Brian Nelson

Valuentum Selects Xignite to Provide Pricing and Financial Data for its Stock Reports

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Woodstock, IL, September 4, 2011—Valuentum Securities, Inc, a provider of independent investment research, has chosen Xignite, Inc, the leading cloud services provider of on-demand financial market data and application components, to provide historical pricing data and financial statement data to power its 16-page equity research reports. As a leading provider of independent equity research, Valuentum is driven to provide individual investors with the most comprehensive stock analysis on the Web. Valuentum selected Xignite as a data partner because Xignite’s Web services delivery model and cost-effective pricing enabled Valuentum to further its mission to serve the growing needs of the individual investor without any additional investment in hardware, software, vendor tools, or custom coding. “As other equity research providers abandon the … Read more

Valuentum Begins Publishing 16-page Stock Research Reports

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Woodstock, IL, September 4, 2011—Valuentum Securities, Inc., a provider of independent investment research, has begun publishing equity research reports for the largest U.S. companies. During the next 12 months, Valuentum plans to produce 16-page equity research reports for up to 1,800 companies currently monitored by its analyst team. The reports are available with a subscription to Valuentum.com, the company’s investment Web site.   “We strive to be the champion of the individual investor, and our equity research reports are targeted to meet their needs.” said Brian Nelson, president of equity research at Valuentum. “The proliferation of untrustworthy financial opinions on the web and the poor performance of once-trusted independent equity research providers have left the individual investor underserved in today’s difficult market environment. Individual investors … Read more

Rush Could Ride the Coming Truck Upcycle to New Highs

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Rush Enterprises (RUSHA) is a full-service, integrated retailer of commercial vehicles and related services. Through its network of Rush Truck Centers, the company provides one-stop service for the needs of its commercial vehicle customers, including retail sales of new and used vehicles, aftermarket parts sales, service/repair stations, and financing/leasing-related products (Image Source: 2010 Annual Report).   Key Strengths The firm’s parts and services segment generates roughly 60% to 70% of total gross profit. This is a higher margin and recurring revenue stream — more lucrative than truck sales and its rental and leasing business lines (Image Source: 2010 Annual Report) Parts and services continue to grow rapidly. The firm is the only authorized dealer for Peterbilt, made by Paccar (PCAR) and International … Read more

Dick’s Sporting Goods Appears Slightly Overvalued

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The ever expanding Dick’s Sporting Goods looks fairly valued   With the recent tremendous success that we’ve seen in Under Armour (UA), Nike (NKE), and Adidas, it’s natural to look at the company bringing these products to the consumer. Not surprisingly, it’s a pretty competitive landscape, and we’re initiating coverage of the biggest player, Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) at a fair value of $30 per share. We think the market may be a little too enthusiastic about the company’s growth prospects.   Riding the sports apparel tailwind   If any company has benefited from the strength in Under Armour, it’s been Dick’s. The company accounts for over 30% of UA sales, and with its premium brand name, has been able … Read more

Best Idea Collective Brands Beats Estimates, Shares Up Over 20%

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Earlier Collective Brands (PSS), one of our best ideas, reported second-quarter earnings that beat most analysts’ estimates and announced a plan to unlock shareholder value. Sales were up nearly 5% and net of a large goodwill impairment, earnings came in at $0.16 a share. The numbers weren’t the big news. Collective announced that it will pursue “strategic initiatives to unlock shareholder value” which we speculate involves a sale of the company, possibly to a private equity firm, or a spin-off of the successful PLG group. We’ve thought that a sum of the parts evaluation shows the true value of Collective, but we underestimated management’s willingness to deliver, and are very pleasantly surprised. We are maintaining our fair value of $24, … Read more

We Outline Our Bullish Case for Ford

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One of the best trades of the 1980’s could be relevant again today: we love Ford   Famous investor and manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund Peter Lynch is best known for his “buy what you know” strategy. Though Lynch did a lot more than just go to malls and buy stock in the most popular stores, occasionally the best investment opportunities are right in front of you. We think investors will have a chance to replicate Lynch’s famous auto trade of the 1980’s today with shares of Ford inexplicably tumbling towards the single digits. On a discounted cash-flow basis, we think Ford is worth $20 if we double dip into a second recession, $34 under the continued low-growth scenario, … Read more

Target Issues Strong Second Quarter, Posts Best Comps in Four Years

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Target Corp (TGT) reported strong second-quarter results Wednesday that showed accelerating same-store sales growth (its best showing in four years), but modest operating-income and net-earnings expansion that still beat expectations. Total sales increased about 5% thanks to a 3.9% jump in comps, while segment EBIT expanded 4.6% from the same period a year ago. The firm’s earnings per share leapt 11.5% during the quarter (mostly driven by share buybacks), and the company issued full-year 2011 diluted EPS in the range of 4.15 to $4.30, a range we think is achievable. The firm’s average transaction amount increased 3.5% from the same period a year ago, thanks to a 1.8% jump in units per transaction and a 1.7% increase in the average … Read more

Home Depot Outshines Lowe’s in its Second Quarter

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Home Depot (HD) reported solid second-quarter results Tuesday that revealed a strong rebound in its seasonal business and strength in its core categories (hardware, building materials, and electrical), despite the sluggish housing recovery. We like the name better than peer Lowe’s (LOW), but don’t feel diving head first into a housing market play is best at this point in the economic recovery. Home Depot’s sales jumped over 4% from the same quarter a year ago on a similar percentage jump in global comps, while earnings per diluted share expanded nearly 20%, a very impressive growth number. Operating income increased 12% and net earnings increased over 14%, so we were quite pleased with Home Depot’s ability to leverage sales expansion in … Read more

Luxury Continues Positive Momentum as Nordstrom and Saks Post Strong Results

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In the midst of luxury earnings season, we were not at all surprised to see Nordstrom (JWN) and Saks (SKS) post excellent results. Nordstrom ended the quarter with revenues up 12.4% and consolidated same store sales up 7.3%. Breaking its downward trend, Nordstrom Rack posted a 4.8% comp, which we think is impressive given the current success of the full-price Nordstrom store. During 2009 and early 2010, Nordstrom Rack posted terrific growth as it served as the means to deleveraging the massive inventory build that took place in 2007 and 2008. However, the discounter struggled in the first half, likely due to less fashionable items hitting their shelves. In spite of an excellent quarter, we think shares of Nordstrom are … Read more

Wal-Mart Raises Full-Year Guidance, Sam’s Club Drives Results

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Wal-Mart (WMT) issued fiscal 2012 second-quarter results Tuesday that showed resiliency in the face of a difficult consumer spending environment. Net sales advanced 5.5% from the same period a year ago, while diluted earnings per share rose over 12% from last year’s quarter. Total US comps were flat during the period, as continued strong performance at Sam’s Club largely offset declines at Wal-Mart US, which, despite lower comps, posted its best quarterly performance since the third quarter of fiscal 2010. Impressively, Wal-Mart International increased net sales by over 16% in the quarter, a nice showing. The retailer narrowed and raised its full-year guidance to the range of $4.41 to $4.51 per share, which implies about 8% earnings growth at the … Read more