QCOM

Qualcomm Hikes Dividend, Announces Share Buyback Program

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On Tuesday, Qualcomm (QCOM), a leader in 3G and next-generation mobile technologies, announced that it would hike its dividend 16% to an annualized payout of $1 per share and implement a $4 billion share buyback program. The dividend increase was modestly higher than our expectations for roughly a 12% jump, but we still remain on the sidelines with respect to the firm’s shares in the portfolio of our Dividend Growth Newsletter. Its annual dividend yield of 1.4% remains too low for us to get excited, despite the company’s tremendous opportunity via global smart phone growth. And with Qualcomm trading roughly in line with our estimate of its intrinsic value, we think its share buyback is a net-neutral event on its … Read more

Best Idea Apple Exemplifies Valuentum’s Methodology: Is it a Value or Growth Stock? Both…It’s a Valuentum Stock

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On Tuesday, Apple (AAPL) posted excellent first-quarter results by almost every measure. The iPad-maker had its highest quarterly revenue and earnings ever and set all-time records for iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales. The performance also relieved some concerns regarding the leadership transition to new Apple CEO Tim Cook following the passing of legendary innovator Steve Jobs. Though we continue to hold the firm in the portfolio of our Best Ideas Newsletter, we may look to trim our position and take some profits in coming weeks. Our above-market fair value estimate for Apple remains unchanged. The company blew by consensus expectations pretty much across the board: revenue ($46.33 billion), gross margin (44.7%), and earnings per share ($13.87). Apple sold a whopping … Read more

Qualcomm Reports Strong Fiscal Fourth Quarter on Proliferation of Smartphones

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On Wednesday, Qualcomm (QCOM) posted solid fiscal fourth-quarter results that showed record revenues, earnings, and MSM (Mobile Station Modem) chipset shipments. We are maintaining our $53 fair value estimate. The firm’s revenue performance was particularly impressive. Its top line jumped 39% on a year-over-year basis and 14% sequentially thanks to strong growth in CDMA-based (code division multiple access based) MSM shipments. Qualcomm continues to reap the benefits of sales of smartphones (like Apple’s iPhone and devices using Google’s Android software), which use its chips, and adoption of 3G technology, which depends on the firm’s patents for CDMA technology. Growth of 3G in emerging markets continues to be strong, and according to Wireless Intelligence, emerging-market 3G connections increased nearly 40% in … Read more

There Is Milk At The Store

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This article first appeared in the September edition of the High Yield Dividend Newsletter. For more information about this publication, please see here. “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” — Winston Churchill By Brian Nelson, CFA Very few of us could have imagined that we’d witness the bull market that began on that fateful day in March 2009 that might very well mark a generational low. In 2009, major investment banks around the globe were struggling to survive, and the fallout in the mortgage markets left the banks holding paper that nobody wanted to own, let alone buy. The global financial system … Read more

8 Announcements and Top Research You May Have Missed

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8 Announcements. This article was sent to members via email March 27. By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi everyone, Brian here. Trust you are doing great! Here are eight announcements I want you to be aware of: Everything we do is for our members. We’re very proud of the outperformance of the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, that we’ve never had a dividend cut in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, that our high-yield ideas are holding up very well, and the success rates of the Exclusive capital-appreciation ideas and short-idea considerations are running at approximately 80%. We’re proud to be your research partner. The odds of a Fed rate cut are going up as yield-curve inversion continues to threaten. The risks are more behavioral in … Read more

Valuentum: Now Bearish, We’ve Been Here Every Step of the Way

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Valuentum Has Been Here Every Step of the Way   From the COVID-19 top in February 2020 to the COVID-19 bottom to the massive bull run through the end of 2021, we’ve been here for you.    2022 started out to be a rough year, catching many by surprise.   But Valuentum stayed positive. When the markets headed south in June, Valuentum stood its ground. On June 14, Valuentum said that “we still believe stocks could make a “huge rebound” in the near term.   We reiterated our views a few days later and on June 19, we said that “investors shouldn’t panic during this bear market” and that “stocks remain an attractive proposition at the moment and a very attractive consideration … Read more

Taiwan Semiconductor’s Shares May Have Bottomed

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Image: We’re liking the technical bottom forming in Taiwan Semiconductor’s shares. Image Source: TradingView By Brian Nelson, CFA Everyone has their eyes on Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) these days. The firm is the center of attention with respect to Sino-American relations, and the risk that China may invade Taiwan has added a degree of uncertainty to shares that is almost impossible to quantify within general valuation frameworks. Headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, the world’s largest pure-play semiconductor foundry is a key bellwether for an area within technology that has faced considerable pressure during the past year. However, from our perspective, shares of Taiwan Semiconductor look to have carved out what we believe to be a technical bottom, and the high end of … Read more

Valuentum Weekly: Yields on New Series I Savings Bonds Have Soared!

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The Valuentum Weekly is a brand-new weekly market commentary from Valuentum Securities, released each weekend in digital form. The Valuentum Weekly offers members a weekly synopsis of the markets and major events. It will be straight and to-the-point. Our goal is to deliver to you the latest information and insights. We welcome your feedback on how we can make the Valuentum Weekly as useful and as relevant for you as ever! — —– — Markets  — The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ futures are all indicated up Sunday night (March 13), but that may not mean much when trading kicks off tomorrow. The start to 2022 has been one of the worst stretches during the past decade, but broader … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of March 10

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending March 10. 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                          American Assets Trust (AAT): now $0.33 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.32. American Express (AXP): now $0.60 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.52. Colgate-Palmolive (CL): now $0.48 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.47. Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS): now $1.00 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.49. Dime Community Bancshares (DCOM): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. Hammond Power Solutions (HMDPF): now CAD 0.125 … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of March 8

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending March 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                          Academy Sports and Outdoors (ASO): now $0.11 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.09. Acushnet (GOLF): now $0.215 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.195. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. PFD SER A (AQN.PR.A:CA): now CAD 0.4110 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.3226. American Express (AXP): now $0.70 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.60. Apollo Bancorp, Inc. (APLO): now $0.56 per share quarterly dividend, was … Read more