Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Feb 13, 2024

Waste Management’s Pricing Power Is Fantastic, Sustainability Initiatives Are Noble
Image Source: TheInvertedFan. There are few industry economics that we like better than the waste management industry, and Waste Management is the leader in this oligopolistic environment. Management plans to continue buying back stock, and the firm intends to raise its dividend by $0.20 per share, to $3.00 on an annual basis, making it 21 consecutive years that it has raised its payout. Though free cash flow will face pressure from its sustainability initiatives, the company’s free cash flow generation remains robust. At a $3 per-share annualized dividend, shares of Waste Management yield ~1.6% on a forward-looking basis. Though we don’t include Waste Management in the newsletter portfolios (we include peer Republic Services in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio), the company is one of our favorites for consideration.

Dec 11, 2023

Oracle’s “Business Is Good and Getting Better”
Image Source: Peter Kaminski. On December 11, Oracle reported mixed second-quarter results for its fiscal 2024 that showed total revenue advancing 5% on a year-over-year basis (4% in constant currency), slightly lower than expectations, and non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.34 that came in slightly ahead of what the market was looking for. The company’s non-GAAP operating margin of 43% in the quarter helped to drive non-GAAP net income 14% higher than the same period a year ago (11% in constant currency). We’re not letting the slight miss on the top line sway us from our constructive stance on shares. Our fair value estimate stands at $108 per share, about in-line with where shares are currently trading.

Dec 10, 2023

First Gene-Editing Therapy Coming to Market; Reiterating Our Positive Stance on Vertex Pharma
Credit: Darryl Leja, NHGRI. On December 8, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it had approved Vertex Pharma’s and CRISPR Therapeutics’ novel gene-editing therapy (“Casgevy” – exa-cel) for sickle cell disease [SCD] in patients that are 12 years of age or older. This is the first such approval of its kind in U.S. history and will likely open the door for more gene-editing therapies for other rare diseases in the future. Estimates indicate that roughly 16,000 people will be eligible for the treatment at an estimated cost of around $2.2 million each, according to Reuters. The one-time market size of roughly $35.2 billion is a needle-mover, but the pace and timing of adoption of the therapy among the eligible population is difficult to estimate at this time. Note also that the therapy is of one-time application, meaning the therapy is a functional cure and will not be a source of recurring revenue from each patient. Nevertheless, it is an exciting development for medical science.

Jul 27, 2023

“Bought” Low and “Sold” Low with Meta
Image: Shares of Meta Platforms have been on a wild ride the past few years. We didn’t do well with the stock, unfortunately. Let the good times roll in big cap tech and large cap growth! What a fantastic year 2023 is turning out to be and thank you for sticking with us. If Meta serves as any example for you, it should be that you shouldn’t expect us to get everything "right," but it should be very, very clear that we’ve gotten far more things “right” than we’ve gotten “wrong” over the years. Cheers!

Jan 6, 2023

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of January 6
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Nov 22, 2022

Dick’s Sporting Goods Defies Skeptics, Puts Up Strong Comp Performance in Fiscal Third Quarter
Image: Dick’s Sporting Goods is the premiere sporting goods retailer, and the firm’s performance during its recently reported fiscal third quarter showed a key inflection point in same-store-sales growth. Image Source: Dick’s Sporting Goods. On November 22, Dick’s Sporting Goods reported fiscal third quarter results for the period ending October 29 that beat expectations on both the top and bottom line, but the real story was the sporting good retailer’s same-store sales performance, which far exceeded the consensus expectation for the period. With a forward estimated dividend yield of ~1.8% and a solid Dividend Cushion ratio of 3.3, Dick’s Sporting Goods remains one of our favorite ideas within the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio.

Oct 14, 2022

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of October 14
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Jul 8, 2022

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of July 8
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Apr 8, 2022

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week April 8
Let's take a look at companies that raised/lowered their dividend this week.

Jan 7, 2022

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week January 7
Let's take a look at companies that raised/lowered their dividend this week.