William Bishop @WMBishop: "𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 As 2025 comes..."

United Kingdom

𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 As 2025 comes to a close and we approach 2026, I'd like to take this moment to wish all my copiers and followers a very happy and prosperous new year. While some markets are floundering, this portfolio continued to make a series of 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘀 in December. The portfolio is up by 12.61% this year. The biggest gainer amongst our portfolio was $GOOG (Alphabet) and $GOOGL (Alphabet Inc Class A) - increasing by 65.7% and 66.2%, respectively. This is a company that was declared as finished by many market commentators this time last year over fears of ChatGPT decimating their search business. Despite those fears Alphabet continues to grow from strength to strength and, nevertheless, should be viewed as a more diversified company than this. $MNST (Monster Beverage Corp) was another strong contributor this year with an increase of 46.3%. Fears of challenger brands such as $CELH (Celsius Holdings Inc.) taking market share were overdone - as demonstrated in their most recent quarterly results. Revenue increased 16.8%, outstripping cost increases which resulted in operating profits jumping by 40.7% as operating margin increased from 25.5% to 30.7%. As an investor I'm always looking at the performance of the businesses I own and Alphabet and Monster undoubtedly performed strongly this year from an operating viewpoint. 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱? As we enter a new year, market forecasters make their predictions for the coming year. They'll forecast where the $SPX500 will end 2026, which companies and sectors will perform well this year and what assets are overvalued. Invariably their forecasts will be wrong as it is hard to predict with any certainty what will happen in such a short period as a year. 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆 - 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 As a value investor, the prices my investments and potential investments are trading at is very important. I invest in quality businesses and a fair price, sometimes at a great price and, on rare occasions I make a mistake and pay too much for a company. However, what is important is that I seek out value every day. I never take my eye off the ball. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. I constantly evaluate valuations of my holdings and companies I'd like to invest in. 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 Throughout 2026 and beyond I will be working hard for my copiers. I'll use the knowledge gained from my two degrees, numerous industry qualifications and 22 years investing experience to seek out the best possible portfolio I can. We'll be invested in exceptional companies that are leading their respective industries. Their share prices may not always reflect their strength and that is a great thing because this enables me to add significant value to the portfolio. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 To conclude this post I'd like to thank my copiers and followers for their continued support. Without you all I wouldn't be here doing what I love. I wish the whole eToro community a very happy and prosperous new year