QCOM

Valuentum’s 3 Breakthroughs in the Field of Finance and More

by

Valuentum’s President Brian Nelson pauses for a picture before speaking at the CFA Society of Houston in March 2017. By Valuentum Editorial Staff Let’s cover Valuentum’s 3 major breakthroughs in the field of finance. The first one is big and may challenge you to rethink everything you think you know about investing. 1. On a logical framework, Valuentum has debunked John C. Bogle’s landmark syllogism that has paved the way for the concept of index investing. Index investing has been built on a logical shortcoming, whether supported by evidence or not. We think it is important that the investment community know of this. Read (pdf): The “Luck” and “Randomness” of Index Funds (2018), Brian Nelson, CFA See video documentation: /FALLACY_of_Index_Funds To … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending April 14

by

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending April 14. 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 Antero Midstream (AM): now $0.30 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.28. Citi Trends (CTRN): now $0.08 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.06. Euronext NV (EUXTF): now EUR 1.42 per share annual dividend, was EUR 1.24. Foot Locker (FL): now $0.31 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.275. Genesis Energy (GEL): now $0.72 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.71. Gladstone Investment (GAIN): now $0.064 per share monthly dividend, … Read more

Nelson’s Earnings Roundup: GOOG(L), PYPL, INTC

by

Image Source: Aaron Fulkerson Let’s get President of Valuentum Brian Nelson’s quick thoughts on the earnings reports of Alphabet, Paypal, and Intel, all very important holdings in the newsletter portfolios. By Brian Nelson, CFA Alphabet The Mountain View, California-based Internet search giant continues to do a lot of things right. CFO Ruth Porat called the top-line growth in the fourth-quarter results of the company formerly called Google “exceptional.” Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) is the lifeblood of the Internet, and consumers every day consult Google with their innermost questions and sometimes deepest thoughts and concerns (looking for answers). It will remain a core aspect of our lives, as core as the most innate possessions of those that use it. During the quarter, … Read more

Qualcomm in Defense Mode

by

Image Source: Kārlis Dambrāns Chip-making giant Qualcomm has found itself firmly in the FTC’s spotlight, and Apple has now piled on with a lawsuit of its own. Let’s take a quick look at the developments. By Kris Rosemann Qualcomm (QCOM), the world’s largest maker of semiconductors for mobile phones, has a fantastic business model based on the licensing of technology that has been declared essentail to industry standards, but is it too good to be true? The Federal Trade Commission thinks it might be, and the company was charged Janaury 17 with using anticompetitive tactics to maintain its monopoly in the supply of baseband processors, the devices that manage communications between mobile products. The FTC alleges that Qualcomm threatened to … Read more

The Next Industrial Revolution – Internet of Things

by

Image Source: Skyworks Summary: ·        The Internet of Things has been called ‘the next Industrial Revolution,’ and the revolution is already well underway. ·        Explosive growth can be expected in the number of devices connected to the Internet in coming years, and the data extracted from such devices will enable businesses to make significant value creating improvements to operations. ·        The proliferation of the Internet of Things will take a combined effort from the end user of the technology to smart device manufacturers to software providers to networks. ·        The newsletter portfolios have significant exposure to early large-cap adopters of the IoT. We love the potential we see in some of our favorite names to capitalize on ‘the next Industrial … Read more

Apple’s Brand as Strong as Ever

by

By Kris Rosemann Recent quarterly performance had some naysayers doubting the true power of Apple (AAPL). The second quarter of fiscal 2016 (calendar first quarter) marked the first decline in sales in a quarter in thirteen years due largely to pressure on iPhone sales, and the third quarter of the fiscal year continued the year-over-year sales weakness. As Apple hosted its company event September 7, shares remained under pressure as many anticipated ongoing weakness in demand for the iPhone, even with a new iteration being introduced. The declines continued in the days immediately after due in part to the firm’s decision not to release first-weekend estimates of pre-order sales volumes. Management indicated that it believes the measure is a meaningless … Read more

Intel’s Top Line Still Growing

by

By Brian Nelson, CFA We said 2016 was going to be a big year for Intel (INTC) and during the past few months, its stock has come roaring back after a sluggish and disappointing start. The company’s second-quarter report, released July 20, won’t help to drive shares to multi-year highs yet (so close!), but the chip-making giant put up some decent numbers (regardless of the media headlines). During the quarter, revenue of $13.5 billion advanced 3% on a year-over-year basis, while GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins in the period exceeded the executive team’s internal targets by nearly a percentage point. Backing out restructuring charges, the company earned $0.59 per share, six cents better than the consensus mark. The Intel “story” … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending April 8

by

Proctor & Gamble’s headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Barta IV Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 8. 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 Constellation Brands Inc (STZ): now $0.04 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.31. Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (OMAB): now Ps. 3.50 per share annual dividend, was Ps. 3.00. H.B. Fuller Company (FUL): now $0.14 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.13.                  IDEX (IEX): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.32. Pembina Pipeline Corp. (PBA): now $0.1219 per share … Read more

The Corporate Buyback Conundrum

by

The above is a trailing 15-month chart of the broad market index, the S&P 500 (SPY). As you can see, the markets have gone nowhere fast. The fallout in the energy complex coupled with emerging market uncertainty and political unrest in the US is making for quite the choppy market environment. Interestingly, however, since the middle of last year, the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio has quietly been distancing itself from this broad market benchmark, as strong performance from constituents coupled with a larger cash position in a generally weaker market have paid off. Where indexers focus on controlling costs instead of focusing on generating strong returns with relatively low turnover (and commission and tax implications), the strategy powering the Best … Read more