NVDA, AAPL, TSLA, MSFT and more: how to read a famous stock by its business model

Names on this page are examples of business models, not suggestions. A company can be excellent and its stock still be a poor investment at a given price, and the reverse. Nothing here is a view on any stock.

Technology and semiconductors

• NVDA (Nvidia) and AMD: design chips. Demand depends on data-centre, gaming and AI spending cycles, and on a few large customers.
• AAPL (Apple): consumer devices plus a growing services business; sales depend on product cycles and the strength of its ecosystem.
• MSFT (Microsoft): software, cloud computing and productivity subscriptions, mostly recurring revenue.
• GOOGL (Alphabet) and META (Meta): advertising-driven platforms, sensitive to ad budgets, plus cloud or new ventures.
• AMZN (Amazon): online retail, cloud computing and advertising, with very different margins across the units.
• PLTR (Palantir): data-analytics software sold to governments and companies.

Consumer, media and autos

• TSLA (Tesla): electric vehicles and energy products; sensitive to production, pricing, competition and sentiment about future technology.
• NFLX (Netflix): subscription streaming; driven by subscribers, pricing and content costs.
• DIS (Disney): media, streaming and theme parks; mixes a cyclical business with a content library.
• KO (Coca-Cola): beverages with a global brand and a long record of paying dividends; typically steadier.

Finance and healthcare

• JPM (JPMorgan Chase): a large bank; earnings are sensitive to interest rates, credit quality and the economy.
• V (Visa): a payments network that earns a small cut of transaction volume.
• COIN (Coinbase) and SOFI (SoFi): a crypto exchange and a digital financial-services company; both sensitive to market activity and rates.
• BRK.B (Berkshire Hathaway): a holding company with insurance, railroads, utilities and a large investment portfolio.
• JNJ (Johnson & Johnson): healthcare, with pharmaceuticals and medical devices; steadier demand but subject to legal and regulatory risk.

A questions list for any of them

• How does it earn each dollar, and which part is growing?
• Who are the customers, and how concentrated are they?
• What would hurt it: regulation, competition, rates, costs?
• What is already priced in?
• How big is this position relative to the rest of my portfolio?

Owning a famous name feels safer than it is. Size the position as if you were not sure.