Celsius Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: CELH) rallied as much as 10% on Monday after a Truist analyst said the company’s focus on women as a target market could unlock significant upside in its share price.

In a research note, the investment firm upgraded CELH this morning to “buy”.

Its analyst Bill Chappell upwardly revised his price target on Celsius stock today to $45 that indicates potential upside of another 25% from current levels, which is exciting given it has already more than doubled since mid-February.

Chappell is bullish on CELH’s Alani acquisition

Truist continues to see significant further upside in Celsius shares particularly because the Nasdaq listed firm announced plans of acquiring Alani Nu brand for $1.65 billion last month.

Alani had been cutting into Celsius sales that have declined about 6% in recent months.

But that overhang will effectively be removed from CELH once it completes its cash and stock agreement with Alani, its analyst Bill Chappell told investors in a note today.

Together, Celsius and Alani currently own about 16% of the US energy drinks space.

However, their combined share sits at a much higher, close to 50%, in the women segment of that market.  

Note that Celsius stock does not currently pay a dividend, though.

Celsius to expand its footprint in women segment

Chappell expects the Alani acquisition to help Celsius dominate the women segment of the US energy drinks market.

This could prove lucrative for CELH as women are increasingly accounting for a bigger chunk of that category’s sales.

At writing, they drive less than 30% of the energy drink sales globally.

However, the Truist analyst is convinced that women will generate a well over 100% growth in that market in the future.

Meanwhile, rivals like Red Bull and Monster Beverage “have been built to focus on male consumers”, leaving this whole, fast-growing segment entirely for Celsius to own, Chappell added.

Should you buy Celsius stock today?

Celsius stock is now trading at a year-to-date high but Truist continues to recommend loading up on it for the strength of the company’s financials as well.

In February, the energy drinks giant reported 14 cents a share of earnings on a record revenue of about $332 million for its fiscal Q4.

Analysts, in comparison, were at 11 cents per share and $326 million, respectively.

At the time, Jarrod Langhans, CELH’s chief of finance told investors:

We’re pleased that our strategic initiatives are driving long-term share gains and strong retail sales growth.

We believe our capital allocation strategy is fully aligned with our vision to be a high-growth leader and deliver the greatest value to our consumers and shareholders.

The rest of the Wall Street also recommends buying Celsius stock with the mean target of $40 indicating about a 10% upside from here.

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Shell plc has successfully finalised the sale of its Singapore refinery and associated refining assets to a joint venture formed by Chandra Asri and Glencore, according to a Reuters report. 

This transaction marks a significant shift in ownership for the refinery and its assets.

Acquisition and transition of refinery ownership

In addition to the announcement by Shell, trade sources have revealed that the new owners of the refinery have already commenced operations, actively purchasing feedstock required for refining processes. 

This indicates a seamless transition of ownership and a commitment to maintaining the refinery’s operations under the new joint venture.

In 2022, Shell, the multinational oil and gas company, finalised the sale of its Bukom and Jurong Island facility in Singapore to a joint venture. 

The facility, which had been operational since 1961, was a significant asset in Shell’s portfolio. 

The majority stakeholder in the joint venture that acquired the facility was Chandra Asri, an Indonesian-based petrochemicals company. 

This acquisition significantly bolstered Chandra Asri’s position in the Southeast Asian petrochemicals market, making it one of the region’s largest players. 

The deal marked a strategic move for both Shell and Chandra Asri, with Shell divesting from the asset and Chandra Asri expanding its operational footprint and market share.

The financial specifics of the agreement between Shell and Chandra Asri-Glencore joint venture, which was originally expected to be finalised by the end of 2024, have not been made public.

Shell has announced that its employees at the site will transition to the new venture, Aster Chemicals and Energy Pte Ltd. 

This move ensures continuity of operations and expertise at the site, under the new ownership.

Strategic moves by Chandra Asri

Following the recent acquisition and change in ownership, office-based employees have been relocated to a new office space. 

Chandra Asri, taking over the responsibility of Aster’s petrochemicals feedstock procurement, has proactively secured multiple open-spec naphtha purchases.

These purchases, intended for arrival in Singapore, are scheduled to commence in March. 

This strategic move by Chandra Asri highlights their commitment to ensuring a consistent and reliable supply of feedstock for their petrochemical operations. 

The company’s decision to purchase open-spec naphtha allows for flexibility in sourcing and potentially offers cost advantages. 

By securing these purchases in advance, Chandra Asri demonstrates foresight and effective planning in managing their supply chain.

The Shell Jurong Island chemicals site, a major player in the petrochemical industry, significantly bolstered its naphtha imports in 2023 and 2024. 

According to shiptracking data provided by Kpler, the facility imported approximately 1.5 million tons of naphtha annually during those years. 

This is a significant increase in the site’s feedstock requirements, potentially driven by expanded production capacities, new downstream projects, or shifts in the regional supply-demand dynamics for petrochemicals.

Glencore’s crude procurement

In the meantime, Glencore, the Swiss commodity trading and mining company, has been actively securing crude oil supplies. 

The company has made multiple purchases of crude oil scheduled to arrive in Singapore during May and June. 

Sources familiar with the transactions have revealed to Reuters that the oil originates from various regions, including Canada and Kazakhstan, indicating Glencore’s diversified sourcing strategy.

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The Dow Jones Index crashed by almost 7% from its highest level this year as concerns about the US economy continued. The main concerns were the potential artificial intelligence (AI) bubble and Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs. This article looks at some of the top laggards Dow Jones stocks in Q1 and what to expect.

Top Dow Jones laggards have one thing in common

The Dow Jones Index is highly diversified and made up of firms from across all industries. Most of these firms are in the financials, followed by healthcare, consumer discretionary, and information technology. 

A closer look at the top laggards in the Dow Jones index this year shows that they are all in one industry: technology. And these companies illustrate that the fears of the AI bubble bursting is the biggest reason why US equities have plunged. These fears have been more than the ongoing concerns about Trump’s tariffs. 

The top laggards in the Dow Jones are stocks like NVIDIA, Salesforce, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple. 

NVIDIA (NVDA)

NVIDIA stock price has crashed by over 20% this year, leading to a $1 trillion wipeout as the market cap fell from over $3.68 trillion to $2.64 trillion. This performance happened amid concerns that its business was slowing down. 

The most recent results showed that its business did well in the year’s fourth quarter. Its revenue rose by 78% to $39.3 billion, with its data center growing by 16% to $35.6 billion. 

Its guidance was that its Q1 revenue would jump to $43 billion, representing a 66% annual growth rate. Analysts then expect that its second-quarter revenue will be $47.8 billion, a 59% annual growth. While these are all solid numbers, they signal that its business is slowing. 

Salesforce (CRM)

Salesforce is the second top laggard in the Dow Jones after NVIDIA. CRM stock has crashed by over 20% this year. The main reason for this slowdown is that Salesforce is no longer the growth company it was a few years ago. 

Its AI initiatives, including Agentforce, have not helped it to supercharge its growth. Analysts anticipate that its first-quarter revenue growth will be 6.73% to $9.75 billion. Its annual revenue is expected to be $40.8 billion, a 7.8% annual growth.

Amazon (AMZN)

Amazon stock has moved into a bear market after falling by over 20% from its highest level this year. This drop makes it the third-biggest laggard in the Dow Jones Index in 2025.

Amazon shares have slipped because of its large investments in the AI industry, a sector that analysts believe is slowing down. It will be the biggest casualty if this sector slows or the bubble bursts because of its large investments. 

For example, Amazon is one of the top investors in Anthropic, a top VC-funded company in the USA. It has also spent billions expanding its data centers, hoping that the demand will keep rising. 

The same reason explains why Microsoft stock dropped by over 18% this year.

Apple (AAPL)

Apple, another top Dow Jones Index laggards, has dropped for the different reasons why the other top names have fallen. Its crash is because investors believe that the company is lagging behind in its AI game. 

Apple has attempted to reboot its AI business by launching Apple Intelligence, a solution meant to complement Siri. It has also partnered with OpenAI to power this solution. However, this solution still remains much behind other AI solutions. 

There are also concerns that Apple’s growth has slowed this year as iPhone sales move in the opposite direction. The average estimate is that Apple’s annual revenue will grow by just 4.60% this year to $409 billion. 

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BYD posted a strong start to 2025, with first-quarter sales surging 58% year-on-year to 986,098 passenger vehicles.

In March alone, BYD delivered 371,419 passenger cars, including 166,109 battery EVs and 205,310 plug-in hybrids.

The company set a new record for overseas sales in March, delivering 72,723 vehicles, a YoY increase of 89.22%.

The Shenzhen-based company, which ceased production of combustion engine vehicles in 2022, continues to innovate, recently rolling out advanced smart driving technology at no extra cost and unveiling an ultra-fast charging system capable of adding 400 kilometers of range in just five minutes.

BYD’s edge over Tesla

Investor confidence in BYD remains strong, with the stock up around 45% this year, in stark contrast to its biggest rival, Tesla’s 36% decline.

This comes as BYD has been steering ahead of Tesla in sales performance.

BYD reported $107 billion in sales for 2024, marking a 29% increase from the previous year, with total deliveries reaching 4.27 million vehicles, including hybrids.

In comparison, Tesla posted $97.7 billion in revenue for the year, delivering 1.79 million battery-powered vehicles. Notably, Tesla’s annual deliveries declined by 1.1%—its first year-over-year drop.

Unlike Tesla, which positions itself as a premium brand, BYD has built its dominance through affordability.

Its entry-level model starts at just over $10,000 in China, significantly lower than Tesla’s least expensive Model 3, which is priced at more than $32,000.

BYD’s 2025 goals

BYD is targeting 5.5 million vehicle sales in 2025, with plans to more than double overseas shipments to 800,000 units.

The company sees substantial growth potential in Britain, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, where demand for affordable EVs is on the rise.

Chairman Wang Chuanfu indicated that BYD will navigate tariff challenges by localizing assembly operations while maintaining reliance on China for key components.

The company currently does not sell passenger cars in the US due to high tariffs and restrictions on smart driving EV technology.

Britain presents a particularly attractive opportunity, with Wang describing the market as “very open” to competitive Chinese products.

Latin America and Southeast Asia are also expected to contribute meaningfully to BYD’s international sales expansion.

Analysts on BYD stock

Last week, several analysts shared their bullish outlook on the EV giant.

Bernstein analysts reaffirmed their “outperform” rating on BYD shares, maintaining a price target of HK$460.00.

Following its full-year 2024 earnings release, Bernstein highlighted the company’s growth trajectory, particularly its expansion in overseas markets.

Jefferies analyst Johnson Wan raised BYD’s price target to HK$447.00 from HK$426.00 while reiterating a “buy” rating.

The revision follows the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report, which showed revenue growth of 37% year-over-year to RMB275 billion and a 29% rise in net profit to RMB15 billion.

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Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ: LCID) is seeing a sharp increase in orders as “negative feelings about Elon Musk” continue to make people “look for an option to not continue having a Tesla.”

In fact, former Tesla owners have accounted for about half of the orders the EV maker has received over the past two months, its chief executive, Marc Winterhoff, revealed in a recent interview with Fox Business.

Still, Lucid shares are down some 30% versus their year-to-date high at the time of writing.

Why are Tesla drivers looking for alternative EV brands

Musk’s role in politics has dragged Tesla’s good name through the mud in 2025.

There have been protests, incidents of vandalism, and even arson at Tesla stores as the billionaire continues to lay off federal employees and cut government costs as the head of President Trump’s DOGE.

His ties with the US president have already resulted in a big hit to TSLA sales in recent months, and Lucid’s update today suggests the weakness could continue moving forward.  

Lucid has recently launched its first electric SUV that’s also helping increase its appeal for Tesla owners currently on the lookout for an alternative EV brand.  

While Lucid stock remains in the red for the year, it has rallied about 20% over the past three weeks.

Lucid is well insulated from Trump tariffs

Lucid may be equally appealing for investors this year as it’s exceptionally insulated from a 25% tariff the US recently announced on all imported vehicles.

Why? Because LCID assembles all of its vehicles in Arizona.

From battery modules to e-motors, Lucid currently makes everything in the United States, Winterhoff added in his interview with Fox Business.  

His comments of a “dramatic uptick” in orders in recent months are particularly significant since Lucid already delivered a record 3,099 vehicles in its latest reported quarter.

However, Lucid shares do not currently pay a dividend and, therefore, remain unattractive for income investors in 2025.

Is it worth buying LCID shares in 2025?

While Lucid stock hasn’t had a particularly great start in 2025, the story moving forward could be different, according to analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald.

The investment firm reiterated its $3 price target on LCID shares this morning, indicating potential for another 25% upside from current levels.

Cantor experts remain believers of Lucid’s ability to deliver EVs with more efficient batteries, longer range, and faster charging times compared to rivals.   

Plus, the company’s management is committed to producing a total of 20,000 vehicles this year, which would mean a more than 100% increase on a year-over-year basis.

However, Cantor Fitzgerald still rates the EV stock at “neutral” only due to concerns of negative gross margin and the fact that Lucid may have to raise more capital moving forward.

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