Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Nears the Finish Line
February 21, 2021
Image Source: Johnson & Johnson – Fourth Quarter of Fiscal 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Over the past several months, shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) have steadily climbed higher as investors are warming up to its improving outlook and strong financial position. In April 2020, Johnson & Johnson increased its quarterly per share dividend by over 6% sequentially, highlighting its commitment to income seeking investors. Johnson & Johnson is actively working towards developing a safe and viable vaccine to help put an end to the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic. Recent updates indicate the firm’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate is near the finish line. We include Johnson & Johnson in both the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter
Two High-Quality REITs Report Earnings: Crown Castle and Digital Realty
February 21, 2021
Image Shown: Crown Castle International Corp. forecasts that its core financial metrics will continue to grow in 2021. Image Source: Crown Castle International Corp. – Fourth Quarter of 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Searching for lofty yields in a low interest rate environment comes with substantial risks as high yields can sometimes be more indicative of the expected headwinds facing the company or entity in question rather than an excellent risk-reward opportunity. We published an article back in September 2020 titled High Yield Dividend Income Investing in a Time of Need (link here) that highlighted our thoughts on this issue and why we think investors in high-yielding enterprises need to keep their guards up. All yields–even of the
Xpel Is an Intriguing Play on the Auto Industry
February 21, 2021
Image Shown: Most of Xpel Inc’s business is built around its paint protection film products for automobiles. Image Source: Xpel Inc – November 2020 IR Presentation Executive Summary: Xpel has a pristine balance sheet (nice net cash position), strong cash flow profile, ample growth opportunities, and a plan to boost its margins. The company primarily sells paint protection film products for automobiles, and its outlook appears quite promising as the firm is moving into adjacent areas while putting up rock-solid performance of late. We are highlighting Xpel given its potential for additional capital appreciation upside, though we caution shares of XPEL are up almost four-fold over the past year as of the middle of February 2021. By Callum Turcan Xpel
PayPal Expects to Double Its Annual Free Cash Flows By 2025
February 19, 2021
Image Shown: PayPal Holdings Inc views its total addressable market across the payment processing and solutions sitting at approximately $110 trillion, an enormous opportunity that the firm is well-positioned to capitalize on. Image Source: PayPal Holdings Inc – 2021 Investor Day Presentation By Callum Turcan We continue to be huge fans of PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL) and include shares of PYPL as a top-weighted idea in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. As of this writing, shares of PYPL have surged higher by ~140% over the past year as the company’s business model has proven to be incredibly resilient in the face of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic. PayPal’s ability to generate meaningful free cash flows in almost any environment is supported
Newmont Approves Another Massive Dividend Increase
February 18, 2021
Image Shown: An overview of Newmont Corporation’s resource base, which is heavily weighted towards gold with its producing mines primarily located in the Americas and Australia. The company also has some exposure to copper and silver along with other raw materials. Image Source: Newmont Corporation – Fourth Quarter of 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan On February 18, gold miner Newmont Corporation (NEM) reported fourth quarter earnings for 2020 that beat consensus bottom-line estimates but missed consensus top-line estimates. We appreciated the major improvements in Newmont’s balance sheet last year (i.e., sharp reductions in its net debt load), the resilience of its operations in the face of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, and the company’s ability to continue churning out
Earnings from Our Two Favorite Midstream MLPs: EPD and MMP
February 14, 2021
Image Source: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. – Fourth Quarter of 2020 IR Earnings Presentation In Alphabetical Order by Ticker: EPD, MMP By Callum Turcan The energy market is recovering and that speaks favorably towards the midstream side of the oil & gas industry. Midstream companies operate pipelines, storage facilities, processing plants, marine terminals, gathering systems and other energy infrastructure assets. As global health authorities work to bring an end to the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, aided by ongoing vaccine distribution efforts, that should enable North American raw energy resources production to post a sustained recovery. Raw energy resources include crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (such as propane, butane, and ethane). North American energy production took a big hit
Philip Morris International Issues Favorable Guidance
February 14, 2021
Image Shown: Philip Morris International Inc’s growth outlook rests heavily on its ability to grow its non-traditional cigarette sales volumes, and so far, the tobacco giant has put up tremendous performance on this front. Additionally, pricing power at its conventional cigarette business is also key, as that helps offset headwinds arising from secular declines in its annual cigarette shipment volumes. Image Source: Philip Morris International Inc – 2021 Investor Day Presentation By Callum Turcan During its 2021 Investor Day presentation held on February 10, tobacco giant Philip Morris International Inc (PM) reaffirmed its 2021 diluted EPS guidance and issued longer term guidance that was quite promising. The seller of Marlboro brand cigarettes in international markets (excluding the US and China)
Energy Earnings Roundup: CVX and XOM
February 10, 2021
Image Source: Exxon Mobil Corporation – 2020 IR Presentation In ticker by alphabetical order: CVX, XOM By Callum Turcan Several integrated oil and gas companies recently reported earnings for the final quarter of 2020, and as expected, these were brutal reports. The coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic weighed negatively on global demand for raw energy resources (crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids), refined petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, kerosene), and certain petrochemicals last year which created massive headwinds for the oil and gas industry across the board. Subdued raw energy resources pricing and lackluster refined petroleum product demand were the two big obstacles for the industry as those dynamics severely weakened the economics of upstream (involved in the extraction of raw energy
Free Cash Flow Machine Visa Remains One of Our Best Ideas
February 9, 2021
Image Shown: Visa’s ability to generate sizable free cash flows continues to impress. We are big fans of the payment processing giant. Image Source: Visa Inc – First Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan We’re huge fans of Visa Inc’s (V) business model. The credit card network’s free cash flow generating abilities are impressive, aided by its low capital expenditure requirements. We view Visa’s long-term outlook quite favorably and include the company in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio as a top-weighted idea. The top end of our fair value estimate sits at $263 per share of Visa, materially above where V is trading at as of this writing. Overview Visa benefits from the network effect, which
General Electric Provides Upbeat Outlook for 2021
February 2, 2021
Image Shown: An overview of GE’s cash flow forecasts on a divisional basis for 2021. Image Source: General Electric – Fourth Quarter of 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan The ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) has weighed negatively on the industrial sector for most of 2020, before the space started to recover during the latter part of the year. On January 26, industrial conglomerate General Electric Company (GE) reported fourth quarter earnings for 2020 that beat consensus top-line estimates but missed consensus bottom-line estimates. The company’s business operating segments are broken down into its various GE Industrial divisions (‘Power,’ ‘Renewable Energy,’ ‘Aviation’ and ‘Healthcare’) and GE Capital. What really impressed us was that GE Industrial’s free cash flow came in at
