Power Lunch - 2025 CNBC Stock Draft 4/24/25

Episode Date: April 24, 2025

Thursday marked the 2025 CNBC Stock Draft in which financial professionals, athletes and celebrities are pitted against each other. Each team made two selections from a list of 60 stocks and commodities. CNBC will track the performance of each team’s investments until Feb. 6, 2026. The team with the best average gains will be crowned victorious. Those participating in this year’s competition include chef Bobby Flay, NBA and CNBC Stock Draft Champion Andre Iguodala and comedian Sebastian Maniscalco. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wow. Hello and welcome to one of our favorite days here, CNBC Stock Draft. Your teams have built their strategies. They have done their research. And now the big moment is here. They are all ready to make their selections. And Tim Seymour is here to help us break down the picks. Tim, we look forward to your feedback. Great to be here. You know, they kick me off the playing field up into the booth, which is usually what happens to be. It's a promotion, really. This year's roster includes NBA star Andre Iguodala, comedian Sebastian Manus, Calco, chef Bobby Flay, soccer star Carly Lloyd, reality TV star Austin Kroll, and we'll learn more about those teams as we move through the draft, welcome one and all. But let us begin with a reminder of how this whole thing works. All right, the draft consists of 16th, picking two stocks or three other things over two different rounds.

There are 60 assets on the board. So you have 57 stocks, Kelly. You've also got oil. Not sure I'd do that. Gold. And Bitcoin. So maybe you want big tech, like meta, Apple, or Nvidia, or maybe market volatility has you jittery and you want to play it safe and you want to buy a PNG, whatever they choose, Kelly, the team with the best average appreciation between today and the Friday before the Super Bowl will be crowned. Looking forward to it.

See who wins. Wall Street Bound. Wall Street Bound is on the clock with their first pick. Before we get to that, let's bring in CNBC's version of Mel Kuyper, Tim Seymour. Good to be here. Given all that's happening in the markets, how would you think about, you know, how to make a pick for the next nine? Well, this year's fascinating because coming into this draft, you know, the Mag 7 stocks, which are always at the top of the leaderboard in all the other years I've been involved in this. These are stocks that have seen some of the most volatility.

Based upon how you're supposed to play this game, Brian mentioned this. I think it's you're trying to find the stocks possibly, of course, with the upside volatility, but stocks that maybe have had kind of a tough run going into this, into this line. So whether it's an Nvidia, whether it's some of the biggest companies in the world that have actually oversold more than some of the more conservative names. That's what's fascinating about today. And again, there's a lot of names out there. People have wanted them. Okay. Okay. So I came in.

I said the way you win this game is you've got to play the game as the game is meant to be played, which is you pick the beaten up names. But let me completely reverse my position. Okay. Because if you believe the stock market is going to go down, then maybe you do want a P&G. Something super boring. that will not go down or go down less than others. Or maybe you want your Travis Hunter, which plays offense and defense. I mean, there are those companies out there.

People would argue that that's Apple. People would argue that that's gold. I mean, there's opportunities out there for things that are going to be defensive and offensive in each market. I think that's the key to today. What does it mean? It means it's time to get things started. Let's get it going because we got the first overall pick in the 2025 CNBC stock draft.

And for that, let's bring in some kids who are way smarter than I was that. age. Matthew Nune. Probably smarter than me now. Matthew Nunez and Trang Trin of Wall Street Bound. Wall Street Bound is a nonprofit organization focused on preparing students like those for careers in finance. They're going to swap out their team as we go on. Guys, great to have you. Matthew or Trang, what is your selection? First pick in the draft. Our selection is Vistra, ticker symbol VST. I love the energy. Literally, we're starting with my world, and that is energy. you're not only handsome, but you're a genius.

Thank you. I appreciate it. And we can go right into the stock draft pitch. So we picked Vistra Corp, ticker symbol VST, which is a vertically integrated retail, an electric power generation company with a large market share in Texas. Richer owns a large diversified fleet of power plants, which include gas, coal, solar, and battery, with new investments in nuclear power through two acquisitions in 2023 and 2024. When demand is high and supplies constrained, prices spike, and Vistra profits. But during periods of oversupply, margins compress.

This trend was observed during winter storm early in Texas, where Vistra profited massively from the huge demand for power generation. Over half of Vistria's EBITDA comes from its Texas wholesale market, making it highly exposed to Texas weather, policy shifts, and pricing dynamics. Longer term, demand from data sensors, especially those built by hyperscalers such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft is driving structural power growth in Texas. While short-term leasing slowdowns could soften expectations, Vistra is well positioned to benefit from the buildout of AI-driven infrastructure

that depends on reliable and dispatchable energy. In summary, Vistra is a weather-sensitive policy exposed, but strategically positioned player in a rapidly evolving Texas energy market, offering both risk and compelling upside. And I'd love to pass it on to Trang to go into some financials. I feel like we're on Shark Tank or something. It's impressive. Who's, Tring, was this your pick?

Whose pick was this? Go ahead. Why do you think this makes sense here? I mean, again, this stock is well off the highs, which maybe is exactly the opportunity, but a lot of people would be a little nervous getting in here right now. Yeah, exactly. So speaking of the relative valuation, Vistray is currently trading at the forward P ratio of 18 times compared to another competitor like Constellation, which is trading at 21 times,

even though Vistria has higher operating income margins and, returns on equity. But the reason why we like the name aside from where it is right now is also because of the fundamentals. The EBITDA margin has been growing double digits over the past two quarters and management is competent in the guidance this year for EBITDA. Right. Lady gentlemen, thanks. We'll check back in with your team for the next round. And on the clock, as we analyze their pick, is soccer star Carly Lloyd. Tim, what's your reaction? Really thoughtful pick. And again, this is, you know, sometimes in the case of some of these utilities have exposure to data center, you make the most money when things go from

what seems like terrible to bad. But what Wall Street bound is pointed out, this is a stock that it's not a data center play. It has had a lot of hype around the data center story. It had its deep seek moment. And this was a stock that was near $180 a share at that point. So I like it on the fundamentals. Again, I am of the view that utilities tend to be defensive in this environment. And I think energy overall looks like a pretty good place to be. And that sounds that time. Our next pick is in. Carly Lloyd is ready with the second selection.

Carly, welcome to CNBC. Welcome to the stock draft. Did you work alone? And what's your pick? I did. Sorry, I'm juggling my six-month-old daughter here. It is. Bring your kid to work today, Carly.

She's enjoying this as well. It is. I thought it was very fitting. But a tough act to follow previous to me. But I'm going to go with Airbnb. I'm actually in the hunt for a rental this summer, as I'm going to be working with Fox Sports, doing some TV.

And as we all know, you know, the fires, devastating fires in California have left, you know, a lot of families stranded and homeless, you know, so I feel that Airbnb stock is on the rise. And, you know, I'm going to add to that as well this summer. Yeah, it's an interesting pick too. It's down 25% from the highs over the past year. But, and there's this war that's really been going on, Carly, and you've seen it, I'm sure. sort of the hotels are saying, no, no, no, you don't want to stay at Airbnb. You got to, you got to do your own laundry and you got to clean the pool. And then Airbnb is like,

why would you want to stay in a stinky hotel, right, with somebody else right next door? You want your own place. This is going to be, Carly, I think for you and your clearly growing family, kind of like a not only a stock decision, but like a travel decision going down the road. It is, yeah. I mean, I had the option, you know, while I'll be working out there for a month to stay in a hotel. But for my family, my lifestyle, our daughter, you know, I want to be able to take walks on the beach and go grab a coffee and just be near things. So an extended stay of that length of time. You don't really want to be crammed in and stuck in a hotel. So, yeah, hopefully I find a good pick this summer for me.

I didn't leave the house for five months after having a kid. Here's Carly looking amazing, talking about traveling. Yeah. Walking on the beach, Tim, and stock picking. Well, speaking of long walks in the beach, Tim. Yeah, you and I, Brian, we'll do that. But back to Carly, I mean, Airbnb is a winner like Carly. I mean, the way I see this is this is a company that in a secular change in the travel space,

they continue to take market share. They continue to grow much faster than the competition. You know, the one thing that concerns me are some of the discretionary trends, some of the things in the headwinds we've seen in travel. But if I look at Airbnb, this stock is probably 20% cheap to its five-year PE. In other words, it is cheap relative to itself, and I think it's grown into that valuation. I like the call. Didn't make my power rankings, but I like the call. Okay. You know who else is a winner? You said Carly Lloyd's a winner and she is.

You also winner? Is this next guy? Bobby Flee, chef, celebrity, restaurateur, author, a tour. And I think the winner of four time, four daytime Emmys. Is that right, Bobby? Yeah, that's true. Thank you very much. And cat owner? Yeah, and a regular in the stock draft. We're not going to hold that against. I mean, he's had owner, really? No, you got to, he's notcho has his own Instagram account. Okay. Bobby Flay, you're on the clock. What is your pick, third pick overall in the stock draft? My first pick in the first round is Walmart. Ooh, defensive. Nice call. Is that part of it? Like, are you worried about the economy, Bobby? You see it with all your, with your restaurants. I think that there's, well, there's a couple of things. First of all, I think that there's a lot of uncertainty. We don't know which direction we're going in from minute to minute, not even from day to day anymore. And so, you know, a place like Walmart is trusted.

I think people will need to continue to spend, but I think that they'll be looking for the right prices and trusted places like a place like Walmart. I pay a lot of attention to the retail business. You guys mentioned Nacho. I actually have a CPG company called Made by Nacho, which is actually a cat food company. And so I pay a lot of attention to big box retailers

and specialty retailers, et cetera, across the board. and they seem to have so far weathered the storm this year, and I just think that their upside is going to continue. Can I just say, Bobby, just totally unrelated to the stockstrap? This got a text from a frequent guest on CNBC that just said, and I will know name, says, Bobby Flay is my daughter's celebrity crush. Wow. All right. Let's keep it, let's keep it clean here.

Come on. It is. It is nice. I'm just throwing that out there. Well, look, first of all, very handsome man. I mean, that's what I thought the first time I met him, which was, I think, five or six years ago on this draft. So he's a regular here.

It doesn't surprise me he's coming in with a name like this. It's funny because Walmart, to me, feels a little bit like the SEC. After being dominant, is it slipping a little bit? And I mean dominant in terms of the leaderboard. Walmart was up at one point trading like tech stock last year. It's probably 40, 50 percent expensive to its long-term PE. I just wonder in a world where we think margins are coming down. That's been part of the Walmart story.

I'm not sure I would have picked this one in my top 10. I'll tell you what's interesting about Walmart very quickly. We got Sullivan's got rid of Amazon, went to Walmart plus. You get a discount on gasoline. You get discounts on all kinds of stuff. Same day delivery and a lot of products, and it's name brand stuff. A lot of it not hit by tariffs. I've been thinking about it, but it's kind of far away from us.

I did it. Is there one close to you, though? No, but their delivery. I'm not even going to go to the Walmart. It's my new Amazon. You still wanted to be kind of close. I like going to the gas station. Austin Kroll is up for the fourth pick in the draft now.

He's the star of Bravo's Southern Charm, founder of Tromp Hoppe, Beers and hosts of the Pillow and Beer podcast. Awesome. Welcome. It's great to have you here. And with us, what is your pick? Hey, guys. Thanks for having me. Well, in lieu of Anacott Steel being on the board, I'm going to, I'm going to go with Costco because, yeah, I'm going to go to Costco.

Wow. Similar to Walmart. Was Walmart your first choice? Walmart was, you know, floating around there, but no, I actually was going to go with Costco. So why Costco? Look, guys, I think that anyone that has a commitment to selling $1.50 hot dogs and refuses to raise the prices, they are AOK in my book. And, you know, they're also a fantastic store for bulk purchases.

They're heroes, the rotissory chickens and the rest of it. Austin, did you look at the price to earnings ratio? It's probably better now than it was. a couple months ago. I am now. I am now. By the way, Costco to Austin's point, okay, Costco is a company tucked up there in Isoqua, basically Seattle.

Look at you showing off. Issaqua. What is that? My wife's a product executive. Clearly he did some research. No, my wife's the CPG executive. We talk a lot about Costco in my house. And all this stock has done, put up a 10-year chart of Costco, guys, printed money.

It's not up 100% of year. Yeah, but the stock has printed money, too. So, I mean, a lot of people, millionaires. I like what Austin's doing here. It's kind of like drafting a running back from the Big Ten. You never really can go wrong drafting Costco in this. But if you think about this stock, like Walmart, I mean, it's had an incredible run. Is it the time to step in, even though those $1.50 dogs, I get it.

Obviously, Austin has had a few, and I don't, you know, it's not a judgment. I'm at all. No, but the bottom line here is I think you're trying to find companies that I think have not performed, and I think this one may struggle. Do I want Austin to get a rebuttal? We'll come back to the next round. Don't worry. He's storing up the rebuttal. He can handle that kind of. Blue Horseshoe is getting ready for this one.

Four picks are down in the first round of the stock draft. But don't change the channel because up next is comedian Sebastian Manuscalco. And if that's not enough comedy for you, we've teamed him up with fast money Guy Adami for a little stock advice. I don't write it. That dynamic duo makes its pick right after the break. All right, welcome back to the 2025 CNBC Stock Draft. Four picks have been made right now. Vistra, Airbnb, Walmart, and Costco.

Let's jump back into it with our next pick, and that is a team. Everybody is excited about superstar comedian Sebastian Manus Calcoe, who's joining us during his It Ain't Right tour. But he has a partner who is right sometime. That is Guy Guy Adami. And Sebastian, I got a text from my buddy who runs ahead. He said, he saw you before you were. super famous at Uncle Vinnie's in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, right part up next to Joe Leone's

Italian specialty. So with the Italian trifecta going, who is Mr. Manus Cowko picking with pick number one for you? All right. First, I got to get my hat off to Bobby Flay, totally on brand doing this in front of an oven. Cudos to you play. So I'm super. I love your love. I'm surprised at my counterparts here that this pick is still available at five. Apparently you didn't do your research. I'm going with Nvidia at number five. I can't see how you pass it up. One trillion in market value just in one year faster than any other company.

dominant in the artificial intelligence space. Over 80% of the revenues are coming from the GPU business. And if you don't know, a GPU is, that's graphic processing unit. Nobody says unit like you. Oh, it's so good. GPU. All about the unit. Also, I might add, as a side note, the CEO Jensen is walking around in a black,

leather jacket constantly. I don't know how you can bet against that guy. And the chips will enable driverless cars, which I see be in the future in five to ten years. So that's my pick. Guy and I have been strategizing this for months. Did he try to talk you out of it? That's where we're going. First of all, I'm not talking anybody out of anything. And Sebastian's being extraordinarily humble here. You know what he said to me the other night? He said, watch this. Nvidia is going to fall into my lap at number five. The same way Dwayne Wade fell into the lap of the Miami Heat in 2003. By the way, Sebastian added a date, I believe it's May 14th or 17th in Ontario.

A few folks north of the border, check him out at a casino up there. Then he's doing a little bit of a tour in Las Vegas. So be on top of that as well. Sebastian's the man. He's a genius. Wow. If this comedian stuff doesn't work out, I mean, he could sit on the desk of Fast Money any day. Well, clearly, guy, he could replace you at any time because you guys are separated

at birth. I mean, you're, you know, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're will fail on C. Riley and in stepbrothers for like. Yeah, very different. They're very different. Look, we've got the side by side. Well, yeah, very different hair size. On can I. Very different bills, hair bills. By the way, I'm half Italian too. These guys are doing a good thing for the Italian, well, of course. Just the good half. Well, so let me talk about Sebastian's pick because I, I, I think he nailed it. First of all, sometimes in this sport, you're drafting the best athlete of available. And in Invidia, you're talking about the name that right now is gone from being everybody's darling to a name that's an outcast. It's trading, by the way, you know,

PEs mean something. Sometimes they don't. It didn't mean anything in Invidia on the way up. I don't know what it means here, but it's trading 40 to 50% cheap to its five-year PE, even before we knew what AI was. So I think, again, you're buying stocks that are oversold that have been volatile on the way down. This one, if anything, look at today. Semiconductors are really outperforming the market. I know it's a small snout. shot. But again, guy, your days are numbered on fast money. As they've been for quite some time. And by the way, you mentioned Italian. Sebastian and I are Sicilian. And if you don't think there's a difference, you should go back and do some

history lessons there. Well, that's my better half, too. But we can do this at another time. I do like Sebastian with the driverless car pick, right? You have a few too many to Amendment 21, right next to Uncle Vinnie's and Point Pleasant. No one's driving unsafe. You get in your driverless car and it takes you to where you want to go. The high fives going on at Uncle Vinny's right now are incredible. I know. And by the way, let's get to the final pick now of the first round. Andre Iguodala, our NBA and former stock draft. No, you're not former, your current and you've won the NBA championship and the stock draft. You're founder of VC Mosaic. You rode Tesla to victory. Then, Andre, welcome back. We're so thrilled to have you back.

And especially I know it's a very busy time of year. What is your pick now? Yes, excited to be back and defend my crown. Took a few years off, but my pick will be Netflix. Wow. Record high today. The numbers have been amazing. And Andre, I got a, by the way, also Miami Heat, we're double-dip in the name of Miami Heat player.

Also, Netflix is saying recently that it wants to double its sales, double its revenue in five years, Andre. I mean, even for a guy that is made, that has accomplished all your heady goals, you have to admit that's a heady goal for Netflix to double sales in five years. That's a lot. Well, I think with Netflix, they're the disruptor.

You know, obviously being in Silicon Valley and disruption, being the thesis for all companies that have been built here, you look at sports as the new asset class. And at one point, Netflix said they were never going to live sports. They just did a deal with WWE, you know, that had some tremendous, you know, viewership as well as the Christmas Day for the NFL. And so you saw the numbers that were broken there.

You know, they got the basketball show, you know, the F-O was blowing it out the water, drawn interest there as well. And then you see a lot of companies are trying to figure out what they want to do, you know, from a linear position and how they want to move into streaming, and it hasn't quite worked. for Netflix is prime to pick up those licenses and people are going to come to Netflix

maybe first or second choice in terms of how they get their content and they just figured it out. They have a great leadership team and they just keep the will spinning and keep coming up with innovative ways to bring in new content. So look, I mean, Andre's dead on and really thoughtful analysis here. And Netflix is kind of like Ohio State constantly turning out talent for the NFL. I mean, the content creation story at Netflix has been incredible. I know guys a big fan of adolescence. In fact, stays home at night just to watch that.

But when I think about this draft, picking a stock at all-time highs, I guess I have to question it. I guess I have to question the multiple. Andre's won this game before, and it's hard to challenge a guy that's a world champion in the NBA and also on the All-Star Stock draft. But I think this one's a little pricey. All right. There's the harsh words from Tim Seymour about a stock. that's been, like you said, it's a hero. It's been heroic. It has been heroic. Well, that's it.

The first round of the 2025 CBC stock draft in the books. Fun though, just getting started. So now these teams have got to adjust. They've seen six stocks off the board. They're reevaluating. We're going to be back with the next six picks in the stock draft. Markets are up, sunny outside. Tim's got great hair. We're back right after this. Welcome back to the CNBC's 2025 stock draft. I'm Dominic Chu with your market update. Right now, the major indices are solidly in positive territory. Highs of the day are close, led by the NASDAQ, up by 2.5%.

One of the biggest gainers in the S&P is Hasbro, the toyser surging by 15% on the heels of a better-than-expected earnings report. Hasbro did say it's not updating its full-year guidance, given the uncertainty around tariffs. On the downside, you've got shares of cable, media, and broadband giant Comcast. The CNBC parent company reported better than a new. expected profits and revenues and a 20% gain in Peacock paid streaming customers, but did post a drop in broadband and cable TV subscribers and a drop in parks revenue that was due largely to the impact of the California wildfires. And we'll cap it off with a check on the worst performing stock in the SMP. That's FI-Serve. The software company reported revenues

that fell shy of estimates due in part to slowing demand for its payment processing services. Right now those shares down nearly 18%. Now let's send it back to Kelly and Brian and the CNBC stock draft. Back over to you guys. Thank you very much, Dom. And remember, you can also watch the drive on our exciting new streaming platform, CNBC Plus. Let's turn to Tim Seymour.

Tim, we have six picks in so far from the first round. What's your favorite? Yeah, some predictable stuff. Also, some names off the board. I thought Wall Street bound on Vistra was fascinating. But I've got to go with the twin sons of different mothers here on NVIDIA. I mean, you know, that to me was number eight, my power rankings. I think NVIDIA is fascinating here.

It doesn't mean semis still don't have volatility ahead. But I look at the valuation here, and I think over time, this is going to be the call. It may even be the cycle of this game. It may not even happen until the spring of next year, but I think InVitya will outperform. I will say a viewer on Twitter said this. Costco's strong growth and global expansion reinforced its status as a top retailer, despite a high valuation. It will be a winner.

There's no question it's a winner. Yeah, we want to hear from you too. For the stock draft, you want to win that belt right there? That this belt, I mean, by the way, that looks serious and heavy, and I can't wait to see someone. In fact, it was made in here. They have to wear it, you know, to school or to work or to the gym or something. Or on Southern Charm or wherever it might be. Yeah, I think definitely on Southern Charmys.

And by the way, that belt is not tariffed. The halftime show is over. It is time to start the second half of our CNBC stock draft. Wall Street bound back on the clock, although we should do the snake draft. Okay, they're not. They're second selection. Most people don't know what that means, Brian. It's a snake.

Google it during chat, GPT it during the break. The second selection coming up right after this. Welcome back to the CNBC stock draft. It's time to begin the second round, which brings us back to our Wall Street-bound team. They picked Vistra and Round Run. Tim liked it on the fundamentals. Got some different players representing the team this round, Bryce Simonette and Mohammed Hosein. Welcome to both of you.

And Bryce, what did you choose? Well, good night. Good afternoon and thank you for having us. We drafted Uber technology. Uber is the world's leading mobility and delivery platform. It connect users to drivers, restaurants, and freight carriers. We believe the current valuation underestimates Uber's path to durable profitability and operational leverage.

In 2024, adjust the EBITA grew by 60%, outpacing their 18% revenue growth. Fresh free cash flow is up 105% year per year. And as recently, Uber has authorized a $7 billion in a sheer buyback program. So I would like to pass his on to Muhammad. All right. Thank you. Go ahead. Thank you.

Uber's like the Asselaite model that doesn't require much CAPEX. It could scale with minimal CAPEX. This description program has seen a huge improvement. It has 30 million members, which grew by 60% year over year. It competes with DoorDash on the delivery food platform by it dominates. dominates on the ride-chain platform. That's 76% market share in the US. People are saying autonomous vehicles are often viewed as a threat, but we see them as a tailwind.

Uber is now partnering with Waymo, Aurora, and even Nvidia, which allow them to develop scale globally. Another huge key topic was valuation. Uber is undervalued. Trillion P.E. rations around 16, down 75% from its two-year average of 64. EPS has grown by 5X in 2024, highlighting Uber's a keyer. expanding earnings power. That's a CME-500 tech companies typically trade around 25 to 35 times earnings.

There's clear room for price appreciation. With profitability accelerating, we really think Uber is undervalued significantly. Wow. Well, two things. Number one, Derek Cosworth Shahee, the CEO of Uber should have Mohammed and Bryce, the whole team up and do a Zoom. I'm pitching for you, Mohammed. But the one thing I will say, Tim, about how to play the game.

Remember, this is a contest. It's about how to play the game. Here's what Mohammed and Bryce, and I agree with everything they just said, But Uber's stock is up 14% in the last three months. So because the game starts with the close today. Right. So I will say this, guys, you made a great compelling case. I do wonder if that 14%, you're leaving it on the table because it just happened.

Look, Muhammad, first of all, go Rams, love Fordham. And I think this is a great environment for looking at the fundamentals of the company. You talked about autonomous and you talked about ultimately the platform element of Uber's core business. What I worry about are some of the cyclicality, you know, just around the consumer and ride share, period. And if you think about some of the disruption that's going out there for the economy, I worry how sensitive, how economically sensitive Uber is going to be. Valuation is compelling. They're a leader in their pack. Wouldn't have been my pick here. All right. Soccer star and Olympian, Carly Lloyd, and her six-month-old daughter, it is Bring Your Child to Work Day, by the way. Is dreaming about going to her giant, beautiful Airbnb next month, wherever that may be? But for now, Carly, what is your son?

second pick in the draft? So my second pick is Nike, powerful brand. Do they sponsor Carly Lloyd? Yeah, that might be a little bit of my pick. Just disclose it. Just disclose it. It's all good. It's all that matters. It's all we do. Exactly. So, yeah, look, they've got a new CEO, great leader that he is. And, you know, I think Nike's kind of getting back to the fashion forward. And obviously, they've, you know, are into all different sports and categories. But you look at the ads that they have with athletes. They've got top athletes. Look at the Caitlin Clark effect.

So I really believe that, you know, Nike's going to continue to show why they're one of the best brands in the market. First of all, I love this. call. And this was my number one pick overall. Again, Nike's been so beaten up. It's down on the charts. In the words, if you're playing the game the right way, you're buying a stock that's bombed out. We've priced in recession, the innovation, the tenacity, much again like Carly. I just want to hear Sebastian say right now, just do it. Can we get that from Sebastian? He might not be ready. All right. That's probably not fair. All right. Well, I love the pick. I'm here.

Oh, go, Sebastian. Just do it. Nice. Excellent. Excellent. I wouldn't use that for a sports campaign, but for everything else I might use that. You know, it's worked out okay for them for like the last 30 years until the last couple. But Tim, to your point, this is now a stock.

In the women's franchise is one of the reasons why people are saying, don't sleep on it. They've had a lot of problems. Again, I love the call. Ilya Hill, the dynamic here of where they are and where the perception is of their business. great call. All right. Let's get on to Bobby's bowls. Bobby Flee, it is your pick once again,

playing a little defense with Walmart in the first round. What is your pick for the second round? So my pick for the second round is Warner Brothers Discovery. I will have to disclose that Food Network is part of that brand, of course. But I pay very, very close attention to this stock. And it's trading at about eight and a half bucks right. now. It's up 2% today or something like that. But this stock has been under pressure since the merger. And one of the smartest people in the business, David Zazlov. And so I just feel like when

this stock gets a little momentum, it's going to really be driven up. I mean, I think that this, the draft ends, the time period ends around the Super Bowl. Isn't that right? That's right. So I think it's going to be about $15 or $16 by the time Super Bowl weekend rolls around and that that will put it at about a 90% move. So you're kind of betting, Bobby, it's Brian. You're kind of betting on yourself, right? Food Network, I get it. Listen, we're all rooting David, by the way, Zazlov, a former CNBC executive.

We're betting on streaming. We're betting on media to win. We all wanted to win. I think, Bobby, that this is like your world. Let's call it. It's a restaurant that has amazing food, great team, great staff, but cost so much to open that there's a worry with the debt. levels that it can't get under.

I think debt, right? Would you agree, Bobby, is what's kind of been holding this company back? Well, the debt is the thing that has put pressure on it since the first day of the merger. But, you know, these things don't work themselves out overnight. These guys knew how much debt they were taking on. And obviously, it's a process that takes time. And I think we're getting to the point where because of the diversity of this, of the brands, I mean, it's CNN, it's, you know, it's Max.

It's obviously Food Network, HGTV. like that. I think, you know, I mean, I listen to Netflix get picked and I get it, but I think from a diversity standpoint in terms of like all the different programmings, the movies, all the different businesses that they're in, I just feel like at some point the pressure is going to come off. And all this stock needs is a tiny bit of momentum. And I think you'll see some serious upside. Well, I mean, first of all, he's playing the game the right way. If you look at a stock that's also been pretty bombed out. And granted, media's had a pretty good run this year. And some of the parts, I actually kind of like the call. I can't see,

Bobby without now seeing the ovens behind him. I mean, you know, we really... By the way, fun fact, I got my... I was on a game show by first time I was ever on TV, Food Network game show called Ready Set Cook in 1990s. You were the cook or you were the ones? Yeah, I was like the guest. I won. What'd you cook? It was me and Dom Deloise and I won. We won like I made this... You're in Dom Deloese? I'm not choking. I'm not joking. I'm not sure... I love Bobby's pick. I'm not joking. I'm sure you're not.

We can talk about Cobra. Anyway, let's keep moving. We have three more picks to go. We're going to squeeze in a quick break here. That gives the Southern Charmers a little more time on the clock. Austin's pick is next, and we're back right after that. Welcome back. Markets are up. We're doing the CNBC stock draft.

Austin Crowell, one of the stars of Southern Charm, shows Costco in the first round. Apparently bullish on the $1.50 cent hot dogs. Tim, bullish on the dogs, not bullish on the dogs. You can walk around Costco and never have to buy food again. You can just walk around there and eat. I mean, it's a great place to get. So five pound jugs of mustard aside. Austin Kroll, what is your second pick?

Listen, guys, I know it might not be the best economy for it at the moment, but I'm going Delta. Wow. No apology needed there, Austin. No, but super exposed to the consumer, Austin. Both air travel and- It's down 30%. Why the pick? Okay, listen, first and foremost, I am adult.

loyalist, and I'm hoping that they notice me on here. Second off, I have to travel, you know, all the time, as I'm sure that a bunch of my counterparts get to travel private. I have to still fly commercial, as everyone that I know does as well. And Delta is my pick. Austin just got upgraded forever, first of all. Delta is not only attractive, but they have the most comfortable seats. And Bobby plays ovens. He's getting free hot dogs, and he's getting at least premium economy at this point forever. I love this pick, and I love it because Delta is one of the great trading stocks. Airlines are the great trading stocks in this market.

Delta was probably cut in half until about a week and a half ago. It's still probably down 40%. By the way, Delta, in a sector, they are the best player at their position. If you're going to own an airline, you want to own Delta. You had American today pulling all guidance. I mean, it's a difficult time for the airlines, but if one airline's going to win, it's Delta. Tim loves it. All right.

Let's move to Sebastian Manascalco. He and Guy Adami are up for their next pick. Remember, before we get their name revealed, go get Sebastian's tour dates on SebastianLive.com. He's been so kind as to come and participate in this. They chose Invidia in their first round. Do you like Sebastian has any problem selling tickets by the? Do you don't want to kill to be as successful as he is? Anyway, they chose Nvidia.

He loves Jensen's leather jacket. Sebastian, what is your pick for the second round? Kudos out to Bobby Flay here. Just want to talk to him for just one second. I like that he picked Discovery. They are getting rid of debt. Max started with me by canceling my show, Bookie. So that's alleviating some of the debt over at Brothers.

I'm making a plea to Netflix to hopefully maybe pick up. Booky, maybe we move it over there. But Bobby, they are getting rid of debt and fast. I am going with Amazon. Again, can't believe this is sitting here available. But I look at the founder, Bezos. If this guy ain't worried, I ain't worried. He's buying yachts.

He's sending people up into space. Seems to be kind of a carefree guy. He doesn't seem to be worried that Amazon is going to be losing any money anytime soon. It's an attractive price. It's down 30% from its 52-week high. Could achieve almost a trillion in revenue by the end of the decade. And it's a brand that consumers trust, even in economic weakness.

So I like Amazon here at number five on the second round. I'd like to hear the thoughts coming out of the brain trust over there at CNBC. Well, there's no brain trust here, but you know, I know Kelly Evans knows this. In 1974, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected four Future Hall of Famers, and then they picked up Donny Shell as a free agent. Sebastian Manascalco, 51 years later, has done exactly the same. thing, picking up Nvidia in the first round at number five and Amazon at number 11. Just a brilliant pick. And everybody else respectfully love all the other contestants. But, I mean, this competition

is over before it even started. Sounds like the Jets. A guy, Dommy literally just sounds like the old they got Aaron Rogers. How can they ever lose again? Look, I like how he threw down. And first of all, bring it on. I want to see a little bit of a dust up amongst all of our contestants here. but I love the pick. That was my number three power rankings. It's way cheap to all day. I have power rankings, Brian. That's what I do.

The show is called power. I'm a powerful guy. I have power rankings. And I look at where it sits. We heard from them this morning, even saying that they're not seeing any fall off in data center, investment, et cetera. I like Amazon.

Andre Goddala. Andre, I got to say this. I think we should have done more of the snake. I'm going to say it again. I kind of like that idea. Now that I know what is. First off, do you agree with that, Andre? If we do it next year,

it's got to where you get this. where you get like the sixth and seventh pick instead of going back. So I assumed that I was going to get the first pick at the second round. Ooh. That's a big draft. That's how most drafts. But it's cold. I feel like maybe, maybe, got the peanut gallery in my ear being like, not the NFL, the NBA draft.

But those are based on how bad teams are, guys. All right. So you pick Netflix as your first pick. Draft style aside, Andre. What is your second pick? Well, I had to go with the sentiments from my first draft, and I'm going a little bit safer with steady bets being that in the environment that we're in now. The market is very volatile. And so I'm going with a super safe pick.

I'm going with the Berkshire Hathaway, the B shares. Wow. Wow. And by the way, their annual meeting is next weekend. I know Becky Quick and Mike Santoli from CNBC. You guys are plugging your stuff. We're plugging our stuff. the Berkshire Outwey annual meeting is next week.

Andre, is this a sign that you pick Netflix, which some people would actually say is a recession stock. Stay home, watch shows. Well, we are, it has been speculated. Are we headed into a recession? You know, a lot of sentiments around the 1930s and what happened there with the markets and are we seeing some similarities with the action of, you know,

the last few months here in the country, you know, with the tariffs, a lot of conversations going there. And when you look at Warren Buffett, he's always talking about he invest in companies with a competitive advantage, you know, strong fundamentals and long-term potential of growth. So you never know what part of the year the stocks are going to switch it up. And I know we're looking at January, early February with the end of the draft. And so I feel like the markets are warned does a great job of maneuvering around. you know, the volatility of the markets.

Yeah. Clearly, Andre's feeling embarrassed. I mean, this is a case where... Why is everyone so down on? I don't know. I'm not down with Bercher. And in fact, I'm really up with Warren. All we did for three months before I pulled back in markets

just talk about how much cash he had, he looks fantastic here. It was totally smart. The problem with this pick relative to this game is I think often you look back two years later and say Warren bought at the absolute right time. And I'm not sure when that is. He still cashed up. I love the pick. Playing defense, by the way, Andre, as you know,

and I don't need to tell you, you've won this thing. Maybe exactly what you're supposed to be doing here. Well, Berkshire, I feel like Berkshire is almost Costco-esque and that it just kind of keeps going on. Yeah, but again, it's making a call on markets here. Well, let's quickly do. We got to go. We got everybody in the box behind us here, all six picks here.

Bryce, you're on the board. Let's just raise your hand if you think the stock market will end the year higher than it is now, higher than it is now. 50-50. Look at that. Three of the six. Wall Street bound, Sebastian and Bobby Flai, the rest a little more negative. Brian, you break the tie here.

Nobody cares what I think. Well, you've certainly not even Dom Deloise. Not even Dom Deloese. Anyway, all the picks are in pretty much all. The battle for the belt starts now. Up next we'll recap them and bring back one of our contestants to chat. The stock draft is back in just a moment. Welcome back.

All the picks for the stock draft are now in. Tim Seymour is still with us alongside Guy. Dami, who we've brought in studio for some more reaction and analysis here. Before we jump into that, though, you guys do have a big event coming up, and so do tell. Fast Money Live on June 5th. I mean, this is the QR code is going to be up on your screen. This is up and close and personal with us. By the way, you could be drinking out of this fast money sniffter a single mall.

Is that a single mall? Something. I guess it's a rock's glass. Do you get that just for showing up? I should know better. Do you guys wash it? We watch. Look, bottom line is this is a chance for us to all get together.

Really, volatile markets means it's a chance to sit around, not only tell some jokes here who your favorite top 10 bands are. He thinks he's funny, Brian. You know, he makes the cracks about wash. Yes, they will be washed. We'll be there. I mean, you're free to come. We'd love to have Kelly Evans.

I'll tolerate you. I'll buy a ticket. How's that? No need to, Kelly. You're always in a good. Dad and I will come in the office. We had an incredible audience in February. We're looking forward to June.

Somebody's coming from, believe it or not, Australia. Well, you. Wow. Taking the shrimp off the bobby coming out. Now, again, there's something called an airplane. It's possible these days. You know what? The jealousy is just dripping from you right now.

Okay, you know what? Everyone's jealous of apparently Sebastian's portfolio, NVIDIA and Amazon. Did a great job. He said to me, watch what's going to happen. He said, Nvidia's going to drop to me. It did. Then Amazon at 11. Good for Sebastian.

As I said, Sicilian stick together. He's going to win the whole thing. Did you tell him to pick these socks? No, no, no. we had a series of conversations we worked through this. Well, it's obvious. Good for you guys. I happen to say this is the year where I would never have been picking Mag 7 coming into this.

This was the year to do it. Wall Street bound, though, that Vistra pick alone is reason to sit at this table. You will be sitting at this table in the near future. Congratulations to these up-and-commerce. Great job today. Who else do you guys think has a good portfolio, the first and second? Well, the way I look at it, I mean, Bobby Flee is picking his, I get what he's doing there. He's obviously answering to a much higher level.

But Carly Lloyd, Nike has been a horrible stock, and you're trying to find things that will rally in the back half of the year. So Airbnb and Nike to me, that's some serious competition. He's in Syracusa Adami, okay? You're talking about Bobby Flay talking his book. Carly Lloyd, literally Nike and Airbnb. She's staying in an Airbnb. For her.

Yes. She's one of the most famous soccer players in World District picking Nike. Maybe I'm kissing up the Carly Lloyd. I mean, is that a bad thing? There's nothing wrong with that. And by the way, Nike's the right call. I mean, the reason why we're complimenting is it's the right pick for this draft, given where and what one is supposed to be doing.

Some names that didn't make it, though. I was just going to ask. I'm shocked that gold and Bitcoin didn't make it just because of what's been going on, and they seem to, they could have been interchangeable. The rallying gold has been 50%, so maybe you're right to not pick it, although we've picked stocks today that have also rallied for you to 50% in the last six months. So surprising. How about you guys?

Bloom is off the rose, clearly. Why are you flinching? What are you scared of? I mean, is it the energy that Tim and I bring to the set? I am shocked that Apple in 2025, Apple used to be everybody's All-American. You remember the movie with Jessica Lank. Love the movie.

Can we get a quick final comment from Sebastian? Well, why not? bring them in. It's your show. So, Sebastian, I know we've complimented the portfolio. Anything that you think back, maybe I wish I had picked gold or Bitcoin or something else. Anyone you want to trade with?

Listen, I think Chipotle is a sleeper. Down 30% from the 52-week high. It's got goal of the 7,000 restaurants versus the 3,700 they have right now. And I'm looking for a possible being the spokesman for the company. So what do you say? You seem like a natural. Austin, quick last comment. You want Chipotle or anything else?

I'm actually pretty pleased. I probably could have done a little better, but I mean, gold had crossed my mind, but I decided to steer clear. Thank you all so much for being here today. Good luck to everybody. Tim and Guy, huge appreciation. Thank you so much fun.

You can follow along all year at CNBC.com slash stock draft.