Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Dec 26, 2021

VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT: 2021 Valuentum Exclusive Call: Inflation Is Good
Valuentum's President Brian Michael Nelson, CFA, explains why investors should not fear inflation, why government agencies such as the Fed and Treasury are prioritizing something other than price discovery, why the 10-year Treasury rate is a must-watch metric, and why Valuentum prefers the moaty constituents in large cap growth due to their net cash rich balance sheets, tremendous free cash flow generating potential, and secular growth tailwinds.

Dec 2, 2021

Best Idea Vertex Pharma Boosts Guidance (Again), Buying Back Stock While Awaiting Key Clinical Trials
Image Shown: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is one of our favorite biotech ideas. Image Source: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc – Third Quarter of 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. Vertex Pharma has a robust drug pipeline, though all eyes are on its potential CTX001 treatment. Should the treatment receive the green light from key healthcare regulators, Vertex Pharma’s financial performance would benefit from a major growth catalyst. In the meantime, we think it is prudent for Vertex Pharma to continue leveraging its financial strength to repurchase sizable chunks of its stock. We like Vertex Pharma as an idea in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio.

Nov 12, 2021

Hard Work and the Trust That Binds
Image: Terry Johnson. It’s easy to forget how much we’ve been through the past two years. Often, we forget how helpful the warning that markets were going to crash was the weekend before they did on February 22, 2020, “Is a Stock Market Crash Coming? – Coronavirus Update and P/E Ratios,” how we thought dollar-cost-averaging made sense at the bottom in March 2020, and how we went “all-in” in April 29, 2020, “ALERT: Going to “Fully Invested” – The Fed and Treasury Have Your Back,” when we saw the writing was on the wall for this blow off top. If nothing else, these three moves alone during the past couple years have paid for a lifetime of subscriptions.

Oct 21, 2021

Johnson & Johnson Boosts Guidance Again, Posts Great Earnings Update
Image Shown: Johnson & Johnson reported strong performance across its three core business operating segments in the third quarter of fiscal 2021. Image Source: Johnson & Johnson – Third Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. On October 19, Johnson & Johnson reported third quarter earnings for fiscal 2021 (period ended around the end of September 2021) that missed consensus top-line estimates but beat consensus bottom-line estimates. The healthcare giant also raised its full-year guidance (again) for fiscal 2021 as its ‘Pharmaceutical’ segment is growing at a robust pace, its ‘Medical Device’ segment is steadily recovering from the worst of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, and its ‘Consumer Health’ segment is holding up well. We continue to like Johnson & Johnson as an idea in both the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio.

Jul 29, 2021

Microsoft’s Dividend Is Rock Solid But Why?
Image Shown: Valuentum’s Dividend Report on Microsoft. The Dividend Cushion Ratio Deconstruction reveals the numerator and denominator of the Dividend Cushion ratio for Microsoft. At the core, the larger the numerator, or the healthier a company's balance sheet and future free cash flow generation, relative to the denominator, or a company's cash dividend obligations, the more durable the dividend. In the context of the Dividend Cushion ratio, Microsoft's numerator is larger than its denominator suggesting strong dividend coverage in the future. The Dividend Cushion Ratio Deconstruction image puts sources of free cash in the context of financial obligations next to expected cash dividend payments over the next 5 years on a side-by-side comparison. Because the Dividend Cushion ratio and many of its components are forward-looking, our dividend evaluation may change upon subsequent updates as future forecasts are altered to reflect new information. We estimate the efficacy of the Dividend Cushion ratio in warning against dividend cuts at about 90%. We measure this efficacy by looking at the Dividend Cushion ratios of companies that have cut their payouts in our coverage. If the company had a Dividend Cushion ratio below 1, we’d view the Dividend Cushion ratio as doing its job. Not all companies with high Dividend Cushion ratios are insulated from dividend cuts, and not all companies with low Dividend Cushion ratios will cut their dividend, but the Dividend Cushion ratio is yet another Valuentum-driven tool for your investor tool kit.

Jul 22, 2021

Johnson & Johnson Beats Estimates, Raises Guidance Once Again
Image Source: Johnson & Johnson – Second Quarter of 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. On July 21, Johnson & Johnson reported second-quarter 2021 earnings that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. The company (once again) boosted its full-year guidance in conjunction with its latest earnings update as Johnson & Johnson’s business is steadily rebounding from the worst of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, with an eye towards the ongoing recovery in the sales of its medical devices and related offerings. We include shares of JNJ as an idea in both the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios. Its latest earnings report and guidance boost reinforced our favorable view towards the name. Shares of JNJ yield ~2.5% as of this writing, and the top end of our recently updated fair value estimate range sits at $206 per share of Johnson & Johnson, well above where shares are trading at as of this writing.

Jun 1, 2021

ICYMI -- Video: Exclusive 2020 -- Furthering the Financial Discipline
In this 40+ minute video jam-packed with must-watch content, Valuentum's President Brian Nelson talks about the Theory of Universal Valuation and how his work is furthering the financial discipline. Learn the pitfalls of factor investing and modern portfolio theory and how the efficient markets hypothesis holds little substance in the wake of COVID-19. He'll talk about what companies Valuentum likes and why, and which areas he's avoiding. This and more in Valuentum's 2020 Exclusive conference call.

Apr 21, 2021

Abbott Expects Strong Earnings Expansion in 2021
Image: We use a discounted cash flow model to derive a fair value estimate range for companies in our coverage. The high end of our fair value estimate range for Abbott is $125 per share. We're maintaining this range after its first-quarter 2021 report. Image Source: Valuentum's 16-page stock report of Abbott. On April 20, Abbott Laboratories reported first quarter 2021 earnings that missed consensus top-line estimates but beat consensus bottom-line estimates. Last quarter, Abbott Laboratories’ ‘Diagnostics’ revenues more than doubled year-over-year due primarily to its COVID-19 pandemic-related offerings, while its ‘Medical Device’ and ‘Nutrition’ revenues were up 9% and 6% year-over-year on an organic basis, respectively. Additionally, its internationally-oriented ‘Established Pharmaceuticals’ unit posted 6% year-over-year organic sales growth last quarter. We're maintaining our fair value estimate range.

Apr 21, 2021

Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics Partnership Update
Image: Vertex Pharma is co-developing gene-based therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD) and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia (TDT). CTX001 may offer a potential cure for people that have SCD and TDT.On April 20, Vertex Pharma and CRISPR Therapeutics issued a press release that noted “the companies have amended their collaboration agreement to develop, manufacture and commercialize CTX001, an investigational CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing therapy that is being developed as a potentially curative therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD) and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia (TDT).” The development is a win-win for both Vertex Pharma and CRISPR Therapeutics and reinforces our positive view towards both company’s capital appreciation upside. We prefer Vertex Pharma as our speculative biotech play in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio given its more resilient financials and established commercial portfolio. Note that with early stage biotech companies such as CRISPR Therapeutics, investors are taking outsized risks and could lose all their capital should future endeavors not pan out as expected.

Apr 8, 2021

The Best Years Are Ahead
The wind is at our backs. The Federal Reserve, Treasury, and regulatory bodies of the U.S. may have no choice but to keep U.S. markets moving higher. The likelihood of the S&P 500 reaching 2,000 ever again seems remote, and I would not be surprised to see 5,000 on the S&P 500 before we see 2,500-3,000, if the latter may be in the cards. The S&P 500 is trading at ~4,100 at the time of this writing. The high end of our fair value range on the S&P 500 remains just shy of 4,000, but I foresee a massive shift in long-term capital out of traditional bonds into equities this decade (and markets to remain overpriced for some time). Bond yields are paltry and will likely stay that way for some time, requiring advisors to rethink their asset mixes. The stock market looks to be the place to be long term, as it has always been. With all the tools at the disposal of government officials, economic collapse (as in the Great Depression) may no longer be even a minor probability in the decades to come--unlike in the past with the capitalistic mindset that governed the Federal Reserve before the “Lehman collapse."