Our Thoughts on Intel’s Big Divestiture Ahead of Its Earnings Report

Image Source: Intel Corporation – Second Quarter of Fiscal 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan On October 20, Intel Corporation (INTC) and South Korean-based SK Hynix announced a major transaction that will reshape the global NAND flash memory market. For reference, NAND flash memory is used in smartphones, personal computers, and other digital devices. Intel will receive $9.0 billion in cash that will be paid out in two phases, assuming everything goes as planned. In return, SK Hynix is receiving “Intel NAND memory and storage business, which includes the NAND SSD business, the NAND component and wafer business, and the Dalian NAND memory manufacturing facility in China” though Intel will retain its Intel Optane business, which caters to both … Read more

Our Thoughts on Apple Launching Its First-Ever 5G-Capable iPhone

Image Shown: Shares of Apple Inc have surged higher year-to-date. By Callum Turcan On October 13, Apple Inc (AAPL) announced its first-ever lineup of 5G-capable iPhones along with a new smart home speaker offering HomePod Mini. While the 5G-capable iPhone announcement was largely expected, we appreciate the good news all the same. We include shares of Apple as a holding in both our Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios and are big fans of the name. The HomePod Mini offering represents Apple’s way of staying competitive with similar offerings from Amazon Inc (AMZN) and Alphabet Inc (GOOG) (GOOGL). The Big News Apple’s four new iPhone offerings (iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro … Read more

Nelson: I’m Not Worried About This Market

Dear members: — First of all, I wanted to share a heartfelt thank you to all that sent kind words regarding the passing of my brother. My inbox was overflowing with your love and kindness. Len was a great person and my best friend. Without him, I don’t think Valuentum would have come into existence. Your words have been very comforting to me and my family during this difficult time. Thank you again. — With that said, I continue to be bullish on the markets over the long haul. We maintain our view that longer-duration enterprise free cash flows are worth more than they were prior to the COVID-19 market collapse, and valuation adjustments are being reset higher as a … Read more

Third-Level Thinking and “Keynesian Convergence”

Image: The analytical process of the Valuentum Buying Index rating system.  By Brian Nelson, CFA In the 2011 book, The Most Important Thing, co-founder of asset management firm Oaktree Capital Management, Howard Marks, divided stock market analytics into two levels of thinking, first-level and second-level. Marks used a few examples to explain the difference between these two levels of thinking: First-level thinking says, “It’s a good company; let’s buy the stock.” Second level thinking says, “It’s a good company, but everyone thinks it’s a great company, and it’s not. So the stock’s overrated and overpriced; let’s sell.” First-level thinking says, “The outlook calls for low growth and rising inflation. Let’s dump our stocks.” Second-level thinking says, “The outlook stinks, but … Read more

Our Thoughts on Nvidia Acquiring Arm

Image Source: Nvidia Corporation – Nvidia to Acquire Arm IR Presentation By Callum Turcan On September 13, Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) announced it would acquire Arm Limited (a semiconductor company with a heavy focus on smartphones and gaming devices) from SoftBank Group Bank Corp. (SFTBY) and SoftBank’s Vision Fund through a transaction valued at approximately $40 billion. That deal will see Nvidia pay SoftBank and the Vision Fund $12.0 billion in cash (including $2.0 billion payable at signing), $21.5 billion in Nvidia stock (equal to 44.3 million shares at the time of the announcement, though that figure could change as it depends on NVDA’s average closing price over the last 30 trading days), and the deal has an earn-out component that … Read more

3 Lessons in Portfolio Management Over 10 Years

Dear members: — We’re finally getting a pause in the rapid ascent of the markets on September 3rd. Though headlines may look scary and momentum/volatility investors could start to pile on to the downside, a modest retracement is actually a good thing. We continue to focus on the long haul with our processes, and we’re viewing the sell-off as profit taking, for the most part. — In the near term, the markets will also have to digest some speculators betting on mean reversion between “value” (cyclical) versus “growth” (secular), but we maintain the view that the value-versus-growth conversation is largely nonsense (see block quotes below), and mean reversion is something akin to the gamblers’ fallacy, in my humble opinion. Investors should also continue … Read more

Apple Reportedly Launching 5G iPhone Soon

Image Shown: Shares of Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding Apple Inc have continued to surge higher this year. The tech giant is supported by strong demand for its hardware offerings, the launch of new services, and growing demand for its existing services. We are intrigued by the upcoming launch of its first 5G-capable iPhone, which is reportedly due to be released this Fall. By Callum Turcan Very recently, Bloomberg reported that Apple Inc (AAPL) is asking its suppliers to get ready to deliver at least 75 million 5G iPhones later this year, which may grow as high as 80 million. What makes these targets particularly noteworthy is that it appears Apple is expecting demand for its … Read more

ALERT: Markets Now Fairly Valued

Hi everyone: — Long-term investing is a great proposition. You have an incredible advantage over most professional investors that have to deliver on a quarterly or annual basis. The reason is due to something called time horizon arbitrage.  — For example, where most professionals are focused on near-term economic data or near-term earnings, you can focus on how the broader earnings trajectory might look like in 2022 and beyond. I think we’d both agree that the economic data or earnings performance for the remainder of 2020 won’t matter much when we turn the calendar to 2021 in just a few months–and in 2021, the market will be looking at 2022 numbers.  — Markets will always be forward-looking, and stocks are long-duration … Read more

Valuentum Website Overview

Overview of the key features of valuentum.com/ (03:55). Valuentum (val∙u∙n∙tum) [val-yoo-en-tuh-m] Securities Inc. is an independent investment research publisher, offering premium equity reports, dividend reports, and ETF reports, as well as commentary across all sectors/companies, a Best Ideas Newsletter (spanning market caps, asset classes), a Dividend Growth Newsletter, modeling tools/products, and more. Independence and integrity remain our core, and we strive to be a champion of the investor. Valuentum is based in the Chicagoland area. Valuentum is not a money manager, broker, or financial advisor. Valuentum is a publisher of financial information. The Benefits of Premium Membership >> Subscribe Now!

Earnings Brief: NTAP, URBN, HPE, SJM, MDT

Image Source: Valuentum By Brian Nelson, CFA Pantry stuffing was prevalent during the second quarter, and mall-based retail is holding up better than some had expected. Cloud-based services companies continue to experience breakneck growth, and medical procedure volumes are picking up as we learn more and more about COVID-19. NetApp, Inc. NetApp (NTAP) is another one for your radar. According to the firm’s recent 10-K Filing, NetApp is a leader in hybrid cloud data services. The company helps its “customers ensure their data and applications are in the right place at the right time with the right characteristics and capabilities to enable new insights and accelerate innovation.” The cloud space continues to be in favor by investors. NetApp reported its … Read more