Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

Symbol Keyword

Oct 23, 2024

Boeing Burning Through Cash
Image: Boeing’s shares have seen better days. The big red flag with Boeing is its cash flow performance. The aerospace giant burned through $1.3 billion in operating cash flow in the third quarter due to lower commercial widebody deliveries and unfavorable working capital timing, and after factoring in capital spending of $611 million in the period, cash burn in terms of negative free cash flow was roughly $2 billion in the quarter. Through the first nine months of the year, Boeing has burned through over $10.2 billion in free cash flow. Boeing’s balance sheet isn’t as strong as it once was either, with $10.5 billion in cash and marketable securities versus consolidated debt of $57.7 billion. Inventories swelled to $83.3 billion at the end of its September quarter versus $79.7 billion at the end of last year. The company does have $20 billion undrawn on its credit facilities, however. We don’t think Boeing is a top idea for investors, but we do like its total company backlog of $510.5 billion, which includes over 5,400 commercial airplanes. We prefer Honeywell as our top aerospace idea and Lockheed Martin as our top defense play.

May 10, 2024

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of May 10
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Jan 8, 2024

Boeing In Negative Headlines Again; Part of 737 Max Fuselage Blows Out During Commercial Flight
Image: Boeing's shares have been quite volatile the past couple years. On January 6, Boeing received some more bad news. Part of a fuselage installed on one of its new eight-week old 737 Max 9 aircraft blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight. Boeing had been working hard to get back on track with customer perception of the safety of its 737 MAX line-up, and we view the incident as yet another hiccup in the firm’s relations with the public.

Oct 23, 2023

Lockheed Martin Represents Key Aerospace & Defense Exposure
On October 17, Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding Lockheed Martin reported decent third-quarter 2023 results with the firm growing revenue roughly 1.8% on a year-over-year basis, and the firm beating the consensus estimate for non-GAAP diluted earnings per share. We like Lockheed as our aerospace and defense exposure more than Boeing, given the latter’s long list of troubles and deteriorated financial health, punctuated in part by troubles during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and loss of life related to its 737 MAX platform. We think Lockheed offers a much better risk/reward and a healthy dividend to boot. Lockheed Martin yields ~2.8% at the time of this writing.

Nov 7, 2022

We’ve Updated Our Fair Value Estimate of Boeing; Has Aerospace Bottomed?
Image: Boeing is expecting to turn the corner with respect to positive free cash flow in 2022 and grow it to ~$10 billion annually by 2025/2026. We think this is achievable. Image Source: Boeing. The breakout of COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the airline business and the commercial aircraft-making business alike. But has the commercial aerospace industry finally bottomed?

Aug 19, 2022

Nelson: The 16 Most Important Steps To Understand The Stock Market
Image Source: Tim Green. We outline the '16 Most Important Steps to Understand the Stock Market.' We think it's important to take a read of these key stock market tenets when things are going great -- and perhaps even more important when things aren't going your way. This continues to be a working document.

Jul 27, 2022

Lockheed Martin Facing Near Term Headwinds; Longer Term Outlook Remains Bright
Image Source: Lockheed Martin Corporation – Second Quarter of Fiscal 2022 IR Earnings Presentation. Lockheed Martin Corp reported earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 (period ended June 26, 2022) that missed consensus top- and bottom-line estimates, largely due to delays in securing another domestic F-35 contract and supply chain hurdles. In our view, these are near term headwinds that are resolvable. Reportedly, Lockheed Martin is nearing a deal worth ~$30 billion with the US Department of Defense (‘DoD’) covering orders for around 375 F-35 aircraft. As it concerns supply chain hurdles, the resumption of normal economic activities (as the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is put behind the world economy) should steadily allow industrial supplies and global logistics networks to catch up. These headwinds forced Lockheed Martin to reduce its guidance for fiscal 2022 in conjunction with its latest earnings update, specifically as it concerns its revenue and diluted EPS forecasts, though the defense contractor maintained its free cash flow and ‘segment operating profit’ guidance. We continue to like Lockheed Martin in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. The geopolitical backdrop (with an eye towards the Ukraine-Russia crisis, rising tensions between the US and China, and Western concerns with Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs) is conducive for increased national defense spending in the U.S. and Western aligned nations across the globe. Lockheed Martin is well-positioned to meet those needs. Shares of LMT yield ~2.8% as of this writing.

May 13, 2022

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week May 13
Let's take a look at companies that raised/lowered their dividend this week.

Apr 26, 2022

Dividend Growth Idea Lockheed Martin Doing Its Best to Arm Western Allies
Image Shown: Dividend growth idea Lockheed Martin Corporation is very shareholder friendly. The defense contractor is doing its best to arm Ukraine and other Western allies during these difficult times. Image Source: Lockheed Martin Corporation – First Quarter of Fiscal 2022 IR Earnings Presentation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and simmering geopolitical tensions in East Asia between Western aligned nations and China over Taiwan and other issues have created a backdrop that is conducive to significant increases in national defense spending. Though we hope peace prevails soon, the realities on the ground in Ukraine and elsewhere call for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (‘NATO’) member nations and other Western aligned nations to ramp up their military budgets to deter future threats and to prepare for worst case scenarios.

Feb 1, 2022

Structural Changes in the Airline and Aerospace Business
Image Source: Valuentum. The future profile for air travel demand will be negatively impacted in the long run (relative to pre-COVID-19 expectations) as increased leisure travel from the wealth effect may not completely offset reduced business travel growth impaired by digital solutions permanently disrupting the way companies conduct business. As with Warren Buffett, who recently wrote down the value of metal casting jet-engine supplier Precision Castparts (one of the best aerospace suppliers in the business), we believe intrinsic values of others in the aerospace supply chain have been permanently reduced as well. We’re staying away from airlines and aerospace with the exception of Honeywell, which offers diversified industrial exposure and a “call option” on a gradual aerospace recovery to a “new normal.” Honeywell is included in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio and showed that it can thrive in a business environment where aerospace demand may not live up to pre-COVID-19 long-term expectations. Honeywell yields ~1.9% at the time of this writing.