Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Sep 10, 2024

Oracle Expects Increased Revenue Growth Throughout Fiscal 2025
Image: Oracle’s shares have performed quite well during the past couple years. Oracle remains a key idea in both the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio as well as the ESG Newsletter portfolio, and its fiscal first quarter results support our bullish take on the name. Though Oracle has a rather large net debt position, free cash flow remains robust, while the company capitalizes on its total remaining performance obligations, which advanced 53% in the quarter on a year-over-year basis. We liked the commentary about revenue growth to accelerate throughout fiscal year 2025, and we point to the high end of our fair value estimate range ($178 per share) for shares.

Aug 4, 2024

What to Do During This Market Selloff
In short, nothing.

Jul 24, 2024

Alphabet’s Free Cash Flow Faces Pressure in Second Quarter
Image: Alphabet’s shares have performed well so far in 2024. Alphabet reported solid second quarter results with strong performance across its operating segments. In the quarter, Google Cloud revenue came in better than expectations, while YouTube ads missed only slightly. Alphabet now pays a dividend, and it continues to aggressively buy back stock. The company’s free cash flow faced pressure in the quarter due to investments to drive innovation, and while this may pressure ROICs in the coming periods, we still like Alphabet as an idea in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio.

Jul 19, 2024

Netflix Still Has a Long Runway of Growth Ahead of It
Image Source: Netflix. Netflix reported solid second quarter results and raised its forward-looking guidance for the full year 2024. The company is winning the streaming wars and has a long runway of future membership growth given the 80% of TV time it and Youtube don’t already own. Its nascent ads business continues to gain traction, too. Netflix still expects to haul in free cash flow of $6 billion in 2024, as it continues to buy back stock. The company ended the quarter with $14 billion in gross debt versus cash and cash equivalents of $6.7 billion. We think Netflix is performing well, but we're already quite tech heavy in the newsletter portfolios and won't be adding shares to any portfolio at this time.

Jun 12, 2024

Oracle Misses in Q4 But Bookings Performance and Outlook Strong
Image: Oracle’s shares have done quite well since the beginning of 2023, and management’s outlook speaks to continued strength. We liked Oracle’s cash flow performance for fiscal 2024 and outlook for not only fiscal 2025 but also its positive commentary associated with the momentum it has built for fiscal 2026. We continue to like Oracle as an idea for the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio and ESG Newsletter portfolio. Shares yield ~1.3% at the time of this writing.

Jun 10, 2024

Update: Frequently Asked Questions About Valuentum Securities, Inc.
Valuentum (val∙u∙n∙tum) [val-yoo-en-tuh-m] Securities Inc. is an independent investment research publisher, offering premium equity reports and dividend reports, as well as commentary across all sectors/companies, a Best Ideas Newsletter (spanning market caps, asset classes), a Dividend Growth Newsletter, modeling tools/products, and more. Independence and integrity remain our core, and we strive to be a champion of the investor. Valuentum is based in the Chicagoland area. Valuentum is not a money manager, broker, or financial advisor. Valuentum is a publisher of financial information. We address a number of questions from both subscribers and visitors to our site.

Apr 28, 2024

Alphabet Posts Strong First Quarter, Initiates Dividend, Launches Huge Buyback
Image: Alphabet’s valuable properties continue to put up nice revenue growth. Alphabet ended the quarter with $108.1 billion in total cash and marketable securities against a long-term debt load of $13.2 billion, so Alphabet has an ample net cash position to support cash returns to shareholders. For the quarter ended March 31, 2024, Alphabet’s free cash flow totaled $16.8 billion, slightly lower than the same period last year due to a near doubling in capital spending, but nonetheless, the measure was healthy. We continue to like Alphabet as a top weighting in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio.

Mar 5, 2024

Alphabet or Microsoft in Artificial Intelligence with Respect to Search? We Like Both
Image Source: SEO. It’s very likely that, if Google search is eventually disrupted, much of the disruption would come from Microsoft given its deep pockets and existing search engine Bing. We continue to include both Alphabet and Microsoft in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio as a hedge in this regard. If any share shifts do occur away from Google search, they’ll likely accrue to Microsoft, and with both Alphabet and Microsoft large components of big cap tech and the stylistic area of large cap growth, considering the Schwab Large Cap Growth ETF may be worthwhile. We like both Alphabet and Microsoft and view any share shifts as net neutral to our exposure in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio.

Feb 25, 2024

We Remain Bullish; Is This 1995 – The Beginning of a Huge Stock Market Run?
Image: Large cap growth stocks have trounced the performance of the S&P 500, REITs, and bonds since the beginning of 2023. We expect continued outperformance in this area of the market. We’re now roughly four years past the depths of the COVID-19 meltdown, where equities collapsed in February and March of 2020. As the markets began to recover through 2020, our long-term conviction in equities only grew stronger. We think the biggest risk for long-term investors remains staying out of the market on the basis of what could be considered stretched valuation multiples. As we outlined heavily in the book Value Trap, valuation multiples hardly tell the complete story about a company and often omit key long-term earnings growth, cash flow dynamics, and balance sheet health considerations. We remain bullish on equities for the long haul, and we think the next couple years will be incredibly strong. Our best ideas can be found in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio, ESG Newsletter portfolio, and via the Exclusive publication as well as options idea generation.

Feb 9, 2024

Earnings Roundup: PEP, DIS, ARM, PM
Image Source: Arm Holdings. Pepsi issued an outlook for 2024 that came in lower than what the Street was expecting, but we like the diversification of having a strong brand entity such as Pepsi in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. Disney is working hard to get back on track, and cost-cutting efforts have significantly helped its free cash flow generation. The firm is buying back stock, too, and recently upped its semi-annual dividend payout by 50%. Arm Holdings plc surprised the market in a big way, sending shares almost 50% higher following the report. The company's lucrative royalty business model and attractive exposure to artificial intelligence has investors extremely excited. Philip Morris is targeting strong organic revenue growth in 2024 thanks in part to Zyn growth, and we like the strong foundation that its free cash flow provides in supporting its dividend.