3 of our stocks rode the AI rally, while 3 others fell out of favor since last month
The stock market continued its march higher since our last CNBC Investing Club Monthly Meeting, though the leadership shifted beneath the surface. The Dow led the way, climbing 2.3% from June 17 to Wednesday’s close. The 30-stock average finished at a record high on July 6, before pulling back a bit in recent days. The S & P 500 gained 2.1% since our June meeting, while the Nasdaq rose a more modest 1%. Investors are getting increasingly selective about their artificial intelligence exposure, as further evidenced by Thursday morning’s losses. Cybersecurity stocks moved another leg higher over the past month as Wall Street’s newest AI winners continued their recovery from their late 2025 slide into the spring of this year. Companies offering clearer paths to monetizing their massive AI investments also attracted buyers. At the same time, investors rotated into more defensive areas of the market as renewed concerns about the Iran war added another layer of uncertainty. (We’ve excluded Honeywell Aerospace from the list because it didn’t spin off until June 29.) Ahead of our July Monthly Meeting livestream, which starts at noon ET , here’s a look at what moved our three top and bottom performers since our last meeting. Top performers Palo Alto Networks up 25.5%, CrowdStrike up 21.7% These two cybersecurity names both hit record highs since our last Monthly Meeting as the sector cemented itself as an AI winner and not a loser. Earlier this year, investors worried artificial intelligence would disrupt the industry. Now, they’re betting AI will only increase demand for cybersecurity , a theme that first gained traction after Anthropic’s Mythos models reignited concerns about AI-powered cyber threats in April. The latest rally began after The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese AI models are becoming nearly as capable as leading U.S. platforms at identifying software vulnerabilities. Rather than viewing that as a threat, investors saw another reason companies will need to spend more to defend their systems. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna gave Palo Alto and CrowdStrike another boost this week when the company preannounced disappointing second-quarter results ahead of next week’s scheduled earnings release. He said cybersecurity is one of the three areas businesses are increasingly prioritizing for IT spending. We took advantage of the sharp run in both stocks to trim our positions, locking in gains of nearly 150% in Palo Alto and 105% in CrowdStrike while maintaining our long-term conviction in both companies. Both stocks are near all-time highs. Meta up 20% The Facebook and Instagram parent went from one of our worst performers heading into June’s Monthly Meeting to one of our best performers ahead of July’s meeting. The turnaround came as Meta finally gave investors greater confidence in how it plans to monetize its massive artificial intelligence investments. Meta recently announced plans to launch a cloud business that would rent excess computing capacity to outside customers, which Jim has spent weeks advocating for . The company also introduced new AI products for developers and advertisers, signaling a broader shift toward charging for its AI capabilities rather than relying primarily on open-source releases. Reuters also reported Meta plans to begin manufacturing its custom AI chip later this year as it looks to boost its computing power. Following the report, a Bank of America analyst said Meta’s custom chip efforts could translate into meaningful cost savings. The firm had estimated Meta would spend roughly $45 billion per gigawatt of computing capacity, but now believes that figure could be closer to $22 billion. The announcements sent Meta’s stock up 15% last week , making it the best-performing stock in our portfolio. Apple up 10.7% The iPhone maker rebounded over the period as investors grew increasingly confident in the company’s artificial intelligence strategy . Earlier this year, Apple announced a multiyear partnership with Alphabet to integrate Google’s Gemini into Apple Intelligence , easing concerns that Siri had fallen behind rival AI assistants. That optimism continued after the company showcased its revamped AI platform at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, reinforcing the view that Apple may not need to build the industry’s leading AI model if it can deliver the best user experience across its installed base of roughly 1.5 billion iPhones. The Street has also come around to the idea that Apple can participate in the AI race without spending all its free cash flow. The stock hit a bump in late June after Apple announced price increases across its MacBook and iPad lineup as higher memory costs rippled through the technology industry. While KeyBanc analysts warned the increases, coupled with reduced wireless carrier subsidies, could slow device upgrades and pressure future growth , Citi analysts argued the higher prices should largely offset rising memory costs with limited impact on demand . We continue to view Apple’s improving AI roadmap as the bigger long-term catalyst, especially ahead of the broader rollout of Apple Intelligence later this year. The stock closed at a record high Wednesday. Bottom performers Intel down 15% The chip giant pulled back from a record high during the period as investors rotated out of several semiconductor names following the group’s strong run. We took advantage of the weakness to add to our position Wednesday , viewing the decline as a buying opportunity rather than a sign the AI trade is losing steam. Intel remains Jim’s favorite stock in the portfolio due to the company’s growing central processing unit (CPU) opportunity in AI and its foundry business. “I want Intel, just too many ways to win,” he said during Wednesday’s Morning Meeting. While it has had a tough month, and was under pressure again Thursday, Intel is still up more than 170% year to date. FedEx Freight down 12.4% The less-than-truckload (LTL) leader has struggled since becoming an independent company in early June, but we think the weakness reflects a familiar post-spinoff pattern rather than deteriorating fundamentals. Many shareholders who received the stock through the separation likely chose to sell, creating near-term pressure. The company’s first earnings report as a standalone business was somewhat unusual as it transitioned to calendar-year reporting, but revenue and operating income both topped expectations. Margins, however, faced the same fuel surcharge headwinds that weighed on its former parent. We continue to view FedEx Freight as a long-term winner and have used the recent pullbacks as buying opportunities . As the largest LTL player in North America, FedEx Freight is well positioned to benefit as the freight cycle recovers. Qnity Electronics down 10.5% Similar to Intel’s struggles, the DuPont spin-off gave back some of its recent gains as semiconductor stocks pulled back after an enormous run earlier this year. The weakness accelerated after Samsung Electronics , Qnity’s largest customer , delivered results that Jim said were ” superb but not superb enough .” The results raised new questions about demand for Samsung’s products, which sent Qnity shares down roughly 4% in the following session. We view the sell-off as a near-term reaction rather than a change to our long-term thesis. But also similar to Intel, Qnity is having a strong 2026 — not as strong — but up roughly 70%. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long PANW, CRWD, META, JNJ, INTC, FDXF, Q. 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