ServiceNow's $30B subscription target and Netflix's $25B buyback expansion anchored high-conviction picks on CNBC, with Apple-Intel chip talks and Exxon's cash flow also in focus.
A cluster of high-conviction names hit the desk during CNBC's "Halftime Report Final Trades" segment, with picks spanning energy, enterprise software, consumer hardware, and streaming. Each selection carried a specific catalyst that reshapes the near-term investment case.
Jim Lebenthal of Cerity Partners pointed to Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM), arguing the integrated oil major continues to generate cash while energy prices remain high. The call landed just after Exxon reported first-quarter results on May 1 that beat expectations. Adjusted earnings reached $4.9 billion, or $1.16 per share. Earnings excluding identified items and estimated timing effects were $8.8 billion, or $2.09 per share.
The simple read is that high crude prices equal strong earnings. The better market read focuses on the durability of free cash flow when the commodity cycle is not uniformly bullish. Exxon's ability to print cash at these levels, even as refining margins compress in some regions, suggests the capital-return engine–buybacks and dividends–remains well-funded. The trade works while Brent does not break below the marginal cost of supply that resets the entire sector's payout math.
Jason Snipe of Odyssey Capital Advisors named ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW). The catalyst is a fresh long-term roadmap: the company outlined a path to more than $30 billion in annual subscription revenue by 2030. That implies a climb from an estimated $15.7 billion in 2026, translating to roughly 20% annual growth over the final four years of the decade.
A naive extrapolation treats the 20% CAGR as a given. The better framework asks whether the enterprise automation pipeline can sustain that slope as AI copilots and agentic workflows shift the IT spending mix. ServiceNow's seat at the workflow layer gives it a claim on budgets that might otherwise flow to point solutions. The 2030 target is a valuation anchor: if the market believes the trajectory, the current multiple compresses quickly against future earnings power. If execution slips, the stock's premium to enterprise SaaS peers becomes the debate.
Joseph Terranova of Virtus Investment Partners stayed long Apple Inc. (AAPL). The fresh news peg is a preliminary agreement for Intel Corp. (INTC) to manufacture some Apple-designed chips. The arrangement, while early-stage, adds a second-source narrative to Apple's silicon strategy at a time when TSMC's dominance is a geopolitical risk factor.
Apple's AAPL stock page shows an Alpha Score of 69/100, labeled Moderate, with the stock at $294.80, up 0.72% on the day. The score reflects a mix of strong cash-flow durability and the persistent question of whether services growth can offset hardware cyclicality. The Intel deal does not change near-term margins. It does alter the optionality around supply-chain resilience. For a stock that often trades on ecosystem lock-in, a second foundry partner is a structural positive that the market has not fully priced.
Joshua Brown of Ritholtz Wealth Management picked Netflix, Inc. (NFLX). On April 23, the streaming giant expanded its stock buyback plan, approving a fresh $25 billion repurchase authorization on top of an earlier program announced in December 2024. The filing also reinforced the growth outlook.
Netflix's NFLX stock page carries an Alpha Score of 50/100, labeled Mixed. The buyback expansion is a signal that management sees the free-cash-flow inflection as sustainable, not a one-off driven by strike-related content pauses. The market's job now is to separate the buyback tailwind from the underlying subscriber and pricing momentum. A $25 billion authorization is large enough to absorb a meaningful portion of the float over several years, provided operating cash flow does not disappoint.
The common thread across these picks is a bet on cash-flow visibility: Exxon's commodity-linked payout capacity, ServiceNow's subscription runway, Apple's supply-chain optionality, and Netflix's buyback firepower. The next concrete marker for the group arrives with any macro data that resets energy demand assumptions or with ServiceNow's next quarterly print, which will test whether the 20% growth narrative is accelerating or merely holding.
Drafted by the AlphaScala research model and grounded in primary market data – live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.