In this episode of the Left Brain Thinking podcast, host Chuck Jaffe interviews Freddy Garcia, Vice President of Investments at Left Brain Wealth Management, to discuss the firm’s post‑2020‑election investment outlook. Garcia emphasizes that Left Brain’s approach remains rooted in company‑level fundamentals rather than macro‑political events. The firm continues to champion “election‑proof” stocks that meet strict criteria: at least 10% revenue growth, forward‑thinking business models, sustained profitability, and strong, visionary leadership (often described as “superhero CEOs”). Garcia notes that, while the election has concluded, the core list of election‑proof holdings remains unchanged unless a company’s competitive strength is materially altered by new regulations or policy shifts. The conversation then shifts to sector allocation, with a particular focus on cybersecurity—a space the firm views as secularly attractive due to rising online commerce, identity‑theft concerns, and broader digital risk. Left Brain has already added Fortinet (FTNT) and Proofpoint (PFPT) and is actively evaluating CrowdStrike (CRWD) for inclusion. Garcia explains CrowdStrike’s appeal despite its already high YTD performance (≈140‑150% gain), assessing its size, growth trajectory, profitability outlook, and leadership quality to determine whether it can double again within a 2‑to‑3‑year horizon. The hosts also discuss the firm’s broader philosophy of seeking stocks capable of doubling in value within a few years, acknowledging that buying a stock already up 140% requires confidence it can still achieve another doubling. Garcia cites past successes with stocks like DocuSign, Zoom, and Tesla, illustrating that continued momentum after an initial rally is not uncommon for Left Brain’s selections. The episode concludes with standard disclosures and an invitation for listeners to follow Left Brain’s research and future podcasts.
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Welcome to Left Brain Thinking, where creative investment ideas meet logical analysis. That's the hallmark of Left Brain Investment Research, where the analysts are looking for growth companies with the potential to double in 2 to 3 years and high-yield bonds with the potential for dramatic price appreciation. Before the presidential election, Left Brain held a seminar about election-proof stocks, and today we're discussing the firm's post-election strategy and what has or hasn't changed for investors since the ballots have been tabulated. And we're doing that with Freddy Garcia, Vice President of Investments for Left Brain Wealth Management. Freddy Garcia, thanks for joining me on Left Brain Thinking.
Well, Chuck, thank you so much for having me today. It's a pleasure to be on with you.
The election, of course, well, we could say in some respects that things haven't changed much because we're still waiting for things to sort out. But from the standpoint of investing, well, stocks that were election-proof, if they were good before, we'd assume that they're still good. So what has or has not changed with the thinking, because it doesn't appear that the growth picture has changed. Are we standing in the same place now as we were pre-election?
Chuck, we are, and that was one of the reasons I want to come on the show today. As an advisor myself, I get the pleasure of speaking with the clients directly, and we got these questions before the election. You know, what should we be considering in our portfolios? And we put out a piece discussing these are good election-proof stocks. Well, now that the election's over, even though there's still some uncertainty out there, the election is over. So now I have clients asking me, "Well, what do we do?" And there's a lot of information being put out there. And what I want to emphasize about Left Brain is we're not looking at the big macro picture, we're not looking at elections, we are looking at the fundamentals of each individual company. So all those companies that we listed in our analysis of the election proof, those are still standing firm. We look at, do these companies have continued growth revenue of at least 10%? Are they still forward-thinking? Do they still have profitability? And frankly, is the leadership still in place? You know, we look at superhero CEOs, and if that hasn't changed, then we continue to put a high value on these stocks and we stand behind them.
Is there anything though that could change? We talk fundamental research, so we know that nothing's going to change on the balance sheet because there's an election. That is a macro disconnected event. But what about something like Goodwill, right? You get that idea that, hey, this is a stock that could benefit because we're changing administrations, and that means certain industries might have a pickup. Or this is a stock that, you know, the flip side of it, it might be hurt by a change in administrations. That's the kind of thing that from a fundamental standpoint really could only show up as a Goodwill or a momentum sort of thing. Does any of that change? Do you have enough of a stop or a kickstart to momentum that it puts somebody on or off your radar screen?
That's one of the things when we evaluate a stock is we're going to look to see— because that would fall under like our competitive strength— has the fundamental of the stock's competitive strength changed at all? So we evaluate that, and if it hasn't, then we'll still stay with the stock. But if something, you know, with an election or certain sectors may suffer or change drastically to different laws and administration, correct? So if that does change, then that would force us to relook at the stock and possibly move on from the stock. But as of right now, we haven't had that happen yet. There's other sectors that we're evaluating that we probably are gonna add more into, if anything, going forward. But as of right now, the ones we felt strong about before the election, we still feel pretty strong about now after the election.
You talked about areas that you might add to without naming them. I know one of the areas you particularly like, and I don't think it's election related, I think it's maybe the times we're living in related, is cybersecurity. Is that one of those areas that right now you're looking to add to? And if so, where are you going?
So yeah, cybersecurity is something that with the holiday season coming up, people are gonna be shopping online more than they ever have before. We also have issues of identity theft coming up. There was a fraudulent story about people claiming all these unemployment checks. So cybersecurity is on a lot of people's minds. Earlier in the year, we had started adding to our portfolio, adding cybersecurity companies. We had added Fortinet, Proofpoint, but the company that we're looking about adding right now is CrowdStrike. So that's one that's heavily on our radar and possibly one that we're gonna be adding here very soon.
So CrowdStrike is CRWD. What stands out to you? And oh, by the way, since you talked about Fortinet, which is FTNT, and Proofpoint, PFPT.
Mm-hmm.
When you're looking at a sector, how far are you willing to go? If you've already got a couple of players, what makes CrowdStrike stand out to you not only as different on its own merits, but as able to diversify a portfolio that contains those other cybersecurity companies.
Fortinet and Proofpoint were a little bit easier to add because they hadn't had the big run-up yet. CrowdStrike year-to-date is very high. I think they're up almost 170% year-to-date, where we still haven't had that with the other two stocks, Proofpoint and Fortinet. And two, they're also smaller in the space, CrowdStrike being one of the largest players in that space. Proofpoint is a small cap. Fortinet is a large cap, but they were closer to a mid-cap when we originally started looking at them, so not in the large-cap space, but CrowdStrike by far is the largest of the three. That's why we're a little more careful in adding, adding it on. And I just looked up the stock and it's up 147% year-to-date. So we take a look to see, is there more growth potential going forward? Can the stock double within 2 to 3 years? Is their forward profitability continuous? And frankly, what about their leadership? And we like the CEO of the company, We think they're very forward-thinking. So even at a very high price right now, we're still willing to take a chance at it because we feel that it has continued growth as long as the momentum keeps going for that stock.
Let's go back on a point because it's, it's said every week in the introduction to this segment that you are looking for stocks with the potential to double. And you talked about CrowdStrike's performance this year, and this is one of the really interesting things for left brain and growth investment strategies generally. Is when do I get on the train if the train is already getting up to speed, right? So here's CrowdStrike up 140%, which is obviously more than a double. And yet for it to qualify for you, it has to have the potential to double again within 2 to 3 years.
Correct.
So what that means is that for it to still be something you'd be willing to buy, it has to double off of more than a double already You know, that's a quadruple basically. How often do you find those and go, yeah, we're still not too late to the party? I mean, how unusual is it to find something that's got the kind of growth pattern you're seeing with a CrowdStrike and say, yep, still worth it?
It's not too unusual, especially this year. You know, we've done it with a couple stocks. DocuSign was a stock that we picked up when it was high and continued to even double after that. Zoom is another example. So is Tesla. So this year we've noticed if a stock has continued forward movement, that can still carry on. And we've seen it with quite a few of the stocks that we've purchased this year, that we may not have been right the first ones to buy it, but we've had significant growth even after we've purchased them. And again, Zoom is a great example.
Interesting to see how that's going to play out. We'll be watching. And Freddie, we'll talk to you again down the line. Thanks so much for joining me on Left Brain Thinking.
Well, thanks for having me, Chuck.
Left Brain Thinking is a joint production of Left Brain Investment Research and Money Life with Chuck Jaffe. Our conversations are not personalized investment recommendations but are designed to engage your brain. Please do your due diligence before making any financial transaction. I'm your host, Chuck Jaffe, and you can learn more about my weekday podcast at moneylifeshow.com. Thanks to my guest, Freddy Garcia, Vice President of Investments for Left Brain Wealth Management. Learn more about the firm and its services at leftbrainir.com, on Twitter @leftbrainir. Left Brain Thinking is available every Wednesday. Find it and subscribe on your favorite podcast app and plan to put your left brain thinking cap on every week. Until next week, stay safe, everybody.
