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Valens Research

Valens Equity Insights and Inflections - 2021 11 09

Harmonic (HLIT) has been transitioning its business away from traditional broadcasting end markets towards the streaming and cable broadband markets. Uniform Accounting highlights that the market is missing the economics of Harmonic's new business lines, indicating equity upside.

As Harmonic grows its industry-leading vCMTS software to be the best-in-class broadband routing solution, it is poised to exponentially grow its profitability. Uniform ROA is projected to expand from 3% in 2020 to 9% by 2022, and yet the market seems focused on the company's shrinking broadcasting business.

Harmonic is replacing its broadcasting business with its higher profitability streaming customers, and as it continues shifting towards these high profitability verticals, profitability should continue improving.

Harmonic's management is closely aligned to focus on metrics that will incentivize revenue growth and margin expansion, and value-add acquisitions, which align with what analysts expect and what Uniform metrics help reveal the market is missing.

Meanwhile, LGI Homes (LGIH) is being removed from the Conviction Long List as the company appears to be slowing down its secular growth strategy with growing homebuilder uncertainty. We close it out, up 65%. In addition, CommScope (COMM) is being removed as the company is seeing significant competitive pressures. We close it out, down 49%

NKE Q2 2021 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Markets are pricing in expectations for Uniform ROA to expand to record highs, but management may have concerns about their supply chain and digital channel

FDX Q1 2022 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Market expectations are for Uniform ROA to stabilize near current levels, but management may have concerns about guidance, cost headwinds, and facility upgrades

EQIX Q2 2021 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Markets are pricing in expectations for Uniform ROA to expand to historical highs, but management may have concerns about bookings growth, AFFO, and their product pipeline

HLIT, EQIX, FDX, NKE, ADBE, COIN, COST, CRWD, DOCU, DUK, EW, FLO, ITW, JBL, KMX, LPI, MIDD, MKC, SNX, WDAY, ZM
Underlyings
Adobe Inc.

Adobe is a software company. The company provides a line of products and services used for creating, managing, delivering, measuring, optimizing, engaging and transacting with content across personal computers, devices and media. The company's segments are: Digital Media, which provides products, services and solutions that enable individuals, teams and enterprises to create, publish and promote their content; Digital Experience, which provides a platform and set of applications and services through Adobe Experience Cloud; and Publishing, which contains products and services that address market opportunities including eLearning solutions, web conferencing, web application development and printing.

CarMax Inc.

CarMax is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company is engaged as a retailer of used vehicles. The company operates in two segments: CarMax Sales Operations, which sells used vehicles, purchases used vehicles from customers and other sources, sells related products and services, and arranges financing options for customers; and CarMax Auto Finance, which consists of finance operation that provides vehicle financing to customer buying retail vehicles from the company The company's products and services include retail merchandising, wholesale auctions, extended protection plans, reconditioning and service, and customer credit.

Coinbase Global, Inc.

Costco Wholesale Corporation

Costco Wholesale and its subsidiaries are principally engaged in the operation of membership warehouses based on the concept of providing its members low prices on a selection of nationally branded and private-label products. The company's merchandise are: food and sundries, which include dry foods, packaged foods, and groceries, snack foods, candy, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, and cleaning supplies; hardlines, which include appliances, electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, and garden and patio; fresh food, which include meat, produce, deli, and bakery; softlines, which include apparel and small appliances; and ancillary, which include gas stations and pharmacy businesses.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. Class A

CrowdStrike is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides a cloud-delivered solution for next-generation endpoint protection that offers 10 cloud modules on its Falcon platform via a SaaS subscription-based model that spans multiple large security markets, including endpoint security, security and IT operations (including vulnerability management), and threat intelligence. The company conducts its business in the United States, as well as locations internationally, including in Australia, Germany, India, Romania, and the United Kingdom.

DocuSign Inc.

DocuSign provides e-signature solution as the main part of its cloud software suite for automating the agreement process. The company calls its suite the DocuSign Agreement Cloud. The DocuSign Agreement Cloud is designed to allow companies of various sizes and across various industries to make agreement, approval process, or transaction digital, from practically any device, from almost anywhere in the world.

Duke Energy Corporation

Duke Energy is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company operates as an energy company. The company's segments include: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure, which provides retail electric service through the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity to customers within the Southeast and Midwest regions of the United States; Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, which conducts natural gas operations, as well as owns, operates and has investments in various pipeline transmission and natural gas storage facilities; and Commercial Renewables, which acquires, develops, builds, operates and owns wind and solar renewable generation throughout the continental United States.

EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORP

Edwards Lifesciences is engaged in patient-focused medical for structural heart disease, as well as critical care and surgical monitoring. The company is a manufacturer of heart valve systems and repair products used to replace or repair a patient's diseased or defective heart valve. The company is also engaged in hemodynamic and noninvasive brain and tissue oxygenation monitoring systems used to measure a patient's cardiovascular function in the hospital setting. The company's products and technologies are categorized into four main areas: Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies, Surgical Structural Heart, and Critical Care.

Equinix Inc.

Equinix provides colocation space and related offerings. The company operates International Business Exchange? (IBX?) data centers across the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific geographic regions where customers directly interconnect with a network ecosystem of partners and customers. The company's data center solutions include IBX Data Centers and xScale Data Centers. The company's Interconnection Solution connect businesses within and between its data centers across its global platform. The company's edge services help businesses deploy as-a-service networking, security and hardware across its data center footprint, as an alternative to buying, owning and managing the physical infrastructure.

FedEx Corporation

FedEx provides transportation, e-commerce and business services through companies under the FedEx brand. These companies are included in the following segments: Federal Express Corporation, including TNT Express B.V., is an express transportation company; FedEx Ground Package System, Inc., which is a provider of small-package ground delivery services; FedEx Freight Corporation, which is a provider of less-than-truckload freight services; and FedEx Corporate Services, Inc., which provides sales, marketing, information technology, communications, customer service, technical support, billing and collections services, and certain back-office functions.

Flowers Foods Inc.

Flowers Foods produces a range of breads, buns, rolls, snack cakes, and tortillas and is a producer and marketer of packaged bakery foods in the United States. The company also sells returned and surplus product through a system of thrift stores. The company supplies national and regional restaurants, institutions and foodservice distributors, and retail in-store bakeries with breads and rolls; sells packaged bakery products to wholesale distributors for sale to a variety of food outlets; and sells packaged snack cakes primarily to customers who distribute them nationwide through various channels of distribution, including merchandisers, supermarkets, vending outlets and convenience stores.

Harmonic

Harmonic provides video delivery software, products, system solutions and services that enable its customers to create, prepare, store, playout and deliver a range of broadcast and over-the-top video services to consumer devices. The company has two segments, Video and Cable Access. The Video business sells video processing and production and playout solutions and services worldwide to cable operators and satellite and telecommunications (telco) pay-TV service providers, which it refers to collectively as service providers. The Cable Access business sells cable access solutions and related services, including its CableOS software-based cable access solution, primarily to cable operators globally.

Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Illinois Tool Works manufactures a range of industrial products and equipment. Automotive OEM segment produces components and fasteners for automotive-related applications. Food Equipment segment is engaged in commercial food equipment. Test and Measurement and Electronics segment produces equipment for testing and measuring of materials and structures. Welding segment produces arc welding equipment, consumables and accessories. Polymers and Fluids segment produces adhesives, sealants, lubrication and cutting fluids for auto aftermarket maintenance. Construction Products segment supplies fastening systems and solutions. Specialty Products segment is focused on patent protection.

Jabil Inc.

Jabil is a provider of manufacturing services and solutions. The company provides electronics design, production and product management services to companies in various industries and end markets. The company's manufacturing and supply chain management services and solutions include design, planning, fabrication and assembly, delivery and managing the flow of resources and products. The company's segments include: Electronics Manufacturing Services, which utilizes information technology, supply chain design and engineering, technologies centered on primary electronics; and Diversified Manufacturing Services, which provides engineering solutions, with a focus on material sciences, technologies and healthcare.

Laredo Petroleum Inc.

McCormick & Company Incorporated

McCormick & Co. manufactures, markets and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments and other flavor products to the food industry- retailers, food manufacturers and foodservice businesses. The company also is partner in a number of joint ventures that are involved in the manufacture and sale of flavor products. The company's business segments comprised of: consumer, in which the company markets its products to customers and supplies private label items, known as store brands; and flavor solutions, which provides a range of flavor solutions including seasoning blends, spices and herbs, condiments, coating systems and compound flavors.

Middleby Corporation

Middleby is engaged in the design, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and service of a line of foodservice equipment, food preparation, cooking, baking, chilling and packaging equipment, and kitchen equipment. The company's segments are: the Commercial Foodservice Equipment Group, which provides foodservice equipment to serve cooking, warming, refrigeration, freezing and beverage application within a commercial kitchen or foodservice operation; the Food Processing Equipment Group, which provides processing solutions for customers producing pre-cooked meat products; and the Residential Kitchen Equipment Group, which manufactures, sells and distributes kitchen equipment for the residential market.

NIKE Inc. Class B

NIKE is engaged in the design, development and marketing and selling of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services. The company focuses its NIKE Brand product offerings in Running, NIKE Basketball, the Jordan Brand, Football (Soccer), Training and Sportswear categories. The company markets products designed for kids, as well as for other athletic and recreational uses such as American football, baseball, cricket, golf, lacrosse, tennis, walking, and other outdoor activities. The company has license agreements that permit unaffiliated parties to manufacture and sell, using the company-owned trademarks, certain apparel, digital devices and applications and other equipment designed for sports activities.

TD SYNNEX CORP

Synnex is a business process services company, providing a range of distribution, logistics and integration services for the technology industry and providing outsourced services focused on customer engagement to a range of enterprises. The company's segments are: Technology Solutions, which distributes peripherals, information technologysystems including data center server and storage solutions, system components, software, networking, communications and security equipment; and Concentrix, which provides a portfolio of solutions and business services focused on customer engagement, process optimization, technology innovation, front and back-office automation and business transformation to clients.

Workday Inc. Class A

Workday is a provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources. The company's products include: Workday Financial Management, an application with financial capabilities, analytics and metrics, and auditable process management; and Workday Human Capital Management, which includes global human resources management (workforce lifecycle management, organization management, compensation, absence, and employee benefits administration) and global talent management (goal management, performance management, succession planning, and career and development planning). The company's other solutions include Adaptive Insights Business Planning Cloud, as well as Workday Data-as-a-Service.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. Class A

Zoom Video Communications provides a video-first communications platform that delivers happiness and fundamentally changes how people interact. The company connects people through frictionless video, voice, chat and content sharing and enable face-to-face video experiences for thousands of people in a single meeting across disparate devices and locations. The company's cloud-native platform delivers reliable, high-quality video that is easy to use, manage and deploy, provides an attractive return on investment, is scalable and easily integrates with physical spaces and applications.

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Valens Research

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  • GAAP and IFRS have failed to provide rules for reliable financial statement reporting
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Many years later, our business model remains because little has changed on Wall Street.

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