Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Sep 4, 2022

Video: How Many Stocks Should You Own?
Valuentum's President of Investment Research, Brian Nelson, CFA, explains the importance of diversification, how to think about firm-specific and systematic risk, how many stocks one should own to achieve 90% of the diversification benefits, how to think about active asset allocation versus active equity management, and why diversification is a means to achieve goals, not the goal itself. A content-packed 14-minute video. Don't miss it!

Sep 1, 2022

Best Idea Visa Is a Free Cash Flow Cow
Image Shown: Visa Inc is a tremendous free cash flow generator and is very shareholder friendly. Management distributes cash back to investors primarily through sizable share repurchases and to a lesser extent, through dividend increases. Image Source: Visa Inc – Third Quarter of Fiscal 2022 IR Earnings Presentation. Visa reported third quarter earnings for fiscal 2022 (period ended June 30, 2022) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. Visa is included in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio as we view its capital appreciation upside potential quite favorably. Our recently updated fair value estimate for Visa stands at $226 per share with room for upside as the high end of our fair value estimate range sits at $271 per share, well above where shares of V are trading at as of this writing. Visa also offers investors incremental dividend growth upside potential, though its payout is not a top capital allocation priority as management prefers to purchase sizable amounts of the firm’s stock. Shares of V yield a modest ~0.7% as of this writing.

Aug 28, 2022

We've Suspended Coverage of Stocks in the Disruptive Innovation Industry
Image Source: Virgin Galactic. --- We've suspended coverage of stocks in the 'Disruptive Innovation' industry. Order the Exclusive publication to gain access to idea generation that covers some of the most innovative stocks. As a member to the Exclusive publication, you'll receive one income idea, one capital appreciation idea, and one short idea consideration each month! --- The ‘Disruptive Innovation’ industry is unique in almost every way. The companies included don’t necessarily share a similar traditional industry or sector make-up, but they do share one big thing in common: They continue to disrupt the traditional way of doing things. Carvana is changing how consumers buy used cars, Roku is leading the streaming charge against linear TV, Teradyne's industrial robotics technology is fascinating, Beyond Meat is working to alter the substance of the meat products industry, Virgin Galactic wants to make spaceflight accessible for private individuals, Uber is changing how we think about getting from point A to point B through ridesharing, Penn National is aggressively expanding into sports betting with its investment in Barstool Sports, CRISPR Therapeutics' revolutionary gene-editing technology may offer a path to curative solutions for the worst diseases, Wayfair is disrupting how we buy home goods, ETSY is carving out a niche online marketplace in craft items, while Zoom Video has come of age during the outbreak of COVID-19. Others included in this list of stock reports have been around for a while, but are still innovating to meet customer needs. Monster Beverage continues to reinvent the energy drink market, Boston Beer has found new life with its portfolio of new brands, and even GameStop is seeking to find its place after the meme-stock frenzy. There are other companies in this industry and sure to be many more added in the future.

Aug 6, 2022

Global Payments Buying EVO Payments as Fintech Industry Consolidates
Image Shown: Global Payments Inc is in the process of acquiring EVO Payments Inc. Image Source: Global Payments Inc – Second Quarter of 2022 IR Earnings Presentation. Global Payments announced it would acquire EVO Payments for $34 per share through an all-cash deal worth ~$4.0 billion by enterprise value. As its name would suggest, Global Payments provides payment technology and software solutions to customers in over 100 countries. By acquiring EVO Payments, which focuses on providing payment technology and services to small and medium-sized businesses in over 50 markets worldwide, Global Payments will extend its reach into new markets (including Chile, Germany, Greece, and Poland) while enhancing its presence in existing markets (including Canada, the US, Mexico, the UK, Ireland, and Spain).

May 12, 2022

PayPal and Visa Remain Attractive Long-Term Ideas
Image Source: Visa Inc – Second Quarter of Fiscal 2022 IR Earnings Presentation. The payment processing and payment solutions space is attractive. Companies operating in this industry have asset-light business models with relatively modest capital expenditure requirements to maintain a given level of revenues, making free cash flows easier to come by. Additionally, the industry’s growth outlook is incredibly bright and supported by secular tailwinds as the world continues to shift away from cash and towards other payment options (card, mobile apps, QR codes, online payment platforms). Our two favorite companies in this space are PayPal Holdings and Visa, and we include both as ideas in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. Online spending levels remain robust even as the worst of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic fades and households resume outdoor activities, while global travel activities are resuming in earnest as the economy opens back up. PayPal and Visa both recently updated investors on their financial standing and outlook, and overall, we liked what we saw.

Mar 7, 2022

Valuentum Weekly: Outsized Energy Exposure Continues to Buoy Newsletter Portfolios
Image: Light crude oil futures once traded for roughly -$40 (negative $40) during the COVID-19 crisis, but have now rocketed to more than $120 in recent trading. Image Source: TradingView. The S&P 500, as measured by the SPY, is down 9% year-to-date, a modest pullback, in our view, particularly in light of the fantastic performance the past few years. Though not necessarily welcome, a down year every now and then for the broader market indexes and a modest bear market can only be expected, at times. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, as measured by the DIA, is down more than 7% year-to-date (not too bad), while the Nasdaq--as measured by the QQQ--and 'disruptive innovation' stocks--as measured by the Ark Innovation ETF--have fallen more than 15% and 36%, respectively, so far this year (data from Seeking Alpha). We like how the simulated newsletter portfolios are positioned. Energy resource prices continue to surge (with WTI crude oil prices skyrocketing north of $120 per barrel at last check), and they are bringing energy equities higher along with them. The simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, and simulated High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio are all materially overweight energy equities relative to the energy sector’s weighting in the S&P 500, and we expect to maintain such high tactical "exposure." Both the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF and the Vanguard Energy ETF soared to 13-year highs last week. Our favorite energy ideas are the largest two energy majors, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, and both have hefty 'weightings' in each of the three aforementioned simulated newsletter portfolios. Russian equities, as measured by the RSX, are down nearly 80% so far this year, and we're pleased to say that we've largely avoided the fall out. We continue to like the broader areas of U.S.-heavy, large cap growth and big cap tech when it comes to long-term secular exposure, and we continue to like energy as a tactical overweight for the foreseeable future across the simulated newsletter portfolios, as much as we did even prior to the huge advance in energy resource prices and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Feb 2, 2022

Alphabet and PayPal Report Fourth-Quarter 2021 Results
Video: Valuentum's President Brian Michael Nelson, CFA, walks through the fourth-quarter 2021 results of Alphabet and PayPal.

Jan 28, 2022

Visa Remains One of Our Favorite Ideas
Image Shown: Visa Inc, one of our favorite companies, has been growing robustly of late. Image Source: Visa Inc – First Quarter of Fiscal 2022 IR Earnings Presentation. On January 27, Visa reported first quarter earnings for fiscal 2022 (period ended December 31, 2021) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. Shares of V shot higher after its results were made public. We include Visa as a “top-weighted” idea in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and remain huge fans of the company. Our fair value estimate sits at $255 per share of V, well above where Visa is trading at as of this writing, indicating the payment processing giant has ample room to run higher from current levels. Shares of V yield a modest ~0.7% as of this writing.

Dec 23, 2021

Some Questions Answered: The Fair Value Estimate Range and ROIC
Image: A snapshot of Facebook's valuation model. Let's cover a few subtle nuances of the fair value estimate range and the calculation behind return on invested capital as it is translated from our valuation infrastructure into the stock reports.

Nov 15, 2021

Hut 8 Mining Is an Interesting Play on Cryptocurrencies
Image Source: Hut 8 Mining Corporation – November 2021 IR Presentation. Executive Summary: We are intrigued by Hut 8 Mining’s business model. By growing its bitcoin balance over time and covering its operating expenses by lending out its bitcoin hoard, generating so-called fiat yield, Hut 8 Mining is effectively a bet that a combination of growth in the price of bitcoin and growth in its bitcoin hoard will provide a major boost to its net asset value (‘NAV’) over time. Should the price of bitcoin tank, however, that would weigh negatively on its business, though things would likely not be as bad as it first appears given that Hut 8 Mining is set up to make money in almost every bitcoin pricing environment. As long as there is investor demand out there to borrow its bitcoins, and that broad interest in cryptocurrencies holds up well going forward, Hut 8 Mining should be able to continue growing its revenue as it grows the amount of bitcoin it can lend out on average per quarter. Obviously, of course, the firm would do better if the price of bitcoin stays the same (currently at roughly USD$64,700 for one bitcoin as of this writing) or increases. From our perspective, Hut 8 Mining is better positioned to capitalize on the cryptocurrency craze, in our view, than many of the other firms out there that are mining and continuously selling off their bitcoin holdings or actively buying bitcoin on the open market seeking to flip those alternative digital assets for a profit down the road (the “greater fool theory” in action). We are keeping an eye on Hut 8 Mining, though in this particular case, we must caution that the intrinsic value of alternative digital currencies like bitcoin is zero. The value is entirely in the eyes of the beholder.