Discussing Pinterest and Toast that are up 22% and 60% respectively in portfolio and Duolingo that I am looking to initiate a position in after post-earnings sell-off.
Very kind of you Greg. Trying something new, like an experiment. I will write this 2x a month, so will be writing the next edition two tuesdays later. Thanks for your support.
Thanks Daan. You are doing some phenomenal work yourself. On the stock front, looks like Duolingo is the most popular choice so far. But looking to experiment more, and perhaps some collaborations down the line, for which I will reach out to you.
Excited for the new section Amrita. Duolingo analysis is more than satisfying. I think Pinterest would be interesting for the next one! I only analyze companies after I believe they have a moat that helps them generate consistent earnings. Otherwise I feel like a Wall-Street analyst speculating on the stock at full force. I also think people don’t relate to that type of analysis. That would be my starting point all the time! And of course, thanks for the shoutout!
Thanks Oguz. I fully agree that people are probably getting tired of Wall Street style stock commentary, and I can already see many individual stock writers who are focused on nicher areas of alpha with strong research are garnering hundreds or even thousands of paid subscribers. I don't know how big of an organic investment community Substack has, but I think given the openness on the platform, there could be more collaboration among publications, which would provide value to users that they would otherwise not get from siloed publications.
Love this new addition to your publication, Amrita!
I'll weigh in since you asked! I really like the setup in PINS. Excellent growth profile as you cover. The recent key move for me was the gap over $40 resistance. Momentum is a bit stretched, so no surprise to see the stock come back to test that level. For a new purchase, I would watch for a "base on base" if the stock consolidates around $40.
The big level to watch on TOST is this recent move over $26 and breakout from a bull flag forming since early March. Pull up a longer-term chart, and that could be a significant breakout from a bottoming base going back two years.
Finally on DUOL, not seeing anything there for now. That's a name I recently had on watch as well. The stock tried to breakout to new highs before the selloff on earnings. That breakout wasn't checking many boxes I look for (like volume expansion), so I stayed away and will keep watching from the sidelines.
Thanks for weighing in, this is awesome. It's good to know that Pinterest looks solid on the technical charts, and intriguing to hear about Toast, may be I should not trim too big a position, but at the same time, the market is getting a little extended, so we shall see.
With Duolingo, I need to reassess the landscape after Open AI's product launch and how it will affect the company fundamentally, will be interesting to hear how their CEO Luis von Ahn addresses these concerns. Thanks again.
Congrats on your new segment Amrita. Loved the quick insights you have provided into these companies. Looking forward to read and learn more. Best wishes.
Thank you for sharing this article. I found lots of value and it was really insightful your approach on your investment strategy. Have a great week ahead Amrita!
“ In case you are wondering whether this is a delayed Monday Macro or an earlier Thursday Dive, it’s neither. I’m launching a brand new segment to The Pragmatic Optimist- Tuesday Top Picks 🥁🥁🥁 , where I will highlight some of the key companies that I am investing in, carefully watching, or getting ready to sell.”
Awesome Amrita! Fantastic news and I can't wait! I am so looking forward to your new publication. So happy for you guys! 🥰🥰🥰
Thank you Charlotte, it won't be a brand new publication, just an additional segment for stocks, with today being the pilot. Will be experimenting more in the coming weeks in terms of format and what not. Thanks again for your immense support.
Thanks Oliver. It is great to see great stock writers emerging on Substack, still not sure how big the community is compared to places like Seeking Alpha, but definitely going to experiment more here in the coming weeks/months.
Thanks @stockopine. Glad you liked it. Would really love to know more on how you being your investment community on Substack, seeing that you are an orange ticker (bubble?) holder.
Our success so far has been driven by our consistent posting schedule. We deliver two in-depth analyses per month on companies from our watchlist or portfolio. Because of our keen interest in these companies, we strive to share what matters to us as investors while also educating readers about them, especially if they're new to the companies. Transitioning to a paid model may impact community engagement since not everyone can comment, but we remain accessible for discussions and ideas on X and Substack's DMs.
Hey, thanks for this. This is very helpful, and it's amazing how you guys have built such a thriving paid community, which is a much harder job than building a massive freemium following, in my opinion. Out of curiosity, do you think your Twitter presence and following helped with the free to paid conversion, or was it mostly on Substack?
To be honest, both avenues (free or paid) present challenges, but we equally appreciate the support of free and paid subscribers. As for our growth engines, we'd attribute it to both Twitter and Substack, as we started posting on both platforms simultaneously.
Thanks Stone, this is an experimental segment, so will be trying out different formats and content types in the coming week/months, etc.
I am fully aware of your deep connection to my Friday 5, and it is on top of my mind. In fact, just today, I was thinking of doing a version of it once a month for my Monday Macros, since deep dives are usually a lot of time and energy consuming.
Will be experimenting quite a bit in the coming months. Stay tuned!!! Couldn't be more grateful for your support.
LOL I cannot help myself - the F5 was my introduction to your ‘Stack, thus will always be a fav ;-) But no matter what you do I am going to be on-board, so follow your financial muse :-)
Thank you for the shout out, Amrita. I deeply appreciate your writing and perspectives on macro economics. I am excited for your new stock picks column and look forward to reading your thoughts on companies that you like and more importantly why you like them. I am most intrigued by your POV on TOST. Cheers!
Thanks Beach. Glad you enjoyed the segment. Will experiment with it more and you are on my mind to reach out to (as soon as I can find some slack) to pick your brain on building a paid community on Substack.
Sure thing! Regarding TOST...I wonder how they can make consistently make money and more money in the long run. I look at them as a hybrid between SHOP/SQ and FOUR...each of these three have had their challenges leading to single digit/negative net profits. Looking forward to reading what you think about the future trajectory of TOST because they are pursing a more unique business model. Cheers
Thanks Beach, I think the long-term viability of Toast is tied to how they can actually grow their Subscription based modules, which is currently seeing the fastest growth rate with the highest margins among their segments, and I think a lot of optimism is tied to its growing Subscription business. But there could be a certain degree of plateuing in the US markets, which is probably why they are expanding into Canada, UK, etc. Interestingly, Scion Capital had initiated a position around the $17 mark and as of a report yesterday, they are exiting their position.
It's nice to see you've decided to showcase more of your monster talent. Looking forward to next Tuesday.
Very kind of you Greg. Trying something new, like an experiment. I will write this 2x a month, so will be writing the next edition two tuesdays later. Thanks for your support.
I really enjoyed this, Amrita! Looking forward to the deep dive. And thank you for the shoutout!!
Thanks Daan. You are doing some phenomenal work yourself. On the stock front, looks like Duolingo is the most popular choice so far. But looking to experiment more, and perhaps some collaborations down the line, for which I will reach out to you.
Thanks, Amrita. I really appreciate it! Already looking forward to a potential collab in the future!
Duolingo also got my vote. I'm really curious about the company but haven't yet had the time to dive into it. It is an interesting one.
Awesome! Very excited about the Duolingo deep dive!
Thanks, looks like Duolingo is winning by popular vote.
Excited for the new section Amrita. Duolingo analysis is more than satisfying. I think Pinterest would be interesting for the next one! I only analyze companies after I believe they have a moat that helps them generate consistent earnings. Otherwise I feel like a Wall-Street analyst speculating on the stock at full force. I also think people don’t relate to that type of analysis. That would be my starting point all the time! And of course, thanks for the shoutout!
Thanks Oguz. I fully agree that people are probably getting tired of Wall Street style stock commentary, and I can already see many individual stock writers who are focused on nicher areas of alpha with strong research are garnering hundreds or even thousands of paid subscribers. I don't know how big of an organic investment community Substack has, but I think given the openness on the platform, there could be more collaboration among publications, which would provide value to users that they would otherwise not get from siloed publications.
Love this new addition to your publication, Amrita!
I'll weigh in since you asked! I really like the setup in PINS. Excellent growth profile as you cover. The recent key move for me was the gap over $40 resistance. Momentum is a bit stretched, so no surprise to see the stock come back to test that level. For a new purchase, I would watch for a "base on base" if the stock consolidates around $40.
The big level to watch on TOST is this recent move over $26 and breakout from a bull flag forming since early March. Pull up a longer-term chart, and that could be a significant breakout from a bottoming base going back two years.
Finally on DUOL, not seeing anything there for now. That's a name I recently had on watch as well. The stock tried to breakout to new highs before the selloff on earnings. That breakout wasn't checking many boxes I look for (like volume expansion), so I stayed away and will keep watching from the sidelines.
Thanks for weighing in, this is awesome. It's good to know that Pinterest looks solid on the technical charts, and intriguing to hear about Toast, may be I should not trim too big a position, but at the same time, the market is getting a little extended, so we shall see.
With Duolingo, I need to reassess the landscape after Open AI's product launch and how it will affect the company fundamentally, will be interesting to hear how their CEO Luis von Ahn addresses these concerns. Thanks again.
Congrats on your new segment Amrita. Loved the quick insights you have provided into these companies. Looking forward to read and learn more. Best wishes.
Thank you Sanuj for your constant support. Trying something new and will be experimenting over the weeks/months, stay tuned.
Great start to a new segment of your newsletter, Amrita! Looking forward to your next one!
Thanks Dylan. Stay tuned.
Thank you for sharing this article. I found lots of value and it was really insightful your approach on your investment strategy. Have a great week ahead Amrita!
Thank you Jose, glad you found this format and approach useful. Stay tuned for more.
“ In case you are wondering whether this is a delayed Monday Macro or an earlier Thursday Dive, it’s neither. I’m launching a brand new segment to The Pragmatic Optimist- Tuesday Top Picks 🥁🥁🥁 , where I will highlight some of the key companies that I am investing in, carefully watching, or getting ready to sell.”
Awesome Amrita! Fantastic news and I can't wait! I am so looking forward to your new publication. So happy for you guys! 🥰🥰🥰
Thank you Charlotte, it won't be a brand new publication, just an additional segment for stocks, with today being the pilot. Will be experimenting more in the coming weeks in terms of format and what not. Thanks again for your immense support.
Fantastic i look forward to your posts Amrita! 🤗✨💜
Fantastic breakdown Amrita. And thank you so much for the shoutout!! You're a big inspiration to me on here too
Thanks Oliver. It is great to see great stock writers emerging on Substack, still not sure how big the community is compared to places like Seeking Alpha, but definitely going to experiment more here in the coming weeks/months.
Really enjoyed this format Amrita. It’s short and sweet. Keep them coming.
Thanks @stockopine. Glad you liked it. Would really love to know more on how you being your investment community on Substack, seeing that you are an orange ticker (bubble?) holder.
Hey Amrita,
Our success so far has been driven by our consistent posting schedule. We deliver two in-depth analyses per month on companies from our watchlist or portfolio. Because of our keen interest in these companies, we strive to share what matters to us as investors while also educating readers about them, especially if they're new to the companies. Transitioning to a paid model may impact community engagement since not everyone can comment, but we remain accessible for discussions and ideas on X and Substack's DMs.
Hey, thanks for this. This is very helpful, and it's amazing how you guys have built such a thriving paid community, which is a much harder job than building a massive freemium following, in my opinion. Out of curiosity, do you think your Twitter presence and following helped with the free to paid conversion, or was it mostly on Substack?
To be honest, both avenues (free or paid) present challenges, but we equally appreciate the support of free and paid subscribers. As for our growth engines, we'd attribute it to both Twitter and Substack, as we started posting on both platforms simultaneously.
While I am not an investor myself, I can already tell I am going to learn much from these drops; looking forward to seeing where you take this.
[While I completely understand your need to prioritize your writing time and energy? I still miss the Friday5 😉]
Thanks Stone, this is an experimental segment, so will be trying out different formats and content types in the coming week/months, etc.
I am fully aware of your deep connection to my Friday 5, and it is on top of my mind. In fact, just today, I was thinking of doing a version of it once a month for my Monday Macros, since deep dives are usually a lot of time and energy consuming.
Will be experimenting quite a bit in the coming months. Stay tuned!!! Couldn't be more grateful for your support.
LOL I cannot help myself - the F5 was my introduction to your ‘Stack, thus will always be a fav ;-) But no matter what you do I am going to be on-board, so follow your financial muse :-)
Thank you for the shout out, Amrita. I deeply appreciate your writing and perspectives on macro economics. I am excited for your new stock picks column and look forward to reading your thoughts on companies that you like and more importantly why you like them. I am most intrigued by your POV on TOST. Cheers!
Thanks Beach. Glad you enjoyed the segment. Will experiment with it more and you are on my mind to reach out to (as soon as I can find some slack) to pick your brain on building a paid community on Substack.
What intrigued you about Toast?
Sure thing! Regarding TOST...I wonder how they can make consistently make money and more money in the long run. I look at them as a hybrid between SHOP/SQ and FOUR...each of these three have had their challenges leading to single digit/negative net profits. Looking forward to reading what you think about the future trajectory of TOST because they are pursing a more unique business model. Cheers
Thanks Beach, I think the long-term viability of Toast is tied to how they can actually grow their Subscription based modules, which is currently seeing the fastest growth rate with the highest margins among their segments, and I think a lot of optimism is tied to its growing Subscription business. But there could be a certain degree of plateuing in the US markets, which is probably why they are expanding into Canada, UK, etc. Interestingly, Scion Capital had initiated a position around the $17 mark and as of a report yesterday, they are exiting their position.
Pinterest has nice technical patterns. Institutional investors have recently added to their holdings. Many things point to growth.