The Best Ideas for 2014 and Beyond: Part I

The Valuentum Buying Index, our stock selection methodology, identifies firms that are 1) undervalued on a discounted cash-flow basis (e.g. three-stage fully-populated valuation model with complete financial statements), 2) undervalued on a relative value basis versus peers and the firm’s closest competitors, where applicable, and 3) just starting to show interest by investors as measured by technical/momentum indicators, providing the mechanism to drive a firm’s price to its fair value. Without the latter component, investors have a heightened risk of holding an underpriced stock for an extended period of time, one that may turn out to have little prospects for eventual price-to-fair-value convergence. Once a firm is added to the Best Ideas portfolio or Dividend Growth portfolio, generally with a Valuentum … Read more

Alcoa Sets a Positive Tone for Earnings Season

Monday afternoon marked the unofficial start of first-quarter earnings season, as industrial bellwort Alcoa (click ticker for report: ) reported its results. For the first quarter, revenue fell nearly 3% year-over-year and 1% sequentially to $5.8 billion, just shy of consensus estimates. Earnings per share, net of one-time special items, increased 22% year-over-year to $0.11, easily exceeding consensus expectations. Although Alcoa isn’t nearly as important to the US economy as it once was, the firm still provides a general overview of several important sectors. Aluminum prices were flat during the quarter, but the firm anticipates global growth of 7% with supply and demand remaining balanced. Image Source: Alcoa Analyst Presentation Q1 2013 Alcoa sees a positive outlook for several sectors … Read more