Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Jan 15, 2023

Our Reports on Stocks in the Telecom Services Industry
Image Source: Mike Mozart.  Our reports on stocks in the Telecom Services industry can be found in this article. Reports include CMCSA, DISH, T, TMUS, VZ, SBAC, AMT, CCI, PARA. The telecom industry is characterized by rapid technological change, intense competition and pricing pressures. The mature wireline segment remains under attack from cable/wireless products. Mobile technology enhancements such as the iPhone continue to attract new wireless subscribers in less saturated markets, but this has not lessened the intensity of competition. Industry constituents continue to pursue acquisitions in order to reduce bloated cost structures and achieve synergies. Average revenue per subscriber and churn rates should be monitored closely. We’re neutral on the structure of the group.

Jan 9, 2023

Exact Sciences: Fast-Growing Molecular Diagnostic Company But Huge Risks
Image Source: Exact Sciences. Though Exact Sciences is experiencing strong top-line momentum in its business at the moment given its recent upward guidance revision for 2022, its net losses remain huge while its net debt position remains large. We also can’t forget that Exact Sciences recently lowered its full-year 2022 guidance in August, so visibility behind its operations is also somewhat limited, in our view. That said, Exact Sciences’ stool-based Cologuard test has a massive long-term market opportunity, but competition from procedure-based detection technologies and other potential new entrants looking to develop their own stool-based colorectal cancer tests means its long-run outlook is just too murky for us to get excited about shares. Regardless, Exact Sciences' equity has soared more than 20% to start 2023, and we’ve taken notice of the speculative pop.

Jan 5, 2023

The Fed ‘Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop’ Until Labor Market Feels More Pain
Image: Prices for private label brands at Aldi are considerably lower than those of branded products. The consumer staples sector, however, remains fully-priced with a 21+ forward earnings multiple, and many constituents hold large net debt positions. We believe the sticking point for the Fed is not groceries or gasoline prices, but rather the labor markets, which remain very strong, despite layoffs. Image Source: Valuentum. We maintain our view that markets will remain challenged for at least the first quarter of 2023, and we expect the S&P 500 to bottom around 3,400 based purely on a technical evaluation of the ongoing downtrend. The labor market remains too strong for the Fed to stop rate hikes, as the primary concern for the Fed is not what inflation will do this year, but rather whether it will spike again in 2024. To truly stomp out inflation, the Fed needs to witness further weakening in the labor markets, as consumers have found ways to trade down to offset grocery inflation and as gas prices at the pump ease. We’re never happy to hear of layoffs, but an unemployment rate of 4.5%-5% may be the range required for the Fed to stop hiking, in our view. The last thing the Fed wants is to stop hiking too early, only for inflation to come roaring back in the quarters that follow the pause. The Fed is not thinking about year-over-year inflation numbers for 2023, in our view, but rather policies that will ensure that inflation rates of the past 12-18 months do not return in 2024-2025. They are playing the long-term game.

Jan 3, 2023

Our Reports on Stocks in the Technology Giants Industry
Our reports on stocks in the Technology Giants industry can be found in this article. Reports include META, AAPL, GOOG, AMZN, MSFT, CSCO, V, MA, PYPL, INTC, ORCL, QCOM, ADI, IBM, ADBE, NVDA, CRM, AMD, AVGO, BABA, BKNG, BIDU, TSM, TXN, EBAY, ADP, MU, KFY, MAN, KLAC, LRCX, AMAT.

Dec 23, 2022

FedEx’s Revenue Falls, Operating Income Tumbles in Fiscal Second Quarter
Image: FedEx’s forecast for fiscal 2023 earnings have almost been halved since it gave guidance in June of this calendar year. Image Source: FedEx.We thought FedEx would be able to offset weakness in its business with yield and cost savings initiatives, but things have deteriorated even further than what we had been expecting. Revenue faced considerable pressure during the company’s second-quarter fiscal 2023 results, while operating income tumbled more than 60% in the period. The firm has now cut its fiscal 2023 earnings per share forecast practically in half since it gave updated guidance in June of calendar 2022, and its financial targets for fiscal 2025 may be in jeopardy. We’re no longer evaluating FedEx for inclusion in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, despite shares yielding ~2.6% at the time of this writing.

Dec 21, 2022

Our Reports on the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
Our stock reports on the diversified REIT sector can be found in this article. Reports include DLR, FRT, O, REG, SPG, PEAK, OHI, VTR, WELL, PSA, EQIX, CUBE, EXR, IRM.

Dec 14, 2022

Moderna’s Personalized Cancer Vaccine (PCV) Could Be a Game-Changer When Combined with Merck’s KEYTRUDA
Image: Moderna’s therapeutics pipeline continues to advance, and the company recently received positive news regarding its personalized cancer vaccine (PCV), ID # mRNA-4157, when combined with Merck’s KEYTRUDA. Image Source: Moderna. Moderna and Merck have revealed what could be a big breakthrough with respect to investigational cancer treatment, but we remind investors that the news is a Phase 2b study, and there is still a meaningful probability that the Phase 3 trial for the immunotherapy may be unsuccessful. Still, the Phase 2b results for the PCV-KEYTRUDA combination showed an impressive 44% reduction in the risk of recurrence or death in patients with late-stage melanoma, and the adverse effects from the combined PCV-KEYTRUDA therapy occurred in just 14.4% of patients, which was not terribly different than those receiving KEYTRUDA alone. There are a plethora of players dabbling in mRNA vaccine technology these days, and we remain excited about its future potential to improve patient outcomes, as much as we are about CRISPR gene-editing technology.

Dec 10, 2022

Honeywell's ESG Efforts May Benefit from More Board Diversity and Moving Beyond Its Asbestos-Saddled Past
Image: Honeywell continues to put together a long resume of ESG highlights. Image Source: Honeywell’s Environmental, Social and Governance Report. Honeywell’s 100+ page Environmental Social and Governance Report for 2022 is a tremendous resource that indicates Honeywell means business when it comes to ESG-related efforts. The firm has a lot of work to do to get to carbon neutral by 2035, and we’d like to see a more diverse board and perhaps more reasonable compensation at the top, but the trajectory for ESG considerations at Honeywell is moving in the right direction. Prior asbestos-related issues weigh heavily on our ESG assessment of Honeywell, but we expect continued improvement across all areas of ESG in the years to come at the firm.

Nov 16, 2022

Efficacy of the Dividend Cushion Ratio
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%.

Nov 1, 2022

Newmont Reports Challenging 3Q, But the Stock Is a Key Diversifier in the Dividend Growth Newsletter Portfolio
Image Source: Newmont Mining. Newmont’s performance in the third quarter of 2022 is not what we would be looking for in one of our best ideas. We prefer strong free cash flow generators and those with hefty net cash positions, but as one of the rare ideas in the metals and mining arena in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, we’re not rushing to remove it. Newmont boasts a solid investment-grade credit rating, and while the near term has been tough for shares, it offers a unique dividend policy that embraces a base annualized dividend of $1.00 per share, payable at $1,200/oz gold price, with an incremental dividend payment targeting 40%-60% of incremental attributable free cash flow above the base gold price assumption. Newmont’s free cash flow generation and dividend payment are heavily tied to the price of gold, and while costs have increased at the mining giant in this inflationary environment, the company remains one of the best dividend plays to gain exposure to potentially rising gold prices in an inflationary environment, in our view. We continue to like its diversification benefits in the simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio.