This pick list highlights constituents of the Morningstar US Large Cap Index that we believe offer investors the best risk-adjusted return prospects. Stocks of large-cap companies where neither growth nor value characteristics predominate. Stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of the U.S. equity market are defined as large cap.

Meta Platforms operates the world's largest family of social networking websites, including the flagship Facebook site, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Reels, and Threads. The sites enable users to communicate with friends and family by posting content; comment on the posts of others; share photographs, website links, and videos; message; and play games. The company also partners with application developers to add functionality to the sites and allows users to pay for virtual goods and services through its Payments function. Meta's Superintelligence Labs is one of the pioneers in GenAI research, and its Reality Labs segment develops and sells new computing form factors like virtual reality headsets and smart glasses. Meta derives about 63% of its revenue from outside the U.S.

The major stock indices are generally flat at midday. Individual names, mostly impacted by earnings, are driving the action (with, for example, Amazon up 15% and Apple down 10%). This comes after two days of volatility, with stocks down broadly on Wednesday after the FOMC meeting and broadly higher on Thursday in a mood reversal. Argus' technical analyst, Mark Arbeter, CMT, notes that despite the recent carnage in many semi names and the inconsistent performance of the Mag 7 stocks, the S&P 500 remains in the middle of a three-month trading range, with little if any technical damage. The flat indices performance today closes out a generally flattish week, with the five-day data as of midday leaving the S&P 500 up 0.5%, the DJIA up 0.8%, and the Nasdaq up 0.7%. The 30-year Treasury bond yield spiked to its highest levels since 2007 this week.

Meta is the largest social media company in the world, boasting close to 4 billion monthly active users worldwide. The firm's "Family of Apps," its core business, consists of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. End users can leverage these applications for a variety of different purposes, from keeping in touch with friends to following celebrities and running digital businesses for free. Meta packages customer data, gleaned from its application ecosystem and sells ads to digital advertisers. While the firm has been investing heavily in its Reality Labs business, it remains a very small part of Meta’s overall sales.