Lazard, Inc. (LAZ)

Lazard Ltd., one of the world's leading financial advisory and asset management firms, provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic matters, restructuring and capital structure, capital raising and corporate finance, as well as asset management services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments, and individuals. It is headquartered in New York City, has more than 3,200 employees, and operates in more than 40 cities across more than 25 countries, including major financial hubs like Paris, London, Tokyo, and Sao Paulo.

A mixed bag of earnings reports were unable to serve as a distraction to broader issues on Thursday. Indeed, stock mostly fell as investors once again worried about AI spending and as the price of oil rose on geopolitical tensions.

Despite bursts of outperformance, small- and mid-cap stocks (SMID) have underperformed large-caps year to date -- as they have over the past five years. But they are edging closer to their large-cap rivals with a year-to-date return of 10%, just two percentage points below the S&P 500. As well, SMIDs may be in a better position to generate market-beating returns going forward. For one thing, SMID companies tend to focus on domestic markets, so their businesses could be less disrupted by trade and tariff issues, fallout from unrest in the Middle East, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, issues in China, or other geopolitical developments. As well, the prices of SMID stocks generally are lower than the prices of large-caps, with the P/E ratio on the Russell 2000 SmallCap Index at 17, compared to a trailing P/E of 25 for the S&P 500. Finally, there are long stretches in the record books when SMID stocks have outperformed large-caps. SMID risks do carry risk, but diversified investors look to have exposure to small- and mid-caps based on the long-term performance record.

Lazard Ltd., one of the world's leading financial advisory and asset management firms, provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic matters, restructuring and capital structure, capital raising and corporate finance, as well as asset management services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments, and individuals. It is headquartered in New York City, has more than 3,200 employees, and operates in more than 40 cities across more than 25 countries, including major financial hubs like Paris, London, Tokyo, and Sao Paulo.