Degas Wright, CEO, Decatur Capital

Palo Alto vs. Fortinet The cybersecurity business is growing 9% annually. Palo is moving towards a higher-margin subscription business, which translates into 25% earnings growth each year. A concern though is that Palo became profitable only in the last quarter. So, he prefers Fortinet which has been profitable since 2016.

Palo Alto vs. Fortinet The cybersecurity business is growing 9% annually. Palo is moving towards a higher-margin subscription business, which translates into 25% earnings growth each year. A concern though is that Palo became profitable only in the last quarter. So, he prefers Fortinet which has been profitable since 2016.

He sold it. He graded it a D for its high 266x earnings. Also, he didn't like that 57% of their revenue comes from crypto fees; he expects these fees to decline. Third, their long-term debt increased from $2.6 million to $4.6 billion in one year. Four, earnings expectations are declining.

It beat revenues and met earnings today, but shares are falling today. Trades at an 11x PE. Revenues will grow at 9%. Really likes it. Now is the time to buy. Market sentiment today is to blame.

It's rallying today. A quality income stock, paying 4% trading at 18x earnings. They beat on earnings by 10% and revenues by 4%. Consumers will buy staples like toilet paper even with inflation and rising rates. KC plans to grown in emerging markets.

Likes their strategy of selling discount products to customers seeking value and convenience.

Q4-2021 saw GDP growth of 7%. Q1-2022 is projected at 1.3%. This means the economy is slowing down and a lot of interest rate moves happened in that time period. So, this sets us up well for the market to continue to rise. He's fully invested, and he was not scared by the slump.

Apple still boasts strong fundamentals, demand for their products and services, and catalysts. Nothing has changed, except negative sentiment which hit all tech names. Now, Apple is back up. The market is returning to a focus on fundamentals. He held onto his Apple shares in its recent dip. He's positive Apple.

It pays a yield of 4%, high in this space, and is returning more capital to shareholders. Also likes it for divesting $20 billion from Russia. They have a great pipeline of properties. Also like that they have an aggressive plan to transition to alternative energies which is growing in focus for them.

He continues to hold it. Russia and Belarus (from which Adobe has pulled out) amounts to less than 1% of their revenues. Today, the market is reacting to the lack of long-term guidance--it's an overreaction. ADBE is oversold today.

The healthcare sector. Question was about Abbvie. Healthcare is a great place to be--it's defensive and they have pricing power, demand for treatments and drugs. Companies also have patent protection. Barriers to entry are high.

The world's largest defence contractor. They produce 150 of the F-35 plane annually, and they sell 71% to US Defence plus 29% international sales. Unfortunately with the Russian war, Germany will increase their defence spending from $30 billion up to $100 billion.

They make design tools that make microchips. Earnings are growing at 20%.

They make design tools that make microchips. Earnings are growing at 20%.

Russian invasion of Ukraine Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 and that had little impact on the US impact. Today, Russia has little impact on US markets, though perhaps it could impact energy globally, certainly Germany. The real driver is inflation. He's seeking stocks that are impacted by interest rates. Look at how discount rates impact company cash flows (well into the future) and the companies' growth? So, look at shorter-term duration stocks.