that you referenced earlier and the whole story with inflation or deflation. >> we start to lean on the home builders for any clues about what they see around the corner for rates. >> for rates and also inventories that have been tight. >> the week will only get busier. to the judge and post 9. carl, thanks so much. welcome to "the halftime report." i'm scott wapner. front and center this hour, nvidia earnings just one day away from the investment committee sizing up what is at stake. they are making key trades today. we'll get to all of that. joining me for the hour josh brown, stephanie link, bryn talkington and farmer jim lebenthal. to the markets we go, nice price action today. we've gone positive on the s&p and the dow. we can check the nasdaq, which is still fighting it out for the green. it's still modestly in the red. but we are trying to work our way back toward 40k. we are waiting for nvidia

tomorrow night and apple making a nice move today as well. so we're going to get to all of that. i do want to begin with you, josh, because you have interesting new moves that you have made in this market, and the first one is you bought corning. glw, trading right around a 52-week high. i don't know, pennies away from that. on pace for its seventh straight day of gains. amidst this momentum, why are you buying it now? >> so it might be a little bit short term overbought, but this is the type of tactical situation that viewers of the show know that i'm personally looking for. i'm looking for really good companies that are at some sort of an inflection point where the buyers are overwhelming the sellers, and that's exactly what's happening here. this is one of the oldest companies in america, 170 years of innovation. they're in all sorts of verticals, life sciences, mobile phone and computer displays, specialty materials.

but the real driver here, judge, is optical fiber. if people were around during the first dot-com buildout, one of the things they would remember is corning was one of the hottest stocks in the world. that whole thing is happening again, but now with a.i., and you really can't do the types of stuff that the hyper scalers want to do without huge orders for optical fiber, and i think the inflection in what we're seeing with this chart is exactly that. there has been excess inventory at the phone carriers of optical fiber. that's being worked off, and now management just said on april 30th, you see this big gap up after the earnings report, that q1 would represent the low point of the year, that inventory in the system that's kept the stock at a discount has now been worked off, and they're starting to see the beginning -- the beginning -- of a.i.-related orders, and i think this is the type of stock that could get

rediscovered. so it just hit our best stocks in the market list, rsi is about 79, so short term it is overbought. but i think it will hold that post earnings gap which is about $31 a share. as long as that rising 50 day stays above the 200 day, i want to be long here. you have a 3% dividend yield, which i think will akct as a cushion. you have dividend increases. you have a company with the longest debt maturities in the whole s&p 500 with an average of 23 years, and you've got this huge wave of spending, not just from the hyper scalers in a.i., but the broad band equity access deployment program, which is a government program called bead could be incremental, another $42 billion to expand access to high speed broad band all over the country. corning is going to be a player there, too. >> we see that stock on the move. the other stock you bought is

sn, another one trading around a 52-week high, shark ninja. tell us what caught your eye about this one. >> this is more of a flyer. i wouldn't touch it at this price. i'm in it lower than here. this is a company based in needham, massachusetts, but very few people are aware of it because it got bought by a chinese billionaire who then spun it back out in 2023 making it a u.s. stock once again. and when they did their ipo in august, chinese stocks were at their lows. people just didn't want anything that had to do with china, but this company is one of the hottest brands in american appliances. the ninja blender and the shark vacuum cleaner, if you bought a vacuum the past few years, it's likely you bought a ninja or a shark. they have been expanding into

outdoor, skin care, believe it or not, hair care. the company is just on fire. this is a company doing $3.7 million in revenue. i would probably let it cool off a little bit before establishing a new position. it's an 18 forward p/e, earnings per share growth this year, expecting something like 20%. that's the story with shark ninja. >> i wanted to get those out of the way before we talk about what's at stake the next 24 hours, bryn, and we know what's looming with nvidia earnings. interesting price action in the nasdaq which is attempting to go positive. if it gets there, it will be because of stocks like nvidia which back, well, hugging the flat line today but right around that 950 level. how about apple, the comeback that stock has had. what do you think is really at stake with the earnings that are looming? >> i mean, i think the earnings oscars are tomorrow and best picture will go to nvidia.

we all know the estimates are revenue growth and so i think they will continue to have another crushing quarter. i think between jensen and satya, two rock stars. he will have an awesome earnings call, will spring until a bunch of other companies that have a halo effect after the earnings come out. i think the stock continues to be underappreciated. it's up 90% year to date. i say underappreciated -- >> underappreciated -- i can't help but laugh. >> let me explain for some context. yesterday dan niles was on one of the shows, and he had a really good point that nvidia is trading at 15% below its five-year p/e average. and sothat's what i'm talking about. i still think that there's a sentiment that sometime in the

next quarter or two quarters nvidia will act like a traditional cyclical semiconductor company where earnings and revenues start growing at a slower pace and decelerating. i think that actually will happen, but i don't think it will happen until maybe the back half of this year or 2025. so i think you'll see a one handle, 1,000 on the stock before you see 800. >> yeah, it's going to be an interesting 24 hours for certainly holders of nvidia like you and josh and jim. what do you feel like is at stake as we look ahead to tomorrow? >> well, a lot is at stake, and the question is what's going to happen. i totally agree with the assessment of the company itself. as far as the cyclicality, i do think the cyclicality will assert itself but not in the next one to two quarters. that's obviously not the near term. to answer your question, as i think about the stock right now, this quarter, the estimates from a year ago -- and, remember, it was a year ago they had that first blow-out quarter that just

all of a sudden made people like me understand this was a different company than the usual, those estimates in the quarter are up 230% from a year ago. that's a lot. they're up 20% in the year to date. and my point on this, we all know what the stock has done. i would not be surprised again, to bryn's point, if you have a beat and raise tomorrow afternoon, i would not be surprised if the stock popped in the after hours, and i wouldn't be surprised if,at the end of the week, it trailed off a little bit. let me be clear, i'm not negative on the stock. i'm long the stock. there is a point you have to ask how much of this is priced in? i know the earnings estimates are 31% annualized growth. that will be hard to come by for the next five years. >> the growth now versus then, so to speak, i think we have a graphic to show you what is expected. earnings are expected to be five times greater than they were last year. revenues are poised to more than triple from a year ago.

there we go. that's on our wall. yes, we think it's the most impactful earnings report on the s&p right now just given what that stock has done. it's near double already in five months. and how much it's responsible for the -- look, there's a fair amount of hype around a.i., but they're realizing it, too, in the way they're monetizing it. that's why, steph, there's so much at stake especially when some are suggesting, boy, the nasdaq has gone from oversold to overbought seemingly overnight. >> look, nvidia's 5% weight of the s&p 500. obviously a.i. touches so many different companies throughout technology, throughout other sectors in the market, throughout the economy. we're in the second or third inning. there are ways you can play that theme. i'm not in nvidia, as you know, but in other names that have done quite well the last two years as well. so i think you have to pick your

spots. i think the expectations are quite high for nvidia especially because the hyper scalers gave you that information. they told you that the four big hyper scalers, amazon, meta, google and microsoft, are going to spend $177 billion in capex for cloud and generative a.i. this year alone. that's just enormous. and then global capex is actually going to grow $225 billion this year alone. so clearly that benefits a lot of companies, nvidia is included in that. i think as a result if, let's just say, it doesn't meet these aggressive expectations and the stock falls, i really do think you'll see buyers come in. i don't think it will be down for long especially given the growth rates we just heard that bryn was talking about, jimmy was talking about as well. i'm just choosing to play it a different way. certainly it is a very important report. >> there's no doubt -- by the way, evercore outperform 1160 is

the price target. josh, as europe our guy on nvidia, how good does this have to be? we know the bar is high. how could it not be? the stock is up almost a double in some five months. >> this is the quarter that something will go horribly wrong and it just hasn't happened yet. earnings per share came in at $5.16. the estimate was $4.64. do you have any idea how many times earnings were revised higher to get to that $4.64 and they still stepped right over it like it wasn't even there. $22.1 billion. the stock went up 16.5%.

in response had its market cap growth in the single day of $276 billion, the most any company has had in one day market cap growth ever. so it's not like it's pretty shaky historically. now to the earlier point being made, nvidia is already the third best performer in the s&p. the only two better performers is up 224%, vista corp is up 140. all three are up on a.i. stuff. it's not underappreciated by the market how good nvidia is. >> no question. >> i highly doubt this company will come out, beat earnings, and then have anything other than positive things to say.

given the rate at which people and corporations are spending on the stuff, we don't know how much is already priced in and that, frankly, will be revealed tonight. >> crazy the stock goes down to 750 and a snap of the fingers. i like what steph had to say. she doesn't own nvidia. missed it, valuation too high, but she points out broadcom and the other stocks, like bank of america today, talks about their top five u.s. semi picks exposed to a..ii. broadcom is next on the list. i know you probably wish you were able to capture that kind of upside, but you're in other names. if that doesn't underscore it, i don't know what does. >> it's cheaper than nvidia but not as cheap as when i was buying it.

it was trading at 14 times forward estimates. that's one of the reasons i bought it because it was yielding so much and it is so strong. you're at 30 times forward. their part of a.i. is going to go from 10% of the company, of their semi business last year to 25% by 2025. that's huge growth, too. they benefit as well from the hyper scale spending and they have the best in class margins, free cash flow of $12 billion this year. they will in the fourth quarter will increase their buyback again. they have the vmware which helps in recurring revenues and higher margins and they do have best in class margins. i do think there's a lot to look forward to with regards to

broadcom, maybe doesn't get the splash as nvidia does, but that's fine by me. >> citi says they're wildly bullish on semis. they list lamb research, by the way, which you just bought more of. tell us. >> yeah, this is one that's lagged the smh, up 22% this year. it's not bad but it's up 34%. applied materials is also up so it is lag because we're all waiting for a recovery this is a second half 2024 situation and a really big tail wind for 2025, and we're start to go see green shoots with regard to supply and demand, asps are increasing, utilization rates are rising. i want to get ahead of this turn. in the meantime, the company has done a really good job in terms of gross margins and, of course, today they announced a big buyback in the stock split that typically is positive for a

stock. i'm surprised it's not up more. the recovery is coming. it's just a matter of timing, and i want to get ahead of that. >> $10 million buyback. i'm glad you mentioned that. that citi note, bullish on applied materials in the semiequipment space and that's yours. >> everything stephanie said about wafer fab applies as well. i think for holders of lam research, should we be in asml. the pricing is different for amat. i'm more comfortable because amat touches more of the actual chain by which semiconductors are built, but, regardless, whether it's amat, lam research, we're building semiconductors plants all over the place. it's japan, it's india and all of these companies will benefit. i would love to touch on qualcomm. >> i was going to bring it up. go ahead. chips have gone crazy and

qualcomm is on the list of the third best performer so a record high today, you have texas instruments 24. we talked about nvidia. kla, taiwan semi, micron, marvell and your qualcomm has done well. >> thanks for that. scott, the reason i'm eager, everyone know this is stock was in the desert in '22 and '23. if you're a long-term investor, what's going on? there's real intellectual property at qualcomm. this is similar again to stephanie with broadcom that this is a different way of playing a.i. you saw the announcement they're providing -- qualcomm is providing chips for a.i.-enabled computers. that's huge. this is in addition to edge computing on smart phones as far as a.i. capabilities go. so there's a reason that the stock is breaking out. i just want to say one more thing. i remember recommending this stock in early 2022 at 190 and

then it went into the desert. i felt bad about that. i did. but if you stuck with it as i have and if you stuck with me, you're now reaping the rewards. >> stick with the farmer. i do want to hit pay low w palo alto, our chart of the day. i don't need an opinion from people who don't own it. the stock is down about 3%, and that's a recovery. the intraday from where it was after earnings yesterday to where it opened this morning, we'll take that as a w, i think, if you're in shares of palo alto. the analysts are defending it, too, like dan ives. crowdstrike is where you're at. steph, you bought more fortinet. i was giving rob sechan a hard time because the cyber stocks have done so well expect this one of late. why did you buy more? is that the reason, it's underperformed? >> well, yes, and i'm a very big

bull on cyber security and i believe the big five names are going to get bigger and bigger as you see m&a and consolidation. when you talk to chief technology officers, they have in the past owned many different vendors. they didn't want to be hostage to one particular company. so they have a lot of different vendors. the problem is the vendors don't talk to each other so not a lot of things are working well. i think you're going to see the big five get bigger and bigger. fortinet is one of them. last year was a disappointor because they had to lower guides. i think they've righted the ship. i think you're at trough earnings especially in firewall, a big exposure for them. don't forget two years ago this was one of the best cyber security names. and so my point is some years are going to be lumpy in terms of ups and downs in the stock price and when they're down is when you want to own them. i think this company has done a really good job in terms of switching to more platform

concept and you see that with palo alto, a pretty good quarter on the platform side. i think you want to try to find the ones that are lagging. this one has. it's frustrating. at seven times price to sales which is palo alto at 13 times, you have an opportunity over the long haul. we'll take a quick break. we'll get bryn's take on tesla. adam jonas, the influential analyst at morgan stanley has a new note out today. what he is saying and later a "halftime" exclusive with michael arougheti and tony ressler. we're back in two minutes. >> announcer: are you following "the halftime report" podcast? look for us in your favorite podcasting app. follow now. ere excellence, comfort, and electricity... are forever in bloom.

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has empowered more than 200,000 veterans to serve their communities and their careers. from professional certifications, to job training, to help navigating programs and services, we give veterans access to support from anywhere in the world. let's do our calls of the day starting with tesla. stocks up near 4%. adam jonas, bryn, of morgan stanley reiterating overweight, wants investors to pay close attention to the june 13 pay package for elon musk. how closely are you watching it? is it a binary event in how you'll think of the stock? >> if they voted to not give him the compensation, yes. i think that will pass. to me it doesn't make sense that they would say no to that. i think it would be binary if they voted no, but i don't think

that will happen. i think also today i saw pepsi announced a partnership with tesla. as i've said before, the next couple quarters will be murky for the stock. and so as chinese ev sales are growing but at a decreasing rate, u.s. sales are declining, you have to get through this time period. and so when fundamentals are murky, you need to look at technicals. the chart is still in a down trend finding a base here. i think 187 is resistance. i sold calls on this position. i don't think it will get called away, but i think this is going to be the year, if you don't own tesla, if you believe in the adam jonas scenario it's going to be mobility, which is robotaxis or uber, it's going to be cars, energy, insurance, it's the network, then that's how it gets to the 310. >> a big price target, right? >> it's not this year. >> i know but still a big jump from where it is today.

>> yep. >> if you factor in what you suggested a murky road ahead the next couple of quarters. >> yeah, 60 -- i think $64 was what he had accounted for mobility. mobility, i don't think, exists today. i think, you can clarify if i'm wrong, a much longer term time horizon. i think this is a stock that right now is in a downward trend, murky the next two quarters but i'm bullish longer term. i have my position. i'll sell calls and trade around that. >> okay. not in a downward trend is toast. josh brown, up 90% in six months. today the price target gets maintained at 28 and the stock did get downgraded to neutral from outperform at baird. they love the name. they love the story, but it's had a huge run in recent months as they point to. how should we think about this now? >> i think that's a fair statement. it has had a huge run but has cooled off lately. the rsi is now down to 57.

so it had a big rally. it looks like it's consolidating that. we're about 6% below the 52-week highs, but we're still 8% above the 50-day moving average, 30% above the 200. so we are firmly in an up trend, but, you know, stocks don't double and then double again overnight without that big of a fundamental change and really what this company is doing is when they report earnings, they're just letting you know what their progress is on further penetrating total addressable market and they're doing great. i'm going to remain long here. i don't need it to keep rallying the way it's been. it's perfectly fine if the stock takes a breather. >> let's get to seema mody with the headlines. a news update. russian forces have started exercises with tactical nuclear weapons. the russian defense ministry said the first stage drills involve forces in an area that includes parts of ukraine that russia now controls. russian president vladimir putin

called for the drills after russia said comments from western officials were security threats to the country. a bipartisan group of senators are calling on the justice department and the ftc to investigate formula one and its u.s. owner liberty media for rejecting andretti's global deal. the bipartisan group argued the management may be violating antitrust law by denying andretti's bid to enter the sport in 2025 and 2026, even though the sport's governing body approved its application. and wnba star caitlin clark has signed a historic deal with brand ambassador wilson making her the first athlete since michael jordan in the 1980s. the league's official basketball supplier said it would release collections to celebrate her the rest of 2024 but did not disclose the deal's financial terms. scott? >> seema, i appreciate that, thank you. seema mody.

michael arougheti and tony resler are live from ares st day. that interview is coming up after this quick break. sler are investor day. that interview is coming up after this quick break. at morgan stanley, old school hard work meets bold new thinking. (laughter) at 88 years old, we still see the world with the wonder of new eyes, helping you discover untapped possibilities and relentlessly working with you to make them real. old school grit. new world ideas. morgan stanley.

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we are back on "halftime." ares management holding its investor day today. our own leslie picker is there and joins us with a "halftime" exclusive. leslie? >> scott, thank you. i am here with tony ressler and michael arougheti, the executive chairman and ceo, both co-founders of ares management. and it's a big day for you all this is the ten-year anniversary since your ipo. we're here for your investor day. over that time in the decade since you went public, ares stock has grown 650%. tony, i want to start with you. as you take a step back, how would you characterize the firm's history in a way that informs where you're going from

here? >> we looked at the ten-year history of a public company, 25 years being a company at ares management. we've had a long and remarkable road. the past ten years -- i don't mean to sound completely confused by it but please understand, i did not expect that our market cap would go up ten times over the past ten years. i didn't think our fre would go up ten times over the past ten years. i didn't think our assets under management would grow five, six, seven times. what i did think we're a really good company when we went public, and i thought we had an ability to be great and, you know, that combination of the markets that really did come our way and our ability to focus on both credit and origination and finding quality people, all of the things we've been able to do over the past 25 years has really built upon itself. i must say, i'm so proud, so delighted about where we are.

i don't know if i'm surprised or just excited and proud, but, i must say, it is a really good company that we have a lot to be proud of. >> and, mike, you all set targets today, five-year targets, in fact. you said you expect to grow organically not through m&a, to $750 billion that represents a cagr of more than 12%. do these targets still hold if there's a recession or some sort of black swan event? and i ask this. a five-year target is a long way into the future. >> the fact we're willing to project out five years says something about the conviction that we have on the results. what's interesting about the forecast we put out, we did put out a $750 billion aum target. as importantly, we said we would grow our distributable income 20 to 25% and our dividend 20% plus turnpike and the reason we have conviction, to your question, is

the business is designed to perform in any market environment and, in fact, if you look at our history, the two times we've grown the fastest were during the gfc and during covid. there's a lot to the structure of the business in terms of how people give us capital and how we invest that gives that's confidence we'll be able to navigate whatever is in front of us. >> i want to follow up on that. we were at the jpmorgan investor day yesterday and the chairman and ceo jamie dimon spoke about private credit and said, quote, a lot of those folks will be stranded when the you know what hits the fan because they can't roll over a loan at 14%, their company won't be able to afford it. banks work with borrowers in a crisis but they have to book it at par. he says basically private credit hasn't dealt with high interest rates, hasn't dealt with the recession and it hasn't dealt with high spreads. what's your response to that? >> false. we've been investing in the

private markets for 30 years a. loan is a loan whether it's held on a bank balance sheet or held in a private credit fund. they are largely unlevered. banks are 10 to 15 times levered. private credit funds are long during capital from institutional investors. banks are with short-term deposits. i think there's fundamentally structural differences that change behavior. if you look at ares, and we talked about the strength of our credit performance, we've invested $150 billion into the private credit market since we founded the firm and we had a loss rate of one basis point. so everything that we've seen over the last 30 years would indicate that the risk people are trying to argue exists in our market just isn't true. >> and given, tony, you all invest in 3,200 portfolio companies, most of which are out

of the public eye, what are you seeing on the ground as it pertains to the potential for a recession, to inflation, to consumer spending, and do you think those largely private investments mirror what we see in public commentary from public ceos, fed officials and the like? >> well, generally speaking, i think what we see in our portfolio are companies generating positive cash flow growth. we're seeing a decent economy out there across the portfolio. but back to the original point of where private credit was and where it's going really since -- over the past 30 years but since the gfc, assets have moved off the balance sheet of banks, which are generally short-term liabilities that maybe shouldn't be that much of an investor in long-term assets, and they've moved off the balance sheet of banks on to long-term investors, on to the balance sheets of firms like ares and our investor base, and ultimately this

marketplace is growing bigger than people appreciate. it's growing in the u.s. it's growing in europe. it's growing in asia. it's growing in corporate assets. it's growing in real estate assets, in infrastructure assets, in asset backed security. so, generally speaking, this world of private credit, irrespective of what some folks might want or wish or hope for, this asset class is even bigger than people appreciate today and is going to get far bigger over the next 5, 10, 15 years, and for good reasons, and for reasons that will actually reduce systemic risk because these assets are going on to the balance sheet of companies that are not highly levered and that do not finance themselves with short-term liabilities or customer deposits. so, again, this all makes perfect sense since the gfc, as you highlighted the difficulties in certain types of financial institutions investing? long-term assets. >> although some would say that

leverage in the system surprises loans that are out there and other interconnectivities with the banking system who are providing some of the financing and so forth, you still don't see a systemic risk from the broader system as well? >> there are bad actors and people that utilize too much leverage in virtually every asset class, but generally speaking, ares management is an unlevered, modestly levered, and doesn't require customer deposits for insurance. large banks are 10 to 12 times leveraged with customer deposits, with government insurance, that have a different level of risk and, therefore, should have a different level or different type of balance sheet and investment base and they do and should. >> mike, what do you make of the retail strategy as well? a huge component of your growth strategy. you say in today's presentation that people with a million

dollars or more in investable assets comprise about 3% of alternative asset penetration. you think that will grow to 6% in 2028. how does all of this factor in to kind of that growth strategy surrounding retail especially as it grows, it will likely get more attention from regulators as well. >> what we've tried to build at ares is a diversified capital base and growth engine. when you look at the funds that we manage, we manage liquid traded funds. we manage semiliquid nontraded funds, institutional funds, et cetera, et cetera. i think the rise of retail is an important mega trend, because what it does, it now gives access to everyday investors, access to alternatives that used to only be the purview of institutions. this idea of the democratization is really important. there's been a meaningful shift in people's ability to support their retirementas the population ages, so not

surprisingly they're finding their way to these types of structures. at the end of the day, what's going to tamp growth in this industry, at least moderate it, are there enough quality assets that we all can originate and structure to deliver outcomes to the investor? so we're incredibly enthusiastic for the growth in retail, and you saw the projections, but, mind you, that's growing to some extent at the expense of our institutional franchise as we diversify. i think you have to look at it in the growth rate and not just isolated to retail. >> and why would retail be any different, if you will, from endowments or foundations or pension funds or sovereign? some might have 30, 40, 50% in alternatives. retail, we're arguing, would be 3% going to 6, 7, 8%. i think a reasonable assumption. >> i believe my colleague, scott wapner, has a question for you both in studio. >> great to have you on our

program. i've been thinking a lot about sports as an investable asset. michael, congratulations to you on the orioles. europe now one of the owners. >> thanks, scott. >> tony, you own the atlanta hawks of the nba. as i ask you this question, the nfl is actively considering, and they will this week in their meetings in nashville, decide whether private equity can be investors in their teams. and, tony, i'm wondering how you think about that as a possible opportunity for ares. >> i think there's no doubt the nfl, i hope, is a real possibility for ares and for our sports and media funds. and for what it's worth, sports, generally speaking, the media and sports world is a much larger asset class, scott, that people really appreciate. this is hundreds of billions of dollars of not just value and, frankly, lendable assets, but the ancillary assets, the stadiums, the arenas, the real estate developments, ancillary

businesses, these are all huge opportunities that private equity and private credit will undoubtedly be a meaningful part of. i would also suggest that the other relevance is that the sports world, as people appreciate global media rights and the value of these franchises and the importance and value of the overall assets themselves will dramatically push to improve management and expertise in these businesses which really historically haven't always been very well run. and you're seeing a massive transition over the last ten years, and i would argue over the next ten years to far more professional management and really improve margins and operations and actually revenue sources. so that's all part of the game, i think. >> mike, how do you think p/e firms would view being passive investors? it's just not something you guys normally -- that's not how you roll, right? you like to have a say -- >> yeah.

>> -- in the operations of the kind of business you invest in. in this case, certainly in the nfl's case, you could only be a passive investor. >> i'll say two things. one, we're in the business of delivering investment outcomes to investors. and so, given our capability and track record in sports investment both professionally and personally, just granting access, i think, is a huge value proposition to the investors, but i would also encourage to you think about what we've been able to do in our credit business where we're not a control investor, but we have significant influence over the portfolio. we can give them access to best practices that we see that they otherwise couldn't. so my hope and expectation would be if we were involved in this effort going forward through our skill set, we would be able to deliver some of this expertise and track record tony is talking about just in terms of engagement and influence without necessarily having control.

>> tony, how would you -- >> making businesses -- >> go ahead, please. >> go on, i'm sorry. >> finish your thought and then i'll ask you. >> i was just add to go mike's point that making businesses run better is what alternative asset managers with private equity folks, private lenders try to do with or without control, and i think many of the leagues will appreciate that. >> how would you think about your return on investment, though, and potential exits? you, tony, may want to realize your gain or return faster than would be typical, per se, in the nfl. how would you think about that? >> well, again, i think what the nba has already introduced and certainly the mlb and the nfl are moving towards, you have private equity investors already buying minority pieces of teams. so i think what you'll find an increasing number of institutional investors and,

frankly, an increasing market in minority investments for franchises in virtually all of the major sports leagues, and that, of course, creates a bigger market and there will be far more liquidity for both control and noncontrol owners. as a result, better investment environment. >> i would liken it, scott, to the growth we're seeing generally in the secondary market where a whole ecosystem of capital solutions is beginning to form to grant liquidity to investors and illiquid assets or owners of illiquid assets and i would expect the sports landscape to be on a similar path. >> thank you both so much for being here today. tony ressler, mike arougheti at your investor day. >> thank you. >> thanks for having us. >> we look forward to following your progress. appreciate it. scott, back to you. >> i appreciate it. leslie, thanks so much for that. coming up, bryn talkington is making some moves in the crypto space today. the trade is next.

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we are back. bitcoin hitting the highest level since april. ethey are hitting its highest level since march. we are back at 70,000 on bitcoin. bryn, grayscale bitcoin trust, you sold it. you bought the i-shares bitcoin trust. take us through that trade. >> i don't see gray scale taking down the expense ratio to be even remotely commensurate with ibit, which is 25. grayscale is still 150. and so the same thing. ultimately you'll see more consolidation. you don't need ten different bitcoin etfs.

but grayscale is a different story. that etf still hasn't been converted. >> what are your general thoughts on bitcoin hih, i thin such a volatile space. i think people are getting excited that they thought the etf was squashed by the scc. there's rumors that the etherium tv could be approved, so crypto is moving in that direction of saying we are going to approve this etf, which still just gives more validation for the space in general. lifts not just bitcoin, but a lot of other crypto assets, as well. >> we'll take a ick qubreak and come back with mike santoli and his "midday word," next.

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all right. we are back with our senior markets commentator mike santoli with his "midday word." every now and then we have these big moments and the market takes a breath and waits. feel like this is one of those with nvidia tomorrow. >> no doubt is. it also comes as the overall market was, you know, coming off of a nice run, and so the question was, are we going to needily have this sort of profit taking under the surface, or is it going to be wait and see? so we're holding the gains. the non-nvidia semiconductor stocks are acting pretty well also. so it feels like there's some energy positioning for perhaps another confirmation that the big picture story remains in tact. so that's how i would read it. it remains a very eclectic market with financials doing okay.

it's not that thematic. but i don't think there's a very steep wall of worry left, but you don't always need that when the environment is okay. >> price action from palo alto, gets punished, buyers come in well off the ows. like watching apple, as we normally do, north of $192. >> yeah, big picture story is what people will fall back on. apple, it's funny. find me a more boring stock over the last couple of years. maybe you can see that's the case. this stock hit $180 in december of 2021. 2 1/2 years later, we're talking about $190 and change. so either it's just this defensive waxes and wanes with the breeze, or it's just kind of, you know, got this potential energy built up into it, because people don't have faith in the ai trade. so holding its own is enough for the broader market to perform. >> you have the electricity of the buyback. >> i mean, it's been the story for a long time that they're

buying it, they're soaking up the supply. they try to keep you focused on the surface. the thesis is there. i just think that at this point, it's kind of sidelined relative to the big themes people really care about. >> i'll see you in a couple of hours. that's mike santoli. 'll t his final word on "closing bell." "final trades" are next. your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's age renew formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. for all your skins, gold bond. (grandpa vo) i'm the richest guy in the world. of 7 moisturizers and hi baby!ns. (woman 1 vo) i have inherited the best traditions. (woman 2 vo) i have a great boss... it's me. (man 1 vo) i have people, people i can count on. (man 2 vo) i have time to give (grandma vo) and a million stories to share. (grandpa vo) if that's not rich, i don't know what is. (vo) the key to being rich is knowing what counts.

big week for retail, in

including that company. stephanie, what do you think? >> i think it's going to be solid. the key is operating margins, can they get back to that 6% level which say that you in 2019. if you can, you're looking at $11 a share. i think the stock is cheap. >> by the way, join me at 3:00 on "closing bell." liz ann saunders will be with me, with gene munster and matthew boss of jpmorgan. so we'll look ahead to all of that. let's do "final trades." stef, what do you got? >> bank of america, just after jpmorgan increased their net interest income number for the second time yesterday, bank of america gets 50% of their total revenues from nii. i think it bodes well for the stock at 1 .2 times stock. >> josh brown, did you ride a horse to work today? [ laughter ] the jolly rancher, your new

nickname. >> moderna, new 52-week high here. no real resistance for that 200 day moving average at $160. >> bryn, what do you got? >> palantir. they just had their sixth quarter of positive gap earnings. great name to go with nvidia. >> from the rancher to the farmer. >> oracle. >> i'll see you on "closing bell." "the exchange" is now. it's big hour here, scott. thank you very much. welcome to "the exchange." i'm kelly evans. here's all what's ahead. microsoft's developer's conference underway, with the ceo giving the keynote right now. we'll continue to bring you all the headlines from that event as we get reaction, as well. and the nasdaq is just fractionally higher after hitting another record high yesterday. we're on record close watch for the nasdaq and the s&p, while the dow is on base for a second positive day in three. the