Squawk on the Street

Max Levchin, co-founder and CEO of Affirm, a fintech innovator in Buy Now Pay Later. He discusses Affirm's strong merchant growth, its AI-driven underwriting approach, and new partnerships expanding addressable markets. The conversation also touches on pricing philosophy and why Affirm believes its underwriting edge is durable.

They discuss trimming positions after big rallies and the rationale for selling some DuPont shares following a 38% jump. The team previews a members-only morning meeting that reviews portfolio moves and analyst calls. Conversations focus on disciplined profit-taking, comparisons of recent recoveries like Honeywell, and when to lock in gains versus holding.

Alex Spiro, a high-profile trial attorney who represents clients like Elon Musk and Jay-Z, discusses the California proposed wealth tax and its legal fallout. He walks through likely injunctions, constitutional challenges, and timing risks. Also covered: market reactions to Alphabet’s AI-driven capex plans and Hershey’s earnings, tariffs, and cost pressures.

Rene Haas, CEO of Arm Holdings — a chip-architecture leader — discusses Arm’s financial results and the company’s role in AI and data-center compute. He breaks down licensing and royalties, addresses memory-shortage effects, and explains hyperscaler adoption and the long-term growth story in compute. The conversation focuses on AI-driven capex, chip market moves, and Arm’s roadmap for data-center royalties.

Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary testifying on regulation and financial stability. Lisa Su, AMD CEO, on results and AI/data center trends. Stacey Rasgon, Bernstein semiconductor analyst, on chip cycles and market positioning. They discuss AMD's guidance hit, AI-driven memory demand, regulatory tailoring for community banks, and heated Capitol questioning on tariffs and policy.

Discussion of how one pharma company leads in clinical trials and upcoming studies for alcohol and tobacco. Conversation about market implications of a new oral GLP-1 pill and how pill convenience could sway patient choice. Comparison of competitive guidance and revenue moves following recent earnings news.

Lisa Su, CEO and Chair of AMD, leading the company’s CPU and GPU businesses. She discusses AMD’s Q4 results and 2026 inflection plans. Conversation covers rising AI-driven demand, MI450 and Helios inference hardware, growing CPU content, and the multi-year partnership with OpenAI. Short takes also touch on software sell-offs, big earnings moves, and market winners to watch.

They discuss a market rotation that favors consumer goods, industrials and utilities while tech sees outflows. Software and cyber stock sell-offs are parsed, with specific names highlighted. A prominent cybersecurity company is presented as a potential buy after a big pullback. A short buy list and conviction behind the calls are reviewed.

Ramon Laguarta, PepsiCo CEO known for steering the company through portfolio transformation, discusses the Q4 beat and U.S. momentum. He talks pricing moves including selective cuts, food innovations and relaunches, and how consumer choices and Hispanic mobility shifts are shaping demand. He also explains why PepsiCo keeps an integrated food-and-drink model and highlights transformation optimism.

James Gorman, Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, briefly outlines leadership moves and strategy as Josh D'Amaro takes over as CEO. He discusses Dana Walden's new creative role, the board's succession process, and plans to better weave Disney's IP across films, streaming and parks. The conversation also touches on a potential SpaceX–xAI deal and market reactions to big tech and earnings news.