Our Reports on Stocks in the Semiconductor Equipment Industry

Image Source: Applied Materials Structure of the Semiconductor Equipment Industry The semiconductor equipment industry is highly competitive and characterized by rapid technological change. Success hinges on the ability to commercialize new technology in a timely manner, continuously enhance products to improve efficiency of customer fab operations, and manage costs and inventory effectively. Performance of constituents is heavily influenced by manufacturing capacity and fab utilization rates, which together create volatile demand cycles. The potential for unexpected shifts in demand for the group’s products leaves us unexcited about the industry’s structural characteristics. We’ve optimized our technology coverage. Reports can be found here.

Semiconductors Broadcom and Cree Push Forward in an Uncertain Environment

Image Source: Broadcom Inc – IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Broadcom (AVGO) posted third quarter earnings for its fiscal 2019 on September 12. The semiconductor and enterprise software giant reported GAAP revenues of $5.5 billion (up 9% year-over-year) and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $5.16 (up 4% year-over-year). The initial reaction from Wall Street was pessimistic on September 13 but shares of AVGO climbed later in the trading session to recover some of those initial losses. Reiterating FY2019 Outlook, FY2020 Outlook Uncertain Right off the bat, one thing we think is very important is that Broadcom reaffirmed revenue guidance for FY2019 calling for $22.5 billion in net sales ($17.5 billion from semiconductor solutions and $5.0 billion from infrastructure software sales). However, … Read more

Short-Term Headwinds Aside, Applied Materials Has a Bright Dividend Growth Trajectory

Image Source: Applied Materials Applied Materials’ strong free cash flow generation drives our favorable opinion of its dividend health, but investors should not ignore the inherent volatility and rapidly-changing dynamics of the semiconductor space, which introduces additional risk to our forecasts of future free cash flows. Near-term headwinds are prevalent for the company, but we think it is well-positioned to capitalize on future growth opportunities, thanks in part to a dedication to robust R&D spending. By Callum Turcan Applied Materials Inc (AMAT) is a player in the semiconductor space with a dividend yield of 2.1% as of this writing. The company sells equipment used to fabricate semiconductors, including spare parts and other equipment that are either ancillary or auxiliary to … Read more

Valuentum Stock Screeners

This article was sent to members via email December 29. That email can be accessed at the link that follows this article. By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi everyone, I wanted to provide an update with respect to Valuentum’s stock screeners. We believe our stock screeners are among the most robust when it comes to providing forward-looking data, or data that is important with respect to the investment decision-making process. We publish screens in each of the monthly newsletters, but we also provide a basic weekly screener for download on the left column of the website, “Download Weekly Stock Screener (xls) — login required.”   We also have other products. The more robust DataScreener, for example, is part of the quarterly Financial … Read more

Market Mayhem — Alerts for Members

During these extremely volatile times, it’s important to stay focused. On December 15, we informed all of our members to “Pay Attention.” Shortly thereafter, we notified members of the potential for a stock market technical breakdown. This morning, we offered a pre-market briefing about the importance of thinking about portfolio protection. For Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=e2406cd6-c113-4344-8731-493f33fc44a4&id=preview For High Yield Dividend Newsletter members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=b3ba530f-38b3-489a-ac96-2961dca89c6b&id=preview For Exclusive members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=ba6d90c0-4433-48b2-9b8a-aac4ddf9006e&id=preview We’re here for any questions. Please just let us know how we can help! Kind regards, Brian Nelson, CFA  brian@valuentum.com

Valuentum’s Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) Distribution

The weighted average cost of capital is one of the most subjective measures in corporate finance, but it is also one of the most important ones. “The most important item over time in valuation is obviously interest rates…If interest rates are destined to be at low levels…It makes any stream of earnings from investments worth more money. The bogey is always what government bonds yield….Any investment is worth all the cash you’re going to get out between now and judgment day discounted back. The discounting back is affected by whether you choose interests rates like those of Japan or interest rates like those we had in 1982…When we had 15 percent short-term rates in 1982, it was silly to pay … Read more

In The News: Facebook, China and the Semiconductor Complex

Facebook gets a new Street high price target, while news ebbs and flows regarding US-China tech relations. By Brian Nelson, CFA There’s a new Street high price target on one of our favorite ideas, Facebook (FB), and it’s $275 per share. Facebook has been the most recent 10 on the Valuentum Buying Index, and despite ongoing “noise” with respect to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, we value shares at $250 each. We’re also reiterating our view that our discounted-cash-flow-based valuation only considers ongoing trends on an advertising-only business model, not incremental upside from processing payments on its platform or innovation at Instagram, which recently put together a new product called IGTV, a You-Tube-like offering. We think the Facebook “story” is still … Read more

Study: Valuentum’s Best Ideas Newsletter Portfolio

To read the study, please click on the image to download the pdf document (pdf).

ICYMI: Valuentum’s Improved Stock and ETF Web Pages

Valuentum has rolled out improved stock and ETF web pages on its website valuentum.com/. Now, subscribers can access key proprietary information on the stock and ETF web pages in addition to the customary stock and ETF reports. Dear reader, We have some exciting news that we can’t wait to share with you! At valuentum.com/, we have rolled out new stock and ETF pages that conveniently include a variety of our proprietary metrics from the Dividend Cushion ratio to the Economic Castle rating and beyond! There’s even mouseover functionality so you can learn about how we define the key metrics across our stock-selection and dividend growth methodologies. You’ll still have access to the stock and dividend reports on the landing pages, … Read more

The “Luck” and “Randomness” of Index Funds

Please select the image below to download the document. Image shown, page 1 of 14. Tickerized for Valuentum’s coverage universe.