Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Dec 2, 2019

McDonald’s Enters the Chicken Sandwich Wars
Image Shown: Shares of McDonald’s Corporation have pulled back over the past couple of months after an epic run during most of 2019, which we view as the market recognizing shares of MCD had gotten way ahead of themselves. McDonald’s is testing out a new crispy chicken sandwich offering in two US cities; Knoxville, Tennessee and Houston, Texas. This pilot project is expected to run through January 2020. While McDonald’s offers the ‘McChicken,’ its new chicken sandwich offering is far more substantial (the McChicken is to a chicken sandwich what the ‘McDouble’ is to a burger) and meant to compete with offerings from privately-held Chick-fil-A and Restaurant Brands' Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. We still view shares of McDonald’s as overvalued as the top end of our fair value range estimate sits at $189 per share, and MCD trades at ~$195 per share as of this writing. Shares of McDonald’s yield 2.6% as of this writing, and while the company’s free cash flow profile is impressive, its large net debt load (~$31.7 billion as of the end of September 2019) weighs negatively on the strength of its dividend coverage.

Oct 24, 2019

Our Reports on Stocks in the Restaurants - Fast Food & Coffee/Snacks Industry
The restaurant industry has benefited from a long-term trend toward eating out, but the space has become increasingly more competitive as new concepts are introduced and successful chains expand. Not only are there pricing pressures and trade-down threats, but rising costs for commodities and labor have pressured profits. Barriers to entry are low, and many constituents have a difficult time differentiating themselves. We tend to like larger chains that benefit from scale advantages and international expansion opportunities, though niche franchises can be appealing. We’re neutral on the structure of the group.

Oct 12, 2019

ICYMI: Interview with Valuentum's President Brian M. Nelson, CFA
Catch up with Valuentum's President Brian M. Nelson, CFA in a recent interview with dividend growth investor Arne Magnus Lorentzen Ulland of the blog stockles.

Sep 17, 2019

DGN Holding Cracker Barrel Posts a Solid Quarter, Issues Promising Fiscal 2020 Guidance
Image Source: Cracker Barrel - IR Presentation.  Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding Cracker Barrel Old Country Store reported fourth quarter earnings for its fiscal 2019 (ended August 2) on September 17 that were positively received by the market. We like Cracker Barrel’s dividend growth trajectory as its payout expands alongside its free cash flows.

Jul 30, 2019

McDonald’s Not on the Value Menu
Image Source: Valuentum's 16-page Report of McDonald's. We can’t get anywhere close to McDonald’s share price with our discounted cash-flow valuation process. That doesn’t mean that shares are destined to fall, but it may indicate that the stock has pulled forward future returns. In any case, investors in McDonald’s should be cautious.

Jul 27, 2019

We Just Can’t Justify Starbucks’ Lofty Valuation, Even After Its Great Quarter
Image Shown: The red dot signifies where shares of SBUX are trading at as of midday trading on July 26. Shares of Starbucks are trading well above the top end of our Fair Value Range. We just can’t see a way to justify its current lofty valuation other than, to quote Alan Greenspan, irrational exuberance. While Starbucks has a promising growth trajectory ahead of it, we see its valuation as stretched after updating our model. The top end of our fair value estimate range stands at $89/share, well below where SBUX is trading at as of this writing.

Jun 11, 2019

Beyond Meat’s Market: $5 Billion or $1.5 Trillion?
Image: The Beyond Burger accounted for about 70% of the company’s sales in 2018. Source: S-1. The big question: how big is Beyond Meat’s opportunity? Is it $5 billion or $1.5 trillion?

Jun 5, 2019

Cracker Barrel 's Lofty (and Hidden) Dividend Yield
Image Source: Cracker Barrel Presentation (10/17). We continue to like Cracker Barrel as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. Its special dividends fly under the radar, offering those that are willing to dig a bit deeper in the analysis a nice reward.

May 14, 2019

Markets Swooning, Expect Extreme Volatility, Finger on Put-Option Trigger
Image shown: We notified members December 26 that we had moved  the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio to a "fully invested" position, from a 30% and 20% cash "weighting" at the high end of the range, respectively.

Apr 9, 2019

Top Research and Ideas You May Have Missed
Is Quant Value Giving Intrinsic Value Investors a Bad Name? Surely, you don't believe Warren Buffett's "style" is out of favor?