Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Nov 9, 2022

Taiwan Semiconductor’s Operations Remain Solid But Uncertainty Has Punished the Stock
Image: Taiwan Semiconductor’s shares have faced considerable pressure during 2022, despite strong operational performance. We’re disappointed with the performance of Taiwan Semiconductor’s stock during 2022. Operational performance has been strong, but uncertainty stemming from weakness across the tech space to rising Sino-American tensions have punished shares. We continue to monitor its equity performance closely.

Oct 27, 2022

VBI Ratings Not as Impressive As We Would Have Liked in 2022
Image: How the VBI rating system has ranked equities so far this year. At Valuentum, we use the Valuentum Buying Index (VBI) to source ideas into diversified simulated newsletter portfolios, and the VBI may be most applicable to the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, where we generally like to include ideas when they register a high VBI rating and remove them when they register a low VBI rating. We always use the VBI in a portfolio setting and never by itself. Let's talk more about the VBI rating system in this work.

Oct 26, 2022

Microsoft, Alphabet Calendar 3Q Reports As Expected; Pressured By Weakening Economy
Image Source: Abi Begum. We continue to be huge fans of large cap growth and big cap tech equities over the long haul, as their equity prices will likely slingshot back on the other side of the current economic malaise. Microsoft and Alphabet continue to generate gobs of free cash flow and their balance sheets are absolutely remarkable, boasting huge levels of net cash. We continue to like Microsoft and Alphabet in the simulated newsletter portfolios. Please note that Meta Platforms was removed from the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio on October 18.

Oct 24, 2022

Chip Stocks -- Geopolitical Uncertainty Heightens in China; ASML, QCOM Still Strong Long-Term Considerations, But Expect Near-Term Fundamental Weakness
Image Source: The U.S. Department of Commerce. The global economic environment continues to reel from heightened inflation, which is pressuring consumer discretionary spending, but geopolitical uncertainty remains at a fever pitch. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has unsettled investors, but the back-and-forth between the U.S. and China has chipmakers in the crosshairs. On October 7, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce released a report aimed to restrict China’s ability to attain advanced computer chip technology. We expect a downward revision to our fair value estimates across the chip space, but many of their refreshed fair value estimates will remain within their existing fair value estimate ranges. We expect a downward revision to our fair value estimates across the chip space, but many of their refreshed fair value estimates will remain within their existing fair value estimate ranges. Qualcomm will report fourth-quarter results November 2, 2022, and we’ll have more to say after the report. We recently dove into ASML’s quarterly report for the period ending October 3, which wasn’t too bad. Of note, ASML indicated that the export restrictions won’t be as punitive for them as many believe given its headquarters in the Netherlands. Though our newsletter portfolio "exposure" to the chip space is small, we'll be watching fundamental performance across the group closely.

Oct 21, 2022

Get Excited: Dividend Growth Investors Rejoice! – More “Outperformance”
Image: Valuentum’s simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio continues to “outperform” relative to almost any dividend-paying benchmark this year! Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. This is not a real money portfolio. As of the last tally through October 19, the simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio is beating the S&P 500 Dividend ETF SPDR (SDY) by roughly ~3.2 percentage points so far in 2022 (-8.4% versus -11.6%), all the while we’ve seen some awesome dividend growth across the board, with Microsoft (MSFT), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Honeywell (HON), and Realty Income (O) recently pushing through some nice dividend increases. What’s ~3.2 percentage points on a million-dollar portfolio? ~$32,000 in capital one doesn’t have to make up when the market’s coming roaring back in the coming years – and that’s relative to a dividend growth benchmark that is “outperforming” the SPY in a big way in 2022.

Oct 16, 2022

The Valuentum Learning Center
Image Source: Gaby Av. Learn about investing, Valuentum's investment process and more!

Oct 10, 2022

Recent Fair Value Estimate Updates
Image Source: Valuentum. We’ve made a number of fair value estimate changes across our coverage universe as a result of what we expect to be substantial weakness in the global economy. Many of our fair value estimate adjustments have come in the consumer discretionary sector, but we have also made tweaks to the fair value estimates of companies in the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. Though 2022 has been a tough year, we’ve been steady at the wheel, calling the nearly unprecedented fall in the 60/40 stock/bond portfolio this year, the mid-teens percentage weakness in the SPY following the summer rally, all the while driving “outperformance” through the latest simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio update August 19. Another update will be forthcoming. This year has been tough, but it’s been a lot worse for asset allocators that missed out on the big bull market run in equities if they held a hefty allocation in bonds the past decade. Let’s keep our guards up as this market looks like it might get a lot worse before it gets better.

Oct 8, 2022

Microsoft Hinted at Trouble in Calendar Q2 But AMD’s Massive $1 Billion Quarterly Q3 Revenue Miss Spells Big Problems for PC Market; Search and News Advertising Revenue Also Likely Weakening Substantially
Image Source: Fritzchens Fritz. Economic conditions have deteriorated rapidly since Microsoft warned about deteriorating PC market demand in July of this year. AMD’s preliminary third-quarter report announced October 6 showed a massive $1 billion miss relative to prior expectations, and we think this is the beginning of a vicious cyclical downturn in the semiconductor industry, with few immune to the troubles, particularly in light of Apple’s warning about iPhone 14 demand. Further, we think search and news advertising has likely deteriorated since the calendar second-quarter reporting season, too, and this doesn’t bode well for the likes of Alphabet and Meta Platforms. Recent news about the strength of Tiktok and the lack of enthusiasm by Meta Platforms’ insiders that are building the metaverse have us thinking that Meta has turned into a value trap. We won’t hesitate to drop shares if the company’s outlook in its third-quarter report comes up short.

Sep 28, 2022

Things Are Bad Out There
The Bank of England’s intervention to stem what might have turned into a “run on the bank” dynamic for pension funds in the country amid a collapsing pound has given rise to the view that the Fed may start to slow its rate of increases amid global uncertainty. We think it’s too early to tell. From our perspective, the Fed remains committed to stomping out inflation, something that it may not truly be able to do, given that interest rate hikes may be too blunt of an instrument to stymie food cost inflation, which remains one of the the biggest inflationary headwinds that is hurting consumer budgets. What is happening on the global stage is quite concerning, and we remain bearish on the equity markets. The bull case may very well be a deep recession in the U.S., where dollar cost averaging in the U.S. markets could be had, followed by sharp interest rate cuts by the Fed, and a return to all-time highs. This is not a time to lose interest, but a time to pay even closer attention to your investments. What you do over the next couple years will have implications on your portfolio 5, 10, and 20 years forward. Let’s keep focused on preserving and building long-term wealth!

Sep 23, 2022

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of September 23
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.