AI Darlings Crash in a “Teflon Tape” | WAYT?

Watch on YouTube ↗ | July 28, 2026 at 21:54 | 48:05 | The Compound News

Speakers

Michael Batnick — Managing Partner, Ritholtz Wealth Management

Josh Brown — CEO, Ritholtz Wealth Management

Summary

Josh Brown and Michael Batnick preview Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Apple earnings. They highlight Apple's capital-light AI advantage and Berkshire Hathaway's broad strength as the market shrugs off selling in semiconductors and other megacaps. They express caution on Microsoft, Meta, and Uber heading into reports due to weak momentum and capex concerns.

Microsoft's Azure growth and capex spending remain key; stock seen as limping into earnings.
Meta faces capex and free cash flow scrutiny despite strong ad growth; sell-off expected.
Amazon's AWS acceleration and capex guidance in focus; stock stuck in a range.
Apple's on-device AI strategy and lack of massive capex make it the preferred mega-cap, near all-time highs.
Berkshire Hathaway benefits from insurance, utilities, and consumer strength, hitting records.
Cheap stocks with bad momentum like Uber face heightened risk of post-earnings selloffs.
Market remains resilient as rotation into industrials and financials offsets tech weakness.
Corning and semiconductor crashes seen as necessary unwinds, with cheap forward multiples potentially deceiving.

Ideas

Michael Batnick Managing Partner, Ritholtz Wealth Management 7:47

Selling before earnings due to limp momentum

Microsoft, Workday, and ServiceNow are limping into their earnings reports with an uninspiring setup. Michael plans to sell his positions before the open because he thinks the stock momentum is weak and the setup is not favorable.

Michael Batnick Managing Partner, Ritholtz Wealth Management 10:48

Meta likely to sell off post-earnings

Meta is expected to report a monster quarter on fundamentals, but investors are solely focused on rising capex and deteriorating free cash flow. Michael expects the stock to get punished at the open after earnings, similar to Google's recent pattern.

Josh Brown CEO, Ritholtz Wealth Management 15:41

Apple's capital-light AI strategy outperforms

Apple is the mega-cap to own for the second half. Its capital-light AI strategy positions it as a toll booth for on-device consumer AI use, avoiding the massive capex that is making other big tech investors nervous. After getting Beijing approval for AI models on iPhones in China, the narrative has shifted strongly in Apple's favor.

Michael Batnick Managing Partner, Ritholtz Wealth Management 22:20

Uber at risk of post-earnings selloff

Uber is a dirt-cheap stock with horrendous momentum heading into its August 5th report. According to Adam Parker's data, cheap stocks with bad momentum get slaughtered when they miss earnings. This makes Uber especially risky ahead of the print.

Josh Brown CEO, Ritholtz Wealth Management 30:29

Berkshire Hathaway benefits from current trends

Berkshire Hathaway is having a moment because its insurance, utility, transportation, and consumer franchises are all firing. It owns everything investors want right now, from Coca-Cola and American Express to industrials and utilities, making the stock a beneficiary of the current market rotation.

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This The Compound News video, published July 28, 2026, features Michael Batnick, Josh Brown discussing MSFT, WDAY, NOW, META, AAPL, UBER, BRK.B. 5 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Michael Batnick, Josh Brown · Tickers: MSFT, WDAY, NOW, META, AAPL, UBER, BRK.B