PepsiCo May Be A Rare Winner in This Inflationary Environment

Image Source: PepsiCo Inc – Third Quarter of Fiscal 2022 Earnings Press Release By Callum Turcan On October 12, PepsiCo Inc (PEP) reported third quarter earnings for fiscal 2022 (period ended September 12, 2022) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates, primarily due to the enormous price increases the consumer staples giant pushed through. The company also raised its full-year guidance for fiscal 2022 in conjunction with its latest earnings report, which sent shares of PepsiCo sharply higher during the following trading days. We assign PepsiCo a fair value estimate of $164 per share and the upper end of our fair value estimate range stands at $197 per share. With shares trading at ~$173 each, we think the company’s … Read more

New Payment Option! Valuentum Research Update!

Hi everyone: — We’re excited to say that we’re adding additional payment flexibility at Valuentum. — Many members have expressed interest in paying via other providers, and we have added Square to the mix. You can use credit or debit card or bank (ACH) to pay via invoice. — With all of the goings-on in the financial technology and payments space, we wanted to continue to provide members options to pay their memberships how they want and through who they want. You can always reach out to us at info@valuentum.com. — You’ll notice that we’ve also tightened our focus at Valuentum during the past 12-24 months in advance of what has certainly become a more difficult 2022 than even some … Read more

BIN Portfolio ALERT: Removing META, Adding to XLE, Adding MCD and PEP

Image Source: Valuentum Summary Removed META Added to XLE: now 4%-6%, was 1%-2% Added MCD: 4%-6% Added PEP: 4%-6% By Brian Nelson, CFA As long-term investors, the hardest part is knowing when to get back into the market with “recently-raised” cash. We’ve done a good job year-to-date through the last “performance” measurement in August. [We’ll continue to update members periodically on simulated newsletter performance across all newsletter portfolios.] But with the markets being punished since August 19, when we “raised” cash, we’re going to go back to “fully invested.” Let’s explain what this means. First, we’re still bearish on the broader markets. We’ve carved out some “alpha” we would have missed had we not captured the latest downdraft, and we … Read more

Serious Question: What Are You Looking At?

Image: Stocks with the largest 52-week losses, according to YahooFinance. By Brian Nelson, CFA Thank goodness that you’re subscribed to a service that didn’t include any of the above as top ideas in their simulated newsletter portfolios. Many were chasing returns in 2021 and are now left holding the bag this year, but we stuck to our methodology and processes, and we didn’t expose members to tremendous risks. That’s what it’s all about.  With that said, let’s talk about how we successfully navigated a number of these terrible ideas in the Exclusive publication, a monthly resource that includes an income idea, a capital appreciation idea, and a short idea consideration, released to members each month on the 8th. Exclusive Long Ideas … Read more

Fed Raises 75 Basis Points; Food Price Inflation Continues to Wreak Havoc on Consumer Budgets

Image Source: Federal Reserve The Fed upped its key benchmark rate to the range of 3%-3.25% on September 21, but it may not be enough to stem the rise in inflation. We think the market has further room to fall. By Brian Nelson, CFA We think the Fed is looking to crush the economy and break the will of businesses to raise prices. Unfortunately, there is only so much that hiking the federal funds rate can do, and much of the inflation that is hurting the consumer is coming in the form of food prices, and this doesn’t look like it will abate anytime soon. I had warned about a coming market “flush” in a late August video, in part … Read more

Nelson Nailed Food Price Inflation Risks; Markets Heading Lower

Image Source: Liz West “Milk was up 17%, poultry up 15.9%, while eggs were up 39.8% in the August CPI report.” By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi everyone: I put together a video several weeks ago on August 27, explaining how consumers were tapped out due to inflationary squeezes, particularly at the grocery store, as a big reason for being incrementally more bearish on the equity markets. The August CPI report, released September 13, showed that consumer prices advanced 8.3% on a year-over-year basis and are still accelerating, increasing 0.1 percent from July, where the pace was unchanged. Milk was up 17%, poultry up 15.9%, while eggs were up 39.8% in the August CPI report. We don’t think the market was … Read more

Nelson: Executing the Valuentum Strategy

Video: Valuentum’s President Brian Nelson, CFA, explains why he’s turned bearish on the equity markets after a great bull run. In this 8-minute video, learn about the fantastic returns of the stock market the past three years, and how the Valuentum way has cushioned the market decline in 2022. Watch now to learn about the textbook execution of the Valuentum strategy and more! –——— Tickerized for holdings in the SPY. Brian Nelson owns shares in SPY, SCHG, QQQ, DIA, VOT, BITO, and IWM. Valuentum owns SPY, SCHG, QQQ, VOO, and DIA. Brian Nelson’s household owns shares in HON, DIS, HAS, NKE. Some of the other securities written about in this article may be included in Valuentum’s simulated newsletter portfolios. Contact … Read more

Video: We Expect A Huge Market Flush! Looking to “Raise” Incremental Cash

Video: Valuentum’s Brian Nelson, CFA, breaks down the current market environment, highlighting reasons for the poor market sentiment driven by “tapped out” consumers and investors alike. He expects a big market “flush,” and a challenging next couple years but remains a big fan of stocks for the long haul. Valuentum continues to seek to “raise” incremental cash in the simulated newsletter portfolios as it prepares to weather the storm. Video length: ~10 minutes. –——— Tickerized for holdings in the SPY. Brian Nelson owns shares in SPY, SCHG, QQQ, DIA, VOT, BITO, and IWM. Valuentum owns SPY, SCHG, QQQ, VOO, and DIA. Brian Nelson’s household owns shares in HON, DIS, HAS, NKE. Some of the other securities written about in this … Read more

Valuentum’s Unmatched Product Suite

Hi everyone! — We continue to be huge believers in the concept of enterprise valuation, which emphasizes the key cash-based sources of intrinsic value–net cash on the balance sheet and strong and growing future expected free cash flows. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) remain two of the most underpriced ideas on the market today, and we remain huge fans of their tremendous long-term investment prospects. — There are a couple things worth reminding readers, however. A good relevant rule of thumb I learned early in my career working for my first portfolio manager is that a stock’s return in the near term is driven roughly 40% by the market, 30% by the industry it operates in, and 30% … Read more

Nelson: I Have Been Wrong About the Prospect of Near-Term Inflationary-Driven Earnings Tailwinds

Transcript During the past several weeks, we’ve grown increasingly concerned about the health of consumer-tied entities across not only the consumer staples but also the consumer discretionary spaces. Many consumer staples entities, while raising prices, aren’t raising them fast enough to drive operating-income and bottom-line expansion, while many consumer-discretionary companies are facing higher freight and logistics costs and weaker performance in China, perhaps best revealed by Nike’s most recently-reported quarter, where inventory advanced 23% compared to the prior-year period. The tell-tale sign about the health of the consumer may be Amazon (AMZN) Prime Day, which is coming up on July 12-13, but based on many of the reports we’ve monitored this past earnings season, even if sales are strong on … Read more