Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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The Dividend Cushion Ratio Warned of Risk to V.F. Corp’s Dividend
Image: The Dividend Cushion ratio is one of the most powerful financial tools an income or dividend growth investor can use in conjunction with qualitative dividend analysis. The ratio is one-of-a-kind in that it is both free-cash-flow based and forward looking. Since its creation in 2012, the Dividend Cushion ratio has forewarned readers of approximately 50 dividend cuts. We estimate its efficacy at ~90%.V.F. Corp cut its quarterly dividend by more than 40% on February 7, to a quarterly rate of $0.30 per share from $0.51 per share previously. The cut is yet further evidence of the importance of paying attention to the cash-based sources of intrinsic value--net cash on the balance sheet and future expected free cash flow--when it comes to evaluating dividend health. Please be sure to pay attention to the Dividend Cushion ratios of firms that you follow. Even if you are not a dividend growth or income investor, the Dividend Cushion ratio provides an assessment of the cash-based sources of intrinsic value relative to future potential outlays in the form of the dividend.

Albemarle Outlines Strong Lithium Demand Outlook
Image Source: Albemarle. Albemarle released a very promising outlook in late January, one that implies a tremendous pace of top-line expansion, profitability growth, and free cash flow generation. We’re huge fans of the outlook and believe lithium demand will continue to be robust, even as new supply comes to market. The company has called its next five years a period of “transformational growth,” where expected net sales are targeted at 2.5x 2022 levels and adjusted EBITDA is targeted to more than double. Electric vehicle demand remains robust, and Albemarle has opportunities across the end markets of mobility, energy, connectivity, and health, too. We think Albemarle remains one of the best growth stories on the market today, and we like shares.

Disney: Iger’s Back, Peltz Concedes, Thousands of Jobs Gone, Dividend Coming Back Soon
Image Source: Valuentum. Disney has a lot of work to do. The company’s Parks, Experiences and Products segment has recovered nicely from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but pricing increases may put the experience out of reach for many. Disney+ subscribers may have peaked given that the company will begin to cut costs to the bone in an effort to stop the billions in cash burn. Disney ended the year with $8.47 billion in cash and equivalents and a massive $48.4 billion debt load. Investors are happy that Bob Iger is back and with the company’s plans to re-instate a modest dividend later this year, but we think former CEO Bob Chapek may have gotten a bad shake. Chapek took over the week of the huge COVID-driven market crash in February 2020 and led the firm through a once-in-a-century pandemic, only to be shown the door before his investments could ever be given a chance of bearing fruit. There’s more to this story than we’ll ever know, and we doubt that Disney or Iger will have much to say about it.

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of February 10
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Chipotle’s Fourth Quarter 2022 Results Not Bad, Has Incredible Long-Term Unit Restaurant Potential
Image Source: Valuentum. Long term, Chipotle has plans to expand to 7,000 restaurants, up from nearly 3,200 restaurants at the end of 2022. The company still holds the wild card of expanding into the breakfast daypart, which we believe is a huge source of upside potential for the burrito maker, especially as it adds more drive-throughs across its restaurant portfolio. We continue to like shares.

Net-Cash-Rich Vertex Pharma’s Lucrative Cystic Fibrosis Franchise Continues to Power Performance
Image Source: Vertex Pharma. We’re huge fans of Vertex Pharma. We love its net-cash-rich balance sheet, strong free-cash-flow generating capacity and lucrative and established CF franchise. We also like its long-term potential in CRISPR gene-editing technology and pain management alternatives to opioids and believe the company has other opportunities that may eventually reach commercialization across its pipeline. Our fair value estimate of Vertex Pharma stands at $320 per share, and we continue like the company as our primary biotech exposure in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio.

Trio of Earnings Reports from Apple, Alphabet, and Amazon Give Pause to Markets
Image Source: Valuentum. Apple’s, Alphabet’s and Amazon’s calendar fourth-quarter results, released February 2, weren’t great, but we’re keeping things in context. Apple had to deal with disruptions in China during the period, while Alphabet is contending with a slowdown in advertising. Both Apple and Alphabet continue to generate tremendous amounts of free cash flow, while boasting considerable net cash positions. Alphabet’s financial profile is second to none. Amazon, on the other hand, continues to burn through free cash flow while it holds a net-neutral balance sheet. We continue to be comfortable including Apple and Alphabet in the newsletter portfolios, but we won’t be considering Amazon anytime soon. Though we expect to make a few tweaks to our valuation models of each, our fair value estimates remain unchanged at this time.

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of February 3
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Meta’s Free Cash Flow Generation Has Returned, But TikTok Has Permanently Changed the Competitive Landscape
Image: Meta Platforms’ free cash flow has bounced back a bit, but the firm’s top-line growth remains challenged as it transitions away from a secular growth powerhouse into a cyclical story with encroaching competition. Image Source: Meta Platforms. We’re loving this nice move higher in the stylistic area of large cap growth, and for those investors seeking broad-based exposure, we think this area is the place to be in the long run. Tesla’s strong financial performance coupled with Meta Platforms’ return to financial discipline are propelling large cap growth higher, but risks to the broader equity markets and economy remain. In any case, with inflation likely peaking in June 2022, fourth-quarter 2022 earnings season coming in better-than-feared, and technical breakouts of key indices across the board from the equal-weighted and market-cap weighted S&P 500 to the NASDAQ-100, equity investors have a lot to cheer about.

We Don’t Think Intel Will Spoil the Tech Rally
Image Shown: The Invesco QQQ ETF has broken through its technical downtrend, and we don’t think Intel’s poor outlook will derail this tech rally. Image Source: TradingView. Intel no longer is the bellwether it once was. Its market capitalization has dwindled significantly in recent years and now stands at ~116.5 billion, lower than Advanced Micro Devices' market capitalization of ~$121.6 billion, Texas Instruments' market capitalization of ~$158.8 billion, and Nvidia’s market capitalization of ~$501 billion. Taiwan Semiconductor has a market capitalization of ~$431 billion, while ASML Holding has a market capitalization of ~$268 billion. Intel no longer is what it once was, and as such, we don’t think its poor and borderline shocking outlook will derail a tech rally that could have significant legs. We still like these markets, and we don’t think Intel will spoil the party.