Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

Symbol Keyword

Oct 25, 2024

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of October 25
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Oct 23, 2024

Starbucks Posts Lower Than Expected Performance, Turnaround “Will Take Time”
Image: Starbucks’ shares have been volatile the past couple years. Starbucks suspended its guidance for the full year 2025, given new CEO Brian Niccol and “the current state of the business.” That said, the company increased its quarterly cash dividend to $0.61 per share from $0.57 per share, which equates to a 2.5% forward estimated dividend yield, pointing to optimism regarding the long term. We’re cautious on Starbucks’ shares, as even the executive team noted that a turnaround “will take time.” Our fair value estimate stands at $85 per share, below where shares are trading at the time of this writing.

Aug 12, 2024

Starbucks' Mixed Results Speak to Cautious Consumer Environment
Image Source: Starbucks' Global Impact Report. Starbucks’ fiscal third quarter results weren’t great. Consolidated revenue fell 1%, comparable store sales dropped, while the firm’s non-GAAP earnings per share faced additional pressures. During the fiscal third quarter, Starbucks opened 526 net new stores, ending the period with 39,477 stores -- broken down into 52% company-operated and 48% licensed. Stores in the U.S. and China made up 61% of its global portfolio. Starbucks is getting squeezed by a cautious consumer and higher labor costs, and while we like the company, we’re just not interested in shares at this time.

May 7, 2024

Starbucks Surprises Investors with Weak Fiscal Second Quarter Results
Image: Starbucks’ shares face some challenges as the firm struggles to right the ship. Starbucks surprised investors with very weak second-quarter 2024 results that showed a miss on both the top and bottom lines. We’re steering clear of Starbucks as a cautious consumer spending environment and execution remain key issues for the firm. We prefer Domino’s and Chipotle instead.

Feb 4, 2024

Earnings Roundup: MO, EPD, SBUX, CLX, HON
Image: Starbucks’ international store growth potential remains robust. Image Source: Starbucks. High-yielding tobacco giant Altria offered an outlook through 2028 that spoke to continued robust earnings and dividend-per-share expansion. Enterprise Products Partners, now a Dividend Aristocrat, is handling record volumes through its pipeline network, and the firm is investing heavily to drive improved long-term cash flow trends. Starbucks recently disappointed on a number of metrics, but the company's margin and earnings performance remains excellent, as is its international store growth opportunities. Clorox has recovered nicely from a recent cyberattack, and the firm is now forecasting adjusted earnings per share growth in fiscal 2024. We're monitoring its cash flow trends closely, however. Honeywell is targeting tremendous free cash flow growth in 2024 thanks to continued strength in its commercial aerospace operations.

Dec 19, 2023

In the News: Google, McDonald’s, Costco, Apple
Image: McDonald’s has released a new beverage concept, and it looks to be a hit. Image Source: CosMcs. The market continues to ebb and flow with the latest Federal Reserve commentary, but we continue to be fans of the strong foundation that is the U.S. employment market and the great promise of artificial intelligence [AI] as key themes for 2024. We're huge fans of the net-cash-rich, free cash flow generating, secular growth powerhouses found in big cap tech and the stylistic area of large cap growth. We expect these two areas to continue to lead the markets higher, if not in 2024, through the better part of this decade. Let's take a look at some of the latest news at Alphabet, McDonald's, Costco, and Apple.

Nov 3, 2023

People Love Their Starbucks
Image: Starbucks remains a strong free cash flow generator. Operational efficiencies, sales leverage and pricing strength helped drive Starbucks' GAAP operating income growth of 42.7% and non-GAAP earnings per share to $1.06 in the quarter, up 31% on a year-over-year basis. Starbucks ended its fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 with ~$3.95 billion in cash and short-term investments and short- and long-term debt of ~$15.4 billion, resulting in a net debt position on the books. Free cash flow generation remains robust at Starbucks, however, with the measure coming in at ~$3.7 billion for the fiscal year ending October 1, 2023. We’re reiterating the high end of our fair value estimate range of $120 for Starbucks’ shares.

Oct 26, 2023

Brief Take: Altria’s 10% Dividend Yield Is Too Hard to Pass Up
Altria Group’s forward estimated 10% dividend yield is too hard to pass up as it is comfortably covered by traditional free cash flow. The tobacco giant reported third-quarter 2023 results on October 26 that showcased how its asset-light business model continues to throw off tons of cash. Traditional free cash flow generation came in at ~$5.9 billion during the first nine months of 2023, while cash dividends paid came in at ~$5 billion, resulting in a very nice free cash flow cushion on a ~10%-yielding stock. Though revenue growth at Altria remains under pressure, gross profit continues to move in the right direction. Altria has raised its dividend 58 times during the past 54 years, and the firm continues to target mid-single-digit dividend growth annually. For income investors that aren’t worried about ESG-related criteria, Altria could make for a great diversifier in a high-yield dividend income portfolio. Our fair value estimate stands north of $60 per share (shares are trading under $40 at the time of this writing).

Sep 4, 2023

Report Updates -- Did You Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater?
The markets are finally making sense again, and we remain huge fans of big cap tech and the stylistic area of large cap growth. Though entities are starting to register high ratings on the Valuentum Buying Index, we’re not pulling the trigger on either Alibaba or Korn/Ferry in light of the tremendous risks related to U.S-China relations for Alibaba and the lack of fundamental catalysts for Korn/Ferry. That said, should these firms’ technical and momentum indicators shape up, their equity prices could really catch a bid, in our view. The newsletter portfolios continue to deliver in a big way, not only generating outperformance relative to the market-cap weighted S&P 500 during 2022, but also positioning well for the boom in big cap tech and the stylistic area of large cap growth that has materialized in 2023. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Jan 15, 2023

Our Reports on Stocks in the Discretionary Spending Industry
Image Source: Mike Mozart. Our reports on stocks in the Discretionary Spending industry can be found in this article: BBY, CBRL, CMG, DIS, DG, DLTR, DPZ, EL, F, GM, HAS, HD, LOW, MCD, NFLX, NKE, SBUX, TSLA, YUM, DKS, TJX, ROST, WHR, KMX, AZO, RL, ULTA, LEG, GPC, VFC, CTAS, WSM.