Apple iPhone Supply Disruptions Not Likely to Hurt Markets with Overall Holiday Sales Reportedly Strong

Image: Holiday sales are expected to expand ~2.5% in 2022 over very strong growth in 2021 and 2020. Image Source: Adobe By Brian Nelson, CFA Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook seemingly have worked out a plan for Apple to keep advertising on the Twitter platform after what looked to be a temporary pause by the iPhone maker. Though the news is immaterial to our thesis on Apple in any respect, it was good to see the two tech giants work whatever differences they had out. Certainly, a fallout between Musk and Cook would not be a good thing for the tech sector and innovation, more broadly, as the two wield large influences across Silicon … Read more

Target’s Holiday Outlook Sends Mixed Messages; Big Sales Data Week Ahead

Image Source: Valuentum “Nearly all of the slowdown was driven by our discretionary categories, Apparel, Home and Hardlines, as our guests became increasingly cautious in their spending in those categories at both Target and throughout the industry more broadly. So far in the month of November, trends have been largely consistent with what we were seeing at the end of October, in terms of our comp trends, the mix of sales between frequency and discretionary businesses and the focus on promotions by our guests.” – Target’s 3Q Conference Call By Brian Nelson, CFA After Walmart (WMT) reported its third-quarter earnings November 15, “Walmart Is Back on Track; Markets Looking Healthier,” we thought things were looking a bit better across the … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week May 21

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending May 21. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Advanced Drainage Systems (WMS): now $0.11 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.09. Ashland (ASH): now $0.30 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.275. Benchmark Electronics (BHE): now $0.165 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.16. C&F Financial (CFFI): now $0.40 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.38. Canadian Banc Corp (CNDCF): now CAD 0.0942 per share monthly dividend, was CAD 0.0918. Camping World (CWH): now $0.10 per share quarterly … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week February 25

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending February 25. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Aaron’s (AAN): now $0.1125 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.1000.           Agnico Eagle (AEM): now $0.40 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.35. Albemarle (ALB): now $0.395 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.390. Alexander & Baldwin (ALEX): now $0.19 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.18. Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN): now $0.21 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.19. AMERISAFE (AMSF): now $0.31 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.29. Apple … Read more