ORCL

Oracle Beats Consensus Estimates and Raises Its Dividend By 33%

by

Image Source: Oracle Corporation – September 2019 Financial Analyst Meeting Presentation By Callum Turcan On March 10, Oracle Corporation (ORCL) reported third quarter earnings for fiscal 2021 (period ended February 28, 2021) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. We include Oracle as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, and we are big fans of its impressive free cash flow generating abilities. The company’s Dividend Cushion ratio of 3.0 (a stellar ratio) earns Oracle an “EXCELLENT” Dividend Safety rating, and please note that these metrics incorporate our expectations that Oracle will push through meaningful payout increases over the coming fiscal years. We give Oracle an “EXCELLENT” Dividend Growth rating. In conjunction with its latest earnings report, Oracle … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week March 12

by

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending March 12. 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 Americold Realty Trust (COLD): now $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.21. AngloGold Ashanti (AU): now $0.384 per share annual dividend, was $0.11. Applied Materials (AMAT): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Cango Inc. (CANG): now $1.00/ADS special dividend, was $0.25. Cervus Equipment (CSQPF): now CAD 0.11 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.06. Citrix (CTXS): now $0.37 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.35. … Read more

ALERT: Raising Cash in the Newsletter Portfolios

by

January 27, 2021 ALERT: Raising Cash in the Newsletter Portfolios We are raising the cash position in the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio to 10%-20%. — By Brian Nelson, CFA — Our research has been absolutely fantastic for a long time, but 2020 may have been our best year yet. You can read the 2020 recap here. With the S&P 500 trading within our fair value estimate range of 3,530-3,920 (and the markets rolling over while showing signs of abnormal behavior), we’re raising the cash position in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio to 10%-20%. — For more conservative investors, the high end of this range may even be larger, especially … Read more

IBM Is Still A Disappointment

by

We’ve never liked IBM. The company has all the attributes of a stock that we’d prefer to stay as far away from as possible. By Brian Nelson, CFA We received a few questions regarding IBM (IBM) from members, and we wanted to make this brief post. Prior to the company’s fourth-quarter 2020 results, released January 22, shares had a price-to-fair value (P/FV) ratio of 0.96 (1=fairly valued), and they were not included in either the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, or the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, or the High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio. This means that we have very little interest in the company, and our interest continues to be minimal. You can read our take on the firm’s track record in Value … Read more

Oracle Posts Solid Earnings and Provides Favorable Near-Term Guidance

by

Image Source: Oracle Corporation – September 2019 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan On December 10, Oracle Corp (ORCL) reported second-quarter earnings for fiscal 2021 (period ended November 30, 2020) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. In the fiscal second quarter, Oracle’s GAAP revenues advanced 2% year-over-year on the back of its ‘Cloud services and license support’ segment posting 4% sales growth. The company’s GAAP operating income rose 13% year-over-year last fiscal quarter, as operating expenses shifted lower 3% thanks to the efforts of Oracle’s management team to make cost containment efforts a priority. The firm’s diluted GAAP EPS came in at $0.80 during the second quarter of fiscal 2021, up 16% year-over-year thanks in part to its weighted-average outstanding … Read more

Salesforce’s Growth Story Continues

by

Image Shown: Salesforce Inc expects its impressive revenue growth story will continue at a brisk pace going forward. Image Source: Salesforce Inc – Company IR Presentation By Callum Turcan On December 1, Salesforce Inc (CRM) reported third quarter earnings for fiscal 2021 (period ended October 31, 2020) that saw the Software-as-a-Service (‘SaaS’) giant beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. While Salesforce has historically focused on growing its core customer relationship management (‘CRM’) offerings, the firm more recently has been expanding into new and adjacent areas to extend its impressive growth runway. Acquisitions For instance, Salesforce announced it was acquiring Slack Technologies Inc (WORK) at the start of December for ~$27.7 billion in a cash-and-stock deal. This acquisition will significantly … Read more

We’re Still Huge Fans of Microsoft

by

Image Shown: A snapshot of Microsoft Corporation’s first quarter fiscal 2021 performance. We continue to be huge fans of the cash-rich tech giant. Image Source: Microsoft Corporation – First Quarter Fiscal 2021 IR PowerPoint Presentation By Callum Turcan On October 27, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) reported first quarter fiscal 2021 earnings (period ended September 30, 2020) that blew past both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. Its GAAP revenues were up 12% year-over-year, hitting $37.2 billion, while its GAAP diluted EPS jumped 32% higher on a year-over-year basis, hitting $1.82 last fiscal quarter. Leading the charge was Microsoft’s cloud-computing Azure segment, which reported 48% year-over-year sales growth, and its Dynamics 365 segment (includes offerings that meet enterprise resource planning and customer relationship … Read more

Our Thoughts on Intel’s Latest Earnings Report

by

Image Shown: An overview of Intel Corporation’s performance during the first nine months of fiscal 2020. Image Source: Intel Corporation – Third Quarter of Fiscal 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan On October 22, Intel Corporation (INTC) reported third quarter fiscal 2020 earnings (period ended September 26, 2020) that largely matched consensus expectations. Intel boosted its full-year outlook for fiscal 2020 on a net basis (which included an increase in its expected free cash flows this fiscal year) during its latest earnings update, though management reduced its forecast for Intel’s expected operating margins versus previous expectations. We continue to like Intel’s ability to generate sizable free cash flows, though we are concerned with its rising net debt load of … Read more

News Brief: Stay at Home Stocks, REITs, Housing, Oracle, and AT&T

by

Image: Number of COVID-19 cases reported weekly by WHO Region, and global deaths, 30 December 2019 through 18 October 2020. Source: WHO. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on, though the healthcare community has become more adept at reducing the incidence of death given the many treatments now available to battle the disease. We continue to stay the course with the newsletter portfolios. Many of our favorites include Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Alphabet, and PayPal, among other moaty, net-cash-rich, free-cash-flow generating powerhouses tied to secular growth trends. Our focus remains on the long haul. The business models of many stay-at-home stocks are solid as they continue to reap the rewards of the accelerated trends of home office use and e-commerce proliferation. … Read more

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

by

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