Structural Changes in the Airline and Aerospace Business

Image Source: Valuentum A version of this article appeared on our website April 28, 2021. By Brian Nelson, CFA The coronavirus pandemic (“COVID-19”) has fundamentally changed how companies do business. Zoom Video (ZM) has made in-person meetings largely redundant while innovative digital-agreement firms such as DocuSign (DOCU) have only contributed to the “anywhere economy.” Though there may be pent-up demand for in-person meetings and handshake agreements as the number of vaccinations for COVID-19 increase across the globe, many businesses may grow to permanently embrace the “anywhere economy” for its efficiencies and cost savings. This will impact the long-term trajectory of business air travel demand, in our opinion, with implications on the normalized intrinsic values of airlines (JETS), jet makers, and … Read more

What Really Is the “S” in ESG Investing

By Valuentum Analysts Back in October, we explored “Putting the Environmental in ESG” investing. In this article, let’s dig deep into the second consideration of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing — “Social.” While there has been greater attention paid to the social impact of companies in recent years–from the industries they operate in to the ways they impact their communities–this concept is definitely not a new trend. Investors have always cared about the impact of the companies they invest in. In the past, this idea has been encapsulated in the phrase Socially Responsible Investing (SRI), which is essentially the practice of seeking out companies that have a positive social impact on society. Some even put the earliest origins of … Read more

Salesforce Has Room to Run

Image Source: Salesforce Inc – Fourth Quarter of Fiscal 2022 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Salesforce Inc (CRM) was founded in 1999 as software-as-a-service (‘SaaS’) company built around customer relationship management (‘CRM’) software, initially a version created by its co-founders Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, Frank Dominguez, and Dave Moellenhoff. The firm is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company offers software that assists its customers with marketing, customer service, sales, digital commerce, business development, collaboration, analytics, recruitment, and numerous other activities. These offerings aim to improve workplace productivity by streamlining certain functions and automating others. Salesforce provides a comprehensive suite of software solutions designed for businesses and government entities across its Customer 360 platform, while using analytics and AI … Read more