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Valens Research

Valens Equity Insights and Inflections - 2018 05 30

ALB currently trades above historical averages relative to UAFRS-based (Uniform) Earnings, with a 23.1x Uniform P/E. At these levels, the market is pricing in expectations for Uniform ROA to remain at current 11%-12% levels through 2022, accompanied by 5% Uniform Asset growth going forward. Analysts have similar expectations, projecting Uniform ROA to remain at current 11% levels through 2019, accompanied by 11% Uniform Asset growth. At current valuations, the market is pricing the company to see profitability remain flat over the next several years, which seems unreasonable given strong macro tailwinds and the firm's favorable positioning, despite management's negative sentiment. Should ALB take advantage of these trends going forward and continue to grow while driving Uniform ROA improvement, equity upside is likely warranted.

AMZN Q1 2018 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Market expectations are for a recovery in Uniform ROA, but management has concerns about Prime and AWS

PLNT Q1 2018 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Expectations for declining profitability are too bearish, implying that, despite the potential for near-term headwinds, long-term equity upside remains warranted

LLL Q4 2017 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Market expectations are for Uniform ROA expansion, but management has concerns about budget uncertainty, international operations, and operating margin

ABBV, AMGN, BABA, BLDR, CCL, LGIH, MO, MYL, NAV, NCSM, NOV, PFE, VOW3:DEU, ZG
Underlyings
AbbVie Inc.

AbbVie is a research-based biopharmaceutical company. The company's products are focused on treating conditions such as chronic autoimmune diseases in rheumatology, gastroenterology and dermatology; oncology, including blood cancers; virology, including hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus; neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease; metabolic diseases, including thyroid disease and complications associated with cystic fibrosis; pain associated with endometriosis; as well as other serious health conditions. The company also has medicines in clinical development across immunology, oncology and neuroscience, with additional targeted investment in cystic fibrosis and women's health.

Albemarle Corporation

Albemarle is a global developer, manufacturer and marketer of chemicals across a range of end markets including energy storage, petroleum refining, consumer electronics, construction, automotive, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, crop protection and custom chemistry services. The company's segments include: Lithium, which develops and manufactures a range of basic lithium compounds and lithium specialties and reagents; Bromine Specialties, which includes products used in fire safety solutions and other chemicals applications; and Catalysts, which includes Clean Fuels Technologies, fluidized catalytic cracking catalysts and additives, and performance catalyst solutions.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Sponsored ADR

Altria Group Inc

Altria Group is a holding company. The company's subsidiaries include: Philip Morris USA Inc., which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes; John Middleton Co., which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made cigars and pipe tobacco; Sherman Group Holdings, LLC and its subsidiaries, which are engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and the sale of cigars; and UST LLC, which through its subsidiaries, including U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd., is engaged in the manufacture and sale of smokeless tobacco products and wine. The products of the company's tobacco subsidiaries include smokeable tobacco products and machine-made cigars.

Amazon.com Inc.

Amazon.com serves consumers through its online and physical stores. The company also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablet, Fire TV, Echo, and Ring, and the company develops and produces media content. The company operates customer service centers and provides programs that enable sellers to grow their businesses, sell their products in its stores, and fulfill orders through the company The company serves developers and enterprises of various sizes, including start-ups, government agencies, and academic institutions, through its Amazon Web Services segment, which provides a set of global compute, storage, database, and other service offerings. The company also provides services, such as advertising.

AMGEN INC.

Amgen is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers human therapeutics. The company's products include: Enbrel? (etanercept), which is used in indications for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis, patients with chronic moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy and patients with active psoriatic arthritis; and Prolia? (denosumab), which is used for the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk of fracture or multiple risk factors for fracture, or patients who have failed or are intolerant to other available osteoporosis therapy.

Builders FirstSource Inc.

Builders FirstSource, through its subsidiaries is a supplier and manufacturer of building materials, manufactured components and construction services to homebuilders, sub-contractors, remodelers and consumers. The company provides a solution to its customers providing manufacturing, supply and installation of structural and related building products. The company's manufactured products include factory-built roof and floor trusses, and wall panels and stairs. The company also assembles interior and exterior doors into pre-hung units. Additionally, the company supplies its customers with building products not manufactured by the company, such as dimensional lumber and lumber sheet goods and various window, door and millwork lines.

Carnival Corporation

L3 Technologies Inc

L3 Technologies is a defense technology company. The company's segments include: Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems, which provides engineering, modernization and sustainment solutions for military and various government aircraft, ground support equipment and other platforms; Communications and Networked Systems, which provides network and communication systems, communications products, radio frequency components, satellite communication terminals and space, microwave and telemetry products; and Electronic Systems, which provides a range of products and services, including components, products, subsystems, systems and related services to military and commercial customers.

LGI Homes Inc.

LGI Homes is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company is engaged in the design, construction, and sale of new homes in markets in Texas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, South Carolina, North Carolina, Colorado, Washington, Tennessee, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Alabama, California, Oregon, and Nevada. The company's product offerings include entry-level homes, including both detached homes and townhomes, and move-up homes sold, which are sold under its LGI Homes brand, and its luxury series homes, which are sold under its Terrata Homes brand. The company's homebuilding operations are organized and managed by seven divisions: West, Northwest, Central, Midwest, Florida, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Navistar International Corporation

Navistar International is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company is a manufacturer of International? brand commercial trucks, proprietary diesel engines, and IC Bus? (IC) brand school and commercial buses. The company's segments include: Truck, which manufactures and distributes trucks and buses along with production of proprietary engines; Parts, which provides proprietary products to support the International commercial truck, IC Bus, proprietary engine lines, and export parts business; and Global Operations, which consists of the operations of its subsidiary, International Industria Automotiva da America do Sul Ltda that manufactures and distributes mid-range diesel engines.

NCS Multistage Holding

NCS Multistage Holdings is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company is a provider of products and support services that facilitate the optimization of oil and natural gas well completions and field development strategies. The company's primary offering is its fracturing systems products and services, which enable pinpoint stimulation. In addition to fracturing systems, the company sells products for well construction, including its AirLock casing buoyancy system, liner hanger systems and toe initiation sleeves. The company also provides tracer diagnostics services for well completion and reservoir characterization that utilize downhole chemical and radioactive tracers.

NOV Inc.

National Oilwell Varco is an independent provider of equipment and technology to the upstream oil and gas industry. The company's segments include: Wellbore Technologies, which designs, manufactures, rents, and sells a variety of equipment and technologies used to perform drilling operations; Completion and Production Solutions, which designs, manufactures, and sells equipment and technologies for hydraulic fracture stimulation, well intervention, onshore production, and offshore production; and Rig Technologies, which designs, manufactures and sells land rigs, offshore drilling equipment packages, and drilling rig components that mechanize and automate the drilling process and rig functionality.

Pfizer Inc.

Pfizer is a research-based biopharmaceutical company. The company is engaged in discovering, developing, manufacturing and distributing of healthcare products, including medicines and vaccines. The company manages its commercial operations through three businesses: Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group, which includes Oncology, Inflammation and Immunology, Rare Disease, Hospital, Vaccines and Internal Medicine business units, as well as a hospital business unit; Upjohn, which includes the company's solid oral dose brands such as Lyrica, Lipitor, Norvasc, Celebrex, Viagra, and certain generic medicines; and Consumer Healthcare, which is an over-the-counter medicines business.

Planet Fitness Inc. Class A

Planet Fitness is a holding company. Through its subsidiries, the company is engaged as a franchisor and operator of fitness centers. The company's stores include co-branded cardio equipment, free weights, strength machines, a workout area, a small retail area and a drink cooler. The company operates and manages its business in three business segments: Franchise, which includes operations related to its franchising business in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, the Dominican Republic and Panama; Corporate-owned stores, which includes operations with respect to all corporate-owned stores throughout the U.S. and Canada; and Equipment, which includes the sale of equipment to franchisee-owned stores in the U.S.

Viatris Inc.

Volkswagen AG

Zillow Group Inc. Class A

Provider
Valens Research
Valens Research

In 2009, just as the dust was settling from the last major equity and credit market crises, we launched a boutique research firm with the intention of breaking Wall Street’s biases and broken incentives:

  • GAAP and IFRS have failed to provide rules for reliable financial statement reporting
  • Stock analyst recommendations are not grounded in disciplined financial analysis
  • Credit agencies have been set up to grossly fail in their responsibilities to investors and the public markets
  • Utter lack of willingness of major research firms to employ the the most advanced forensic analysis available

We sought to provide investors and company analysts with a source of information that changed all that.
Many years later, our business model remains because little has changed on Wall Street.

  • Corporate credit ratings remain years behind the fundamental underpinnings of company performance
  • Stock analysts continue to make recommendations with deeply inherent biases
  • Research firms have failed to break down the walls between credit, equity, and macroeconomic research
  • The governing accounting bodies have created more leeway for mis-estimates and mis-classifications as financials have become unwieldy and overwhelming

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