CMG

Best Ideas Booking Holdings, Chipotle Hit All-Time Highs!

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Image: Booking Holdings and Chipotle hit brand new all-time highs! By Brian Nelson, CFA Two of our favorite investment idea considerations held within the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, Booking Holdings (BKNG) and Chipotle (CMG), have just hit all-time highs. Our fair value estimate of Booking Holdings stands north of $3,600, and we still expect more upside potential in shares. As it relates to Chipotle, we’re huge fans of its long-term restaurant growth potential, and we see upside potential on the basis of the high end of our fair value estimate range. We continue to reiterate our positive stance on both ideas.  ———- It’s Here!  The Second Edition of Value Trap! Order today!   —– Brian Nelson owns shares in SPY, SCHG, … Read more

Chipotle’s Long-Term Growth Outlook Intact

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Image Source: Valuentum  By Brian Nelson, CFA On October 26, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) reported better-than-expected third-quarter results with the top line increasing 11.3% on a year-over-year basis and non-GAAP earnings per share beating the consensus estimate. Comparable store sales advanced 5% in the period, while the company drove meaningful improvement in its operating margin, despite nagging inflationary pressures in beef and cheese prices. We’re huge fans of Chipotle’s long-term unit growth story, and we expect the rollout of Chipotlane drivethru’s to pave the way for an expanded menu, maybe in the breakfast daypart in the years ahead. Here’s what CEO Brian Niccol had to say about the ahead. Chipotle’s value proposition including customized, delicious culinary served quickly with great hospitality, is … Read more

There Will Be Volatility

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By Brian Nelson, CFA Last year, 2022, was a big test for equity investors, and the downside volatility that we witnessed during the year wasn’t comfortable, to say the least. Following the COVID-19 crash and rebound during 2020, and then the market surge in 2021, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say many investors’ heads are probably still spinning from all the volatility witnessed to start this decade. That said, part of what we’ve been warning about the past few years with respect to the equity market, especially in Value Trap, is that the proliferation of price-agnostic trading (e.g. quant, machine/algorithmic trading, etc.) will only lead to more and more market volatility, so while we were somewhat surprised by last … Read more

ICYMI: Questions for Valuentum’s Brian Nelson

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Valuentum’s President Brian Nelson, CFA, answers your questions. Q: What Is Valuentum? A: In short, it is a strategy that combines the concepts of value and momentum within individual stocks. We measure value through the cash-based sources of intrinsic value – net cash on the balance sheet and future expected free cash flow. We measure momentum rather simply, generally via relative strength or other technical and momentum indicators. We like stocks with strong net cash positions on the balance sheet, ones that are generating tremendous free cash flow, and have strong secular growth prospects such that the prospect for expectations of free cash flow can continue to be ratcheted higher. Today, most Valuentum stocks are included in the stylistic area … Read more

Domino’s Pizza Breaks Through Downtrend on Uber Eats and Postmates Deal

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Image Source: Domino’s Pizza is up nearly 14% on a year-to-date basis during 2023, but the company’s shares haven’t done much over the past 52 weeks. By Brian Nelson, CFA On July 12, Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) announced that it had inked a new deal with Uber (UBER) that would allow customers in the U.S. to order Domino’s food through the Uber Eats and Postmates apps with delivery provided by drivers of Domino’s and its franchisees. Domino’s Pizza continues to be a standout leader in digital initiatives across the restaurant arena, and the firm noted that the new agreement will open up Domino’s and its franchisees “to a new segment of customers and what (it) believes will be a meaningful amount of … Read more

ALERT: Going to “Fully Invested” in the Best Ideas Newsletter Portfolio

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Image: Since the publishing of the first edition of the book Value Trap, the stylistic area of large cap growth (SCHG) has meaningfully outperformed both the equal-weight S&P 500 (SPY) and small cap value (IWN). Summary of Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio changes UnitedHealth Group (UNH): 0% –> 4%-6% Booking Holding (BKNG): 0% –> 4%-6% Chipotle (CMG): 1%-2% –> 6%-8% Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK): 0% –> 4%-6% By Brian Nelson, CFA With the debt-ceiling debate behind the markets, the regional banking crisis largely in the rear-view mirror, and the Fed winning the fight against inflation, a continuation of the strength in the markets as witnessed from the October 2022 lows can probably be expected. We “rode” the latest upswing with … Read more

Earnings Roundup

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By Brian Nelson, CFA PayPal Holdings (PYPL) best days may be behind it. We’re not sure why there is so much consumer backlash against the company, but we think the fallout not only has impacted the company’s business fundamentals but also its stock. PayPal’s fall from grace started when rumors began to swirl about its potential interest in Pinterest (PINS), and we no longer can get behind the firm’s shares. As with Meta Platforms (META), we were burned pretty bad last year with PayPal, and while the newsletter portfolios did quite well on a relative basis during 2022, it’s hard to swallow that two of our favorite ideas just didn’t live up to expectations. In any case, PayPal’s shares are … Read more

Chipotle Hits All-Time High, Microsoft Doesn’t Disappoint in Calendar First-Quarter 2023

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Image: Ideas in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio are doing great! Shares of Chipotle are up ~45% so far in 2023, while shares of large cap growth giant Microsoft (orange) are up more than 20% year-to-date. By Brian Nelson, CFA The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has decided to block Microsoft’s (MSFT) deal with Activision (ATVI). The CMA noted that the combination would “result in the most powerful operator in the fast-developing market for cloud gaming, with a current market share of 60%-70%, acquiring a portfolio of world-leading games with the incentive to withhold those games from competitors and substantially weaken competition in this important growing market.” Microsoft has been willing to work with regulators to get the deal done, … Read more

1Q 2023 Earnings Coming in Better Than Feared Thus Far

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By Brian Nelson, CFA We’ve been receiving questions about the companies that we are looking to add to the Best Ideas Newsletter to replace the ones we recently removed, and I can say that we’re strongly considering adding Booking Holding (BKNG) and adding to the existing “position” in Chipotle (CMG) following their first-quarter 2023 results. We recently raised our fair value estimate for Booking Holding significantly (now $3,091; was $2,147 per share), and we expect a huge fair value increase at Chipotle in the coming weeks. Booking Holding will report its first-quarter 2023 earnings in early May, while Chipotle will report first-quarter 2023 results on April 25. We have several other ideas in mind to add to the Best Ideas … Read more

Brief Take: Chart of Best Ideas Newsletter Portfolio Idea Chipotle Looks Beautiful!

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Image: Chipotle’s shares have surged to a 52-week high. We continue to like the company’s long-term market opportunity. Brian Nelson, CFA Chipotle’s (CMG) shares have broken out to a 52-week high, and its chart looks beautiful. We attribute the recent strength in shares to greater conviction by the market in the company’s long-term restaurant growth potential. The company expects to open 255-288 new restaurants in 2023, a number that includes roughly a dozen or so restaurants that will be relocated to accommodate a Chipotlane drive-through. Adding more Chipotlanes, an initiative that grew out of meeting the needs of consumers during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, is key to our long-term thesis on the name. The pace of restaurant growth … Read more