Nelson: I Have Been Wrong About the Prospect of Near-Term Inflationary-Driven Earnings Tailwinds

Transcript During the past several weeks, we’ve grown increasingly concerned about the health of consumer-tied entities across not only the consumer staples but also the consumer discretionary spaces. Many consumer staples entities, while raising prices, aren’t raising them fast enough to drive operating-income and bottom-line expansion, while many consumer-discretionary companies are facing higher freight and logistics costs and weaker performance in China, perhaps best revealed by Nike’s most recently-reported quarter, where inventory advanced 23% compared to the prior-year period. The tell-tale sign about the health of the consumer may be Amazon (AMZN) Prime Day, which is coming up on July 12-13, but based on many of the reports we’ve monitored this past earnings season, even if sales are strong on … Read more

Taiwan Semi Firing on All Cylinders

Image Source: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company – First Quarter of 2022 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Semiconductor components, or “chips,” are the bedrock of the digital economy. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) operates numerous semiconductor fabrication sites all of the world, with its major manufacturing hub located in Taiwan, that produce chips utilized in all sorts of applications. Furthermore, Taiwan Semi is one of only a handful of companies capable of producing high-end chips at scale. Taiwan Semi’s business model revolves around producing chips for third-parties as the firm does not design semiconductor components itself, and the company is the largest semiconductor foundry in the world (foundries are chip fabrication sites specifically built to meet third-party needs). We are … Read more

Broadcom Buying VMware as “Empire Building” Streak Continues

Image Shown: Broadcom Inc is acquiring VMware Inc and the deal will significantly increase its enterprise software business. Image Source: Broadcom Inc and VMware Inc – May 2022 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Continuing with its acquisitive streak, the semiconductor and enterprise software giant Broadcom Inc (AVGO) announced on May 26 that it would acquire hybrid cloud services provider VMware Inc (VMW) through a cash-and-stock deal that values VMware at ~$61 billion. Additionally, Broadcom will assume ~$8 billion in net debt from VMware. This follows in the footsteps of Broadcom’s $18.9 billion deal to acquire CA Technologies in 2018 and its $10.7 billion deal to acquire the enterprise security business of then-Symantec, now NortonLifeLock Inc (NLOK), in 2019. Under the … Read more

Dividend Growth Idea Qualcomm Beats Estimates; Near Term Guidance Incredibly Bright

Image Shown: Dividend growth idea Qualcomm Inc has a stellar cash flow profile. Image Source: Qualcomm Inc – 10-Q SEC filing covering the Second Quarter of Fiscal 2022 By Callum Turcan On April 27, Qualcomm Inc (QCOM) reported second quarter earnings for fiscal 2022 (period ended March 27, 2022) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. The company is a leader in the technologies relating to 5G wireless, Internet of Things (‘IoT’) trend, semi-autonomous and autonomous driving, and handset operations. We include Qualcomm as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio as we view its dividend strength and payout growth outlook quite favorably. Shares of QCOM yield ~2.3% as of this writing. The firm’s latest earnings update and … Read more

ESG Newsletter Portfolio Idea ASML Holding May Further Boost Longer Term Guidance

Image Shown: How ASML Holding Inc’s photolithography systems are used to produce semiconductor components, including the most cutting edge “chips” along with more mature semiconductor components. Image Source: ASML Holding Inc – Fiscal 2021 Annual Report By Callum Turcan The maker of advanced photolithography systems that are used to produce the most cutting edge semiconductor components or “chips” is the Dutch firm ASML Holding NV (ASML). It has a virtual monopoly at the high-end of this market due to its technological prowess in this space and focus on R&D. The firm also produces photolithography systems to make more mature chips and offers services that are primarily geared towards its installed systems base. ASML Holding reported first quarter earnings for fiscal … Read more

Dividend Growth Idea Qualcomm Growing Robustly

Image Shown: Dividend growth idea Qualcomm Inc posted a solid earnings update and provided promising near term guidance on February 2. Image Source: Qualcomm Inc – First Quarter of Fiscal 2022 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan On February 2, dividend growth idea Qualcomm Inc (QCOM) reported first quarter earnings for fiscal 2022 (period ended December 26, 2021) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. The semiconductor company issued guidance for the current fiscal quarter that calls for double-digit revenue and earnings growth versus fiscal year-ago levels, though shares of QCOM still dipped modestly in after-hours trading that day. We continue to like Qualcomm as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio as the firm remains a free … Read more

Apple Blows Past Expectations in Fiscal First Quarter!

  Image Source: Valuentum  By Brian Nelson, CFA On January 27, 2022, Apple Inc. (AAPL) put up one of the best quarters by any company in history and a record for the Cupertino-based iPhone-making giant. Revenue for the quarter ending December 25, 2021, of $123.9 billion advanced 11% on a year-over-year basis, while quarterly earnings per share came in at $2.10. The top line beat expectations by more than $5 billion, even with supply chain hurdles, and the bottom-line beat of $0.20 per share was more than 10%, a huge delta considering the size of the company. We’re viewing the report very positively, and we think the strong performance may ease some broader market concerns. Apple’s gross and operating margins … Read more

Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater

Image: Erica Nicol Takeaways: Junk tech should continue to collapse, but the stylistic area of large cap growth and big cap tech should remain resilient. Moderately elevated levels of inflation coupled with interest rates hovering at all-time lows isn’t a terrible combination. In fact, it’s not bad at all. The markets are digesting the huge gains of the past few years so far in 2022, and the excesses in ARKK funds, crypto, SPACs, and meme stocks are being rid from the system. Our best ideas are “outperforming” the very benchmarks that are outperforming everyone else. The BIN portfolio is down 6.4% and the DGN portfolio is down 3.2% year to date. The SPY is down 7.8%, while the average investor … Read more

Net Cash Rich Micron Technology Beats Estimates and Issues Favorable Near Term Guidance

Image Source: Micron Technology Inc – First Quarter of Fiscal 2022 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan On December 20, Micron Technology Inc (MU) reported first quarter earnings for fiscal 2022 (period ended December 2, 2021) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. Underlying demand for Micron Technology’s DRAM, NAND, and NOR offerings (used as memory solutions in personal computers, automobiles, data centers, smartphones, and various electronics devices) remained robust last fiscal quarter. The company has done a great job navigating supply chain hurdles and semiconductor component and equipment shortages in the wake of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic to continue meeting booming customer demand.  Shares of Micron Technology surged higher after it published its latest earnings report December 20 … Read more

Shares of Dividend Growth Idea Qualcomm Surge Higher

Image Shown: Shares of dividend growth idea Qualcomm Inc have skyrocketed since the start of November in the wake of its latest earnings update and favorable guidance put out during a recent investor day event. By Callum Turcan Over the next decade, dividend growth idea Qualcomm Inc (QCOM) expects its addressable market opportunity will grow by $100 billion, reaching $700 billion, according to guidance put out during a big Investor Day event held on November 16. We appreciate Qualcomm’s ever-expanding growth runway and include shares of QCOM as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. On November 3, Qualcomm reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2021 earnings (period ended September 26, 2021) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. Additionally, Qualcomm … Read more