Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Oct 23, 2023

2 Stocks to Watch: Tesla and Chevron
Image: Tesla. Tesla’s third-quarter report could have been a lot better, and Elon Musk’s comments that they “have dug (their) own grave with the Cybertruck” weren’t reassuring. Nonetheless, the company continues to generate free cash flow, and its balance sheet remains pristine with a very nice net cash position. We won’t be adding shares of Tesla to any newsletter portfolio, but given the price drop in its equity during the past week, we think most of the bad news is already embedded in the stock. As for Chevron, the company was once a darling stock in the newsletter portfolios, but we’ve moved beyond this big winner in both the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio after the huge “gains” the past 12-18 months. Shares still yield an attractive 3.6%, however, and we'll have more to say about its tie-up with Hess as more details come to light.

Jul 24, 2023

Tesla Is A Net-Cash-Rich, Free-Cash-Flow Generating, Secular-Growth Powerhouse
Image: Tesla’s Cybertruck showcasing its versatility. The truck is on track to begin production at Gigafactory in Texas in the coming months. Image Source: Tesla's second-quarter press release. The cash-based sources of intrinsic value (and the trajectory of growth in them) are the most important considerations when it comes to assessing the attractiveness of an equity. Two of the most important cash-based sources of intrinsic value are net cash on the balance sheet and future expected free cash flows, and in these two areas, Tesla excels. Though we won’t be adding Tesla to any of the newsletter portfolios anytime soon, we like it within a diversified basket of large-cap growth equities, of which the Best Ideas Newsletter in some ways approximates.

Jul 4, 2023

Tesla Registers Record Total Deliveries in Second Quarter 2023
Source: Tesla. We’ve liked Tesla’s share-price strength so far this year, and record total deliveries during the second quarter of 2023 help to continue to support its impressive share-price move. The high end of our fair value estimate range of Tesla stands at $335 per share, meaning shares of Tesla still have more room to run. The company remains one of the most speculative ways to play U.S. equities.

Oct 24, 2022

Chinese Stocks Bludgeoned!
Image: Large cap Chinese equities are now back to levels first reached more than 15 years ago on a price-only basis, to levels first attained in early 2006. The stakes have never been higher on the world stage as geopolitical uncertainty between the U.S. and China continues to escalate. Shares of Chinese equites have been bludgeoned, now back to levels first reached in early 2006, some 15 years ago. The fallout has taken some of the best investors with it, legends such as Charlie Munger, whose shares in BABA hover near all-time lows. We don’t see Chinese equities as “investable” these days, and we’re steering clear of direct exposure in the simulated newsletter portfolios at this time.

Oct 12, 2022

Serious Question: What Are You Looking At?
Image: Stocks with the largest 52-week losses, according to YahooFinance. We've handled the worst performers of 2022 quite handily, and the simulated newsletter portfolios are showcasing the importance of our methodology and processes. We expect things to get worse in the economy before they get better, but we maintain our view that there may be nothing better out there than a subscription to Valuentum to navigate these tumultuous times.

Aug 31, 2022

Valuentum: Outlook for Europe, China Is Bleak
Video: Valuentum's Associate Director of Research and Co-Portfolio Manager of the simulated newsletter portfolios, Callum Turcan, shares his thoughts about the global economy. Europe is facing considerable pressure from energy prices, while China may face a mortgage meltdown. Join Valuentum for this brief 6 minute video to get up to speed on the goings-on of the global economy and what troubles may be lurking ahead.

Jun 30, 2022

Big Changes in the Auto Industry as Chip Shortages, Supply Chain Issues, and Rising Input Costs Complicate Matters; Tesla and Ferrari Our Two Favorite Names
Image: Ferrari’s fundamental momentum has been strong of late. Image Source: Ferrari N.V. 2022 Globe Newswire. The auto industry perhaps has changed more than any other industry the past five years. First, it was Ford that said it wouldn’t make passenger cars anymore, except for its iconic Mustang. Then, the European Union said that it would eventually end the internal combustion engine (ICE) by 2035. Then, Tesla reached over $1,200 per share and over a $1 trillion market capitalization. Can you imagine a world where Ford is not making sedans, the once modern-marvel of the internal combustion engine is dying, and where one car maker is worth as much as the next nine car makers combined? Certainly, a lot has changed in the auto industry during the past decade, and we haven’t dabbled much in the auto sector as it relates to idea generation due in part to the industry’s fast-changing backdrop. That doesn’t mean that we’re not fans of the auto space and its promising long-term opportunities, particularly with electric vehicles (EVs). It just means that we think there are better stories elsewhere, as in ideas in the simulated newsletter portfolios. However, if we had to pick two of our favorite auto names to consider, they would be Tesla and Ferrari, even as we note General Motors and Ford both trade at mid-single-digit earnings multiples. That said, investors don’t necessarily have to take on the risks of automakers, especially as the group deals with chip shortages, supply chain issues, and margin pressures from higher input costs. The cyclicality of many of the operators and the reality that operating leverage cuts both ways (and is quite painful during difficult economic times) are risks that perhaps won’t ever go away. That said, exposure to the auto space via Tesla or Ferrari could work nicely in a broadly diversified equity portfolio should risk-seeking investors be so inclined. These two names remain on our radar.

Jan 27, 2022

Net Cash Rich Tesla Reports Solid Free Cash Flow, Closes Out 2021 on a High Note
Image Shown: A look at Tesla Inc’s new ‘Gigafactory’ manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas, that is currently under development. Image Source: Tesla Inc – Fourth Quarter of 2021 IR Shareholder Deck. On January 26, Tesla reported that it had produced ~306,000 vehicles and delivered ~309,000 vehicles during the final quarter of 2021. The electric vehicle (‘EV’) and battery maker beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates in the fourth quarter as it continued to successfully ramp its production capabilities. We plan to fine-tune our cash flow valuation model covering Tesla to take its latest earnings report into account, but we still expect the point fair value estimate to be below where shares are trading at the time of this writing (~$937 per share).

Nov 26, 2021

ICYMI: Time to Consider Buying Chinese Equities? Not Exactly.
Image Shown: Shares of Alibaba Group have plummeted over the past year in the wake of Beijing’s crackdown on China’s domestic tech and fintech titans. Is it finally time to start loading up on Chinese equities? We don't think so.

Jul 26, 2021

Chinese Stocks Getting Hammered
Image shown: A confluence of factors are driving Chinese stocks lower, not the least of which is heightened regulatory concerns.Investing is really simple. You don’t need to find terribly underfollowed ideas to do well, just mispriced ones. For example, Alphabet is up over 80% the past 52 weeks, and the company has been a top weighting in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio for some time. Facebook has also been an outperformer. There’s no need to make things complicated. Focus on undervalued stocks on a DCF basis that have strong market support through relative strength or a solid technical breakout--and stay away from those net-debt heavy, low valuation multiple value traps!