Salesforce.com Continues Rapid Revenue Expansion; Targets $5 Billion+ in Revenue for Fiscal 2015
November 19, 2013
On Monday, Salesforce.com (CRM), one of the largest firms in enterprise cloud computing, reported excellent fiscal 2014 third quarter results. Revenue surged 36% year-over-year, while deferred revenue expansion largely kept pace (up 34% year-over-year). Unbilled deferred revenue, or business that is contracted but unbilled and off balance sheet, was $4.2 billion, up 40% from the same period a year-ago. Though non-GAAP earnings per share came in at a meager $0.09 during the period, the firm posted operating cash flow of $138 million, which was up 30% on a year-over-year basis. Capital expenditures jumped to $74 million from $51 million in the year-ago period, resulting in free cash flow of $64 million (or about 6% of sales). Salesforce.com ended the quarter
Stock Market Euphoria Continues; Dow Surpasses 16,000, S&P Jumps Above 1,800
November 18, 2013
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered a solicitation to buy or sell any security or to engage in any asset allocation decisions. Please seek professional advice from your financial advisor who knows your individual needs and risk tolerances. Key Takeaways è Stock prices have become disconnected from current fundamentals, and euphoria in the stock market is running wild. è We encourage investors to assess their exposure to small caps (equities with market capitalizations under $2 billion) and determine whether a price fall of 25% or more in coming years would be tolerable. Still, we’ll likely see higher prices for small caps before we see lower ones. è The current forward 12-month P/E ratio
Dividend Increases for the Week Ending November 15
November 15, 2013
Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending November 15. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports, please click here (or use our ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header). Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Automatic Data Processing (ADP): now $0.48 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.435. EMC Insurance Group (EMCI): now $0.23 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.21. GasLog (GLOG): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.11. Griffon Corporation (GFF): now $0.03 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.025. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB): now $0.60 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.50. Medical Properties Trust (MPW): now $0.21
Valuentum’s November Edition of Its Best Ideas Newsletter!
November 15, 2013
The Best Ideas Portfolio Continues to Trounce the Market, by Brian Nelson, CFA For our new members, this is our Best Ideas Newsletter. We house our Best Ideas portfolio in this monthly publication. The Best Ideas portfolio can always be found on page 8 of the Best Ideas Newsletter. The Best Ideas portfolio includes companies that have passed the test of our analyst team. First, these firms generally have scored highly on the Valuentum Buying Index, a rating system that ranks the timeliness of ideas on the basis of 1 through 10 (with 10 being the best). Once a best idea is added to the portfolio, we typically hold on to it until it registers a 1 or 2 on
Wal-Mart’s Free Cash Flow Tumbles; Earnings Outlook Continues to Deteriorate
November 14, 2013
On Thursday, Wal-Mart (WMT) issued relatively lackluster third-quarter results. Consolidated net sales advanced 1.6% (2.7% on a constant-currency basis), but comparable store sales fell 0.3% in Walmart US and only nudged 1.1% higher at Sam’s Club (both measures exclude the impact of fuel). Consolidated operating income increased 3.6% thanks to improved performance across the board. Reported third-quarter diluted earnings per share from continuing operations came in at $1.14 per share, a 6.5% jump compared to the measure in the year-ago period. For the nine months ended in October, net cash from operating activities came in at $13.3 billion and capital expenditures were $9.5 billion, resulting in free cash flow of $3.8 billion, or about 1.1% of Wal-Mart’s massive revenue base.
Cisco’s Outlook Comes up Short; Shares under Pressure
November 14, 2013
On Wednesday, networking giant Cisco (CSCO) reported mixed fiscal first-quarter results (ending in October), and the company’s order performance in the period and fiscal second-quarter guidance came up short versus expectations. Revenue in the fiscal first-quarter dropped 2% year-over-year, but non-GAAP net income and earnings per share advanced 11.6% and 10.4%, respectively, from the prior-year period. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.53 came in a few pennies better than expected. Net cash from operations advanced to $2.65 billion from $2.47 billion in the year-ago period, while capital expenditures expanded to $315 million from $265 million. Free cash flow was $2.3 billion, or 19.3% of sales (a strong figure). Cash and investments totaled $48.2 billion and short and long-term debt totaled
Macy’s Posts Solid 3Q; Enters 4Q with Strength
November 13, 2013
On Wednesday, Macy’s (M) reported excellent third-quarter results. Comparable store sales leapt 3.5% in the quarter, while quarterly earnings jumped 31%, to $0.47 per share. Macy’s continues to execute in its key strategies—My Macy’s localization initiative (which launched across the nation in 2009), Omnichannel integration and Magic Selling (which requires a more rigorous training for new sales associates)—and noted that it saw improvement in the sales trend in every region of the country. Operating income advanced 10.8% from the same period a year ago, as the firm’s operating margin improved to 5.7% from 5.4%. Net cash from operating activities was $819 million and capital spending was $381 million, resulting in free cash flow of $438 million in the period, or
Why Airline Stocks Are Not Long-Term Investments
November 12, 2013
The worst sort of business is one that grows rapidly, requires significant capital to engender the growth, and then earns little or no money. Think airlines. Here a durable competitive advantage has proven elusive ever since the days of the Wright Brothers. Indeed, if a farsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favor by shooting Orville down. — Warren Buffett, annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, 2008. The airline industry has undergone meaningful changes since the beginning of the last decade. The painful restructuring of labor agreements and balance sheets by most of the legacy carriers via Chapter 11, the significant mega-mergers of Delta (DAL)/Northwest, UAL (UAL)/Continental, US Airways (LCC)/America West,
Surveying 3Q Performance at the Healthcare REITs
November 11, 2013
HCP Will Remain on the Dividend Aristocrat List for Some Time to Come HCP (HCP)—4.9% annual yield—a fully-integrated REIT serving the healthcare industry, reported third-quarter results October 29. Funds from operations (FFO) advanced 9% to $0.73, while FFO as adjusted per share increased 14%, to $0.79. Funds available for distribution (FAD) jumped an impressive 22% in the period, to $0.67. The company achieved cash same-property-portfolio net operating income growth of 3.7% for the period, an acceleration from the nine-month pace of 2.8%. HCP raised its full-year guidance for FFO as adjusted to the range of $2.97-$3.03 per share, representing a growth rate of 8% based on the midpoint over 2012 FFO as adjusted per share. The REIT also raised its
AIG Still Trades at a Meaningful Discount to Book Value
November 9, 2013
On October 31, AIG (AIG) reported third-quarter net income of $2.17 billion and diluted earnings per share of $1.46, compared to $1.9 billion and $1.13 per share in the same period a year ago. Pre-tax income in the firm’s insurance operations were solid during the quarter, with ‘AIG Property Casualty’ and ‘AIG Life and Retirement’ advancing 33% and 38%, respectively, from the same period a year ago. Third-quarter after-tax operating income attributable to AIG came in at $1.42 billion, or $0.96 per share, compared to $1.62 billion, or $0.99, in last year’s quarter. Net income exceeded after-tax operating income as a result of valuation allowance releases associated with deferred tax assets (a non-core boost). Image Source: AIG Though we would
