Shares of Uber have already surged 27% to start off the year, but Girard Advisory Services’ Timothy Chubb believes there’s more upside ahead for the ride-sharing stock. The firm’s chief investment officer joined CNBC’s ” Power Lunch ” on Wednesday to share his take on the name, along with a pair of other market movers. Here’s what he had to say. Uber Despite its year-to-date outperformance, it has been a choppy time for Uber stock. Last month, shares lost nearly 8% in a single day after the company guided for softer-than-expected gross bookings in its first quarter. Uber also missed on analysts’ earnings expectations, although it posted a fourth-quarter revenue beat. Still, Chubb highlighted Uber as one of his highest conviction ideas. “I think Uber is a perfect example where the fundamentals of the core business are doing extremely well,” he said. “I think the market is still really underappreciating just how much more activity they’re having with their users on the platform as compared to a Lyft, for example, and how much free cash flow they’re generating.” On Tuesday, Uber began offering robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas, through a partnership with Waymo. The companies are planning to launch in several other U.S. cities this year. Chubb added that shares of Uber could “certainly” trade above $100 at some point within the next year or so. If the stock crosses this threshold, that would mark a 31% gain from Uber’s Wednesday close. CrowdStrike On the other hand, Chubb highlighted cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike as a pass. The stock tumbled 6.3% on Wednesday after issuing a disappointing earnings forecast . The company said it expects its full-year earnings, excluding some items, to come in between $3.33 and $3.45 per share. This fell short of the $4.42 analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected. CrowdStrike’s first-quarter earnings are expected to range between 64 cents and 66 cents per share, below the average estimate of 95 cents. Last July, a CrowdStrike update led to a major IT outage , impairing businesses including airlines and banks. Shares of CrowdStrike have recovered more than 80% since hitting a 52-week low of $200.81 last August, and are up nearly 7% so far this year. “It’s a wonderful business with a lot of stability with that subscription model, but really, one doesn’t have that attractive of a valuation,” Chubb said. Instead, the investor prefers CrowdStrike competitor Fortinet . “They’re a more well-rounded platform and not just end-point detection, and ultimately will benefit, I think, from potentially seeing enterprises shift spending here as [they] potentially streamline things a little bit further,” he added. Citigroup Finally, Chubb was resoundingly bearish on Citigroup . The stock ended Wednesday slightly higher, but it is nearly 9% lower on the week. Alongside other bank stocks, Citigroup has been dragged lower by tariff uncertainty and fears of an economic slowdown. Chubb said expected deregulation under the Trump administration could provide a “pretty strong tailwind” for banks. However, Citigroup still has “a lot of issues” to deal with to improve its business efficiency, he said. “Overall, we’re much more attracted to some other areas within the financials, especially those who are going to be a bit more exposed to M & A activity as valuations continue to fall,” the investor said.
