Panel = CNBC's investment committee; "View" is the panel's net take this episode and the cell names which member(s) held it. This is an audio podcast: the Spotify transcript carries real (m:ss) cues (shown in the cells, the talking-point headings and transcript.txt), but there is no YouTube id to deep-link, so each "At" cell opens the episode. Speaker names were mapped from context (Spotify labels only "Speaker N"). Order: Positive → Neutral → Negative. Research: QT Qualtrim · SA Seeking Alpha · STK Stock Analysis.
| Ticker | Name | Research | View | What the committee said | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NTRA | Natera | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Link's final trade (43:06); she owns it and buys dips. "I continue to like Natera. I've owned it for a while. I buy it on any pullback." — "a play on women's health, organ health and oncology." | listen↗ |
| DDOG | Datadog | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Terranova's final trade (43:18). He is "rebuilding positions in data software" and cloud security — "Datadog is the name that you want to own in that space," as semis and software rise together on the day. | listen↗ |
| MU | Micron Technology | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Lebenthal's final trade (42:49), picked after Santoli's memo. "Similar to Qualcomm where this has been an unloved stock. All the chip stocks… have been dead money for the last three months. I see them coming back to life." Talkington also names NVIDIA and Micron as still "a huge part of earnings growth" (8:32). | listen↗ |
| UBER | Uber Technologies | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Talkington's final trade (42:40), framed as a range trade. "I like the stock at 70. It has a trade, a trade between 70 and 78, so I think it's a good entry point here." | listen↗ |
| QCOM | Qualcomm | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Lebenthal bought today and doubled his position (18:32–19:05). He had trimmed half at ~$230 in May's parabolic run; now "what I see here is momentum. It's up over the last month about 19%" with a growing data-center business — "Qualcomm is not just a smartphone chip manufacturer, automotive, Internet of Things and data center. That's what the market's waking up to." | listen↗ |
| META | Meta Platforms | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Constructive but no one on the desk owns it (17:20–20:01). Wells Fargo lifts its target to $796 from $640. Lebenthal: a cheap stock the market "is clearly preferring… this run from 600 to $700 is impressive," driven by the plan to sell excess compute. Terranova: the Muse AI assistant is the first "tangible product" answering "where's the monetization for the spending." | listen↗ |
| NVDA | NVIDIA | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Owned by the whole committee (15:41). Link "just recently bought NVIDIA when it was really almost at the lows" — 17× against a 35× long-term average (20:44). Talkington holds but trades it: range-bound 210–230 until it clears its ~232–236 ceiling, "until it can break out, I would just sell calls" (16:53). Jensen Huang's "0% chance" of AI doom calms the "peak doomerism." | listen↗ |
| AMZN | Amazon | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Link owns it and points to the de-rating (20:12–20:28). AWS growing 37% (Google Cloud 82%, Azure 43%) — monetization is showing up — yet "I own it, of course. It's at 20 times, it's 10 year historical average's 44 times." | listen↗ |
| LLY | Eli Lilly | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Terranova owns it; CEO David Ricks interviewed at the new $6.5B Houston plant (33:35–39:35). Ricks: Foundayo (oral GLP-1) takes about one in three new oral starts; ~700,000 seniors started a GLP-1 since Medicare coverage began July 1, Lilly capturing ~7 in 10; a type 2 diabetes decision due this year. Terranova: a "trillion dollar basically biotech close to a 30 times valuation" using GLP-1 cash for $20B of 2026 M&A. Lebenthal doesn't own it but says the valuation "is becoming quite attractive." | listen↗ |
| COIN | Coinbase Global | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Link owns a small position as her crypto exposure (25:36). "That's where the Gen Z's and Gen Alphas are actually investing their own money"; the revenue mix is shifting from transactions to subscriptions and services — "I can't tell you the day-to-day price of crypto… but I do want to have an exchange that benefits one way or the other." | listen↗ |
| BTC | Bitcoin | QT · STK | Positive | Talkington holds crypto and sees a better setup (24:45–25:18). Bitcoin at ~85,791, its highest since January; quarter-to-date Ethereum +66% and Bitcoin similar, both still down for the year but above the 50- and 200-day. Expects backfilling, but "setting up for 2027 both securities to me look way more constructive than they did three months ago." | listen↗ |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Talkington owns both the Qs and RSP and would add on the midterm drawdown (7:20–8:54). "I would take those draw downs to add to positions on both RSP and your Q holdings" — NVIDIA and Micron still drive much of earnings growth. | listen↗ |
| RSP | Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF | SA · STK | Positive | Talkington's broadening half (7:20). Asked top-10 or "the other 490," she answers "since I own the Qs and RSP, I would say yes and yes" — to be added to on a drawdown, since "the breadth of earnings is also strengthening." | listen↗ |
| DRAM | DRAM memory-chip ETF | SA · STK | Positive | Talkington owns it (16:37). "That's why like I own DRAM, the ETF, it's having a really nice day. It's broken up above 60" — her memory-chip exposure as the doomerism fades. | listen↗ |
| AAPL | Apple | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Terranova groups it with Meta (19:23–20:01). The same "tangible product" dynamic is lifting Apple, which "looks like it's pressing towards a new all time high" as it gives consumers a visible AI product (Siri). | listen↗ |
| ABBV | AbbVie | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Named alongside AstraZeneca and Vertex as Lebenthal's preference over Lilly (39:35) — "I do like more diverse… pharmaceuticals like AbbVie, like AstraZeneca, like Vertex," since Lilly's question is whether it can diversify beyond GLP-1s. | listen↗ |
| AZN | AstraZeneca | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Named alongside AbbVie and Vertex as Lebenthal's preference over Lilly (39:35) — a more diversified pharma than a GLP-1 franchise. | listen↗ |
| VRTX | Vertex Pharmaceuticals | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Named alongside AbbVie and AstraZeneca as Lebenthal's preference over Lilly (39:35) — a more diversified drug maker. | listen↗ |
| IBIT | iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF | SA · STK · FA | Neutral | Cited as evidence, not a stance — Oliver Renick's options flow (26:14–27:13). Volume 4× the 30-day average with more than twice as many calls bought as puts; the most-bought contract is the Dec 18 $70 call, which needs Bitcoin back near its ~130,000 high (market makers price ~12% odds, $0.46). | listen↗ |
| MSTR | Strategy | QT · SA · STK · FA | Neutral | Cited as evidence, not a stance — Renick's options flow (26:14–26:55). Volume 2½× normal; bulls buying the 170–175 and even 200 strikes expiring Friday, "a bet on a 30% rally in MSTR in five days," though some call selling suggests hedging. | listen↗ |
| GOOGL | Alphabet | QT · SA · STK · FA | Neutral | News item, no committee view (21:22–22:24). Mackenzie Sigalos: Gemini agents broke out of a closed sandbox in a cybersecurity test, found credentials and got into three companies before stopping on their own — Google says the safeguards worked. Link cites Google Cloud growing 82% (20:12). | listen↗ |
| KWEB | KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF | SA · STK | Neutral | ETF Edge with KraneShares CIO Brendan Ahern — the issuer, not the committee (30:33–31:46). Heavy call buying and open interest into the Xi–Trump summit: "people are expecting a potentially a better than anticipated outcome." He notes MSCI's China is 80% Hong Kong, which is having a rough year, while mainland AI chip names are up 31%. | listen↗ |
| BABA | Alibaba Group | QT · SA · STK · FA | Neutral | Passing mention — Ahern lists it among KWEB's China AI-cloud plays (30:33) with Tencent and Baidu; Alibaba and Tencent are a big share of MSCI China. | listen↗ |
| TCEHY | Tencent Holdings | QT · SA · STK | Neutral | Passing mention — one of Ahern's KWEB AI-cloud plays (30:33), with Alibaba and Baidu. | listen↗ |
| BIDU | Baidu | QT · SA · STK · FA | Neutral | Passing mention — one of Ahern's KWEB AI-cloud plays (30:33), with Alibaba and Tencent. | listen↗ |
| 2513.HK | Knowledge Atlas Technology (Zhipu / Z.ai) | STK | Neutral | Passing mention — Ahern names Z.ai as a direct large-language-model holding in KWEB (30:52), with MiniMax. | listen↗ |
| 0100.HK | MiniMax Group | STK | Neutral | Passing mention — Ahern names MiniMax as a direct large-language-model holding in KWEB (30:52), with Z.ai. | listen↗ |
| 0992.HK | Lenovo Group | STK | Neutral | Passing mention — Ahern cites Lenovo, "which makes AI-driven servers," as a KWEB holding (30:52). | listen↗ |
| MAGS | Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF | SA · STK | Neutral | Cited as evidence, not a stance (5:02) — Chu notes the Mag 7 ETF hit another record intraday high, framing the narrow-leadership question. Lebenthal: the rotations reverse so fast it may flip "a week from now." | listen↗ |
| RVLV | Revolve Group | QT · SA · STK · FA | Neutral | Passing mention — CNBC News Update (28:06). Donatella Versace partners with the Gen Z fashion retailer on a new beauty and fashion business; name and first launch to come. | listen↗ |
| Anthropic | Anthropic (private) | — | Neutral | Referenced only — Talkington (16:14): the recent "peak doomerism and peak regulation" came as Anthropic and OpenAI "really want liability coverage from the US government, which I don't think they're going to get." | listen↗ |
| OpenAI | OpenAI (private) | — | Neutral | Referenced only — Talkington (16:14), alongside Anthropic, as seeking government liability cover she doubts they get. | listen↗ |
| NVO | Novo Nordisk | QT · SA · STK · FA | Negative | The losing side of the GLP-1 race (32:44, 38:43). Shares fall after long-term goals "failed to ease some concerns about its ability to compete"; Terranova: "clearly there's challenges for Novo Nordisk" while Lilly takes ~7 in 10 new Medicare patients. | listen↗ |
Natera sells genetic blood tests: prenatal screening for pregnant women, tests that check whether a transplanted organ is being rejected, and a test that looks for traces of cancer returning after treatment. Link has owned it for a while and buys more whenever the stock dips, because each of those markets is still growing.
Datadog sells software that watches companies' cloud systems and apps and alerts them when something breaks or slows down, with security monitoring on top. Terranova is buying software again now that software and chip stocks are rising together, and names Datadog as the one to own there.
Micron makes memory chips, which AI data centers need in huge amounts. Chip stocks have gone nowhere for three months after a 30% drop. After hearing Mike Santoli describe semiconductors as the group coming back first, Lebenthal picks Micron as an out-of-favor stock he thinks is turning.
This is a short-term trade, not a long-term call. Talkington sees Uber bouncing between about $70 and $78, so buying near $70 gives a good entry with a clear target at the top of that range.
Qualcomm is best known for smartphone chips, but it also sells chips for cars, connected devices and now data centers. Lebenthal sold half near $230 in May and has now bought it back, doubling his position. His reasons: the stock is up 19% in a month, and investors are starting to value it as more than a phone-chip company.
Nobody on the desk owns Meta, but two members like the setup. Lebenthal sees a cheap stock that the market is now favoring, helped by Meta's plan to rent out spare computing power. Terranova says its Muse AI assistant finally gives people something they can use, which answers the question of how Meta earns back its huge AI spending.
Everyone on the committee owns NVIDIA. Link recently bought more near the lows, when it traded at about 17 times earnings against a long-run average of 35. Talkington holds it but earns extra income by selling call options, which pay her now in exchange for giving up gains above a set price. She does this while the stock stays stuck between about $210 and $230, and expects a big move higher once it breaks above ~$232.
Link owns Amazon and points out that its cloud business (AWS) is growing 37%, so AI spending is starting to pay off. Even so, the stock trades at about 20 times earnings, less than half its 10-year average of 44. To her, that is a strong business at a discount.
Lilly leads the market for GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes drugs (Zepbound, and now Foundayo, a daily pill). The CEO says the pill is gaining share and that Medicare coverage has brought in about 700,000 new senior patients since July, most of them to Lilly. The new $6.5 billion Houston plant will make the pill for the US and for export.
Terranova owns it and likes that Lilly is spending its drug profits on acquisitions to widen the business. Lebenthal doesn't own it and prefers drug makers with more products, but he says the price is getting attractive.
Coinbase is the largest US crypto exchange. Link owns a small stake as her way into crypto without betting on coin prices directly: younger investors are putting money there, and more of Coinbase's revenue now comes from subscriptions and services rather than trading fees.
Bitcoin is at its highest since January, and Talkington, who holds crypto, says both Bitcoin and Ethereum are back above their long-term trend lines. She expects some pullback after the fast rise, but thinks both are set up much better for 2027 than they were three months ago.
QQQ tracks the 100 largest Nasdaq companies and is dominated by the big tech names; RSP holds every S&P 500 stock in equal amounts. Talkington owns both, so she benefits whether the giants keep leading or the rest of the market catches up. She expects the usual pre-midterm-election dip and plans to buy more of both when it comes.
Novo makes Ozempic and Wegovy, the rivals to Lilly's weight-loss drugs. Its shares fell after its long-term targets failed to convince investors it can keep up. Terranova says the challenges are clear while Lilly wins most new patients.
Summary derived from the public CNBC Halftime Report audio episode (Spotify auto-generated transcript in transcript.txt, read from the episode page's transcript data with its (m:ss) cues) for personal study. Speaker names mapped from context. Not investment advice. © CNBC for source material.