Investing

The “survivor’s penalty” happens when a surviving spouse pays more taxes after the death of their spouse. 
This can occur when a widow or widower switches from married filing jointly to single filer after their spouse’s death.
But you can minimize the possible tax impact with advanced planning, including multi-year tax projections and other strategies.

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It’s of course very difficult to lose your spouse — and some survivors may also have to deal with the shock of higher taxes after their wife or husband dies.
That’s because after a partner’s death, surviving spouses may face a “survivor’s penalty” due to the shift from married filing jointly to single filing status, potentially leading to higher taxes and increased Medicare premiums.

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The survivor’s penalty is more common among older women, who typically outlive their husbands, experts say.
“That’s what I call the widow’s penalty,” said certified public accountant Ed Slott. 
In 2023, there was roughly a 5.3-year difference in life expectancy between sexes, according to U.S. population data released in December from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Life expectancy was 81.1 years for females and 75.8 for males.
In some cases, these survivors are “hit hard with extra taxes,” Slott said.

How the ‘widow’s penalty’ works

Most spouses file taxes jointly, which provides a larger standard deduction and wider tax brackets compared to single filers.
The standard deduction for 2025 is $30,000 for married couples, and $15,000 for single filers. The brackets are based on “taxable income,” which you calculate by subtracting the greater of the standard or itemized deductions from your adjusted gross income.

The higher standard deduction and more generous brackets can mean lower taxes for some spouses, depending on their earnings and other factors, experts say.
In the year that a spouse dies, the surviving spouse can continue filing taxes jointly with their deceased partner, assuming they don’t remarry before year-end. With a dependent child, you can choose qualifying surviving spouse for up to two years. Otherwise, you’ll use the single-filer status the year after your spouse passes.

While Social Security income may adjust, other earnings could be the same, and the surviving spouse is back at the single tax bracket, Slott said. 
The surviving spouse typically inherits their deceased spouse’s pre-tax individual retirement account and the required minimum distributions, George Gagliardi, a certified financial planner and founder of Coromandel Wealth Management in Lexington, Massachusetts, previously told CNBC.
“The larger the IRAs, the bigger the tax problem,” he said.
However, married couples can plan for this in advance, experts say.

How to avoid the widow’s penalty

You can address the life expectancy gap and possible tax consequences for the surviving spouse with assistance from a financial advisor, experts say.
That could include multiple years of tax projections for different scenarios to find out whether it makes sense to incur taxes sooner while both spouses are still living.
“You’re aiming to pay taxes when your rate is the lowest,” said CFP Jeff Levine, a certified public accountant and chief planning officer at Focus Partners Wealth in Clayton, Missouri.

You’re aiming to pay taxes when your rate is the lowest.

Jeff Levine
Chief planning officer at Focus Partners Wealth

In some cases, you may pay less taxes overall by withdrawing funds from pre-tax retirement accounts sooner, such as early retirement before starting RMDs, advisors say.
You could also weigh Roth IRA conversions in the year of the first spouse’s death, Slott said.
Roth conversions move pre-tax or nondeductible IRA funds to a Roth IRA, which can kick-start tax-free growth after an upfront tax bill. 
The Roth account provides a “double benefit” with tax-free withdrawals and no RMDs during life, Slott said. More

Most college acceptance and financial aid letters go out in March.
For many students and their families, the aid package is arguably more significant than an acceptance notification.
And yet, “the system lacks transparency, especially around the true cost of attendance, making it very difficult for families to comparison shop and make informed financing decisions about their education,” says Rick Castellano, a spokesperson for Sallie Mae.

For college hopefuls, there is a letter that is arguably more significant than an acceptance notification: the financial aid award.
Nearly 75% of all undergraduates receive some type of financial aid, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

For a majority of students and their families, financial aid is the most important factor in their decisions about choosing where to attend and how to pay the tab. The amount of aid offered matters, as does the breakdown between grants, scholarships, work-study opportunities and student loans.
And yet, “the system lacks transparency, especially around the true cost of attendance, making it very difficult for families to comparison shop and make informed financing decisions about their education,” said Rick Castellano, a spokesperson for education lender Sallie Mae.
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“Financial aid offers are a good example,” he said. “There isn’t a standard format and it can be difficult to determine what is grant and scholarship aid versus what needs to be paid back, making it tough for families to compare and fully understand what’s being offered.”

Understanding the financial aid offer

In most award letters, there are several financial aid options that can include grants, scholarships, work-study opportunities and student loans.

The goal is to maximize gift aid — money that doesn’t need to be paid back, such as scholarships, fellowships and grants — and minimize loans that will need to be repaid with interest, Castellano said.
But even with gift aid, it’s important to read the fine print, such as whether a grant is renewable for all four years or whether a minimum grade point average must be maintained. It’s worth noting that if a student fails to meet the terms, such as a GPA requirement, they may have to repay some or all of a grant or scholarship.
Ultimately, “a bigger financial aid offer may not be better, especially if it includes more loans to cover expenses,” Castellano said.
Some federal loan programs allow students and families to borrow virtually unlimited amounts, he said, leading to ballooning debt burdens. The average undergraduate loan balance is currently around $30,000, according to the College Board. But as a general rule, experts advise students against borrowing any more than they absolutely need.

There may be more college aid available

“Even after receiving aid offers, there’s still money out there,” Castellano said.
For families who have already filed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, but are concerned about making ends meet, it is possible to ask the college financial aid office for more aid, especially if your financial circumstances have changed.
To appeal for more college aid, document any changes in assets, income, benefits or expenses. Or, if the financial aid package from a comparable school was better, that is also worth noting in an appeal.
In fact, 71% of families who appealed their financial aid offers in the 2023-24 academic year received additional funding, according to Sallie Mae.

How changes at the Education Department factor in

The U.S. Department of Education, which is responsible for underwriting student loans and disbursing college aid, is in the middle of a massive upheaval, after the Trump administration slashed nearly half of its staff.
The department said in a press release on March 11 that it would “continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview,” including Pell Grants and student loans.
Still, the Education Department also runs the FAFSA and handles oversight of colleges, such as audits and program reviews, as well as providing technical support to college financial aid offices — and the staffing cuts could affect what support is available, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
“There might be delays in responses to student and borrower inquiries, and the accuracy of the responses may be affected,” he said.

When in doubt, turn to private scholarships

High school students attend Cash for College, a college and career convention, in Los Angeles.
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In addition to the college aid offer, there are more than 1.7 million private scholarships and fellowships available, often funded by foundations, corporations and other independent organizations, Kantrowitz said. The total value of those awards is more than $7.4 billion.
It’s never too late to tap alternative sources for merit-based aid, according to James Lewis, co-founder of the National Society of High School Scholars, an academic honor society.
“A lot of families assume they won’t be eligible for scholarships,” but that’s not the case, he said. Scholarships could help bring a pricier school within budget.
“Get beyond, ‘Well, I can’t afford that,'” Lewis added. “Don’t self-select out.”
If you’re pursuing this strategy, check to make sure your college of choice doesn’t have a so-called displacement policy, which could mean private scholarships will reduce other sources of aid.
Continue to look for more scholarships, even through the spring, Lewis advised. “My advice to students and their families is to research and apply often. Google is their best friend.”
Students can also ask their high school counselor about opportunities or search websites such as Scholarships.com or the College Board.

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The Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency has already implemented changes at the Social Security Administration.
Some experts say that may make it more difficult to access the agency’s benefits and services.
Yet Republicans in Congress say DOGE has in some ways already helped improve efficiency.

People line up outside the Social Security Administration office in San Francisco.
Getty Images

New leadership at the Social Security Administration tied to the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency has implemented swift changes.
Many experts say Americans will notice a difference when seeking help from the agency following staff cuts, regional office closures and new service policies.

The Social Security Administration is currently under the temporary leadership of acting commissioner Lee Dudek, who was assumed that role in February after acting commissioner Michelle King stepped down over DOGE privacy concerns. Dudek had previously publicly stated he had been placed on administrative leave for cooperating with DOGE, according to reports.
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As a temporary leader, Dudek does not have the obligation to answer to Congress.
“When you are a confirmed commissioner, you get called up to the Hill to testify on various issues that are operating for the agency,” Jason Fichtner, a former Social Security Administration executive, said during a National Academy of Social Insurance panel last week.
“It’s a check and balance that we currently don’t have,” Fichtner said.

As DOGE’s actions have upended the status quo at the Social Security Administration, former agency leaders, retirement experts and Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about its new policies.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress last week praised DOGE for increasing the agency’s efficiency since President Donald Trump took office.
The Social Security Administration did not respond to a request from CNBC for comment by press time.

‘Economic security of millions of Americans is at stake’

Last week, the National Academy of Social Insurance, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization, released a statement signed by recipients of its award named on behalf of former Social Security Administration Commissioner Robert M. Ball, who served in that role from 1962 to 1973.
“The economic security of millions of Americans is at stake,” the signees wrote of the “major, destabilizing changes” the Social Security Administration has recently undergone.
Among those to sign the statement include former acting Social Security Administration commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi, former Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and former Social Security Administration chief actuary Stephen Goss.
The statement lists “unprecedented actions” recently undertaken by the Social Security Administration, including:

staff reductions of about 7,000 of the agency’s 57,000 employees while the agency already has an employee shortage and hiring freeze;
the closure of 10 field offices, which may limit access to benefits;
a reorganized leadership structure that will have just five deputy commissioners, who will now be political appointees;
the closure of the Office of Civil Rights and Office of Transformation in an effort to cut costs; and
the termination of research focused on how to improve Social Security, both from administrative and legislative standpoints.

“Getting benefits to the currently and newly eligible, and accurately determining how much those benefits should be, requires the work of current SSA staff and more,” the NASI statement reads.
Among those most vulnerable to longer wait times for benefits are the 2 million disability benefit applicants who are currently waiting on decisions. An estimated 10 million individuals have died in recent years while still waiting for disability benefits, the statement notes.
The customer service crisis faced by the Social Security Administration, including record initial disability backlog and customer service wait times, existed before DOGE, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said during a March 12 committee hearing.
The Trump administration has said the president “will always protect” Social Security and will not cut benefits.
“Any American receiving Social Security benefits will continue to receive them,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said via email Monday when asked about the NASI statement. “The sole mission of DOGE is to identify waste, fraud, and abuse only.”

Confirmation process ‘needs to move along quickly’

Trump has nominated Frank Bisignano, chief executive of payments and financial technology company Fiserv, to serve as commissioner of the agency.
Bisignano’s Senate confirmation hearing is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
Former Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael Astrue, who led the agency from 2007 to 2013, said last week during a panel hosted by the National Academy of Social Insurance that while he doesn’t know Bisignano, “he can’t possibly be worse than what we have now.”
While the confirmation process has moved slowly in the past, it would be better to move swiftly and find a suitable leader for the agency, Astrue said.
“The process needs to move along quickly,” Astrue said.

When Bisignano does sit before the Senate, he will have to answer “a lot of questions in the confirmation process, beginning with, what did you know and when did you know it?” former Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley, who led the agency from 2023 to 2024, said during the NASI panel.
Senators may want to know whether Bisignano “approved and blessed” changes after his nomination such as cutting staff, eliminating offices and closing regional headquarters, O’Malley said.
Last week, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon sent a letter to Bisignano emphasizing that he will be responsible for any benefit interruptions that may be prompted by sweeping changes at the agency. In the letter, they also included questions on his views on DOGE access to sensitive data, further staff cuts or other possible future plans for the agency.
Bisignano was not available for comment by press time.

Smith: Seniors ‘already seeing the benefit’

A new law that President Joe Biden signed on Jan. 5 — the Social Security Fairness Act — has made it so more than 3.2 million individuals who are eligible for public pensions will receive increased Social Security checks.
In addition, affected beneficiaries also stand to receive payments dating back to January 2024.
The Social Security Administration said in January it would take 1,000 work hours to send those back payments, much of which had to be done manually on a case-by-case basis, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Smith said during a March 12 committee hearing.

However, that outlook has changed under Trump’s leadership, according to Smith.
“Seniors are already seeing the benefit of doing things differently,” Smith said.
The agency has already sent more than 71% of all back payments to affected beneficiaries, he said.
“The Trump administration’s embrace of automation and technology has made a night and day difference for those affected seniors,” Smith said.
“This is how the agency should work,” he said. More

Figuring out how to keep up with monthly student loan payments is one of the many challenges for those who have lost their job.
More people are facing that headache. Job cuts are on the rise, fueled in part by terminations of federal workers.

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A bad time to seek lower payments

Federal student loan borrowers who are laid off from their jobs are usually able to sign up for an income-driven repayment plan and get a lower payment, or even a $0 bill, while they’re unemployed.
IDR plans limit borrowers’ monthly payments to a share of their discretionary income and cancel any remaining debt after a certain period, typically 20 years or 25 years.
However, at the moment, borrowers are unable to access the applications for IDR plans.

The disruption is due to a recent U.S. appeals court decision that blocked the Biden administration’s new IDR plan, known as SAVE, or Saving on a Valuable Education. It also blocked the loan forgiveness component under other IDR plans.
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As a result, borrowers may also face temporary challenges if they’re already in an IDR plan and trying to go through the recertification process that allows them to get lower payments if their income has changed — or ceased. (Borrowers who were enrolled in SAVE remain in forbearance and do not have to make payments for now.)
The lack of IDR plan application and recertification access is “hugely disruptive, especially in this particular moment when thousands of people are being laid off or fired,” said Persis Yu, deputy executive director and managing counsel at the Student Borrower Protection Center.
It remains unclear when the IDR plan applications will become available again.
While you may be stuck in your current repayment plan for the time being, you still have options, consumer advocates say.

Unemployment deferment for student loans

“If a borrower’s employment is terminated, they may want to apply for an unemployment deferment,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
Borrowers may be eligible for this pause on their payments if they’re receiving unemployment benefits or are looking for and unable to find full-time employment, among other requirements, Kantrowitz said.
The reprieve can last for up to three years.

Another option that allows you to suspend your student loan bills is the economic hardship deferment. Additional, lesser-known deferments include the graduate fellowship deferment, the military service and post-active duty deferment, and the cancer treatment deferment.
Student loan borrowers may also be eligible for a general forbearance.
Whenever a borrower applies for a period of nonpayment, they should find out if interest will accrue on their debt in the meantime. If it does, they’ll have a larger balance when their payments resume. Making payments during the deferment or forbearance to at least cover the loan interest on your debt can avoid that outcome, Kantrowitz said.
Those with private student loans may find they have fewer options. However, experts recommend explaining to your lender that you’ve lost your job and asking what relief might be available.

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In 2024, roughly half of Americans holding multiple jobs have a college degree, according to a new analysis by the Federal Reserve.
The latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that roughly 8.9 million workers held multiple jobs in February.

Simon2579 | E+ | Getty Images

Stephen Gilliam works 40 hours a week as a graphic designer for a government contractor.
In the evening, Gilliam comes home, eats dinner and takes a little break. He then opens his laptop and works on freelance projects designing movie posters. He usually tries to wrap up by 10 p.m., gets some sleep and then starts it all over the next day.

“There are good and bad weeks, but I do my best to try to find that balance,” said 45-year-old Gilliam, who lives in Augusta, Georgia.
Gilliam, who earned his bachelor’s degree in graphic design from the Art Institute of Atlanta, is one of millions of workers with a college education who are taking on multiple jobs, a trend known as “overemployment.”
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These workers are picking up multiple jobs for a number of reasons. Some are pursuing new opportunities to advance or shift their careers. For others, it’s due to financial need given higher prices, stagnant wages and other economic concerns, according to experts.
The February jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that a record-high 8.9 million Americans reported working multiple jobs, representing 5.4% of all employed workers — a rate not seen since April 2009, during the Great Recession. 

According to new analysis of overemployed workers by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the share of multiple jobholders with a college degree increased to 50.2% in 2024, up from 50.0% in 2023. The share was 48.6% in 2020, and 45.1% in 2019. The findings are based on data from the Current Population Survey.
But the financial benefits can be slim: Overemployed Americans had an annual average income of $57,865, slightly higher than those with one job, at $56,965, the Fed found.

‘A pretty complex phenomenon’

Working multiple jobs “is a pretty complex phenomenon,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter. 
On one hand, the trend can be driven by opportunity, Pollak said.
Flexible, remote jobs may lend themselves to a side hustle, she said. For example, someone who works in a leadership and management role might also be paid for speaking engagements or consulting work.
“But it is also driven by necessity,” Pollak said.

People may need a second job to supplement income to cover expenses, pay off debt, save for the future, or pursue a different career path while maintaining a primary income, experts say.
Wages generally have not kept up with inflation and essentials like housing costs, said certified financial planner Carolyn McClanahan, founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida.
You have to “work a lot harder to make ends meet,” said McClanahan, a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.
“If you’re going to try to have some semblance of a traditional life with kids, and a house and transportation, [it] takes a lot of money to do that,” McClanahan said.

Overemployment may also help people cobble together enough work hours as some employers cut back. The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was 34.1 hours in February, unchanged from the month prior, but down from 34.2 in December and 34.3 in February 2024, the BLS found.
“If employers are seeing soft demand for labor and cutting hours, that’s another reason why people are taking on additional jobs to fill the week and to fill their bank accounts,” Pollak said. More

Customers shop at a Costco Wholesale store on Jan. 31, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. 
Scott Olson  | Getty Images

Investors made their way through a volatile week of trading, in which the Trump administration’s tariff rhetoric rocked the major averages and a rally on Friday still left stocks with weekly losses.
Against that volatile backdrop, investors can track the stock picks of top Wall Street analysts to enhance their portfolios by adding stocks that can withstand near-term pressures and deliver strong returns over the long term.

With that in mind, here are three stocks favored by the Street’s top pros, according to TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.
Zscaler
Cloud-based cybersecurity company Zscaler (ZS) is this week’s first pick. The company is known for its Zero Trust Exchange platform, which securely connects and protects users, devices and applications from cyberattacks and data loss. Zscaler impressed investors with market-beating results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, thanks to the growing adoption of Zero Trust and artificial intelligence.
In reaction to the stellar results, TD Cowen analyst Shaul Eyal reiterated a buy rating on Zscaler stock with a price target of $270. The analyst noted several positives that drove the second-quarter results, including a revamped go-to-market strategy, improvement in sales attrition for the second consecutive quarter, and increased sales productivity with further enhancement expected in the second half of fiscal 2025.
Eyal also highlighted that AI tailwinds are driving demand and product development, with annual contract value from the AI Analytics portfolio nearly doubling year over year. Zscaler expects to achieve $3 billion in annual recurring revenue by the end of fiscal 2025.
Commenting on Zscaler’s federal business, Eyal pointed out that the company serves 14 of the 15 U.S. cabinet agencies and expects to benefit from Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency due to the cost savings and efficiencies offered by its solutions. The analyst added that the company continues to reflect strength in the large customer cohort, with the number of customers generating ARR of more than $1 million increasing by 25% year over year to 620.

“With organic development and acquisitions, ZS has increased its capabilities and expanded its reach into complementary adjacencies,” said Eyal.
Eyal ranks No.18 among more than 9,400 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 65% of the time, delivering an average return of 23.9%. See Zscaler Hedge Funds Trading Activity on TipRanks.
Costco Wholesale
We move to Costco Wholesale (COST), a membership-only warehouse chain that recently reported mixed results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025. The company’s revenue surpassed expectations on higher comparable sales, but earnings missed estimates.
Jefferies analyst Corey Tarlowe noted that the slight earnings per share miss was due to lower-than-anticipated expansion in Q2 FY25 gross margin and reflected the impact of forex headwinds and other factors. Nonetheless, the analyst was impressed by the company’s solid comparable sales and higher membership fee.
Tarlowe highlighted that Costco delivered robust adjusted comparable sales growth of 8.3% despite the challenges seen at other retailers, led by the strength in the company’s non-food categories. Further, the company’s U.S. comps gained from higher traffic and ticket growth.
The analyst believes that Costco has the opportunity to expand its warehouse footprint further. He also noted the company’s low exposure to the recently announced tariffs by the Trump administration. Notably, the company confirmed that about one-third of its U.S. sales are imported from other countries, with less than half coming from China, Mexico and Canada. 
“We believe that COST’s scale and high private label penetration will help insulate the co. from the negative impacts of tariffs,” said Tarlowe and reiterated a buy rating on COST stock while raising the price target to $1,180 from $1,145.
Tarlowe ranks No.664 among more than 9,400 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 55% of the time, delivering an average return of 11.4%. See Costco Ownership Structure on TipRanks.
Karman Holdings
Third on this week’s list is Karman Holdings (KRMN), a defense and space systems maker that recently went public. The company’s diverse range of offerings includes payload and protection systems, aerodynamic interstage systems, and propulsion and launch systems.
Recently, Evercore analyst Amit Daryanani initiated coverage of KRMN stock with a buy rating and a price target of $38. The analyst is bullish on Karman due to the company’s ability to drive strong growth over the next several years, fueled by many secular tailwinds.
The tailwinds highlighted by Daryanani included solid growth in the U.S. orbital launch volume, with the company selling products to every U.S. launch provider, and a growing focus on missile defense and hypersonics in the U.S. The analyst is also optimistic about Karman due to the multi-year restocking of missile and missile defense inventories by the U.S. and its NATO allies.
Daryanani expects KRMN’s fiscal 2025 sales to grow 18% year over year to $409 million and EPS of 36 cents, indicating a 100 basis-point expansion in EBITDA margin to 31%.
Overall, Daryanani believes that Karman is “well positioned for sustained mid/high teens growth given their unique position addressing all the fastest growing parts of the military and space markets.”
Daryanani ranks No.478 among more than 9,400 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 53% of the time, delivering an average return of 10.3%. See Karman Holdings Technical Analysis on TipRanks. More

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright made clear this week they want to make it as easy as possible to drill on federal land and waters.
Burgum said he views companies developing resources on federal lands as “customers” who are contributing to the national “balance sheet.”
“You’re the customer,” the interior secretary told oil, gas and mining executives at a conference in Houston.

HOUSTON — The officials leading President Donald Trump’s energy agenda made clear to oil, gas and mining executives this week that they have an ally in Washington who intends to make it as easy as possible for them to drill in federal lands and waters.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told executives gathered for the world’s largest energy conference that the Trump administration does not view climate change as an existential threat. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said rising global temperatures are simply a byproduct of developing the country’s national resources to support economic growth and national security.

Burgum leads Trump’s recently established National Energy Dominance Council and Wright serves as his deputy on the interagency body tasked with boosting production. Burgum was effusive in his praise of the oil and gas industry during remarks delivered at CERAWeek by S&P Global conference.
“I’m going to share two words that I do not think that you have heard from a federal official in the Biden administration during the last four years. And those two words are thank you,” said Burgum, who previously served as governor of North Dakota, a state that produces 1.2 million barrels of oil per day.
Burgum leaned on his experience as software company executive to lay out his view of the interior department’s role. The department under his leadership views the companies developing resources on federal lands as “customers” who are contributing revenue to the nation’s “balance sheet,” Burgum said.
“If someone was sending me revenue, they weren’t the enemy. They were the customer,” Burgum said. The administration loves anyone who wants to harvest timber, mine for critical minerals, graze cattle, or produce oil and gas on federals, the interior secretary said.
Royalties sent from lease agreements on federal land will help the U.S. pay down its national debt and balance the budget, Burgum said. “You’re the customer,” the interior secretary told the executives.

The value of nation’s abundant natural resources far outweighs its $36 trillion in debt, Burgum said. If financial markets understood the value of America’s natural resources, the 10-year long-term interest rate would come down, Burgum claimed.
“The interest rates right now are one of the biggest expenses we have as a country,” Burgum said. “So one of the things that we have to do is unleash America’s balance sheet, and President Trump is helping us do that,” he said.
Burgum slammed the Biden administration’s focus on climate change as an “ideology.” He said the Trump administration views Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon and China winning the artificial intelligence race as the two existential threats facing the U.S. rather than global warming. Wright said Biden had a “myopic” and “quasi religious” belief in reducing emissions that hurt consumers.
Burgum and Wright dismissed policies that support a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, arguing that wind and solar won’t be able to meet rising energy demand in the coming years from artificial intelligence and re-industrialization.
“There is simply no physical way that wind, solar and batteries could replace the myriad uses of natural gas. I haven’t even mentioned oil or coal yet,” Wright said at the conference. Wright previously served as CEO of oilfield services company Liberty Energy and a board member at nuclear startup Oklo.

Oil execs see allies in Washington

Oil executives are enthusiastic about the change of administrations in Washington, returning the praise they received from Trump’s energy team during the week.
ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said Wright and Burgum “understand the business,” describing them as the best energy team the U.S. has seen in decades. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said he was “impressed by the quality of our counterparts.” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said the industry is “seeing some reality come back to the conversation.”
“For years, my message has been, we need a balanced conversation about affordability, reliability and the environment, and focusing only on climate leads us to ignore the first two,” Wright said.

The executives all referred to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, following Trump’s executive order to rename the body of water. The president issued an order on his first day to repeal Biden’s ban on offshore drilling in 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters.
BP CEO Murray Auchincloss briefly slipped before correcting himself when discussing how generative AI is helping with exploration: “We started doing this in the Gulf of Mexico, uh America, and we spread that to other nations as well.”
But Trump’s calls to “drill, baby, drill” are running up against market reality. The CEOs of Chevron and Conoco said U.S. oil production will likely plateau in the coming years after hitting new records under the Biden administration.
“Chasing growth for growth’s sake has not proven to be particularly successful for our industry,” Wirth said. “At some point, you’ve grown enough that you should start to move towards a plateau, and you should generate more free cash flow, rather than just more barrels.”
Lance sees U.S. oil production plateauing later this decade and then slowly declining.
“Maybe it’s time to go back to exploring the Gulf of America,” Pouyanné said. “The new administration is opening the Gulf. It has been slowed down after the Macondo drama,” he said, referring the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest in the history of marine drilling operations.
U.S. oil producers are scheduled to meet with Trump next week, industry lobby group American Petroleum Institute said in statement. More

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Company: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH)

Business: Cognizant Technology Solutions engineers modern businesses. Its services include artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology services and solutions, consulting, application development, systems integration, quality engineering and assurance. Its segments include Health Sciences (HS), Financial Services (FS), Products and Resources (P&R), and Communications, Media and Technology (CMT). The HS segment consists of health-care providers and payers, as well as life sciences companies. The FS segment includes banking, capital markets, payments and insurance companies. The P&R segment includes manufacturers, automakers, retailers, consumer goods companies, and travel and hospitality companies, as well as businesses providing logistics, energy and utility services. The CMT segment includes global communications, media and entertainment, education, information services and technology companies.
Stock Market Value: $39.13B ($79.12 per share)

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Cognizant Technology Solutions shares in the past year

Activist: Mantle Ridge LP

Ownership: ~2.4%
Average Cost: n/a
Activist Commentary: Mantle Ridge was launched by Paul Hilal, a veteran activist who was a former senior partner at Pershing Square. Hilal is an incredibly experienced activist investor with a unique mix of analytical abilities, communication skills and likability that you rarely see in the activist world. Mantle Ridge is very selective with its investments. While many activists look for three to four good ideas a year, Mantle Ridge looks for one good idea every three to four years. Hilal’s approach has generally been to constructively engage with the company, amicably get the required level of board representation for the given situation, bring in the right senior management team and then decide how to best optimize the portfolio of assets. Hilal played a leading role in several Pershing Square investments including Air Products, Ceridian and Canadian Pacific.

What’s happening

Mantle Ridge has taken a more than $1 billion position in Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Behind the scenes

Cognizant (CTSH) is a global IT services company specializing in digital transformation, consulting, and outsourcing solutions. The industry is highly concentrated, an oligopoly with Cognizant competing against major players such as Accenture, Infosys and Capgemini. These firms derive their durable profitability and growth from designing, implementing, maintaining and evolving technology solutions for their corporate clients. Cognizant was established more than 30 years ago with Kumar Mahadeva as a co-founding CEO. Mahadeva was a brilliant businessman who keenly identified the opportunity that laid ahead. Prioritizing industry-beating pricing and accelerated growth, he believed that this would help attract and retain the best talent in an industry in which attrition is perhaps the biggest risk. Under the leadership of Mahadeva and his successors, including Francisco D’Souza, Cognizant was massively successful, becoming one of the largest players in the industry, growing over 35,000% from its IPO in 1998 to the end of D’Souza’s tenure as CEO in 2019.

In 2019, DeSouza was succeeded as CEO by Brian Humphries, the former CEO of Vodafone. This was the first Cognizant CEO and the only CEO among its peers who was not an industry insider. Moreover, his leadership style was a poor cultural fit for the company, focusing too much on reducing costs and being characterized as aggressive in a people-oriented environment. Additionally, as an industry outsider, he simply lacked the expertise to push major contracts over the finish line relative to peers who could bring in a respected industry CEO to close big deals. As a result, over the course of Humphries tenure, there was increasing attrition in Cognizant’s workforce, spiking to 600 basis points above its peer average and was concentrated in key growth-oriented roles in long-tenured on and offshore delivery and sales. This was completely counter to Mahadeva’s original insight that minimizing employee churn, especially client-facing personnel, was the key to sustaining long-term growth. Integration processes are very long, expensive, and clients demand continuity. High employee churn disrupts sales cycles, weakens client trust, and makes it difficult to retain and attract new clients, setting off a negative flywheel of declining bookings and shrinking margins. As a result, Cognizant slipped from a best-in-class player in organic growth (compound annual growth rate of over 10%, firmly in the top quartile) to an industry laggard. By 2022, the company’s organic growth was trailing peers by up to 900bps. This inevitably led to a negative total shareholder return during Humphries’ tenure as CEO of -7% versus 70% and 115% for peers Accenture and Infosys, respectively.
In the second half of 2022, Mantle Ridge began buying the stock which was trading in the high-50s to low-60s. Shortly after on Jan. 12, 2023, Cognizant announced a major reorganization. CEO Brian Humphries would be replaced by former Infosys president Ravi Kumar and chairman Michael Patsalos-Fox would be replaced by director Stephen Rohleder, a former executive of Accenture. Mantle Ridge has been very respectful of the events transpiring at the company and has not made any public comments regarding these changes. However, as somebody who has intimately followed every activist campaign for the past 20 years, we can tell you two things: (i) activists engage with fewer than 4% of public companies each year and (ii) significantly fewer companies announce a change in CEO and chairman at the same time. We are not saying that Mantle Ridge was the cause of these changes, but the odds of these two things happening contemporaneously in a vacuum are astronomically low and we expect that the board at the very least heard the footsteps.  
Since the elevation of Kumar and Rohleder, performance at Cognizant has been night and day. Returning to those three indicators of success, first, Cognizant has delivered a total shareholder return of over 30%, outpacing Infosys and Accenture, which are in the low 20s. Attrition has been reduced and, in fact, 13,000 employees who had left the company have returned since this new team took over. It’s quite a strong signal of a shifting tide, and confidence in the company has been restored for some of its most important stakeholders. In addition, from previously underperforming growth by 900bps, in 2024 the deficit has been all but eliminated to 100bps, posting a deficit of just 30bps in Q4 24 after several consecutive months of recovery. Management has signaled that, going forward, they expect to be in the winners’ circle (top quartile) again. Lastly, earnings before interest and taxes margins have also expanded and exceeded targets the past two years, up from 15.1% in 2023 to 15.4% in 2024, this doesn’t even account for the additional 30bps of underlying margin expansion adjusted out due to a recent acquisition.
One would think that between replacing the CEO, chairman and CFO with respected industry insiders and these drastically improved results, it would result in a rerating of Cognizant’s stock, yet the company continues to trade at a significant discount to peers. Cognizant trades at a total enterprise value per employee of $119,000 while peers trade at nearly twice that. In addition, despite having nearly identical revenue generation, Infosys’ enterprise value is nearly double that of Cognizant. Furthermore, despite clear signs of continuous closure of the organic growth gap with peers and management’s confidence in the future, outyear consensus still projects the spread between Cognizant and its peers widening. This is a company that after several years of underperformance has finally corrected its issues, but which the Street is not yet ready to trust.
Mantle Ridge is known for taking large board representation at their portfolio companies, often a majority, and replacing the CEO. None of that is happening here. This is a strong signal that Mantle Ridge likes the new CEO and is supportive of the actions that the board is taking. While we could not identify any direct relationships between Hilal and current board or senior management members, he is very well connected in many industries, and we would doubt there is more than one degree of separation between him and many of the key players here. Activists coming into underperforming stocks and taking action is generally a strong sign of potential future shareholder value. What may be an even stronger sign is an activist coming into a stock and not having to act. That is what we see here, and we have the comfort of the existence of the activist in case things start to go off track. Mantle Ridge has had a position (likely through non-13F reporting derivatives) in the company since 2022, and it is first being made public now, just before Cognizant’s investor day on March 25th. We do not think this is a coincidence. It is a signal to the company to educate the investors at investor week with what Mantle Ridge sees and the company knows: Growth, margins and attrition are all going in the right direction. Mantle Ridge’s stake will undoubtedly pique the interest of the market and increase turnout for the analyst day. It should signal to the Street that this is a company deserving of a revised outlook to adjust for the positive management and performance trends that have been percolating for several quarters now. Looking at EBIT/employee and price-to-earnings, there could be between 35% and 45% upside to the company’s current valuation if management can continue the march toward the winner’s circle.
Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, an institutional research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, a mutual fund that invests in a portfolio of activist 13D investments. More