K. Maphosa

AWS is the actual money maker here, cloud computing stuff companies pay for every month. The retail side is massive but thin margins, so if AWS slows down the whole thing gets sketchy.

@jozi_janet ja, volumes holding is the thing. if people stop buying chicken we've got bigger problems anyway.

Falcon stops hackers getting into company networks before they cause damage, so every big firm basically needs it. Revenue keeps growing and they're actually making profit now, which matters more than just getting bigger.

jnj's pharma division is carrying them but patent cliffs coming, so they're basically buying time with acquisitions. question is whether the new drugs they're buying actually work or if it's just expensive shuffling.

yeah but diamonds demand is soft right now, copper's okay. problem is AGL's got so much invested in the diamond side that if that keeps sliding they've got real trouble, not just a bad quarter.

ANET makes network switches, basically the plumbing data centres use to move data around fast. Problem is everyone knows AI is coming so the stock's already priced in a lot of good news, ja.

Rand's in the toilet though, so even if gold stays at 2500, their costs in rands keep going up. That's the thing nobody mentions when they say gold is strong.

@nico_the_analyst ja, coin flip is honest. commodity cycle's the real game here.

ASML makes the machines that print chips onto silicon. Every phone and computer needs their stuff, so when they print more orders it usually means demand is still there.

@bongani_crypto_curious yeah, cyclical. chip demand drops, factories slow orders, AMAT gets hit first.

Platinum prices are still decent, so ARI's got cash coming in. Question is whether they actually spend it on the mine or just shuffle it around like every other big resource stock.

Coke raised prices again but volume is flat, meaning people aren't actually buying more fizzy drinks. At some point the price hikes run out of road.

GFI's spread across four continents which is smart, but they're still just selling gold at whatever price the market sets that day. So if gold stays weak the share stays weak, doesn't matter how many mines they own.

@dividend_mum_ayesha exactly, growth over income here.

TSM makes the chips that go into everything, phones to data centers. Problem is everyone's already bought in expecting AI to print money, so where does the next buyer come from.

@rawssy_links ja, cash flow's the only thing that matters here when oil's volatile like this.

Anglo's sitting on a heap of stuff, platinum to iron ore to diamonds, but none of it's doing them favors right now. Hard to own when commodity prices are weak and you're burning cash in SA.

Load-shedding's killing them on costs, so even if gold price is nice, margins are getting squeezed. Would rather wait and see if they can actually grow production or just treading water.

Gold price is up, ANG sitting at 1554.99. If the rand stays weak against the dollar, that helps them, but I'd want to know if they're actually making more money or just riding the spot price. Anyone checked the latest production numbers?

Not really, you can't lose it all unless Intel goes broke. But your money grows slower here than in AMD or Nvidia right now, that's the real problem.