Small- and mid-cap stocks (SMID), despite bursts of outperformance, have underperformed large-caps year to date - as they have over the past five years. But they may be in a better position to generate market-beating returns going forward. SMID companies tend to focus on domestic markets, so their businesses could be less disrupted by the fallout from unrest in the Middle East, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, issues in China, or other geopolitical developments. As well, the prices of SMID stocks generally are lower than the prices of large-caps. SMID stocks can be risky, but despite those risks, diversified investors look to have exposure to small- and mid-caps based on the long-term performance record. We estimate that 20% of the U.S. stock market's capitalization is comprised of SMID stocks.

The Portfolio Selector features the Argus Focus List, a group of 30 "best idea" stocks generated and regularly updated by Argus' analysts and investment policy committee. It also includes the director of research’s monthly investment strategy column, stock recommendations and sector picks, economic forecasts, and an asset allocation model. This month, the Focus List additions are Teva Phar Inds Lt (TEVA); SAP SE (SAP); 3M Co. (MMM); Meta Platforms Inc (META) and the Focus List deletions are Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (CRWD); Lilly(Eli) & Co (LLY); Pinterest Inc (PINS); United Rentals, Inc. (URI).

Pinterest is an online product and idea discovery platform that helps users gather ideas on everything from cooking recipes to travel destinations. Founded in 2010, the platform consists of a largely female audience, which accounts for roughly two thirds of its nearly 500 million monthly active users. The company generates revenue by selling digital ads and is now rolling out more in-platform e-commerce features. About 20% of users reside in the US and Canada, but the region accounted for about 80% of revenue in 2023.

Pinterest Inc. is a social media platform for visual discovery. Pinterest went public on April 18, 2019 at $19 per share, above the company's projected price range of $15-$17 in its SEC filing. The platform allows contributors ('pinners') to share visual images ('pins'), as well as save and organize ideas and recommendations into collections. Since its launch in 2010, Pinterest has grown into a community of more than 350 million active users and become a key resource for advertisers targeting specific demographics.