Benzinga Bulls And Bears: Tesla, Netflix, MicroStrategy — And Shiba Inu Strives To Outpace Dogecoin In Crypto

Benzinga examined the prospects for many investors’ favorite stocks over the last week — here’s a look at some of our top stories.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 ended a five-day losing streak on Friday, but the week closed with the S&P down 0.48%, the Dow losing 0.60%, and the Nasdaq dropping 0.51%.

Rising Treasury yields, including a 30-year high of 4.8%, raised borrowing cost concerns and drove record December outflows from the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT, as markets carried weak momentum into the new year.

Meanwhile, the U.S. manufacturing sector showed signs of stabilization in December, with the ISM Manufacturing PMI climbing to 49.3%, its highest since April 2024, though still marking the ninth consecutive month of contraction.

Benzinga provides daily reports on the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week’s most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.

The Bulls

“Netflix Posts Record Debut With ‘Squid Game’ Season 2: Here’s How Many People Watched Show,” by Chris Katje, highlights Netflix Inc. NFLX achieving 68 million views for “Squid Game” Season 2 in its first week, setting a company record, alongside NFL Christmas Day games driving additional subscriber engagement.

“Shytoshi Kusama Clears The Air On Shiba Inu Role, Memecoin Rivalry: ‘Our Drive Was To Overtake Dogecoin’,” by Aniket Verma, features Shytoshi Kusama clarifying that Shiba Inu SHIB/USD was founded by Ryoshi, not him, and sharing the project's early vision to surpass Dogecoin DOGE/USD.

“Bill Ackman Sends Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Stocks Soaring: ‘Trump Likes Big Deals’,” by Erica Kollmann, discusses Bill Ackman's bullish view on Fannie Mae FNMA and Freddie Mac FMCC stocks, citing their potential for large gains as conservatorship could end under Donald Trump's administration, with Ackman highlighting asymmetric upside for investors.

For additional bullish calls of the past week, check out the following:

Benzinga’s ‘Stock Whisper’ Index: 5 Stocks Investors Secretly Monitor But Don’t Talk About Yet

Natural Gas Prices Surge As Arctic Blast Freezes US: 3 Stocks On The Move

Goldman Sachs Adds 3 Stocks To ‘Conviction List,’ Flags 5 Market Trends To Monitor In 2025

The Bears

“Tesla’s First Sales Drop Splits Wall Street: ‘2025 Will Be The Prove It Year’,” by Chris Katje, highlights Tesla Inc. TSLA facing mixed analyst reactions after missing Q4 delivery estimates, with Wedbush's Daniel Ives forecasting a 20%-30% growth rebound in 2025, while Ross Gerber criticized reliance on discounts to boost sales.

“Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli Predicts Liquidation Doom For MicroStrategy Amid Fall Below $300, Says Bitcoin Will Hit $250K Without Michael Saylor,” by Aniket Verma, features Martin Shkreli's warning of potential liquidation for MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR as its stock fell below $300, predicting Bitcoin BTC/USD could hit $250,000 without the influence of its co-founder Michael Saylor.

“Boeing Engineers Leave Struggling Planemaker For Space Companies: Report,” by Anan Ashraf, highlights talent migration from Boeing Co. BA to firms like SpaceX and Blue Origin as engineer tenures drop, potentially delaying new aircraft development, though Boeing says its voluntary attrition rate remains low with competitive pay and benefits.

For more bearish takes, be sure to see these posts:

Apple iPhones Lose Ground In China As Subsidies Boost Huawei, Domestic Rivals

JetBlue Fined $2 Million For ‘Chronic Flight Delays’: Delta, United Rank Among Most On-Time Airlines

Paul Tudor Jones Correctly Predicted The 1987 Stock Market Crash: Here’s What The Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager Says Is Coming Next

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.