The Magnificent Seven have been running out of fuel well before we rang in the new year. And while the Mag Seven may have clocked in the most underwhelming first three weeks of the year in quite a while (the Mag Seven usually start new years with strength rather than weakness), I certainly wouldn't hit the panic button just yet.
"We see a positive set up for the shares heading into F1Q26 (Dec-end) earnings print as AAPL shares are trading at 30x NTM P/E, below the peak multiple that is typical for the shares heading into a key iPhone product cycle (previous peak of ~32x into 5G cycle), in combination with the modest upsides in relation to both F1Q26 print and the F2Q26 outlook," added the firm, as quoted by CNBC.
Futures are trading dramatically lower as we start the holiday-shortened trading week, following yesterday's MLK remembrance day. The futures downdraft this morning is being attributed to President Trump's threat to raise tariffs significantly over Greenland. Last Friday, the market closed unchanged primarily after a sizable options expiration that boosted trading volume throughout the day. With 184 companies reporting fourth-quarter results this week, many top stocks could be data-driven and volatile over the next four days.
Cruise company Royal Caribbean ( NYSE: RCL) beat earnings by six cents last night, reporting a huge $5.75 per share profit despite sales coming in just a bit light at $5.1 billion. It's a bit concerning that Royal Caribbean said earnings for the full year will fall short of expectations, however, with a forecast between $15.58 and $15.63 per share, and this forecast is costing the stock 8% in early trading.
While the BofA analysts are wary of the pitfalls that could face the top financial stocks for the rest of 2025, if the tariffs and the economy combine to provide headwinds to the sector, if things smooth out some, the top blue chips in the industry could produce some impressive total return numbers for growth and income investors. They noted this in their report.
