Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Feb 5, 2022

Our Thoughts on Big Pharma’s Calendar Fourth Quarter Earnings Reports
Image Source: Merck & Company Inc – Fourth Quarter of 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. We include the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF in the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios to gain broad exposure to the health care sector. Instead of betting on one entity's pipeline (which could be hit or miss), we like the exposure to lots and lots of "shots on goal" when it comes to the vast collective pipeline in the XLV ETF. We wrote up the calendar fourth-quarter results of the top two weightings in the XLV ETF, United Health and Johnson & Johnson recently. We continue to like UNH a lot, but JNJ's story has become a lot more complicated for dividend growth investors in recent months. Let's have a look at some of the other key holdings in the XLV ETF, however. We'll cover the calendar fourth-quarter earnings reports from four heavyweights in the pharmaceutical arena (ABBV, GILD, LLY, and MRK). Additionally, we'll cover the performance of some of their top-selling treatments that have already received regulatory approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (‘FDA’) and key clinical trials that could produce new commercial growth opportunities. The coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic has become more manageable during the past year or so after several vaccines and therapeutics for the virus were discovered in record time. While headwinds from the pandemic remain, the health care sector is steadily recovering and this space is home to plenty of attractive opportunities for capital appreciation and income seeking investors. XLV, UNH, JNJ, and VRTX are a few that we like a lot.

Aug 27, 2019

Elanco Buys Bayer’s Animal Health Unit, Gaining Scale and Greater Exposure to the “Humanization of Pets” Trend
On August 20, Elanco Animal Health Inc agreed to acquire Bayer AG’s animal health unit for $7.6 billion (at the time the deal was announced) through a cash and stock deal. This is a transformative deal for Elanco and one that will create a real competitor to Zoetis' and Merck’s animal health units. For Bayer, the company can now pivot to segments where it has stronger competitive advantages while also raising cash to cover potential Roundup-related legal liabilities (which could be enormous). We will be monitoring the space going forward but are staying firmly on the sidelines for now.

Apr 17, 2019

J&J Beats Low Expectations, Revises Guidance Upward
Image Source: J&J. Johnson & Johnson issued updated guidance for 2019 that called for stronger adjusted sales and EPS growth than previously expected, which along with earnings that beat low expectations was enough to send shares up over 1% on the day, April 16.

Dec 10, 2017

Follow Up on Loxo Oncology, Clovis Oncology, and Nevro
We like to write about a wide range of ideas in the financial markets, even if such ideas may be well beyond the high end of our own risk spectrum. Our writings on the smaller, high-growth (and riskier) ideas in healthcare/biotech, for example, remain an attempt to draw attention to some of the fantastic innovation helping to reshape treatment paradigms. Let’s follow up on some of the high-risk companies in the healthcare/biotech arena that we previously highlighted.

Sep 21, 2017

ETF Analysis: Materials
Volatile input costs and output prices coupled with uncertainty related to ongoing shareholder activism make the case for owning materials sector ETFs a difficult one.

Jul 31, 2017

A Review of Johnson and Johnson’s Pharmaceutical Division
Image Source: J&J. Let’s take a deep dive into Johnson and Johnson’s pharmaceutical division Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Janssen traditionally serves as an area of clinical innovation adding an element of growth to the more stable product categories such as consumer health. However, there may be a few cracks in the Janssen revenue stream that could make growth at J&J harder to come by over the next few years.

Sep 12, 2016

Potash-Agrium Deal Will be Subject to Growing Regulatory Scrutiny
Image Source: Bruce Guenter. Canada’s Potash Corp and Agrium have announced a merger agreement that will create a crop nutrient and farm retail giant.

May 23, 2016

Still More Ag Deals Being Cultivated?
Image Source: Aqua Mechanical. Bayer has made an offer for rival Monsanto as consolidation continues to be a meaningful factor in the future of the global agricultural supplies industry.