I have now looked for $ACN (-5,69 %) still $EPAM (-4,97 %) into the portfolio. Now see a very good entry here and management expects approx. $1.8 bn FCF from 26-28 :) Would then be just under 45% of EV.

vg Micha

Goldman Sachs has looked into the issue and is convinced that it will be companies in particular that have extremely high personnel costs and, at the same time, great potential for automation.

The Goldman strategists use very specific figures. They take wage costs as a percentage of turnover and combine them with the proportion of jobs that can be automated using AI. The result is the so-called Phase 4 list of the AI revolution. AI hyperscalers, semiconductor values and data centers correspond to phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3 respectively.

Which sectors are phase 4 candidates? The answer is: software & services, professional services such as management consultancy, tax consultancy, insurance and IT services, because AI loves repetitive knowledge work.

The specific winners in the area of Banking & Finance include Bank of America $BAC (-0,85 %)KeyCorp $KEY (-0,87 %), PNC $PNC (-1,24 %), US Bancorp $TBBK and Truist $TFC (-0,87 %). Half of banking work is document processing - that's AI fodder.

For insurers Goldman Sachs calls Aon $AON (-0,75 %)Marsh & McLennan $MMC (-0,65 %), Willis Towers Watson $WTW (-1,18 %). When AI checks insurance claims, it is a cost revolution.

In the area of IT service providers & consultants the list includes Accenture $ACN (-5,69 %), Cognizant $CTSH (-5,26 %)EPAM $EPAM (-4,97 %)IBM $IBM (-0,27 %), Twilio $TWLO (+2,55 %), DXC $DXC (-2,45 %) and SAIC $SAIC (-0,53 %). These companies have consultants - and a large part of their activities can be automated with AI.

Among the software-specialists, Guidewire $GWRE (-0,98 %), Manhattan Associates $MANH (-1 %), Pegasystems $PEGA (-2,61 %) and Tyler Technologies $TYL (-1,46 %) are mentioned. These are companies that build software for the management of companies - and AI will allow them to deliver their products faster and more cheaply.

In the area of Healthcare Services & Life Science Tools Goldman names Labcorp $LH (+0 %)IQVIA $IQV (-0,83 %) and Certara $CERT (-1 %)because AI is already involved in medical documentation, study evaluation and diagnostics.

What makes Phase 4 shares so exciting? Every working hour saved has a direct impact on the margin. High productivity stands for high profit leverage. The advantage: unlike hyperscalers or chip companies, they don't need huge investments, but can simply use AI. This means less risk, more leverage and a lower valuation.

Conclusion:

Currently everything revolves around Nvidia $NVDA (+0,34 %) , AMD $AMD (+2,39 %), TSMC $2330 - i.e. phase 2 stocks. But the next wave is not coming for companies that use AI.

Source text (excerpt) & graphic: Welt, 03.12.25

$EPAM (-4,97 %)

EPAM Systems, Inc. reports strong results for the first quarter of 2025 with revenue growth of 11.7% year-on-year to USD 1.302 billion. The company is raising its sales forecast for the full year 2025 and now expects growth of between 11.5% and 14.5%.

- **Financial results**: GAAP operating income represents 7.6% of revenue, non-GAAP operating income is 13.5%. GAAP earnings per share (EPS) is USD 1.28, while non-GAAP EPS is USD 2.41.

- **Industry-specific development**: Financial Services record an increase of 29.3%, Software & High Tech grows by 9.6%, while Consumer Goods, Retail & Travel (-1.4%) and Business Information & Media (-2.2%) show declines.

- Geographic distribution**: Sales growth in the Americas (+12.6%), EMEA (+10.7%) and APAC (+4.3%).

- Employees & locations**: EPAM employs over 61,700 people in more than 55 countries.

- **Financial guidance**: For the second quarter, EPAM expects revenue to be between $1.325 billion and $1.340 billion with year-over-year growth of 16.2%.

Overall, despite a challenging economic environment, EPAM continues to show strong growth figures, particularly through digital transformation and AI-driven innovation.

*with AI summarized

$EPAM (-4,97 %) is a monster in software development for companies at an international level. I think that the market is punishing him a lot in this drought of technological projects, but it is a matter of time before companies require his services.

$E3M (-4,97 %) Epam System has exceeded the forecast of $2.22 by $0.20 9%.

Today the share has already risen 4.40%.

Do you have Epam System in your portfolio? And if so, what do you think of the stock?

I'll try to get in there. Keeps rising 😎

Am I right that there is a future in it?

Should I wait until it goes into bearish or get in immediately?