded and served as CEO.