Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Jan 10, 2023

Dow Laggard Walgreens Boots Alliance Yields North of 5%; Has Raised Dividend for 47 Consecutive Years
Image: Walgreens Boots Alliance’s shares have been pummeled during 2022. Image Source: TradingView. Key metrics, including free cash flow and adjusted earnings per share, aren’t presently moving in the right direction at Walgreens Boots Alliance, but free cash flow generation remains in excess of cash dividends paid. The company, and its predecessor firm, Walgreen Co., have paid 360 straight quarters of dividends over the past 90 years, too, raising the payout in each of the past 47 years. It’s absolutely amazing for a company to have such a storied history and reliable dividend track record, but it’s also worth emphasizing Walgreens Alliance Boots is far from a simple story these days. Still, with a 5%+ forward estimated dividend yield, this component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average is worth a close look.

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 6, 2023

These Things Sometimes Take Time
Image: The QQQ, which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, including Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft has been a tremendous generator of wealth. Image Source: TradingView. For those that understand dollar cost averaging and the benefits of compounding, the next few years may be among the most important years for building and preserving long-term wealth. Even if markets retrace to the pre-COVID-19 highs, which we expect they will, it may just be setting up long-term investors for more attractive entry points with respect to dollar cost averaging to further compound returns. The next few years may be boring and somewhat stressful with lots of ups and downs, but we continue to like stocks for the long run!

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.

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 4, 2023

Adobe Acrobat Pro Prices Up 33%; Price Tag of Figma Deal Remains Overhang on Shares
Image: Adobe's long-term market opportunity is huge. Image Source: Adobe. Adobe recently announced a rather large acquisition of rival Figma, and while the price tag is rather steep, we think the deal makes sense strategically. Price increases across Adobe’s suite of products have been impressive, and we estimate the latest price increase at Acrobat Pro to be ~33%, which is a huge year-over-year delta. Given the high switching costs, we think many consumers will have to eat the price increase. Adobe’s shares trade at a lofty earnings multiple, but it remains one of the best-positioned software stocks in this tumultuous economic environment. A growing recurring (subscription) book of business, considerable operating cash flow growth, and a strong capital structure with investment-grade credit ratings are a few things we like most about Adobe. The high end of our fair value estimate range of Adobe stands at $394 per share.

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.

Jan 1, 2023

Valuentum's January 2023 Edition of Its Dividend Growth Newsletter
The link to download the January 2023 edition of the Dividend Growth Newsletter is in this article!

Dec 30, 2022

5 Top Stock Ideas for 2023!
With 2022 almost in the rear-view mirror, investors are expecting continued weakness into 2023. Millionaires are as bearish as they have been since the beginning of 2008, and we all know what happened during that year. Inflationary pressures coupled with substantially weakened consumer spending as a result of the collapse in the price of cryptocurrencies, traditional asset allocation models such as the 60/40 stock/bond portfolio, and ultra-high yielding stocks with payouts north of 9%-10% have most investors worried about what might be ahead in 2023. Still, investors have reason to be hopeful, in our view. The labor markets continue to hold up well, and the rate hikes that have pummeled equity, bond and real estate prices also act as future dry powder for the Fed to stimulate markets. At any time, the Fed can reverse its contractionary course. In 2023, we should start to see year-over-year increases in inflation slow, too. In this article, let’s talk our top 5 stock ideas for 2023!

Dec 29, 2022

Dividend Growth Giant Lockheed Martin’s Share Price Surges 35%+ in 2022
Image: Lockheed Martin’s shares have been bolstered by a robust share buyback program during the fourth quarter of 2022. Though we still expect shares to be resilient, some technical consolidation may be necessary. Image Source: TradingView. Lockheed Martin’s aggressive buybacks during the fourth quarter of 2022 may have driven its price up to lofty levels, but we continue to like shares in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio heading into 2023. The company’s free cash flow generation remains robust, its backlog has firmed up, and geopolitical tensions around the globe continue to intensify. The company’s equity yields ~2.5% at the time of this writing.