Earnings Insight – Facebook
November 6, 2016
Image Source: benstein Let’s dig into Best Ideas Newsletter holding Facebook’s (FB) third-quarter results, released November 2. By Kris Rosemann What management said: “We had another good quarter,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “We’re making progress putting video first across our apps and executing our 10 year technology roadmap.” The scoop: Though shares of Facebook sold off on worries about slowing revenue growth after its third-quarter report, released November 2, the social media giant continues to grow at a tremendous rate. On a year-over-year basis, advertising revenue jumped 59% in its third quarter thanks to mobile advertising revenue growth of 78%. Mobile advertising revenue now accounts for roughly 84% of total advertising revenue. Declining total payments and fees revenue is
Trouble Developing for Generic Pharma Stocks?
November 4, 2016
Image Source: DonkeyHotey Shares of generic pharmaceutical stocks have been punished after news surfaced that the US Justice Department could file charges by year-end following a two year antitrust investigation. By Kris Rosemann Though difficult to say in light of the poor stock performance of generic pharmaceutical makers of late, we continue to be positive on the long-term secular theme of ongoing growth in the availability of low-priced drugs around the globe, a trend that plays favorably into their hands. Yet another regulatory-related blow, however, was dealt to the pharma space November 3, and surprisingly to those exact firms that work tirelessly to reduce the price of more expensive branded drugs, generic pharma. Reports surfaced that the US Justice Department
Valuentum’s Nelson on Yum China Split
November 2, 2016
Image Source: CNBC Asia President of Investment Research at Valuentum Brian Nelson talks Yum China (YUMC) on CNBC Asia. ~2 minutes.
Top-Rated OHI: Not Adding It But Why?
November 2, 2016
Image Source: Omega “In my opinion, a golf club is only as good as the player that uses it, and in a similar light, a financial model or a rating system is only as good as the user that applies it.” — Brian Nelson, CFA Summary We stake so much on the performance of the portfolios in the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter. They represent the outcome of all of the work we do on the website, rolled into one final assessment: our best ideas for each respective strategy. We value the human, qualitative overlay, which captures a wealth of experience and common sense. The thoughts behind the weighting of each idea and the portfolio management process
Earnings Insight – Gilead Sciences
November 2, 2016
Image Source: Gilead Let’s cover some ground on Gilead Sciences (GILD) third-quarter report. What management said: “I’d like to reiterate the positive progress Gilead is making in addressing viral diseases. We will soon have treated 1.2 million HCV-infected individuals around the world, most of whom are now cured. By any measure, this is a profound contribution to global health care delivery. And in the field of HIV, not only are we effectively managing the disease with our new TAF-based regimens, but Truvada is helping more and more people avoid infection. I am confident that we will close out the year with continued strong financial performance underpinned by a passion for operational excellence and our focus on putting the patient
Dividend Aristocrat No More: HCP Cuts Its Payout
November 1, 2016
Image Source: HCP Former Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding HCP recently was forced to cut its dividend as a result of the spin-off of its beleaguered HCR ManorCare portfolio. We told you it would. That’s exactly why we removed it from the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio in February 2016. By Kris Rosemann As the only REIT in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrat Index and a former Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding, healthcare REIT HCP (HCP) once boasted one of the most impressive dividend track records available on the market, where 2016 had marked its 31st consecutive year of dividend increases. We’ve worked tirelessly to explain to members that it is only the future that matters when it comes to investing,
GE Positioning for Long-term Crude Oil Price Recovery
October 31, 2016
Image Source: GE, Baker Hughes Newsletter portfolio holding General Electric has agreed to merge its Oil & Gas business with Baker Hughes. By Kris Rosemann General Electric (GE) is betting big on energy these days, even as orders continue to decline in its ‘Oil & Gas’ segment as a result of continued pressure on energy resource pricing (USO, NGAS). The industrial conglomerate on October 31 agreed to merge the business with energy services giant Baker Hughes (BHI) to create a powerhouse in the sector with estimated $32 billion in annual revenue. Although we’re very cautious on the deal based on the current operating environment and uncertainty in the energy markets–GE is expecting operating income in its Oil & Gas business
Are S&P 500 Stocks Returning Too Much Cash to Shareholders?
October 31, 2016
S&P 500 companies are on pace to return a record amount of capital to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases, but what are the investment implications? Let’s take a look. By Kris Rosemann How can any company return too much cash to its shareholders, right? Well, let’s first start this discussion of recent capital allocation trends with some clarifying thoughts. We’re not against corporations returning excess capital to shareholders via dividends and buybacks (SPYB, PKW), provided they are value-generating moves. In many ways, we’re just as excited as the rest of the market about generating sustainable and growing income via strong dividend paying equities, as evidenced by the existence of the Dividend Growth Newsletter and the strong performance of its
Earnings Insight — Amazon
October 31, 2016
Image Source: Mike Mozart Let’s cover some ground on Amazon’s (AMZN) third-quarter report, released October 27. What management said: “Alexa may be Amazon’s most loved invention yet — literally — with over 250,000 marriage proposals from customers and counting,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. “And she’s just getting better. Because Alexa’s brain is in the cloud, we can easily and continuously add to her capabilities and make her more useful — wait until you see some of the surprises the team is working on now.” — CEO Jeff Bezos The scoop: The game has changed at Amazon. No longer is the company struggling to generate meaningful free cash flow; in fact, it is now throwing off copious
Podcast: The ABCs of Investing in Alphabet
October 31, 2016
The company formerly known as Google, Alphabet, has a pristine balance sheet and generates a tremendous amount of free cash flow. A paid search powerhouse that is making some big bets in other areas of the future is one of our favorite ideas. The Valuentum analyst team digs in. ~6 minutes Please access the transcript below. Tickerized for Google, Twitter, Facebook, and various Internet ETFs. Brian Nelson, CFA: This is Brian Nelson for Valuentum Securities and welcome to our podcast. Today I have joining me Mr. Kris Rosemann and Mr. Chris Araos. The topic today is going to be on Google, now calling itself Alphabet. Google is a company that we include in our Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio — ticker symbol
