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Valens Research

Valens Equity Insights and Inflections - 2021 04 13

The market is much more pessimistic about COF than any of the company's peers currently. The market looks at a lender to high-risk sub-prime borrowers in the midst of the pandemic and is worried Capital One's equity buffer is going to be severely pressured.
Investors appear to forget how well Capital One fared the last time sub-prime borrowers got in trouble, when it was one of the best performers, and took significant share coming out of the Great Recession.

While the market is pricing Capital One like its Uniform ROE will perpetually sit at 2017 and
2020 trough levels, the company's superior underwriting and reduced competition as competitors seek to exit its higher risk markets coming out of the recession may actually lead to higher ROE for the company going forward, which the market does not recognize.
Furthermore, management alignment, which focuses them on improving profitability and
driving growth while also managing risk, should lead to sustained strong returns and growth, and limit negative shocks to returns.

Finally, in the midst of the pandemic, management has actually been confident about how
consumers have done a better job than anticipated at reducing their debts and therefore
reducing Capital One's risks. Management has also been confident when talking about
accelerating growth, investing in technology, margin expansion, and their risk control
strategies.

Considering low market expectations, management's strong operational success, strong
management execution, and growing confidence amidst the pandemic point to equity upside.

AMAT Q1 2021 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Market expectations are for Uniform ROA expansion, but management may have concerns about revenue growth, new products, and demand

SABR Q4 2020 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Market expectations are for a positive inflection in Uniform ROA, but management may have concerns about free cash flow, revenues, and their cloud migration

BERY Q1 2021 Embedded Expectations Analysis – Market expectations are for Uniform ROA to reach new lows, but management is confident about innovation, segment realignment, and their advanced recycling business

COF, AMAT, BERY, SABR, ALSN, BSX, G, INCY, INTZ, KAR, LFUS, MAS, MPWR, NCR, POST, SKX, SNA, UBER, VRSK, WDAY, X
Underlyings
Allison Transmission Holdings Inc.

Allison Transmission Holdings is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company manufactures fully-automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles and medium- and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles. The company's transmissions are in used various applications, including on-highway trucks (distribution, refuse, construction, fire and emergency), buses (mainly school, transit and electric hybrid-transit), motorhomes, off-highway vehicles and equipment (mainly energy, mining and construction) and defense vehicles (wheeled and tracked). The company also sells replacement parts, support equipment and other products to service the installed base of vehicles utilizing its transmissions.

Applied Materials Inc.

Applied Materials provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. The company's segments are: Semiconductor Systems, which develops, manufactures and sells a range of manufacturing equipment used to fabricate semiconductor chips; Applied Global Services, which provides integrated solutions to support equipment and fab performance and productivity; and Display and Adjacent Markets, which is comprised of products for manufacturing liquid crystal displays, organic light-emitting diodes and other display technologies for TVs, monitors, laptops, personal computers, electronic tablets, smart phones, and other consumer-oriented devices.

Berry Global Group Inc

Berry Global Group is a supplier of a range of non-woven products used within consumer and industrial end markets. The company's segments are: Consumer Packaging International, which includes recycling, bottles and canisters, containers, polythene films, and technical components product groups; Consumer Packaging North America, which includes containers and pails, foodservice, and tubes product groups; Engineered Materials, which includes stretch and shrink films, converter films, food and consumer films, retail bags, polyvinyl chloride films, and agriculture films product groups; and Health, and Hygiene and Specialties, which includes health products, hygiene products, and specialties products.

BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION

Boston Scientific develops, manufactures and markets medical devices. The company's Medical Surgical segment consist of: Endoscopy, which develops and manufactures devices to diagnose and treat a range of gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions; and Urology and Pelvic Health, which develops and manufactures devices to treat various urological and pelvic conditions. The company's Rhythm and Neuro segment includes: Cardiac Rhythm Management, which develops and manufactures implantable devices to treat cardiac abnormalities; and Electrophysiology, which develops and manufactures medical technologies used in the diagnosis and treatment of rate and rhythm disorders of the heart.

Capital One Financial Corporation

Capital One Financial is a financial services holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides an array of financial products and services. The company's segments are: Credit Card, which consists of the company's domestic consumer and small business card lending, and international card businesses in Canada and the United Kingdom.; Consumer Banking, which consists of the company's deposit gathering and lending activities for consumers and small businesses, and national auto lending; and Commercial Banking, which consists of the company's lending, deposit gathering, capital markets and treasury management services to commercial real estate and commercial and industrial customers.

Genpact Limited

INCYTE CORP

Incyte is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutics. JAKAFI (ruxolitinib) has been approved for the treatment of patients with intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis, for the treatment of patients with polycythemia vera, and for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older. The company has also obtained a license to develop and commercialize ICLUSIG (ponatinib) in Europe and other select countries. In the European Union, ICLUSIG is approved for the treatment of adult patients with chronic phase, accelerated phase or blast phase chronic myeloid leukemia.

Intrusion

KAR Auction Services Inc.

KAR Auction Services is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides used vehicle auctions and related vehicle remarketing services in North America and Europe. The company facilitates a marketplace by providing auction services for sellers of used, or whole car, vehicles through its North American physical auction locations. The company's segments include: ADESA, Inc.'s Auctions, which provides whole car auctions and related services to the vehicle remarketing industry in North America through online auctions and auction facilities; and Automotive Finance Corporation, which provides floorplan financing to independent used vehicle dealers through branches throughout North America.

Littelfuse Inc.

Littelfuse is a manufacturer of technologies in circuit protection, power control and sensing. The company has three segments: Electronics, which provides fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, and gas discharge tubes; Automotive, which consists of circuit protection, power control and sensing technologies for original equipment manufacturers, Tier-I suppliers and parts distributors in the passenger car, agricultural, construction and other commercial vehicle industries; and Industrial, which includes power fuses, protection relays and controls and other circuit protection products.

Masco Corporation

Masco designs, manufactures and distributes home improvement and building products. The company's Plumbing Products include faucets, showerheads, handheld showers, valves, bath hardware and accessories, bathing units, shower bases and enclosures and toilets. This segment also includes brass, copper and composite plumbing system components and other non-decorative plumbing products. The company's Decorative Architectural Products include cabinet and door hardware, functional hardware, wall plates, hook and hook rail products, and picture hanging accessories. This segment also includes decorative indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, ceiling fans, landscape lighting and LED lighting systems.

Monolithic Power Systems Inc.

Monolithic Power Systems is a fabless semiconductor company. The company designs, develops and markets power solutions for systems found in consumer, computing and storage, automotive, industrial, communications and consumer applications. The company's primary product families include the following: Direct Current (DC) to DC products, which are used to convert and control voltages within a range of electronic systems such as portable electronic devices, wireless Local Area Network access points, computers, and monitors, automobiles and medical equipment; and Lighting Control Products, which include lighting control integrated circuits that are used in backlighting and general illumination products.

NCR Corporation

NCR is a software- and services-led enterprise provider in the financial, retail, hospitality and telecommunications and technology industries. The company is an enterprise provider selling a portfolio of digital first software, services, hardware and payments. The company's segments include: Banking, which includes automated teller machines and payment processing hardware and software; Retail, which provides solutions that primarily include retail-oriented technologies, such as point of sale (POS) terminals and POS software; Hospitality, which provides solutions that include POS hardware and software solutions; and Other, which includes telecommunications and technology solutions.

Post Holdings Inc.

Post Holdings is a consumer packaged goods holding company. The company's segments are: Post Consumer Brands, which manufactures, markets and sells branded and private label ready-to-eat (RTE) cereal and hot cereal products; Weetabix, which markets and distributes branded and private label RTE cereal products; Foodservice, which produces and distributes egg and potato products; Refrigerated Retail, which produces and distributes side dishes, eggs and egg, cheese, sausage and other refrigerated products; and BellRing Brands, which markets and distributes ready-to-drink protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars and supplements in the nutrition category.

Sabre Corp.

Sabre is a technology solutions provider to the travel and tourism industry. The company operates through three business segments: Travel Network, which consists primarily of its global distribution system (GDS) and a range of solutions that integrate with its GDS; Airline Solutions, which provides a portfolio of software technology products and solutions, through software-as-a-service (SaaS) and hosted delivery model, to airlines and other travel suppliers and provides software solutions; and Hospitality Solutions, which provides software and solutions, through SaaS and hosted delivery model, to hoteliers around the world.

Skechers U.S.A. Inc. Class A

Skechers USA designs and markets Skechers-branded lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, and performance footwear for men and women under the Skechers Performance brand name. The company also designs and markets men's and women's Skechers branded lifestyle apparel, and license the Skechers brand to others for accessories, leather goods, eyewear and scrub manufacturers, among others. The company's product offering is sold through department and specialty stores, athletic and independent retailers, boutiques and internet retailers. In addition to wholesale distribution, the company's footwear is available at its direct-to-consumer websites and its own retail stores.

Snap-on Incorporated

Snap-on is a manufacturer and marketer of tools, equipment, diagnostics, repair information and systems solutions. Products and services include hand and power tools, tool storage, diagnostics software, handheld and PC-based diagnostic products, information and management systems, shop equipment and other solutions for vehicle dealerships and repair centers, as well as for customers in industries, such as aviation and aerospace, agriculture, construction, government and military, mining, natural resources, power generation and technical education. The company also provides financing programs designed to facilitate the sales of its products and support its franchise business.

Uber Technologies Inc.

Uber Technologies provides ride hailing services. The company develops application for road transportation, navigation, ride sharing, and payment processing solutions. The company serves customers in the United States and Canada, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific markets, excluding its discontinued China operations.

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.

Verisk Analytics Inc

Verisk Analytics is a data analytics provider serving customers in insurance, energy and specialized markets, and financial services. The company has three segments: Insurance, which provides underwriting and ratings and claims insurance data for the United States property and casualty insurance industry; Energy and Specialized Markets, which provides research and consulting data analytics for the global energy, chemicals, and metals and mining industries; and Financial Services, which provides benchmarking, decisioning algorithms, business intelligence, and customized analytic services to financial institutions, payment networks and processors, alternative lenders, regulators and merchants.

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.

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

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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