✍️ Defense Contractors Backlog, Palantir, Mercado Libre, Wix + S&P 500 & New Fed Chair = Maverick Equities Charts of the Week #61
4 + 1 Maverick Charts that say 10,000 words
Dear all,
4 + 1 cherry picked Maverick Charts of the week say 10,000 words or more = the ‘How’!
Table of contents = the ‘What’! Executed in a succinct manner with the aim of a high density of ideas, because great research respects the reader’s time:
📊 Maverick Charts: Defense Contractors Backlog, Palantir, Mercado Libre, Wix
📊 Bonus: S&P 500 1st year Performance with new Fed Chair
Objective: both data-driven insights + valuable food for thought = the ‘Why’!
📊 Maverick Charts: Defense Contractors Backlog, Palantir, MercadoLibre, Wix 📊
Defense Contractors Backlog = $846 billion, +26% compared to last year:
👉 Geopolitical conflicts are high, hence naturally so are the Defense Contractors backlog — both arming up & munition replenishment are required for those conflicts
👉 “Big Five” prime defense contractors all reported record orders in the 2nd quarter:
RTX Corporation (RTX): $289 billion for a +22%
Lockheed Martin (LMT): $230 billion, for a +38%
General Dynamics (GD): $136 billion, for a +32%
Northrop Grumman (NOC): $105 billion, for a +17%
Boeing Defense, Space, & Security (BA): $85 billion, for a +15%
Combined, the five companies (including only Boeing’s defense division) now have a backlog of $846 billion — that’s up $176 billion, or 26%, compared to Q2 2025!
Palantir Technologies (PLTR) — the Software AI of Defense getting market also:
👉 157% Net Dollar Retention Rate (NRR) reported for Q2 — it now accelerated for 11 consecutive quarters!
P.S. NRR = the % of recurring revenue a company keeps from its existing customers
it factors in expansions (upsells), contractions (downgrades) and churn
above 100% means revenue from the current customer base is growing even without new customers — Palantir’s 157% is exceptionally strong!
MercadoLibre (MELI), the dominant e-commerce and financial technology ecosystem in Latin America just achieved the unachievable:
👉 +30% revenue growth for 30 consecutive quarters = this mighty streak represents 7.5 consecutive years of unceasing, high-velocity expansion — insane growth at scale
👉 I do not recall any company ever managing this feat, hence I had to check if my intuition is right — yes, it is a global record: the only publicly company in the world out of more than 83,000 tracked globally to achieve this feat
👉 it’s even crazier to think that no other company has come even closer to top that: not even growth giants like Amazon, Apple, Meta, or Nvidia had such a streak
Wix.com (WIX) — one of the software AI losers so far from the market’s side:
👉 management bought back 24% of their shares in a single quarter in Q2 — massive commitment from the insiders as they see the stock very undervalued
📊 Bonus: S&P 500 1st year Performance with new Fed Chair 📊
How is the S&P 500 performing in the 1st year with a new Fed Chair?
Kevin Warsh was sworn in as the new chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve on May 22, succeeding Jerome Powell at the helm of the world’s most consequential central bank.
👉 very good returns in general, except when Alan Greenspan took over — currently, the S&P 500 has gained roughly 3.80% since Kevin Warsh took office
👉 naturally, way more factors at play, but a sleek angle to consider
P.S. S&P 500 and way more will be covered by the future Maverick Special reports:
✍️ S&P 500 Report: Valuation, Fundamentals, Special Metrics & Leading Indicators
✍️ S&P 500 Report: Performance, Sentiment, Seasonality, Technical Analysis
✍️ Is the U.S. Stock Market in a Bubble?
✍️ Market Pockets of Overvaluation, Animal Spirits Behaviour and Bubbly Territory
Complementary, Single Stocks deep dives and Model Portfolios will start soon!
✍️ Full Equity Research = single stocks deep dives
✍️ Model Portfolios = ready solutions to be deployed
Heads-up: the next Special report covers Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Q2 earnings:
✍️ Buffet’s Berkshire: The Legacy Continues! Stash Away Baby! Fundamentals, Buybacks, Optionality, Valuation, and … Patience!
The quick take right after Q2 earnings were out is below in case you missed it:
✍️ Berkshire Buying Back Stock = Stock Undervalued! Just like Maverick anticipated 3 weeks ago! ‘News’ and ‘Surprise’ tomorrow! ✍️
Maverick Charts 61th edition done, 4 key charts with many insights + 1 Bonus!
You can check all the previous 60 editions in the Maverick Charts section!
Mission accomplished for me if the following resonates with you:
‘Hmm I never thought it that way’, ‘now that chart said a whole lot’, ‘now that chart was really interesting’, ‘now that is something new’, ‘now I got it!’, ‘you managed to turn something complex into something actually simple’
hence, if you got to see something differently, my approach gave you a different angle, it did help you connect your key dots, then we all do well here!
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Have a great day! And never forget, keep compounding: family, friends, community, capital, knowledge, research and mindset!
With respect,
Mav 👋 🤝
“Compound interest is both the ultimate and biggest natural hedge!”
Maverick Equity Research
