MW Why this optimistic money manager is betting on Netflix, Nvidia and these stocks

By Barbara Kollmeyer

Times are tough, but investors must stick to a longer-term view, Matt Shapiro argues

The rebound form the tariff lows is in question after Monday's disappointing Wall Street performance, and futures point to more stock weakness ahead.

But looking past the volatility and gloom, MWS Capital Consultants president Matt Shapiro argues it's a great time to be an investor as they are getting "the best of both worlds" right now.

Beyond the day-to-day, month-to-month tariff stress, "you've got a lot of sectors of really critical growth and technological change that are benefiting your portfolio on the stock side, and then you have really good interest rates on your conservative side," Shapiro told MarketWatch in a Monday interview.

The Chicago-based former options trader, who started MWS in 2003 as a side business until kicking it off fully in 2012, oversees $157 million for high net-wealth clients. He said the firm's diversified portfolios are a mix of stocks, bonds and private investments.

And on Monday, he was sniffing opportunity as a rough day unfolded for entertainment stocks like Netflix $(NFLX)$, after President Donald Trump spoke of a 100% tariff on films produced abroad. The manager criticized what he viewed as shortsightedness over "the most important entertainment company in the world," all because of "an off comment, whether serious or unserious."

Read: Can Trump really put tariffs on films produced abroad? The law says no.

"Obviously, streaming has taken over how we watch movies, entertainment and the like, and everyone has played catch up, whether it's Disney, Paramount or whatever, Netflix is absolutely the clear leader," he said of one of their biggest holdings, which he thinks has potential to be a trillion-dollar company. Netflix's market cap as of Monday was just under $500 billion.

Jitters around Netflix drives home his point that investors need to take a longer-term view and resist reacting on a day-to-day basis. "Isn't that the point when you buy a stock? You're buying its future earnings potential, not its one-week earnings potential or volatility potential. You're buying a long-term earnings stream," he said.

Putting this into practice, he said his firm took advantage of recent turbulence to bring weightings back up in major technology names - he calls them "super companies." And that brought Nvidia $(NVDA)$ back into its top five holdings.

Apart from Alphabet $(GOOGL)$, Shapiro argued that Nvidia has one of the lowest price-to-earnings ratios - a popular valuation metric - among the super companies. Looking across earnings from other big tech names, they are all doing exceptionally well and AI is a big reason, he said.

Outside of tech, other big holdings include Chevron $(CVX)$, which he likes for its dividends, and a group of utility stocks, such as Canadian pipeline operator TC Energy (CA:TRP), New Orleans utility Entergy $(ETR)$, and Pinnacle West $(PNW)$, the biggest utility in Arizona. The companies are AI beneficiaries due to the increased demand for electricity, he said.

Another opportunity he spotted on Monday was Berkshire Hathaway $(BRK.B)$, which fell 5% as investors reacted in part to news that longtime CEO Warren Buffett was stepping down at the end of this year.

With a cash pile of over $300 billion, "so its operating companies are about $750 billion and suddenly they are worth 9% less? I don't think so. So a chance to buy a very high-quality company [Monday] morning," he said.

Shapiro said investors who worry that the markets won't come back after heavy falls such as those seen this year might take comfort in history. "Even in 2008 and 2020 or 2022, the markets came back quicker than people believed," he said.

And that circles back to his optimistic view: "It's almost like being in a hurricane alley, but ultimately people don't realize how strong and substantial our economy is, and how much depth the world economy has, and that's continually surprised strategists and economists."

The markets

U.S. stock futures (ES00) (YM00) (NQ00) are lower after the S&P 500 SPX snapped a nine-session winning streak. Oil (CL00) (BRN00) is rebounding after hitting 2021 lows, gold prices (GC00) are up and the dollar is bouncing back against the Taiwan dollar (USDTWD).

   Key asset performance                                                Last       5d      1m      YTD      1y 
   S&P 500                                                              5650.38    2.20%   11.62%  -3.93%   9.07% 
   Nasdaq Composite                                                     17,844.24  2.75%   14.36%  -7.59%   9.14% 
   10-year Treasury                                                     4.349      16.80   4.50    -22.70   -11.30 
   Gold                                                                 3364       0.27%   12.17%  27.46%   44.20% 
   Oil                                                                  58         -6.29%  -4.86%  -19.30%  -26.28% 
   Data: MarketWatch. Treasury yields change expressed in basis points 

The buzz

Weighing on tech, Palantir Technologies stock $(PLTR)$ is sinking, as upbeat results appear to already be priced into shares.

Ford shares $(F)$ are down after the automaker pulled guidance and forecast a $1.5 billion tariff hit.

Mattel $(MAT)$ paused its outlook, and said it would raise some prices in the U.S. and reduce reliance on China.

Hims & Hers Health $(HIMS)$ is tumbling after disappointing sales guidance.

Advanced Micro Devices $(AMD)$ and Super Micro Computer $(SMCI)$ will report after the close.

The March trade deficit is coming at 8:30 a.m. The Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting kicks off Tuesday.

OpenAI is ditching plans to restructure into a for-profit business.

Best of the web

How students at Roaring Kitty's high school became top stock pickers.

Emily's in Paris. Macron wants a Netflix there too.

Why China is in no rush to seek U.S. trade deal.

The chart

A chart from Rosenberg Research shows trouble under the hood for the services sector, despite Monday's better-than-expected Institute for Supply Management report. The Rosenberg team focuses on the business activity index, in which all industries map out growth. "The actual number of industries reporting any growth at all barely budged at eleven and was the lowest tally for any April since, 2020, and before that, try 2009 - this should take some of the glow off the headline tally," they said in a note.

Top tickers

These were the most active tickers on MarketWatch as of 6 a.m.:

   Ticker  Security name 
   PLTR    Palantir Technologies Inc 
   TSLA    Tesla 
   NVDA    Nvidia 
   GME     GameStop 
   AAPL    Apple 
   AMD     Advanced Micro Devices 
   TSM     Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing 
   AMZN    Amazon 
   HIMS    Hims & Hers Health 
   META    Meta Platforms 

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-Barbara Kollmeyer

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May 06, 2025 06:50 ET (10:50 GMT)

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