Valens Equity Insights and Inflections - 2018 04 04
SBUX currently trades near historical averages relative to UAFRS-based (Uniform) Earnings, with a 26.4x Uniform P/E. At these levels, the market is pricing in expectations for Uniform ROA to cease recent declines, and expand significantly, from 17% in 2017 to record-high 26% levels in 2022, accompanied by 7% Uniform Asset growth going forward. However, analysts have less bullish expectations, projecting Uniform ROA to only improve to 20% levels through 2019, accompanied by 7% Uniform Asset growth. Moreover, Valens' qualitative analysis of the firm's Q1 2018 earnings call highlights that management has concerns about their initiatives, margins, and Chinese operations. At current valuations, markets are pricing in a near-best-case scenario for SBUX, and considering management concerns about their outlook, any negative surprise could lead to material equity downside.AAL Q4 2017 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Market expectations are for Uniform ROA to remain stable at above cost-of-capital levels, but management has concerns about new markets, profits, and yield
ATVI Q4 2017 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Market expectations are for record-high Uniform ROA, but management has concerns about growth, investments, and earnings
CSX Q4 2017 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Market expectations are for record-high Uniform ROA, but management has concerns about revenues, new opportunities, and recent service issues
ABBV, AGN, CHK, CSTM, FIS, NSC, R, RY:CAN, UAL
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.
Activision Blizzard is a global developer and publisher of interactive entertainment content and services. The company's segments are: Activision Publishing, Inc., which is a global developer and publisher of interactive software products and entertainment content, particularly for the console platform; Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., which is a global developer and publisher of interactive software products and entertainment content, particularly for the personal computers platform; and King Digital Entertainment, which is a global developer and publisher of interactive entertainment content and services, particularly for the mobile platform, including for Google Inc.'s Android and Apple Inc.'s iOS.
American Airlines Group is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company's business activity is the operation of a primary network carrier, providing scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo. The company's regional carriers provide scheduled air transportation under American Eagle. The American Eagle carriers include the company's regional carriers Envoy Aviation Group Inc., PSA Airlines, Inc. and Piedmont Airlines, Inc., as well as third-party regional carriers including Republic Airline Inc., Mesa Airlines, Inc., SkyWest Airlines, Inc. and Compass Airlines, LLC. The company's cargo division provides freight and mail services, with facilities and interline connections available across the globe.
Chesapeake Energy is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of properties to produce oil, natural gas and natural gas liquid from underground reservoirs. The company owns a portfolio of onshore U.S. liquids and natural gas assets. The company has positions in the resource plays of the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, the stacked pay in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and the Anadarko Basin in northwestern Oklahoma. The company's natural gas resource plays are the Marcellus Shale in the northern Appalachian Basin in Pennsylvania and the Haynesville/Bossier Shales in northwestern Louisiana.
Constellium N.V. designs and manufactures a range of innovative specialty rolled and extruded aluminum products, serving primarily the aerospace, packaging and automotive end-markets. Co. has a strategic footprint of manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Europe and China. Co.'s product portfolio commands higher margins as compared to less differentiated, more commoditized fabricated aluminum products, such as common alloy coils, paintstock, foilstock and soft alloys for construction and distribution. Co. organizes its business around three operating segments: Aerospace & Transportation, Packaging & Automotive Rolled Products, and Automotive Structures & Industry.
CSX provides rail-based freight transportation services. The company's principal operating subsidiary, CSX Transportation, Inc., provides a link to the transportation supply chain through its rail network, which serves centers in states east of the Mississippi River, the District of Columbia and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The company's CSX Intermodal Terminals, Inc. subsidiary owns and operates a system of intermodal terminals, primarily in the eastern United States and also performs drayage services (the pickup and delivery of intermodal shipments). The company's Total Distribution Services, Inc. subsidiary serves the automotive industry with distribution centers and storage locations.
Fidelity National Information Services is a provider of technology solutions for merchants, banks, and capital markets firms globally. The company's solutions include merchant acquiring solutions; payment solutions; global eCommerce solutions; processing and ancillary applications solutions; digital solutions; fraud, risk management and compliance solutions; electronic funds transfer and network services solutions; card and retail payment solutions; wealth and retirement solutions; item processing and output services solutions; securities processing and finance solutions; global trading solutions; asset management and insurance solutions; and corporate liquidity solutions.
Norfolk Southern is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company is engaged in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods primarily in the Southeast, East, and Midwest and, via interchange with rail carriers, to and from the rest of the United States. The company also transports overseas freight through several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. The company provides intermodal network in the eastern half of the United States. The company's railroad operates in several states and the District of Columbia. The company's system reaches manufacturing plants, electric generating facilities, mines, distribution centers, transload facilities, and other businesses in its service area.
Royal Bank of Canada is a financial services company that provides personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, investor services and capital markets products and services. Co. serves personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 37 other countries. Co. is organized into five segments: Personal and Commercial Banking, which is comprised of Co.'s personal and business banking operations, and its auto financing businesses; Wealth Management, Insurance; Investor and Treasury Services; and Capital Markets. As of Oct 31 2017, Co. had total assets of C$1.21 trillion and total deposits of C$789.64 billion.
Ryder System is engaged in transportation and supply chain management solutions. The company's segments include: Fleet Management Solutions, which provides full service leasing and leasing with maintenance options, commercial rental, contract or transactional maintenance services, and fleet support services such as vehicle administration and fuel service; Supply Chain Solutions, which provides logistics management services, including distribution management, transportation management and other services; and Dedicated Transportation Solutions, which combines equipment, maintenance, drivers, administrative services and additional services to provide a dedicated transportation solution.
Starbucks is a roaster, marketer and retailer of coffee. The company's segments are: Americas, which is inclusive of the United States, Canada, and Latin America; International, which is inclusive of China, Japan, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and Channel Development. The company's Americas and International segments include both company-operated and licensed stores. The company's Channel Development segment includes roasted whole bean and ground coffees, Seattle's Best Coffee?, Starbucks- and Teavana-branded single-serve products, a variety of ready-to-drink beverages, and other products sold worldwide outside of the company's company-operated and licensed stores.
United Airlines Holdings is a holding company and its principal, wholly-owned subsidiary is United Airlines, Inc. (United). The company is engaged in the transportation of people and cargo throughout North America and to destinations in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America. The company, through United and its regional carriers, operates flights to airports, with its hubs at Newark Liberty International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Denver International Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, A.B. Won Pat International Airport, San Francisco International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.
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
The integrity of Valens Research is founded in our disciplined processes and analytics. No “star” analysts. No corporate advisory relationships. No-nonsense opinions and recommendations.
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