Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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May 21, 2020

Covering the US-China “Technological Arms Race”
Image Shown: The future of geopolitical tensions will likely boil down to what some see as a “technological arms race” between the US and China. Image Source: Nvidia Corp – May 2020 Presentation. Given the rise of US-China geopolitical tensions, we wanted to cover the changing state of the semiconductor industry and the rare earth minerals landscape. Recent announcements from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company or ‘TSMC’ caught our eye. For some background, in the world of semiconductors, there are what is referred to as fabrication facilities and foundries. The former is used to make chips for internal purposes while the latter contracts out its production capacity to third parties to make chips for external purposes. TSMC is considered a foundry operator, with the second-largest wafer production capacity (silicon wafers are slices of semiconductors) and the largest chip contract producing capacity in the world at the end of 2019 according to some reports.

May 14, 2020

Digital Realty Trust is Holding Up Quite Well
Image Shown: Shares of Digital Realty Trust Inc, a holding in both our Dividend Growth Newsletter and High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolios, have outperformed the S&P 500 by a wide margin over the past year and that’s before taking dividend considerations into account. On May 7, the data center real estate investment trust (‘REIT’) Digital Realty Trust reported first-quarter 2020 earnings. Though the firm’s near-term guidance disappointed investors, management communicated that the medium- and long-term trajectory of Digital Realty’s financial and operational performance remained strong. Furthermore, its liquidity position and its dividend coverage continued to be rock-solid, particularly after factoring in the data center REIT’s ongoing access to equity markets and lack of near-term debt maturities. Data centers are generally considered “essential” activities around the world given we live in the digital age and these assets have continued to operate during the pandemic. Shares of DLR yield ~3.4% on a forward-looking basis as of this writing.

May 11, 2020

Facebook Is Roaring Higher!
Image Shown: Shares of Facebook (blue line) have roared higher since reaching their March 2020 lows, far outpacing the rebound in the S&P 500 (orange line). We continue to like shares of FB as a top-weighted holding in our Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. Top-weighted Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio holding Facebook posted first quarter 2020 earnings on April 29 that saw its GAAP revenues jump 18% year-over-year to $17.3 billion while its GAAP diluted EPS grew by 101% year-over-year, hitting $1.71. Please note that Facebook’s bottom-line comparison was made easier due to the firm recording a $3.0 billion legal settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission (‘FTC’) during the first quarter of 2019. While digital advertising spending levels are expected to get crushed in 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, Facebook communicated to investors that its long-term growth trajectory remained very promising during the firm’s latest quarterly conference call. In our view, digital advertising spending levels will quickly bounce back once economies around the world start to reopen in earnest, though we caution that efforts to reopen the economy and resume “normal” daily activities need to keep in mind the risk another wave of infections imposes.

May 8, 2020

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending May 8
Let's take a look at companies that raised/lowered their dividend this week.

May 6, 2020

Public Storage Currently Has the Financial Strength to Support Its Payout
Image Source: Public Storage – 2019 Annual Report. High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio holding Public Storage reported its first quarter results for 2020 on May 1. The self-storage real estate investment trust’s (‘REIT’) core funds from operations (‘FFO’) per share grew by 2% year-over-year last quarter, hitting $2.58 per share, while its occupancy rate (as measured by its rentable square feet) grew by ~60 basis points year-over-year, reaching 93.1%. Public Storage was also able to push through marginal same-store rent increases, though rising operating costs (particularly property taxes, payroll expenses, and marketing expenses) chipped away at its margins last quarter. As of this writing, shares of PSA yield ~4.4%.

May 1, 2020

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending May 1
Let's take a look at companies that raised/lowered their dividend this week.

Apr 24, 2020

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending April 24
Let's take a look at companies that raised/lowered their dividend this week.

Apr 22, 2020

What To Do Now?
Let's get President of Investment Research Brian Nelson's thoughts...

Apr 22, 2020

Lockheed Martin Marches Forward During These Harrowing Times
Image Source: Lockheed Martin Corporation – First Quarter Fiscal 2020 Earnings IR Presentation. On April 21, Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding Lockheed Martin Corp reported first-quarter earnings for fiscal 2020 (period ended March 29, 2020) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. Even better, management largely kept Lockheed Martin’s fiscal 2020 guidance intact, save for a marginal reduction in the firm’s expected sales which is primarily due to supply chain and production issues the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic is creating for Lockheed Martin’s ‘Aeronautics’ business. With that in mind, Lockheed Martin is still forecasting for ~6% revenue growth this year, highlighting the resilience of defense contractor’s financials even during harrowing times such as these. Shares of LMT yield ~2.6% as of this writing.

Apr 17, 2020

Earnings Roundup for the Week Ended Sunday, April 19, Covering Companies Across the Board
Let's take a look at several earnings reports across numerous industries in this article as the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic forces the global economy to a crawl. Please note that as these reports primarily cover the first quarter of calendar year 2020, the impact of the pandemic has yet to be truly reflected in corporate earnings. That said, these reports still provide an important glimpse into what to expect going forward and how companies are responding to the pandemic.