Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor
Costco announced that it is considering adding locations in Spain, Germany and Italy thanks to cheap real estate and interesting business prospects. Could this be a trend going forward?
The shift to luxury continues as Michael Kors reports a fantastic quarter and raises forward guidance.
In contrast to the profit warning from Tiffany (TIF) a couple weeks ago, Coach (COH), best known for its luxurious handbags, posted solid second-quarter results Wednesday and provided a very optimistic tone about its brand’s potential in China. We’ll be re-evaluating our long-term expectations for Coach, but we don’t expect to make a material change to our fair value estimate at this time. Coach’s sales expanded 15% in the quarter, while earnings per diluted share advanced 18%, to $1.18 per share (versus consensus expectations of $1.15 per share). Direct-to-consumer sales increased 17%, as North American comparable store sales rose 8.8% (above our mid-single-digit estimate). The firm remains optimistic about its Men’s business, which it expects to double during fiscal year … Read more
By Kris Rosemann Department stores continue to drag the broader retail space (XRT) lower in early 2017. Poor sales updates from popular general merchandise stores in the 2016 holiday season are weighing on the majority of the sector, from luxury names down to discount chains. Online retail continues to plunder traffic from traditional brick and mortar retailers as the ‘bricks-to-clicks’ movement has never been more apparent. The drop in mall foot traffic in the fourth quarter of 2016 was the largest such drop in the history of the mall as mall shoppers visited half the number of stores they did in the same period five years ago. Traditional retailers have turned to aggressive discounting, only to see their margins fade … Read more
The equity markets have welcomed a strong earnings season thus far, but valuation risk and tail uncertainties remain, not the least of which is the possibility of failed tax reform in the US. By Brian Nelson, CFA Money is cheap, and investors are partying like its 1999 all over again. The latest move on the trading vehicle for the S&P 500, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is yet again approaching new highs. We like the ongoing momentum in the stock market, something that we outlined in our “shocking” predictions for 2017, but we continue to reiterate our cautious stance, not only with respect to underlying valuations but also as it relates to the possibility of failed tax reform in … Read more
What is Valuentum Securities? Valuentum (val∙u∙n∙tum) [val-yoo-en-tuh-m] Securities Inc. is an independent investment research publisher, offering premium equity reports and dividend 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. How do I subscribe to Valuentum’s investment research services? 1) Click the following link: signup-page. 2) Select your membership plan. 3) Enter your contact details. 4) Click ‘Sign Up.’ 5) Complete your purchase. 6) Your payment profile may be recurring, so please check … Read more
A previous version of this article appeared on our website July 21, 2013. Refreshed and updated throughout, as of July 2018. By Brian Nelson, CFA After earning my MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and training stock and credit analysts from large organizations over the past decade or so, I have heard just about every question (though I admit I am still surprised by many things and remain a very humble student of the markets). I’ve also spent years perfecting the discounted cash flow process for large research organizations such as Morningstar and studied under one of the most famed aggressive growth investors of all time, Richard Driehaus. My knowledge runs the gamut from value through … Read more
A video that has been making the rounds challenging the markups at some of the high-end luxury dealers.
This article first appeared in the September edition of the High Yield Dividend Newsletter. For more information about this publication, please see here. “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” — Winston Churchill By Brian Nelson, CFA Very few of us could have imagined that we’d witness the bull market that began on that fateful day in March 2009 that might very well mark a generational low. In 2009, major investment banks around the globe were struggling to survive, and the fallout in the mortgage markets left the banks holding paper that nobody wanted to own, let alone buy. The global financial system … Read more