MSFT

Just How Good Have We Been?

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Image: We have been absolutely pounding the table on big cap tech and large cap growth for many months now. It has been one of the rare buckets to have done well this year. By well, we mean superb. Source: Zerohedge — Hi everyone:—Brian here. Just how good have we been for members? — After capping off one of the best years in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio in 2019, we highlighted broad market put option ideas in late February and early March–right before the COVID-19 crash that shocked the markets.  — Then, just about right near the bottom, we highlighted 17 of 20 outperforming ideas–strong net-cash-rich, free-cash-flow generating powerhouses with strong secular growth tailwinds. We then went all-in in the newsletter … Read more

August Best Ideas Newsletter!

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Image: The Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. We migrated to weighting ranges at the beginning of 2018. The image above is as of the close April 15. — Hi everyone: — Trust you are well.  — Portfolio concentration among strong-performing equities has been the key to outperformance. Since the last update, we’ve witnessed some big moves from our top-weighted entities: Berkshire Hathaway (+10.7%), Facebook (+8.7%), and PayPal (+11.2%). These three entities comprise roughly 34% of the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio at the high end of the weighting ranges, more than offsetting the weaker performance from lower-weighted Cisco and Intel during the month. We continue to focus on over-weighting our “best of the best” ideas within a portfolio setting, and we’re hoping to … Read more

Apple Surges Higher Ahead of Stock Split

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Image Shown: Shares of Apple Inc have staged an impressive rally since bouncing off their March 2020 lows, with AAPL up ~46% year-to-date as of this writing on August 3. We added shares of Apple back to the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios on June 12, 2020. Later on this August, Apple intends on completing a four-for-one stock split. By Callum Turcan We added Apple Inc (AAPL) back to both the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios on June 12, 2020 (link here). Companies that are supported by secular growth tailwinds and pristine balance sheets, such as Apple, are well-positioned to deal with the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic. Shares of AAPL have surged significantly higher … Read more

Microsoft Closes Out Fiscal 2020

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Image Shown: An overview of Microsoft Corporation’s financial performance during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020. The company reported strong year-over-year revenue growth across its three main business segments. Image Source: Microsoft Corporation – Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2020 Earnings PowerPoint Presentation By Callum Turcan On June 12, 2020 (link here), we added Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) back to the Best Ideas Newsletter and the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios. We strongly appreciate Microsoft’s net cash position, high quality cash flow profile, and its long-term outlook, which is underpinned by secular growth tailwinds. On July 22, Microsoft posted fourth quarter fiscal 2020 (period ended June 30, 2020) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates, though its guidance for the current fiscal quarter … Read more

IBM’s Cloud Transition Continues

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Image Source: International Business Machines Corporation – 2019 Annual Report By Callum Turcan On July 20, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) reported second quarter 2020 earnings that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. Most of the market’s excitement centered on IBM’s ‘Cloud & Cognitive Software’ segment posting year-over-year revenue growth of ~3% in the second quarter while its company-wide GAAP revenue declined by ~5% year-over-year, though initial gains in IBM’s share price faded away during regular trading hours on July 21. In the earnings press release, IBM noted its “total cloud revenue” grew by 30% year-over-year last quarter. Shares of IBM are trading near their fair value estimate of $129 as of this writing, indicating that shares of IBM … Read more

Update on Valuentum’s Research

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Update on Valuentum’s Research — Hi everybody! — Trust you are doing great.  — Many of the top-weighted ideas in the newsletter portfolios continue to perform quite well, and two of the recent additions–Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT)–have also been delivering nicely of late. Though uncertainty remains, we couldn’t be more pleased with how things have been progressing.  — As a core part of our analytical process, we use our research and methodology to highlight ideas in the newsletter portfolios. In case you missed the July edition of the Dividend Growth Newsletter (and its portfolio), the email can be accessed here. The Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio can be accessed here (login required). Please let us know if you have forgotten your password by … Read more

July Dividend Growth Newsletter

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“The COVID-19 pandemic has all but shown it’s not the economy, or next quarter’s earnings, or last year’s book-to-market ratio or last year’s P/E ratio that drives market prices and returns; it’s enterprise valuation. Read about the duration of value composition in Value Trap.” — Brian Nelson, CFA — To add our new options commentary to your membership, please register here ($500/year). — Hi everyone!  — Trust you are doing great. I thought we could all share in on a little chuckle with this meme of Mr. T. I’ve been working for years and years explaining how important enterprise valuation, or the discounted cash flow process, is to understanding stock market prices and returns, and how most valuation ratios such as the P/E ratio, for example, … Read more

Update on Dell Technologies and VMware

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Image Source: VMware Inc – First Quarter Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Dell Technologies Inc (DELL) and VMware Inc (VMW) are back in the news as the WSJ recently reported the former is considering spinning off its enormous equity stake in the latter. Back in September 2016, Dell completed its ~$67 billion cash-and-stock acquisition of EMC which gave Dell a controlling equity stake in VMware (and a mountain of net debt in the process). As of January 31, 2020, Dell owned approximately 80.9% of VMware’s outstanding equity. Dell can spin off its equity stake in VMware tax-free after a five-year waiting period, though Dell would need to wait until September 2021 before that could occur (given when … Read more

Turbulent Fiscal Fourth Quarter Aside, Oracle Paints a Promising Outlook for Fiscal 2021

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Image Source: Oracle Corporation – Oracle Database Update September 2019 Presentation By Callum Turcan On June 16, Oracle Corp (ORCL) reported fourth quarter fiscal 2020 earnings (period ended May 31, 2020) that beat consensus bottom-line estimates and missed consensus top-line estimates, though there is some noise given the turbulence created by the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic. Additionally, Oracle declared a $0.24 per share quarterly dividend that is slated to get paid out in July, which was flat on a sequential basis. Shares of ORCL yield ~1.8% as of this writing, and we continue to like the idea as a holding in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. While shares of ORCL sold off on June 17, management painted a more optimistic … Read more

Reiterating Our Bullish Long-Term View on Stocks

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Reiterating Our Bullish Long-Term View on Stocks Image: The NASDAQ 100 Index remains resilient, bouncing off support, after breaking out to new highs recently. Some of our best ideas are included in the NASDAQ 100, and our favorite concentrations include exposure to big cap tech and large cap growth. We continue to be bullish on equities for the long run. — By Brian Nelson, CFA — Hi everyone, — Hope you are doing great! First, I wanted to let you know that we’re still working to get the second release of the survey out to you. Your participation in the survey will determine whether we launch a new business, so please do fill it out and keep a watchful eye out for … Read more