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Valens Research

Valens Credit Weekly Insights - 2018 04 25

Valens Credit Research Team highlighted ideas for BZH, MNI, and YRCW. They have also provided recent analyses for AXL and DF, while CYH topped the quantitative outlier report for the week.

Underlyings
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Advanced Micro Devices is a semiconductor company. The company primarily provides x86 microprocessors, as standalone devices or as incorporated into an accelerated processing unit, chipsets, graphics processing units (GPUs), data center and personnel GPUs, and development services; server and embedded processors, semi-custom System-on-Chip products, development services and technology for game consoles. The company also licenses portions of its intellectual property portfolio. The company's segments are: Computing and Graphics, which consists of desktop, notebooks, commercial, and chipsets products; and Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom, which includes server processors, and embedded P\processors products.

AerCap Holdings NV

Aercap Holdings is an integrated global aviation company engaged in aircraft leasing. Co. acquires aviation assets at attractive prices, lease the assets to suitable lessees, and manage the funding and other lease related costs efficiently. Co. also provides aircraft management services. Co. operates its business on a global basis, providing aircraft to customers in every major geographical region. As of Dec 31 2017, Co. owned 980 aircraft and managed 113 aircraft.

AMERICAN AXLE & MANUFACTURING HLDGS

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings is a supplier to the automotive industry. The company designs, engineers and manufactures driveline and metal forming products. The company's business is organized into Driveline and Metal Forming segments. Driveline products consist primarily of front and rear axles, driveshafts, differential assemblies, clutch modules, balance shaft systems, disconnecting driveline technology, and electric and hybrid driveline products and systems. Metal Forming products consist primarily of axle and transmission shafts, ring and pinion gears, differential gears and assemblies, connecting rods and variable valve timing products.

Avon Products Inc.

Avon Products is a manufacturer and marketer of beauty and related products. The company's product categories are Beauty and Fashion and Home. Beauty consists of skincare, fragrance and color (cosmetics). Fashion and Home consists of fashion jewelry, watches, apparel, footwear, accessories, gift and decorative products, housewares, entertainment and leisure products, children's products and nutritional products. The company's business is conducted primarily in one channel, direct selling. The company's reportable segments are based on geographic operations in four regions: Europe, Middle East & Africa; South Latin America; North Latin America; and Asia Pacific.

Beazer Homes USA Inc.

Beazer Homes USA is engaged as a homebuilder. The company's homebuilding operations consist of the design, sale, and construction of single-family and multi-family homes. The company purchases land or obtains an option to purchase land, which, in either case, requires certain site improvements prior to home construction. When available in certain markets, the company also buys finished lots that are ready for home construction. The company has investments with land developers, other homebuilders and financial partners to acquire land positions, to manage its risk profile and to utilize its capital base. The company also acts as the general contractor for the construction of its new home communities.

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.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation

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.

Community Health Systems Inc.

Community Health Systems is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company operates general acute care hospitals and outpatient facilities. The company provides healthcare services through the hospitals that it owns and operates and affiliated businesses in non-urban and selected urban markets. Services provided through the company's hospitals and affiliated businesses include general acute care, emergency room, general and specialty surgery, critical care, internal medicine, obstetrics, diagnostic, psychiatric and rehabilitation services. The company also provides additional outpatient services at urgent care centers, occupational medicine clinics, imaging centers, cancer centers and ambulatory surgery centers.

Dean Foods Company

Dean Foods is a food and beverage company and a processor and direct-to-store distributor of fluid milk and other dairy and dairy case products. The company manufactures, markets and distributes a branded and private label dairy and dairy case products, including fluid milk, ice cream, cultured dairy products, creamers, ice cream mix and other dairy products to retailers, educational institutions and governmental entities. The company's portfolio includes DairyPure?, and TruMoo? flavored milk brand, along with dairy brands such as Alta Dena ?, Berkeley Farms ?, Country Fresh ?, Dean's ?, Friendly's ?, Lehigh Valley Dairy Farms ?, and more. The company also makes and distributes juices, teas and bottled water.

Denbury Resources Inc.

Denbury Resources is an independent oil and natural gas company. The company's operations are focused in two main operating areas: the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions. The company's properties with proved and producing reserves in the Gulf Coast region are situated in Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama, and in the Rocky Mountain region are situated in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming.

Endo International Plc

Expedia Group Inc.

Expedia Group is an online travel company. The company's portfolio of brands includes: Expedia.com?, an online travel brand; Hotels.com?, a global lodging company operating websites with its Hotels.com? Rewards loyalty program; Vrbo?, a global online marketplace with a focus on providing lodging options for families; Egencia?, a corporate travel management company; Hotwire?, an online travel website providing spontaneous travel through its Hot Rate? deals; trivago?, an online hotel metasearch platform; and SilverRail Technologies, Inc., provider of a global rail retail and distribution platform connecting rail carriers and suppliers to both online and offline travel distributors.

McClatchy Company Class A

The McClatchy is a provider of independent local journalism as well as selected national news coverage through its Washington D.C. based bureau. The company is engaged in providing content, either editorial or through advertising. The company's media companies and its digital media agency, excelerate?, distribute content, including video products, through its owned and operated websites and mobile applications, third-party search and ad exchanges, social media platforms, electronic editions of its daily newspapers (e-editions) as well as its printed daily newspapers. The company also prints selected niche publications and community newspapers, as well as provides other print and digital direct marketing services.

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.

Newfield Exploration Company

Newfield Exploration is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company's principal areas of operation are the Anadarko and Arkoma basins of Oklahoma, the Williston Basin of North Dakota and the Uinta Basin of Utah. In addition, the company has oil producing assets offshore China. As of Dec 31 2017, the company had proved reserves of 680.0 million barrels of oil equivalent, which consisted of 250.0 million barrels of oil and condensate, 1,704.00 billion cubic feet of natural gas, and 146 million barrels of natural gas liquids.

Old COPPER Company. Inc.

J. C. Penney Company is a holding company whose principal operating subsidiary is J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc. The company's business consists of selling merchandise and services to consumers through its department stores and its website at jcpenney.com. The company's department stores and website serve the same type of customers, its website provides the same mix of merchandise as its store assortment along with other extended categories that are not provided in store, and its department stores accept returns from sales made in stores and via its website. The company sells family apparel and footwear, accessories, jewelry, beauty products through Sephora inside JCPenney, and home furnishings.

Parker Drilling Co.

Parker Drilling is a provider of contract drilling and drilling-related services and rental tools and services. The company has two business lines: Drilling Services, which drills oil and natural gas wells for customers in both the U.S. and international markets; and Rental Tools Services, which provides rental equipment and services to exploration and production companies, drilling contractors and service companies on land and offshore in the U.S. and select international markets. Tools provided include drill pipe, tubing, pressure control equipment, and drill collars. The company also provides well construction services such as tubular running services and downhole tools, and well intervention services.

Ryder System Inc.

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.

SUPERVALU INC.

Supervalu is a distributer of grocery and other products and provision of logistics and professional service solutions to retailers across the U.S. The company's business is classified into two reportable segments: Wholesale, which provides wholesale customers a variety of food and non-food products, including national and regional brands, and the company owns lines of private label products, as well as providing an array of professional services that provide wholesale customers with solutions; and Retail, which provides grocery offering and, depending on size, a variety of additional products, including general merchandise, home, health and beauty care, and pharmacy.

Unisys Corporation

Unisys is an information technology company. The company's Services segment provides cloud and infrastructure services, application services and business process outsourcing services. In cloud and infrastructure services, the company assists clients to apply cloud and as-a-service delivery models. In application services, the company develops and manages applications for select industries and provides data analytics. In business process outsourcing services, the company assumes management of processes and functions for clients in target industries. The company's Technology segment designs and develops software and provides hardware and other related products including Unisys ClearPath Forward? and Unisys Stealth?.

United States Steel Corporation

United States Steel is a steel producer of flat-rolled and tubular products with production operations in the United States and Europe. The company is also engaged in railroad services and real estate operations. The company's segments are: North American Flat-Rolled, which produces slabs, strip mill plates, sheets and tin mill products; U. S. Steel Europe, which produces and sells slabs, strip mill plate, sheet, tin mill products and spiral welded pipe, as well as heating radiators and refractory ceramic materials; and Tubular Products, which produces and sells electric resistance welded steel casing and tubing (known as oil country tubular goods), and standard and line pipe and mechanical tubing.

Yellow Corporation

YRC Worldwide is a holding company. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides its customers a range of transportation services. The company's reporting segments include: YRC Freight, which provides a range of services for the transportation of industrial, commercial and retail goods in national, regional and international markets, primarily through the operation of owned or leased equipment in its North American ground distribution network; and Regional Transportation, in which its service portfolio includes regional delivery, guaranteed and expedited delivery, interregional delivery, cross-border delivery, and hollandregional.com, newpenn.com, and reddawayregional.com.

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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

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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