Brad Thomas

Tomorrow on The Wide Moat Show, we’re highlighting 6 beaten-down stocks trading at or near their 52-week lows. One name identified by Wide Moat Intelligence: $PLNT 🏋️ 13.3× earnings 📉 Historical average: 39.4× 📈 2027 growth estimate: 13% 📈 2028 growth estimate: 15% As I explain on the show, $PLNT doesn’t need to return to its historical valuation. Even a recovery to a more conservative 28× multiple could potentially produce a 100% total return. Is this a broken business or a temporarily broken stock?

7% mortgages sound scary. But perspective matters. In 1990, the average 30-year mortgage rate was about 10.1%. The difference today? Home prices are much higher relative to incomes, while millions of homeowners remain locked into ultra-low mortgage rates. The real housing equation isn’t simply rates. 7% mortgage + high home prices + low affordability + the lock-in effect. Higher rates create headwinds. Affordability determines who can actually buy. That’s the housing market’s real test.

🚨 FLIGHT TO QUALITY The U.S. Treasury just announced it will buy back up to $6 BILLION of longer-dated Treasuries. Yet the 10-year yield moved HIGHER to around 4.85%. Now is the time to SWAN — Sleep Well At Night. In an environment of higher rates, expensive capital and growing uncertainty, I’m not reaching for yield. I’m buying QUALITY. Companies with: • Strong balance sheets • Well-laddered debt maturities • Durable free cash flow • Pricing power • Reliable dividends • Proven management teams Higher rates expose weak balance sheets. But they can also create opportunities for financially strong companies to take market share while weaker competitors struggle to refinance. This is a FLIGHT TO QUALITY. Own the best. Avoid sucker yields. Stay diversified. And above all: Protect principal at all costs.

Successful investing is about managing risk, not avoiding it.