The Triple Play Report — 9/4/25
An earnings triple play is a stock that reports earnings and manages to 1) beat analyst EPS estimates, 2) beat analyst sales estimates, and 3) raise forward guidance. You can read more about “triple plays” at Investopedia.com where they’ve given Bespoke credit for popularizing the term. We like triple plays as an indication that a company’s business is firing on all cylinders, with better-than-expected results and an improving outlook. A triple play is indicative of positive “fundamental momentum” instead of pure fundamentals, and there are always plenty of names with both high and low valuations on our quarterly list.
Bespoke’s Triple Play Report highlights companies that have recently reported earnings triple plays, and it features commentary from management on triple-play conference calls, company descriptions and analysis, and price charts. Bespoke’s Triple Play Report is available at the Bespoke Institutional level only. You can sign up for Bespoke Institutional now and receive a 14-day trial to read this week’s Triple Play Report, which features 20 new stocks. To sign up, choose either the monthly or annual checkout link below:
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Pure Storage (PSTG) is an example of a company that recently reported an earnings triple play after the close on 8/27. On a streak of ten EPS and revenue beats, the stock rallied 32% on 8/28 in reaction to this quarter’s triple play. That rally brought the stock to a new all-time high!
Here’s how AI describes the company: Pure Storage (PSTG) is a data storage company that develops all-flash hardware systems and cloud-based software to help enterprises manage rapidly growing volumes of data. Its core platform runs on the Purity operating system, which standardizes and simplifies storage across block, file, and object formats while enabling features like automated upgrades and data reduction. The company sells both physical arrays such as FlashArray for high-performance workloads and FlashBlade for analytics and AI, as well as subscription models like Evergreen//One, which delivers storage on demand with predictable costs and built-in refreshes. Pure has also expanded into cloud-native infrastructure through Cloud Block Store and Portworx, which allow customers to run applications seamlessly across public clouds and containerized environments like Kubernetes. More recently, the company introduced its Enterprise Data Cloud architecture, a framework designed to unify data management across global data estates, reduce IT complexity, and improve efficiency in areas such as power consumption and cooling. With customers spanning Fortune 500 firms, hyperscalers, and cloud-first enterprises, Pure Storage positions itself as a leader in modernizing data centers for AI, analytics, and next-generation application development.
Pure Storage posted strong Q2 FY26 results, with revenue up 13% to $861 million. Nearly half of sales now come from subscriptions, which grew 15% to $415 million, showing that customers are steadily moving away from one-time hardware purchases toward ongoing service contracts. Annual recurring revenue rose 18% to $1.8 billion, and the company’s backlog of contracted sales reached $2.8 billion, signaling confidence in long-term demand. Growth was broad, but international markets stood out with a 26% gain compared to 7% in the US. Customers continued to choose PSTG’s higher-end systems like FlashArray//XL, which lifted product gross margin to 68% and total gross margin to 72.1%. The company also recognized its first revenue from Meta’s deployment of DirectFlash technology, a high-margin deal expected to scale to multiple exabytes. Over 300 new customers were added, bringing Fortune 500 penetration to 62%. Management raised its full-year revenue outlook to 14% growth, citing a healthier pipeline of large deals, strong demand for FlashBlade in AI and analytics, and growing adoption of its storage-as-a-service offerings.
Looking at the snapshot below from our Earnings Explorer, Pure Storage (PSTG) has been a strong triple play name over the past several years. Since the beginning on 2021, the company has reported ten triple plays with just one revenue miss in 2023. This quarter’s positive stock reaction is also its best since its 2015 IPO.
You can read more about PSTG and the 19 other triple plays we covered in our newest report by starting a Bespoke Institutional trial today.
Bespoke Investment Group, LLC believes all information contained in these reports to be accurate, but we do not guarantee its accuracy. None of the information in these reports or any opinions expressed constitutes a solicitation of the purchase or sale of any securities or commodities. This is not personalized advice. Investors should do their own research and/or work with an investment professional when making portfolio decisions. As always, past performance of any investment is not a guarantee of future results. Bespoke representatives or clients may have positions in securities discussed or mentioned in its published content.
The Closer – Energy Rough Run, Beige Book, JOLTS – 9/3/25
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Looking for deeper insight into markets? In tonight’s Closer sent to Bespoke Institutional clients, we begin with a look over the troubles in the Energy sector (page 1) before switching over to our quantified look at the Beige Book (pages 2 and 3). Next, We close out with a rundown of the latest JOLTS data (pages 4 and 5).
See today’s full post-market Closer and everything else Bespoke publishes by starting a 14-day trial to Bespoke Institutional today!
Bespoke’s Morning Lineup – 9/3/25 – Good News Google
See what’s driving market performance around the world in today’s Morning Lineup. Bespoke’s Morning Lineup is the best way to start your trading day. Read it now by starting a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium. CLICK HERE to learn more and start your trial.
“Not only strike while the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking.” – Oliver Cromwell
Below is a snippet of commentary from today’s Morning Lineup. Start a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium to view the full report.
September may have started on a poor footing. Still, after a bounce yesterday afternoon, the positive tone carried over overnight and into this morning, following positive news for Alphabet (GOOGL) and, by extension, Apple (AAPL). Asian stocks were mostly lower overnight, with the Nikkei falling nearly 1% and China falling more than a percent. In Europe, though, there has been broad-based strength with the STOXX 600 trading up over 0.6%. On the economic calendar today, the only reports on the calendar are JOLTS and Factory Orders.
Yesterday was an unsurprising start to September, and the silver lining was that the ‘buy the dip’ mentality of investors that we discussed in Friday’s Bespoke Report remained intact. The S&P 500 sold off sharply early in the session, tested those lows right around midday, and then rallied throughout the session to finish right at the highs for the day. From a short-term perspective, the S&P 500 has now made two higher highs and two higher lows, reinforcing the overall upward trend.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are priced to continue yesterday afternoon’s bounce this morning, and the key driver is Alphabet (GOOGL) following last night’s ruling that it would not be required to sell its Chrome browser. In response, the stock is on pace to gap up nearly 6%. If these levels hold through the opening bell, it would be the largest upside non-earnings related gap higher since 2008.
With today’s gain, we also wanted to provide an update on the comparison between GOOGL and Microsoft (MSFT) since the launch of ChatGPT. The overall consensus has been that MSFT’s quick action and investments into OpenAI helped it to win the AI race among the hyperscalers, but the market has a different opinion. While MSFT has nearly doubled since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, at the open today, GOOGL will be up over 121%. While MSFT has won in the court of public opinion, GOOGL has won in the wallet.
The Closer – September Starts, Construction, Baskets – 9/2/25
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Looking for deeper insight into markets? In tonight’s Closer sent to Bespoke Institutional clients, we lead off with a look at the weak start to September in a historical context (page 1). We then dive into the latest construction spending data (page 2) followed by a review of the performance of relevant names in our Picks and Shovels basket (page 3).Next up, we check in on the performance of some other baskets (Page 4) before finishing with a look at today’s PMI readings (page 5).
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Best and Worst Country ETFs Since Trump 2.0
If you missed Bespoke’s Paul Hickey on CNBC this morning, click here to watch the clip.
It has been 225 days since President Trump’s Inauguration on January 20th, and the S&P 500 (SPY) entered today up 8% since the last close before the Inauguration. That ranks 35th out of 45 country stock market ETFs we track closely. With a gain of 20.4%, the average country ETF shown in the table below is up much more than the US (SPY) since Trump 2.0 began. Greece (GREK), Vietnam (VNAM), and Spain (EWP) are up the most at 50%+, while Italy (EWI) has been the best performing G7 country at +35.2%. Speaking of the G7, the US has been the worst market among these seven developed nations since Inauguration Day in January.
In addition to post-Inauguration Day performance, we also show how each country ETF performed since global equity markets made their post-tariff crash lows on April 8th. The US (SPY) has posted much more respectable returns relative to the rest of the world; up 29.9% versus the average of 27.9%. Of the G7, only Italy (EWI) and Canada (EWC) are up more than the US (SPY) since April 8th, while France (EWQ) has lagged the most of this group with a gain of 19.5%.
Along with being the second-best-performing country ETF since Inauguration Day, Vietnam (VNAM) has easily been the best performer since April 8th with a gain of 77.5%. On the flip side, Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the only country ETF that is down over both periods (-10.9% since 1/20, -2.1% since 4/8). Argentina (ARGT) and Indonesia (EIDO) are two others that are now solidly red since 1/20, while India (INDA) is up just 1.6% since 1/20 and 5.7% since 4/8 (second worst).
Bespoke’s Morning Lineup – 9/2/25 – Back to Reality
See what’s driving market performance around the world in today’s Morning Lineup. Bespoke’s Morning Lineup is the best way to start your trading day. Read it now by starting a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium. CLICK HERE to learn more and start your trial.
“I was never part of the crowd.” – Jimmy Connors
Below is a snippet of commentary from today’s Morning Lineup. Start a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium to view the full report.
After four summer months when the S&P 500 gained at least 1.9%, September is starting on a characteristically weak note as futures are pointing to a decline of 0.7% to kick off the month. As detailed in this morning’s commentary, there’s nothing in the way of a major catalyst to speak of besides an uptick in treasury yields around the world. Gold and oil prices are also higher. The only economic reports on the calendar are the ISM Manufacturing for August and July Construction Spending. The ISM report is expected to come in below 50 again but show an uptick from last month’s weaker-than-expected reading of 48.0 to 48.9 this month. Construction spending is expected to show a modest uptick of 0.1% after declining 0.4% in June.
Historically, Labor Day week has been somewhat weak. Since 1945, the S&P 500’s median performance during Labor Day week has been a decline of 0.06% with gains just half of the time. Ironically, last year’s 4.25% decline was the weakest since 1946 and just the third time since 1945 that the index declined 4% or more during the week.
In terms of what that weakness means for the rest of the year, it doesn’t really mean anything. Last year, the S&P 500 rallied 4.13% through year-end after the 4.25% decline. In 2001, it rallied 1.28% for the rest of the year, and in 1946, it fell 8.11%. For all years since 1945, the S&P 500’s median performance from the end of Labor Day week through year-end has been a gain of 3.78% with gains 73% of the time.
One of the bigger individual stock stories this morning is the announcement that Kraft Heinz (KHC) will split itself into two companies in an effort to boost growth. As the graphic below shows, KHC and its peers could use all the help they can get. The snapshot below from our Trend Analyzer shows where KHC and its peer stocks are trading relative to their trading ranges. On a YTD basis, just two of the nine stocks listed are up on the year, and four of them are down by double-digit percentages. KHC isn’t quite down 10%, but it was before Friday’s news of the breakup originally broke. Last week was particularly poor for the group as well, with all nine trading down anywhere between 13% for Hormel (HRL) to a fractional decline for KHC.
If you have a weak stomach, you may want to skip the section below, which shows one-year price charts of the nine stocks listed above. Practically every single one of them has the same pattern – top left to bottom right. These are the types of charts you would expect to see during a bear market rather than after one of the strongest 100-day market rallies in history!
Brunch Reads – 8/31/25
Welcome to Bespoke Brunch Reads — a linkfest of some of our favorite articles over the past week. The links are mostly market-related, but there are some other interesting subjects covered as well. We hope you enjoy the food for thought as a supplement to the research we provide you during the week.
Founding Felons: America’s first bank robbery unfolded in Philadelphia on the night of August 31, 1798, when thieves targeted the Bank of Pennsylvania inside Carpenters’ Hall. By morning, more than $160,000 in cash and notes had vanished, a fortune worth several million dollars today. At first, suspicion fell on the bank’s own directors, since there was no sign of forced entry. The locks themselves had been newly installed, and blame quickly and wrongly landed on the blacksmith who forged them, Patrick Lyon.
Lyon, who had fled the city during a yellow fever outbreak, was arrested upon his return and jailed for months. The truth eventually came out: Isaac Davis, a carpenter who had worked on the building, and Thomas Cunningham, the night watchman, had carried out the crime using stolen keys. Much of the money was later recovered, and Lyon was exonerated, though only after a humiliating ordeal that he later chronicled in a memoir.
Markets & Investing
There Are Now More ETFs in US Than There Are Individual Stocks (Bloomberg)
The number of ETFs in the US has exploded past 4,300, now outnumbering listed stocks for the first time and leaving investors overwhelmed by choice. Issuers are churning out new products at a record clip, often niche or risky strategies like single-stock and leveraged funds, while many near-duplicate strategies fizzle out. The glut has made it harder for individuals to navigate the market on their own, pushing more investors toward professional advice as they struggle to sort the few lasting funds from the many fleeting ones. [Link]
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The Bespoke Report – 8/29/25 – August For the Win
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August has recently been a month where negative surprises have a way of interrupting market rallies. This August that wasn’t the case, although it wasn’t for lack of trying on the part of the market gods. Between the trade issues, the tail end of earnings season where reports tend to get weaker, higher inflation readings, the Fed’s Jackson Hole conference, or this week’s attempted firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook, any of these events could have sparked a volatility fit, but the longer-term history of August calm prevailed, and markets skated through the month with broad based gains, with small-caps leading the way for once. Give it a read!
US ETF Growth Easily Outpaces Market Gains Since 2020
With the recent news that there are now more ETFs than stocks in the US, we wanted to provide an update on the dollar amounts that have flowed into ETFs so far this decade.
Since the end of 2019, exchange-traded products (ETPs) in the U.S. — primarily ETFs — have exploded in size, outpacing even the impressive rise of the S&P 500.
The first chart below highlights just how powerful the trend has been: while the S&P 500’s total return has surged about +120% since the start of 2020, US ETF assets under management (AUM) have climbed an even steeper +177%. That gap shows that ETFs have not just grown alongside the market; they’ve attracted a massive wave of fresh capital from investors seeking low-cost, diversified, and flexible investment vehicles.
The second chart below underscores this growth in dollar terms. According to Bloomberg, U.S. ETF assets have ballooned from around $4 trillion at the start of 2020 to a record $12.3 trillion today. While markets have had their ups and downs over the past five years, the long-term trajectory of ETF adoption has been relentlessly upward. This expansion is being fueled not only by equity gains but also by the sheer volume of new inflows, as investors of all sizes, retail to institutional, continue to shift from mutual funds and other structures into ETFs. Put simply, ETFs are no longer a niche product…they are the market. With their assets now equal to more than half of U.S. GDP, their influence on trading flows, liquidity, and even market structure will only grow. And with ETF growth running far ahead of the broader equity market, this wave of adoption shows no sign of slowing down.
NVIDIA (NVDA) is How Big??
The largest company in the world — NVIDIA (NVDA) — reported quarterly earnings on Wednesday (8/27) after the close, and you can read our review of NVDA’s conference call here if you’re interested.
While NVIDIA (NVDA) has historically averaged a one-day change of nearly +/-8% following earnings, its reaction to this quarter’s report was a decline of less than 1%. As you can see in the chart below, bulls went into NVDA earnings hoping the stock would break out to new highs after a period of sideways action since mid-July. That breakout has yet to materialize, though, and today we’re seeing shares head lower by 2-3% again. For now, new highs for NVDA appear to be on hold.
Below are a few charts that highlight just how gigantic NVIDIA (NVDA) has become. The first stacks NVDA’s market cap against the world’s largest economies. At $4.4 trillion, NVIDIA is now bigger than the entire equity markets of five of the seven G7 countries—Italy, Germany, France, the U.K., and Canada. Japan is the only non-US country in the G7 with a larger market cap. That means one U.S. company, riding the AI wave, is worth more than the combined value of every publicly traded company in several of the world’s most advanced economies.
If you thought comparing NVIDIA to entire countries was wild, our next chart shows just how far ahead it is of some of America’s most iconic companies. With a market cap north of $4 trillion, NVIDIA is worth 6 Walmarts (WMT), 11 Costcos (COST), 20 McDonald’s (MCD), or 25 Citigroups (C). Taking it further, it could swallow 38 Nikes (NKE), 45 Starbucks (SBUX), or 50 Dells (DELL). At the extreme end, NVIDIA’s value equals about 60 UPS (UPS), 78 Chipotles (CMG), 94 Fords (F), 102 Targets (TGT), or 103 eBays (EBAY). Put simply, NVIDIA’s market cap isn’t just massive, it’s in a league of its own, making even household corporate giants look like small caps by comparison.
Our last chart pushes the point even further: NVIDIA’s market cap doesn’t just dwarf corporate icons, it makes many popular consumer brands look minuscule. At today’s size, NVIDIA is worth the same as 119 Hersheys (HSY), 183 Lululemons (LULU), or 244 Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS). It could equal 290 Domino’s (DPZ), 358 Wynn Resorts (WYNN), or 458 New York Times (NYT). Stretch it further, and you get jaw-dropping multiples: 551 Gaps (GAP), 984 Shake Shacks (SHAK), 1,223 Macy’s (M), 2,090 Under Armours (UAA), 3,036 Kohl’s (KSS), or an incredible 3,451 Cracker Barrels (CBRL). When one company is worth thousands of other recognizable brands outright, it underscores just how unprecedented NVIDIA’s dominance has become.
