How About Teva Pharmaceuticals?

We care very much about our members. We listen to every comment. We read every email. We take everything to heart. We know we’re not supposed to, but we can’t help but be passionate about our work. We strive for your success, and we take failure personally. There are some investors that want our best ideas to work out yesterday. That’s just not going to happen. Aside from yesterday being in the past, our best ideas tend to work out over a 12-24 month time period. This is a reasonable time period to expect price-to-fair-value convergence on stocks with good momentum. From our experience, this is the time period in which the Valuentum process has its greatest efficacy, and no … Read more

Performance of the Valuentum Buying Index

Note: A more recent analysis of the Valuentum Buying Index rating system can be accessed at the following link: /Value_and_Momentum_Within_Stocks_Too Two separate studies have reinforced the efficacy of the Valuentum Buying Index, both as a portfolio optimization tool and as an idea generator. If you cannot view the video, please consult the transcript that follows. To view Valuentum’s updated YouTube page, please see here.  The studies referred to in this video can be accessed as follows: Why Valuentum Buying Index Ratings Matter: /20141003_1 Valuentum’s Performance on Seeking Alpha: /20141009 Please be sure to read the studies closely in addition to watching the video or consulting the transcript below. Brian Nelson, CFA: This is Brian Nelson from Valuentum Securities. I’d like to talk … Read more

Performance Update: The Valuentum Buying Index

Note: A more recent analysis of the Valuentum Buying Index rating system can be accessed at the following link: /Value_and_Momentum_Within_Stocks_Too A version of this article was published October 26, 2013. By Brian Nelson, CFA We periodically update the performance results of the Valuentum Buying Index (VBI), the stock-selection methodology that drives idea-generation within the Best Ideas portfolio. The academic studies of the Valuentum Buying Index can be accessed here (white paper) and here (AAII). The latest iteration of the performance, dated September 3, 2014, continues to showcase the strong sorting mechanism embedded within the investing framework, particularly when the index is coupled with qualitative oversight and portfolio management skill. Sorting winners from losers is what the Valuentum Buying Index has been designed to … Read more

Teva: Progressing As Expected; US Generic Revenue Reveals Strength

On Thursday, Teva (TEVA) reported in-line second-quarter results. For followers of the Best Ideas portfolio, the firm had a rough start shortly after it was added to the portfolio, but recent performance has put holders well into the black. For those interested in the background on the investment thesis on shares of Teva, please have a read of ‘Teva Pharma: Underpriced and Misunderstood.’ Teva’s revenue during the second-quarter nudged 3% higher, while non-GAAP operating income jumped 8%. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.23 came in 3% higher than the same period a year ago. The company delivered organic growth in revenue and all profit lines over the comparable quarter last year. Though the results were solid, the thesis on … Read more

Big Pharma Round Up

Though much has been made about the patent cliff—shorthand for the expiration of the patents of a large number of drugs over a short period of time—we continue to believe that pipelines across much of the pharmaceutical space are flush with new drugs and therapies. Readers may have an individual favorite or two (or three) within the space (and there’s nothing wrong with that), but we think one of the best ways for investors to play the strong pipelines across the healthcare sector—and ongoing consolidation—is through the Health Care Select SPDR ETF (XLV), a holding in the Best Ideas portfolio. The ETF boasts Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Pfizer (PFE), Merck (MRK), Gilead Sciences (GILD), and AbbVie (ABBV) as its top … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

Read: Keeping the Horse Before the Cart: Valuentum’s Economic Castle™ Rating The Economic Castle Focuses on the Magnitude of Economic Value Creation The Valuentum Economic Castle™ rating is an enhancement of the competitive advantage framework (commonly known as economic moat analysis) that has become widespread and ubiquitous within the investing world. Whereas an economic moat framework evaluates a firm on the basis of the sustainability and durability of its competitive advantages, Valuentum’s Economic Castle™ rating evaluates a firm on the basis of the firm’s future economic profit spread (return on invested capital less its weighted average cost of capital). The companies with the strongest Valuentum Economic Castle™ ratings are poised to generate the most economic value for shareholders in the … Read more

Teva Pharma: Underpriced and Misunderstood

One of the key benefits of using a discounted cash-flow model is that it allows the user to adequately price a variety of businesses, irrespective of where they are in the economic or product cycle or whether they are engaged in a turnaround or reaching peak levels of operating performance. Unlike a forward price-to-earnings (PE) ratio or even a price-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio, where near-term performance can cause mis-valuations at times, the DCF allows the user to forecast fundamentals through the course of the business cycle or through the course of the product cycle in order to arrive at mid-cycle profit projections, which remain critical within the framework of intrinsic value estimation. Though Big Pharma continues to steal headlines via Pfizer’s … Read more

Surveying Recent M&A Action

The environment for merger and acquisition (M&A) activity has arguably never been better thanks to healthy balance sheets, historically low interest rates, and equity prices that speak of optimistic times. Just in the past few weeks, we’ve witnessed a number of deals come to the fore. Let’s take a look at a few of these deals and offer our quick take on the transaction. Healthcare Actavis (ACT) – Forest Labs (FRX) DUBLIN, Ireland and NEW YORK, Feb. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Actavis plc (NYSE: ACT) and Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX)…announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Actavis will acquire Forest for a combination of cash and equity valued at approximately $25 billion or $89.48 per … Read more

What If You Joined Valuentum on January 1, 2013 and Followed Our Transaction Alert Emails…

Let’s get this out of the way first: we’re not perfect. Though investors can look at our track record over a longer horizon to great satisfaction, as the Best Ideas portfolio (click here) and Dividend Growth portfolio (click here) are doing quite well for long-time members, what about new members that may have joined recently? How would they have fared by following our transaction alert emails? Would they have made money on our ideas? Before we answer these questions, let’s walk through a few ways members use our services. Many like to replicate the actively-managed portfolios that are housed in the monthly newsletters in their personal accounts in their entirety. Others like to use our transaction alert emails for incremental … Read more