Hottest Stocks in CW 05/24

The share price of Dutch chip supplier ASML reached a new record high following the publication of its figures for the previous financial year - despite the fact that the outlook for the coming weeks and months proved less than optimistic. Forecasts for the first quarter were in fact significantly below analysts' estimates. In addition, revenue for the entire financial year is only expected to remain "stable". However, investors do not seem to be concerned by this, as the company is aiming for strong growth again from 2025. The record order intake in the last quarter provides grounds for hope. At €9.2 billion, this was significantly higher than expected. Analysts had only expected orders worth €3.6 billion. The comments made by Group CEO Peter Wennink in the earnings call also sounded very confident, which is why many investors are betting on the prediction that ASML will continue its favourable trend in revenue and profit. Growth rates show that the Group has been able to significantly increase its revenue in recent years and has become increasingly profitable in the process. This has also been acknowledged by wikifolio traders, most of whom have recently acquired the Euro Stoxx 50-listed stock.

Almost everyone knows the payment service provider PayPal and many people also use the payment services provided by this US company, especially when shopping online. PayPal has over 428 million active accounts worldwide, spread out across over 200 countries. Its global market share is estimated at over 40 % despite increasing competition from Apple Pay and Google Pay. And yet the Group's performance has not been convincing recently, which is why its share price has plummeted. Alex Chriss, who has been CEO since August, is now expected to reverse the trend. The new company director has so far mainly made a name for himself with his bold words, by announcing in the run-up to the company's own "Innovation Day" that he wanted to "shock" the world with his news (details can also be found here). However, when the event took place last Thursday, the announcements triggered a "sell the news" reaction on the stock markets. The stock, which had previously risen significantly, had to surrender some of its gains. In turn, many wikifolio traders took advantage of this situation to purchase the stock. A look at the trading sentiment shows the clear predominance of buyers in Paypal:

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Michael Spitzer (M1chelangelo), for example, has made additional purchases in his relatively new wikifolio Diversified Growth Intelligence. The trader takes a positive view of the CEO's plans: "Despite the somewhat exaggerated choice of words in the initial announcement, I actually found his presentation very refreshing, and the innovations presented there - especially the update on Venmo Business Profiles - extremely promising". He therefore intends to hold on to the position he has already established in his portfolio and possibly even add to it: "I am all the more convinced of the great rebound potential and will utilise any further setbacks for targeted additional purchases.

Over the past few months, there has been little reason for investors in the American hydrogen company Plug Power to smile. The stock, which was still trading at around € 30 in autumn 2022 and even peaked at around € 60 at the beginning of 2021, fell to a low of just over € 2 at the beginning of the year. Last week, things finally started to pick up again. The reason is likely to have been media reports that the company is close to finalising a loan of $ 1.6 billion from the US Department of Energy. The desperately needed funds are to be used to support up to six hydrogen plants. As a result, the stock shot up to a good € 3.60 and is currently still trading at € 3.15. Nevertheless, there is little sign of any great euphoria following the disastrous share price performance. The majority of wikifolio traders have also used the price rebound to reduce existing holdings.

Major share price fluctuations are almost the norm for biotech companies. This is mainly due to the fact that the success of the companies depends heavily on the outcomes of research results and the subsequent potential sales of future drugs. For this reason, the announcement of such clinical trial results is followed with great interest. In the case of the US company Gilead Sciences, this is precisely what led to a sharp fall in its share price. More specifically, this involved the drug Trodelvy, which is already being used to treat a certain form of breast cancer. In addition to its current usage, the company was also seeking to develop it for use in the treatment of lung cancer. However, the team failed to meet its primary objective in a Phase III trial. As a result, the stock lost around 9% of its value in the past week. Some wikifolio traders were also disappointed and sold some of their positions. The trading sentiment shows a clear seller overhang for Gilead Sciences in recent days and weeks:

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