Nvidia Beats Low Expectations and Shares are Rewarded Accordingly

Image Source: Nvidia Corporation – IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Nvidia Corporation (NVDA), like the rest of the semiconductor industry, has been on a wild ride over the past few years. On the one hand, the industry has benefited from the cloud-computing build out and the rise of smartphones, along with the emergence of autonomous driving, the internet of things (“IoT”), machine learning, and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, semiconductors are now contending with headwinds from the bust in the cryptocurrency craze, the sharp slowdown in data center investments due in part to ongoing trade wars, and other factors like excess inventory. Expectations were very low for Nvidia heading into its second quarter FY2020 earnings, released August 15, which … Read more

Tesla and GameStop Face Selling Pressure After Notable Disappointments

Image Source: Kamil Murat Yılmaz Tesla reported a significant shortfall in its first quarter 2019 deliveries amid global distribution growing pains, which called in to question its ability to deliver on its reiterated guidance for 2019. Meanwhile, video game retailer GameStop continues to face challenges presented by headwinds beyond its control and expects its revenue contraction to accelerate in fiscal 2019. We’re not interested in shares of either company. By Kris Rosemann Tesla’s First Quarter Deliveries Disappoint, But Full Year Guidance Reiterated Electric car maker Tesla (TSLA) stumbled out of the open April 4 after its April 3 release of its first quarter 2019 deliveries figure, which came in markedly short of expectations. 63,000 deliveries in the quarter was more … Read more

Private Equity Likely Interested in GameStop As Netflix Shocks Gaming Industry

Netflix may have taken the initial steps to enter the video-gaming market. Even as the digital streaming of games may have already signaled the death knell of GameStop’s lucrative physical used-game business, that Netflix may be moving into video games may further truncate not only GameStop’s longevity, but also have ramifications across the entire video-gaming landscape. Private equity may be interested in GameStop, nonetheless. By Brian Nelson, CFA The video-gaming complex was upended June 13 when Netflix (NFLX) announced that it would be producing “an interactive Minecraft series for kids and licensing Stranger Things for a video game.” Netflix said it doesn’t “have any plans to get into gaming,” but we think it only makes sense and is likely inevitable. … Read more

Shopping for Income Within Retail in a Digital World

Image Source: Mike Mozart The 2017 holiday shopping season has shown that e-commerce has never been stronger and it will only continue to grow. But there is still potential for income generation among more traditional retailers. Investors must be tremendously discerning in this area, however, as margin, and ultimately free cash flow, pressures remain prevalent. We like Walmart, Target, Costco as income ideas in retail, but TJX Companies and Best Buy may be worth a look. We’re avoiding the department stores and teen retail like the plague, regardless of their Dividend Cushion ratios. By Kris Rosemann and Brian Nelson, CFA What an incredible time we’re living in. For those that study history, the US’ pressure on other countries like China … Read more

Random Musings: Retail, REITs, BlackBerry, and More

Image shown: Best Buy’s resiliency in the face of competition from Amazon. Let’s cover some recent news. By Brian Nelson, CFA The markets have been relatively flattish the past week or so, but that may not mean much. They could still be digesting some of the big gains thus far in 2017 before potentially staging their next move. At the close June 26, the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY), a proxy for the S&P 500 stood at $243.29. For some reason, I felt it important to make note of this level, as if it were an important one. Things have been very quiet for a long time now, and I get the feeling that an inflection point may be … Read more

Hit or Miss in the Video Gaming Entertainment Industry

The Valuentum analyst team talks the latest and greatest trends in the video game entertainment industry from tried-and-true titles to the financial positions of the largest players to retail big box and beyond. ~9 mins. Kris Rosemann: Welcome to Valuentum’s podcast. I’m Kris Rosemann and joining us today is Mr. Chris Araos. Chris, you have a strong background as an observer of trends in the video game entertainment industry. How would you say the world of gaming is shaping up these days? Chris Araos: Well, Kris — a lot has changed in video gaming in just the past five years thanks to the emergence of more-advanced mobile phones, which are just great devices to play games on. Unlike PCs or … Read more

What the Pokémon Sensation Means

Image Source: Eduardo Woo By Jessica Bishop You might not think putting fuzzy little creatures on a map can drive a company’s market capitalization up more than $7+ billion in one single day (its highest one-day surge since 1983), but Pokémon Go did just that. Starting out as collectible trading cards in the late 1990’s and evolving into a video game franchise, Pokémon is back in the spotlight, bringing excitement to investors. Nintendo’s (NTDOY) equity has jumped 50%+ in all since the company unveiled its new game. Let’s talk about why you should care. What Is Pokémon Go? Pokémon Go is a new game (app) for the smartphone that’s been gaining momentum in the US since the morning of its … Read more

Videogaming Business Becoming More and More Attractive

Image Shown: The video game industry has been placing a much greater emphasis on growing their mobile gaming operations in recent years. Part of that strategy has involved leveraging existing IP and well-known gaming titles to appeal to a wide range of users. Image Source: Electronic Arts Inc – Second Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation Executive Summary: Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Take-Two Interactive Software have pristine balance sheets, stellar cash flow profiles, and their business models are supported by secular growth tailwinds such as the rise of the global middle class (and more broadly, additional households in emerging economies gaining access to the internet), a growing casual and dedicated video game user base across the globe, and … Read more