Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Dec 27, 2022

Verizon’s Big Share-Price Drop Opens Opportunity for 6.8% Dividend Yield
Image: Verizon’s shares have been punished, but this has opened an opportunity for a 6.8% dividend yield. Image Source: TradingView. With Verizon’s dividend hike to $0.6525 per quarter in September this year, 2022 has marked the 16th consecutive year of a dividend increase. Shares yield ~6.8% at the time of this writing. Though we wouldn’t be looking to add Verizon’s shares to the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio or simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio at this time, it may be worth a look for high yield and income investors. Its big share-price drop has made its dividend a head-turner.

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 22, 2022

Be Careful With Celebrity Endorsement of Investment Products
Image Source: EpicTop10.com. Have you ever wondered why so many trust the TV for financial advice or stock tips? You guessed it: It comes back to "brain science" or the concept of familiarity. When we see a celebrity or our favorite stock guru on the television, it arouses our emotions and connects us with the idea, making the experience more memorable. The brain tends to treat our favorite newscaster or celebrity as a trusted, familiar friend, and therefore we translate those feelings into expertise and a "valid" endorsement. Be sure to use caution with celebrity endorsements of investment products, however.

Dec 21, 2022

Nike’s Weak Earnings Growth, Markdowns, and Lofty Inventory Levels Still Telling of a Struggling Consumer
Image Source: Valuentum. Nike’s second-quarter fiscal 2023 earnings report, released December 20, revealed strong revenue growth, but concerns lurked beneath the surface. Gross margin pressure, markdowns, lofty inventory levels, and a decline in reported sales in China were among the many concerns. Nike’s strong brand and close ties with consumers, however, offer key competitive advantages, and while consumer discretionary spending is facing considerable pressure in the near term, Nike remains a strong long-term global story, in our view. Shares yield ~1.3% and are trading modestly above the high end of our fair value estimate range at the time of this writing.

Dec 20, 2022

Stock Market Locked in Technical Downtrend; Millionaires Expect More Pain in 2023
Image: The stock market has been locked in a downtrend through all of 2022, and the latest bull trap has spoiled the Santa Claus rally. 2023 may be an equally rough year. This market just doesn’t want to go higher in the near term, and the latest bull trap wasn’t encouraging at all. We think long term investors should stay the course, but it is looking more and more like we won’t see a stock market bottom until sometime in 2023. Santa brought coal this year.

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 13, 2022

Oracle Puts Up Huge Revenue Growth Number in Second Quarter Fiscal 2023 Results
Image: Trailing four-quarter free cash flow trends at Oracle are strong but lumpy. Image Source: Oracle. On December 12, Oracle Corporation reported better than expected second quarter fiscal 2023 results for the three months ended November 30. Total revenue advanced 18% in the quarter on a year-over-year basis, leaping 25% in constant currency, thanks in part to strong performance at its infrastructure and application cloud businesses. Non-GAAP operating income increased 5%--and 12% in constant currency--and its non-GAAP operating margin was 41% in the period. Fiscal second-quarter non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.21 beat the consensus estimate, despite foreign currency headwinds. We liked that we saw in the quarterly results, and we’ll be sticking with the company as one of our best ideas.

Dec 12, 2022

American Tower Ups Dividend Payout 6%+ But Shares Not Immune to REIT Sector Weakness
Image Source: American Tower. Cell tower operator American Tower raised its dividend more than 6% from its last payout in October, and while we like the payout growth momentum, we’re taking note of weakening AFFO and free cash flow trends. The REIT’s net debt position takes on greater prominence in the current rising interest rate environment, too, and its forward estimated dividend yield stands at just ~2.9%, about in line with traditional near-term rates on certificates of deposits. We’re watching deteriorating REIT economics closely.

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.

Dec 9, 2022

We Win Some, We Lose Some: Best Idea Exxon Mobil Expects Huge Cash Flow Growth in Coming Years
Image: Exxon Mobil has been one of the biggest contributors of alpha to the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio during 2022. Image: Valuentum. It would have been difficult to sit out energy during 2022 and have a good year. Though the areas of dividend growth and high-yield dividend investing have held up better than more speculative areas, energy has been a key source of alpha across our newsletter suite this year. We added Exxon Mobil mid last year, in June 2021, to the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, and High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio, and shares have rocketed more than 60% higher during 2022 alone. We continue to like shares of Exxon Mobil and peg a per-share fair value estimate of $122 on them.