The stock market has continued its upward trajectory since the last CNBC Investing Club Monthly Meeting, but underlying leadership has changed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the standout performer, rising 2.3% between June 17 and this past Wednesday, reaching an all-time high on July 6 before experiencing a slight dip. The S&P 500 experienced a 2.1% gain during the same timeframe, while the Nasdaq managed a smaller increase of 1%. Investor sentiment has grown more selective regarding artificial intelligence (AI) investments, highlighted by losses seen in the sector on Thursday morning. Meanwhile, cybersecurity stocks surged over the past month as new AI champions shook off the decline they faced in late 2025 and into the spring of this year. Companies demonstrating clear pathways to monetize their AI investments also saw increased interest. Concurrently, investors opted for safer sectors in the market, driven by renewed uncertainties related to the ongoing conflict in Iran. (We have excluded Honeywell Aerospace from our analysis since it did not spin off until June 29.)
As we prepare for our July Monthly Meeting livestream scheduled for noon ET, let's review the top and bottom performers since our last meeting.
Highlighting the top performers:
Palo Alto Networks: Up 25.5% CrowdStrike: Up 21.7%
Both of these cybersecurity firms reached record highs following our previous Monthly Meeting as the sector solidified its position as a beneficiary of AI advancements rather than a casualty. Earlier this year, fears about AI's potential to disrupt the cybersecurity landscape loomed, but now investors are betting that AI will actually increase demand for these services. This shift in sentiment can be traced back to concerns raised in April regarding AI-driven cyber threats, particularly in light of recent reports from The Wall Street Journal indicating that Chinese AI models are nearly on par with U.S. counterparts in detecting software vulnerabilities. Rather than concerning investors, this has provided further justification for increased cybersecurity spending. Support for both companies grew when IBM’s CEO, Arvind Krishna, pre-announced lackluster second-quarter results, emphasizing cybersecurity as a key focus area for IT allocation. Taking advantage of the upward movement in both stocks, we managed to lock in substantial gains of around 150% for Palo Alto and 105% for CrowdStrike while maintaining our long-term confidence in both entities.
Meta: Up 20% The parent company of Facebook and Instagram turned a disappointing performance around, positioning itself as one of our strongest performers heading into this month’s meeting. This rebound followed Meta’s commitment to monetizing its significant AI investments through various strategies, including plans to establish a cloud service that would allow them to lease surplus computing resources. Additionally, the company rolled out new AI tools for developers and advertisers, indicating a robust transition toward commercializing its AI capabilities. Meta also announced that it will begin producing its customized AI chips, which should significantly enhance its processing capacity and lead to potential cost savings—estimated to drop to $22 billion from an earlier $45 billion. This news contributed to a 15% surge in Meta's stock last week, marking it as the top performer in our portfolio.
Apple: Up 10.7% Apple experienced a resurgence as investor confidence grew around its AI strategy. The company established a notable collaboration with Alphabet to incorporate Google's Gemini into Apple Intelligence, alleviating fears that Siri had fallen behind competitors. Apple presented its updated AI platform at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, suggesting that it could deliver superior user experiences across its vast base of approximately 1.5 billion iPhones without needing to create the leading AI model. Despite facing some headwinds from price increases across its MacBook and iPad ranges due to rising memory costs, analysts believe the higher prices could help mitigate the associated costs and have limited impact on demand. Overall, we maintain a positive outlook on Apple’s advancing AI strategy as a key long-term driver, especially with the imminent rollout of Apple Intelligence.
Now, addressing the bottom performers:
Intel: Down 15% The semiconductor giant experienced a decline from its previous record high as investors exited positions in several semiconductor stocks following a strong performance. We see this dip as a buying opportunity rather than a sign of waning interest in AI. Intel remains a favorite in our portfolio due to its promising opportunities within the AI CPU space and its foundry business. Despite the challenges of the past month, Intel is still up over 170% year-to-date.
FedEx Freight: Down 12.4% Since becoming an independent entity in early June, FedEx Freight has faced challenges. However, we perceive this downturn to be a typical post-spin pattern rather than indicative of weakening fundamentals. The company's first earnings report as a standalone business reflected robust revenue and operating income that exceeded forecasts, though margins were hit by similar fuel surcharge pressures as experienced by its former parent. We view FedEx Freight as a long-term winner and are seizing this opportunity to buy the dip, recognizing its advantageous position as the largest less-than-truckload player in North America.
Qnity Electronics: Down 10.5% Like Intel, Qnity—a spinoff from DuPont—saw a decline as semiconductor stocks softened after a significant surge earlier this year. Pressures intensified following results from its key customer, Samsung Electronics, which were strong but not exceptional, raising concerns about product demand. We see this sell-off as a short-term reaction rather than a shift in our long-term investment thesis. Qnity maintains a solid outlook for 2026, with an increase of about 70% year-to-date.
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