SPOT

Alphabet Launches Higher

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Image: Our fair value estimate of Alphabet has continued to lead the stock higher, and shares continued to deliver following the company’s third-quarter report, released October 28. By Brian Nelson, CFA Our long-term thesis and the top weighting of Google parent company, Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio is unchanged following the company’s fantastic third-quarter report, released October 28. During the period, revenue advanced 41% on a year-over-year basis as the company’s operating margin swelled ~8 percentage points to drive diluted earnings per share to $27.99, beating consensus by nice margin. We’re reiterating our $3,500 fair value estimate for shares. Here is what Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google had to say in the press release: … Read more

ViacomCBS Makes Big Bet on Streaming

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Image Source: ViacomCBS Inc – Fourth Quarter of 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan After Viacom and CBS were reunited in December 2019, the new entity ViacomCBS Inc (VIAC) has finally started to gain some traction on the video streaming front. The service CBS All Access, which has since been rebranded as Paramount+, was largely a dud and did not gain the level of attention that Walt Disney Company’s (DIS) Disney+ service (more on Disney’s video streaming successes here and here), AT&T Inc’s (T) HBO Max service (AT&T’s video streaming growth strategy is picking up steam as we covered here), or Netflix Inc’s (NFLX) namesake service (more on Netflix here) were able to generate. For background, ViacomCBS’s operations include … Read more

FTC Attacks Facebook, Win-Win Scenario for Investors

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Image Shown: Facebook Inc has a large digital advertising business with global reach, but it does not have a monopoly on digital advertising or social media by any means. Image Source: Facebook Inc – Third Quarter of 2020 IR Earnings Presentation Summary Facebook is being sued by the FTC for allegedly engaging in monopolistic activities via its acquisition program. It’s important to note that the government is not seizing Facebook’s assets and that Facebook investors own the future free cash flow stream of the entire entity under any and every scenario–whether Facebook is retained in current form or whether it is broken into different parts through a potential IPO/spin-off of its Instagram and WhatsApp properties.  Under a status quo scenario, … Read more

Sonos Showing Signs of Life

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Image Shown: Shares of Sonos Inc are showing signs of life in 2020 after its poor showing in the quarters that followed its initial public offering back in August 2018. By Callum Turcan Shares of the audio streaming services and wireless home audio products company Sonos Inc (SONO) are starting to show signs of life after their poor showing in the quarters that followed its initial public offering back in August 2018. More recently, shares of SONO have started to surge higher after the firm reported fourth quarter and full year earnings for fiscal 2020 (period ended October 3, 2020) on November 18. The company smashed past consensus top- and bottom-line estimates, though most importantly, Sonos provided very promising guidance … Read more

Our Thoughts on Warner Music Group Going Public

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Image Shown: Shares of Warner Music Group Corp were trading comfortably above their initial public offering (‘IPO’) price of $25 per share at of the end of normal trading hours on June 8, after going public on June 3. By Callum Turcan Warner Music Group Corp (WMG) went public on June 3, though shares were sold by the company’s stockholders in the IPO and not the firm itself, meaning these proceeds are not expected to go to Warner Music Group. The company owns various record labels including Atlantic Records, Warner Records, Elektra Records and Parlophone Records along with its global music publishing business Warner Chappell Music. For some background, please note Warner Music Group counts Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, and … Read more

Stock Market Outlook for 2021

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By Valuentum Analysts February 8, 2021 2020 was one for the history books. We covered our thoughts and reflections on the past year in our “2020 Won’t Soon Be Forgotten” article (link here), and now we are looking towards the future. Global health authorities should be able to bring an end to the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic sooner than many had expected as several vaccines have already been improved for emergency use and several others appear increasingly likely to get approved. Global vaccine distribution activities are currently underway, and this should allow the world to slowly return to pre-pandemic activities. Before then, immense stimulus measures launched primarily in developed nations should support global economic activities until the public health crisis … Read more