equity Archives - Out of WACC

Active Equity/Commodity Portfolio: Annual Report

Happy New Year! I have no resolutions since every day is like a new year for me.

In 2017, I focused more on active equity/commodity portfolio than the other portfolios as I finally was able to trade free of commissions, found more opportunities there and had money saved up from off-book jobs.

WHAT A BORING YEAR…for the stock market. Sometimes, boring is good. S&P 500 was up 21.64%.

Figure 1: S&P 500 Annual Return (Includes Dividends).
Source: Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern

The geometric average return since the financial crisis is 8.42% (2008-2017). Geometric average better reflects the returns over time since there’s always volatility in the market and volatility lower investment returns.

Since inception (November 2016), active equity/commodity portfolio is up 15.74%. For 2017, the portfolio returned 11.86%, way way below the market. No wonder active managers are not anyone’s favorites at this time.

Figure 2: Active Equity/Commodity Portfolio (Robinhood) P/L since inception (Nov. 2016).
The white line represents the start of the year.

I will address the significant drawdown you see in figure 2 at the bottom of this post.

The biggest gain of the year, both in a percentage and nominal terms, came from the first trade in 2017. The trade was long NUGT (3x leveraged gold ETF). I believed gold was unfairly beaten down and would recover around the new year as portfolios would be rebalanced and uncertainty with Trump’s economic plans at the time would force investors to hedge their portfolio. And that’s what happened in January 2016. I closed the position at 28% gain.

While trading 3x leveraged ETFs, Be cautious as they always go down even though the underlying security goes up. The structure of leveraged and inverse ETFs are different than most retail investors think. They are not a good idea to be held for a longer time and as a significant portion of a portfolio.

The biggest loss of the year, both in a percentage and nominal terms, came from the 5th trade in 2017. The trade was long TVIX (2x leveraged volatility ETN, not ETF). I believed volatility would pick up from February to March (and it did a little bit). However, after TVIX underwent 1:10 reverse split in mid-March, I did not want to risk having the ETN go to single digits once again. So I closed the position at 17% loss.

To briefly sum up, the biggest gain was 28% and the biggest loss was 17%. In positive nominal terms, the profit was three times larger than the loss (positive number).

At the time, both NUGT and TVIX were a significant portion of the portfolio (Robinhood). Over time, I deposited more money into the account as I saved up from off-book jobs and summer internship. The account is now 6 times larger than it was at the beginning of 2017. Larger account allowed me to have more flexibility and lower my exposure to a single trade.

Current Positions:

I can only go long securities on Robinhood. Current positions are VRX (The biggest gainer at the moment, 112%. 14% of the portfolio), ORCL, XIV, ILMN, OMER, PSQ, SH, COL, TEVA, MTSI, and AXON (The biggest loser at the moment, -77%. 0.5% of the portfolio).

When talking about % gains on trades, traders should also look at those trades as a % of the portfolio. If I’m going to speculate on a one-time event, such as FDA ruling on a drug, I’m going to have a small exposure to that company (such as AXON). If I am profoundly convinced on the fundamentals of the company and/or technicals of the stock, I will have a higher exposure to that company (such as VRX).

It’s important to point once again these gains/losses are unrealized. The returns are subject to change…until the position closes.

Both PSQ and SH are inverse ETFs of the market. I have bought them as a small hedge for my portfolio as I’m long individual U.S. stocks.

Why am I long the stocks mentioned above? I will not go in-depth here.

$VRX: Extension of debt. Time flexibility to restructure the company.
$ORCL: Unfair share-price beat down after positive earnings report and market, in general, is trending higher.
$XIV: Because why not?
$ILMN: Someone is loading up big amounts of calls. Speculation it will be acquired at a huge premium.
$OMER: Friend’s advice (first time I took friend’s advice with actual money at risk).
$PSQ and $SH: Small hedge, as I mentioned above.
$COL: Speculated it might be acquired at 15-25% premium. United Tech (UTX) later acquires them at 18% premium.
$TEVA: TEVA calls were active after Allergan (AGN) was halted. Speculated upcoming positive news for TEVA. The week after, new CEO news. Sticking to TEVA as the new CEO has a great reputation and I’m confident his tenure will reward the shareholders.
$MTSI: Calls active and social media sentiment.
$AXON: Speculation on Alzheimer drug data. Chances were low, but I believed even a small positive side of the drug would help the stock price. I was wrong. Was initially 2% of the portfolio. Now 0.5%. Still open as I have nothing to lose.

Get Out?

As you saw in figure 2 (and figure 3 below), there was a large drawdown in the portfolio. Over 12% of the portfolio lost value in less 2 months. Why was that? It was largely due to VRX and TEVA tumbling. Both were little longer-term strategy and high conviction both companies would turn itself around. After 2 months, both stocks rebounded and hit 52-week highs afterward. Other stocks in the port during the 2 months were performing fine.

If it is one thing I learned as a trader, it is that high conviction leads to an ego which then leads to losses most of the time. So did I have an ego in this case? I don’t believe so. I was sticking to the initial trade strategy on VRX and TEVA, and there was no material news. It was the market noise. If the company fundamentals changed, then I might have changed my strategy on the trade (either close, cut down, or buy more shares).

Upcoming ‘Portfolio Performance’ articles will be on other portfolios.

Equity/Commodity Portfolio Performance: Inception & 2016

In the previous article, I laid out my performance for Forex portfolio since inception and for the year 2016. This one will briefly lay out the equity/commodity portfolio performance. Briefly, because I don’t have much statistics on it than for FX……for now.

Before going further, I should note: “Average price” includes Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) – the dividends I received were used to buy additional shares in the company.

Since inception (summer of 2014), I’m down 31%. I’m currently holding 9 companies, including the ones I wrote article(s) about; GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO), General Electric (NYSE:GE), and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO). I don’t have Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) since my broker doesn’t allow me to short.

All shares of 9 different companies belong to 1 class: domestic equity. 59.4% is in large cap. 18.89% in mid cap. 3.66% in small cap. And 18.05% in “other domestic equity.” Will change the allocation this year; international equity, fixed income, etc.

On February 16, 2015, I wrote about Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) when the share-price was $43.95. Today, it’s trading at $62.14. I missed the opportunity to go long on it.

On April 12, 2015, I wrote about GE and believed GE was a strong by (it still is). Since then, GE is up 12.30%, from $28.06 to $31.51 (dividends not calculated). Dividends are automatically invested in new shares. Average price I paid for the shares is $25.99. I’m currently up 21.24%.

In the summer of 2015, I wrote about CSCO (part 1, part 2 AND 4Q FY’15 earnings report). Since the first article, CSCO is up 7.97%, from $27.99 to $30.22 (dividends not calculated). Average price I paid for the shares is $24.85. I’m currently up 21.61%.

On November 21, 2015, I wrote my first article on LLY and believed it was overvalued (it still is). Since then, LLY is down 13.98%, from $85.50 to $73.55. Second article on LLY was posted very recently.

On December 26, 2015, I wrote about GPRO and believed it was a buy. Since then, GPRO (and I) are down whopping 52.62%, from $18.34 to $8.69.

For the last year, my equity portfolio is down 12.61%. Because of $9.99 trade fee and low capital, I have refused to buy some stocks I wanted at times.

I recently opened Robinhood, broker with $0 commission. I’m planning to use it to actively trade equities and commodities.

As to commodities, I’m up 8.25% since inception (fall of 2016). I’m currently holding 50 shares of Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares (NUGT), which is up 24.03%.

I might change my broker to Interactive Brokers (IB) from TD Ameritrade, as IB offers more tools for portfolio analysis.

If you didn’t like this performance/article, read the “Forex Portfolio Performance: Inception & 2016.” Maybe you’ll like that performance/article enough to like me again.

If you do, follow me on Twitter (@Khojinur30). I tweet out my trades live. If you don’t, peace.

Eli Lilly (LLY) Is Overvalued – Too Costly To Buy (UPDATED)

UPDATE: This article is also posted on Seeking Alpha. For the first time, my article was accepted to be on Seeking Alpha. The link to the article on Seeking Alpha can be found here, or http://seekingalpha.com/article/3707566-eli-lilly-is-overvalued-too-costly-to-buy.

Eli Lilly (LLY) - Past 5-Years — Eli Lilly (LLY) – Past 5-Years

On October 22, Eli Lilly (LLY) reported an increase in the third-quarter profit, as sales in its animal health segment and new drug launches offset the effect of unfavorable foreign exchange rates and patent expirations. Indianapolis-based drug maker posted a net income increase of 60% to $799.7 million, or to $0.75 per share, as its revenue increased 33% in animal health segment. In January 2015, Eli Lilly acquired Norvartis’s animal health unit for $5.29 billion in an all-cash transaction. The increase in the animal-health revenue helped offset sharp revenue decreases in osteoporosis treatment Evista and antidepressant Cymbalta, whose revenue fell 35% and 34% year-over-year, respectively. Eli Lilly lost U.S. patent protection for both drugs last year, causing patent cliffs. Lower price for the Evista reduced sales by about 2%.

Total revenue increased 2% to $4.96 billion even as currency headwinds, including strong U.S. dollar, shaved 8% off of the top line in revenue. Recently launched diabetes drug Trulicity and bladder-cancer treatment Cyramza helped increase profits, bringing a total of $270.6 billion in the third-quarter. Eli Lilly lifted its guidance for full-year 2015. They expect earnings per share in the range of $2.40 and $2.45, from prior guidance of $2.20 to $2.30.

Despite the stronger third-quarter financial results, I believe Eli Lilly is overvalued. Eli Lilly discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceutical products for humans and animals worldwide. The drug maker recently stopped development of the cholesterol treatment evacetrapib because the drug wasn’t effective. Eli Lilly deployed a substantial amount of capital to fund Evacetrapib, which was in Phase 3 research, until they decided to pull the plug on it. The suspension to the development of Evacetrapib is expected to result in a fourth-quarter charge to research and development expense of up to $90 million pre-tax, or about $0.05 per share after-tax. Eli Lilly’s third-quarter operating expense declined 7% year-over-year, mainly due to spending on experimental drugs that failed in late-stage testing trials.

Eli Lilly’s market capitalization skyrocketed over the past five years by 122.76% to $90 billion, but their revenue, gross profit, net-income, operating income, as well as EBITDA, declined significantly. Over the past five years, its revenue decreased 14.61% from $23.08 billion to $19.70 billion (LTM), largely due to patent expirations. Gross profit and net-income declined 26.06% and 53.48%, respectively. Its operating income fell 59.18% over the past five years.

Eli Lilly - Revenue/Gross Profit — Eli Lilly – Revenue/Gross Profit

Eli Lilly - Key Financials — Eli Lilly – Key Financials

Its operating margin fell a halfway over the past five years from 28.30% to 13.53% (LTM). EBITDA margin, on the other hand, fell all the way to 18.73% (LTM) from 34.05%.

Meanwhile, shares of Eli Lilly gained 144.49% over the past five years. Its price-to-sales ratio too high compared to its history and to S&P 500. Its Price/Sales ratio currently stands at 4.6, vs. at 1.7 in 2010, while S&P 500 currently stays at 1.8 and industry average at 3.9. In addition to the falling revenue, gross profit, net-income, and EBITDA, its free cash flow fell significantly over the past five years by 72.24%, or fell 22.61% on a compounded annual basis.

Not only did their cash flow fall, but their net-debt increased significantly. Its net-debt increased by a whopping 1789.87% over the past five years from $199.5 million to $3.85 billion. They now have almost twice as much of total debt than they do in cash and equivalents. I believe Eli Lilly is at a risk for poor future ratings by rating agencies, which will increase their borrowing costs.

Eli Lilly – Total Cash/Total Cash/Net-Debt

Strong U.S. dollar is an issue for Eli Lilly. Over the past five years, the dollar index increased 26.75%. Last quarter, its 49.2% of revenue came from foreign countries. Its revenue in the U.S. increased 14% to $2.54 billion, while revenue outside the U.S. decreased 9% to $2.42.

Eli Lilly - 2014 Geography Revenue — Eli Lilly – 2014 Geography Revenue

Eli Lilly’s dividend yield of 2.55% or 0.50 cents per share quarterly can be attractive, but it is undesirable. From 1995 through 2009 (expectation of 2003-2004), Eli Lilly raised its dividend. Payouts of $0.26 quarterly in 2000 almost doubled to $0.49 in 2009. Then, the company kept its dividend payment unchanged in 2010, the same year when its net-income, EBITDA and earnings per share (EPS) reached an all-time high. About four years later (December 2014), Eli Lilly increased the dividend to $0.50 quarterly. I still don’t see a reason to buy shares of Eli Lilly. The frozen divided before the recent increase was a signal that the management did not see earnings growing. With expected patent expiration of Cymbalta, their top selling drug in 2010, it is no wonder Eli Lilly’s key financials declined and dividends stayed the same. Cymbalta sales were $5.1 billion in 2013, the year its patent expired. In 2014, its sales shrank all the way down to $1.6 billion. Loss of exclusivity for Evista in March 2014 immensely reduced Eli Lilly’s revenue rapidly. Sales decreased to $420 million in 2014, followed by $1.1 billion in 2013. Pharmaceuticals industry continues to lose exclusivities, including Eli Lilly.

In December 2015, Eli Lilly will lose a patent exclusivity for antipsychotic drug Zyprexa in Japan and for lung cancer drug Alimta in European countries and Japan. Both of the drugs combined accounted for revenue of $866.4 million in the third-quarter, or 17.5% of the total revenue. They will also lose a patent protection for the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis in 2017, which accounted for $2.29 billion of sales in 2014, or 11.68% of the total revenue.

Besides the pressure from patent expirations, there is also regulatory pressures on drug pricing. According to second-quarter 10Q filing, Eli Lilly believes “State and federal health care proposals, including price controls, continue to be debated, and if implemented could negatively affect future consolidated results of operations.” During the third-quarter earnings call, CEO of Eli Lilly, John C. Lechleiter, said that price increases reflects many of medicines going generic and “deep discounts” government mandates for large purchasers.

As of October 16, Eli Lilly had two drugs under regulatory review, nine drugs in Phase 3 testing, and 18 drugs in Phase 2 testing. Since the end of July, the drug maker terminated the development of few drugs, including evacetrapib in Phase 3, two drugs in Phase 2, and five in Phase 1. Out of total eight drug termination, only five drugs moved to the next stage of testing. I view the recent termination of evacetrapib as a major setback.

Eli Lilly Pipeline – Third Quarter Earnings Presentation – Page 16

Compared to its peers, LLY’s Price-to-Earnings ratio is too high. Its P/E ratio (on GAAP basis) stands at 38.22 while industry average stands at 17.7. Four of its main peers, Pfizer (PFE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Merck (MRK), and Sanofi (SNY) P/E ratio stands at 24.08, 19.63, 14.41, and 22.38, respectively.

Negative trends, tighter regulations, increasing competition and slowing growth makes Eli Lilly’s current valuation unjustified. I believe it will reach an average P/E ratio of its four main competitors, at 20.12, in the next three years. I expect EPS (GAAP) to contract. With current EPS of $2.21 (LTM, GAAP) and P/E ratio of 20.12, share price would be worth $44.46, down 47.37% from current share-price of $84.47. As EPS contracts, the share price of Eli Lilly will be much further down from $44.46 in the next three years.

Disclosure: I’m not currently short on the stock, LLY, at this time (October 21, 2015).

Note: All information I used here such as revenue, margins, EBITDA, etc are found from Eli Lilly and Company’s official investor relations site, Bloomberg terminal and morningstar. The pictures you see here are my own, except “Eli Lilly Pipeline – Third Quarter Earnings Presentation – Page 16”

Disclaimer: The posts are not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks, currencies, etc mentioned. They are solely my personal opinions. Every investor/trader must do his/her own due diligence before making any investment/trading decision.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Undervalued – Part 2

Part 1 can be accessed by clicking here or http://www.outofwacc.com/cisco-systems-inc-nasdaq-csco-undervalued-part-1/

Before I go any further, let me tell you what led to Cisco in the first place. I strongly believe in technology and Internet of Things (loT). I believe the market will increase significantly as there are unlimited demand for it and will continue to have unlimited demand.

(Part 1)

Continued:

Cisco’s gross margin, operating income, operating cash flow, and total cash are strong and of course impressive.

As of April 25, 2015, Cisco had almost $54.5 billion cash on hand. If you look at the “Total cash” chart below (Cash as of April 2015 not shown), you will see that Cisco had slightly over $52 billion cash as of July 2014. In a year, they managed to increase their cash about 5%. Over the last five years (2010-07 to 2015-04), they managed to increase their total cash amount by 36.25%. For company that’s so large and has a market capitalization of $136.9 billion, total cash appreciation is pretty impressive.

Cisco's Total Cash – Annually — Cisco’s Total Cash – Annually

As of April 25, they had current assets of $69.4 and total assets of $106.2 billion. They have total liabilities of $47.4 billion. With strong amount of cash and assets, liabilities are not an issue and should not be in the future as the company continues to trim down liabilities.

Gross Margin is very strong, although it has declined 3.7% in the last five years (see chart below)

Gross Margin % - Annual (2005 to Present) — Gross Margin % – Annual (2005 to Present)

Over the 10 years, operating income has increased significantly while both operating cash flow and working capital has doubled. It shows that Cisco cares about longer-term success instead of focusing on short-term maximization. Long-term investors will benefit from the minds of the management.

Operating $$$ and Working Capital - Annual (2015 - Present) — Operating $$$ and Working Capital – Annual (2005 – Present)

Comparable Company Analysis:

Below, you see a Comparable Company Analysis chart. I chose one major peer, Qualcomm. The reason I only chose Qualcomm is because all other peers such as Juniper Networks and Palo Alto Networks are too small.

Company Comparable Analysis – One Major Peer

Dividends and Stock Repurchase Program:

During the 3rd quarter of fiscal 2015, Cisco paid a dividend of $0.21 per share, or $1.1 billion. As of today, the divided is still the same. However, it’s expected to increase in the future. They pay a dividend of $0.84 annually, or 3% yield.

CSCO Dividend - 2011 to 2015 — CSCO Dividend – 2011 to 2015

In the same quarter, Cisco repurchased approximately 35 million shares of common stock under the stock repurchase program for an aggregate purchase price of $1.0 billion. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under the program is approximately $5.3 billion with no termination date. I believe they will issue new share buyback program after the current program ends, probably in about five quarters if they keep spending approximately $1.0 billion each quarter.

I love that Cisco is aggressively buying back stock. Not only that, but they pay divided to their shareholders which I expect to increase in the future.

Conclusion: From my analysis on Cisco, I have my stock price targets.

By 3rd quarter of fiscal 2016: Net income from 3Q fiscal 2014 to 3Q fiscal 2015 grew 11.74%. Let’s assume, it grows 5% from 3Q fiscal 2015 to 3Q fiscal 2016, net income would be $2,558.85 (in $billions), or GAAP EPS of $0.50 ($0.4971 to be exact). It would be $0.03 EPS increase year-over-year. When Cisco buys back shares, EPS will be higher depending on the amounts of shares purchased back.

Now, let’s assume GAAP EPS for the next 3 quarters stayed the same as 3Q fiscal 2015 which is at $0.47. After the 3Q fiscal 2016, Cisco would have EPS (TTM) of $1.91. At the current share price, the P/E ratio would then be 14.82x. But at this rate of growth, $CSCO would be worth $32, 13% higher than current price ($28.32), at P/E ratio of 16.75x, just 2.82% higher than the current P/E ratio of 16.29x.

My target price might change when Cisco reports 4Q fiscal 2015 earnings on August 12, 2015. I expect better than expected results. US Dollar (greenback) strength might hurt foreign sales. About 40% of their sales are aboard.

Disclosure: I’m currently long on the stock, CSCO. I went long last year at price just below $25. I will continue to be long.

Note: All information I used here such as revenue, gross margin, etc are found from Cisco’s official investor relations site, Bloomberg terminal and morningstar. The pictures you see here are my own.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Undervalued – Part 1

Cisco is undervalued (target price will be revealed in part 2)

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) - 5 Year Daily — Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) – 5 Year Daily

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) – networking giant – designs, manufactures, and sells networking equipments. Founded in 1984, Cisco has grown exponentially over the years. In May, Cisco announced that Chuck Robbins will be the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective July 26, 2015, replacing John Chambers who will assume the role of Executive Chairman and will continue to serve as the Chairman of Cisco’s board. John Chambers is confident Chuck Robbins will continue the positive momentum. I, too, am confident because Chuck Robbins has a great history.

In the past, Robbins has been Senior Vice President (SVP) of Worldwide Field Operations, SVP of the Americas, SVP of Worldwide Sales, SVP of US Enterprise, SVP of Commercial Business, Head of North American Channels, Group Vice President (GVP) of US and Canada channels, and has been a Director of Cisco since May 1, 2015.

Chambers stated “Chuck’s vision, strategy and execution track record is exactly what Cisco needs as we enter our next chapter, which I am confident will be even more impactful and exciting than our last.” Well, I’m also confident that Chuck will do a great job at Cisco, benefiting shareholders.

For someone who has been committed to Cisco for a long time, and held high level roles, I believe he’s the right person for the job. He will be ethical and care about the longer-term at Cisco, instead of short-term maximization.

On May 13, 2015, Cisco reported third quarter earnings and it was relatively strong. Revenue was $12.1 billion, increase of 5% year over year. Net income was $2.4 billion or $0.47 per share on Generally Accepted Account Principles (GAAP), up from previous fiscal year third quarter earnings of $2.2 billion or $0.42 per share.

Cisco Earnings - Quarterly — Cisco Earnings – Quarterly

Revenue for the first nine months of fiscal 2015 year was $36.3 billion and net income, on a GAAP basis, was $6.7 billion or $1.29 per share, compared with $34.8 billion revenue and $5.6 billion or $1.06 per share for the first nine months of fiscal 2014 year.

In 5-year average, Cisco’s revenue and net income has been growing at more than 5%. For company that is so large, 5-year average growth rate is pretty impressive. Not only revenue and net income are impressive, but also gross margin, operating income, operating cash flow, cash on hand, and dividends.

Part 2 will come soon…UPDATE: Click here for Part 2 or http://www.outofwacc.com/cisco-systems-inc-nasdaq-csco-undervalued-part-2/

Note: All information I used here such as revenue, gross margin, etc are found from Cisco’s official investor relations site, and Bloomberg terminal. The pictures you see here are my own.

Microsoft beats earnings expectations: Stock rises more than 10%

Previous post about Microsoft: http://www.outofwacc.com/microsoft-earnings-game-changer-product-hololens/

Earnings:

On April 23, 2015 (Thursday), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) reported its Earnings Release FY15 Q3 that exceeded analyst’ estimates for both revenue and earnings. Microsoft reported revenue of $21.73 billion for the quarter, up 6.5% year-over-year. Net income fell to $4.99 billion, or 61 cents per share, from $5.66 billion, or 68 cents, a year earlier (10% decline year-over-year).

Microsoft’s restructuring plan announced in July 2014 (job cuts) and the ongoing integration of the Nokia Devices and Services business, which Microsoft acquired for $7.2 billion last year, had $190 million, or a $0.01 per share negative impact.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has been changing strategy to focus more on cloud and mobile software, since demand for PCs are decreasing as new technologies are replacing the PCs. Cloud revenue is growing. Overseas sales have been hurt by a strong dollar and geopolitical concerns in Russia and China.

The currency fluctuations, including a strong dollar had a significant impact on results. Excluding the effect of Forex market, revenue and gross margin would have grown 9% and 4%, respectively, and operating income and EPS would have declined 4% and 7%, respectively.

Source: https://www.microsoft.com/investor/EarningsAndFinancials/Earnings/PressReleaseAndWebcast/FY15/Q3/default.aspx

Cloud software sales increased, while demand for personal computer product decreased. Personal computer are dead-end. Commercial revenue grew 5% to $12.8 billion, led by commercial cloud which grew 106%. Cloud market is gaining traction and I believe Microsoft is doing the right thing by focusing more on the cloud market.

Microsoft 10 operating system is coming. Microsoft is offering free upgrades for some customers. Microsoft is hoping that their PC sales will increase after the launch of Windows 10.

Microsoft Build Developer Conference 2015

At Build Conference, Microsoft announced the Windows Holographic Platform for developers to develop apps for HoloLens. Developers would love to get their hands on HoloLens. Microsoft still hasn’t disclosed the price and when it will be released. I still believe HoloLens will be the next “Big Thing”.

Windows 10 could the first universal Operating System. We soon will find out.

Microsoft announced its replacement for Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge. The question is “Will it be successful?”

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Stock

Investors loved the earnings report. The stock rose more than 10%.

NASDAQ: MSFT - Daily Chart — NASDAQ: MSFT – Daily Chart

As stated in my previous post about MSFT ( http://www.outofwacc.com/microsoft-earnings-game-changer-product-hololens/ ), I said that the fall in the stock’s price was a good buying opportunity. If you took my suggestion, you now have more than 10% return. I still haven’t brought MSFT. I may have missed the opportunity. Though my experience in investing, I learned that you should not let your emotions effect your investment decisions. If you missed the opportunity, you missed one of many. There are many other opportunities. All you got to do is catch them.

I still may buy MSFT soon, even at its current price.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to comment below and/or contact me by going to “Contact Me” page. Thank you.

GE’s massive makeover

Last Friday (April 10, 2015), General Electric (GE) announced a plan to sell off real estate and reduce the size of their financial business. They will be selling majority of GE Capital Real Estate assets for about $26.5 billion. GE will also sell away the remaining portion of GE Capital. It aims to complete the sale of GE Capital over the next two years.

GE’s financial unit is one of the largest financial entities, with assets of half a trillion dollars. It includes everything from consumer loans to property. When the financial crisis hit, earnings from GE’s finance unit collapsed. There were (still is) strict regulations on financial services. As a result, Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, promised to shrink the finance arm.

Ever since the financial crisis, G.E. has taken small steps to shrink its finance operations. Last year, it spun off its private-label credit card business, known as Synchrony Financial (Ticket: SYF), for $2.9 billion initial public offering (IPO).

To who? GE said it would sell nearly all of its real estate portfolio to investors including Blackstone Group and Wells Fargo & Co for $26.5 billion. There are a further $165 billion of assets that needs to be sold. There will be buyers other than Blackstone Group and Wells Fargo & Co. The company plans to keep the finance assets directly related to selling its products such as jet engines, medical equipment, and electrical grid gear. Remember; Warren Buffett has a stake in both GE and Well Fargo. I believe Warren Buffett will be increasing his stake in GE.

Why now? GE is selling their real estate and financial business for two reasons. First, commercial real estate prices are up. Commercial real estate prices are higher today than it was before the financial crisis. Lastly, rates are still low. If the Fed hikes interest rates (cost of borrowing rises), it will be unattractive to finance any deal. Therefore, it’s a perfect time to take an advantage of the low rates and the high prices.

Source: http://www.greenstreetadvisors.com/about/page/cppi/

GE is taking the right move, by focusing more on industrial sector. By beginning to sell $26.5 billion worth of real estate assets, GE will be returning to a kind of company it is supposed to be, an industrial company. GE’s operations include jet engines, oil drilling equipment and medical devices. I would not be surprised if GE makes industrial acquisitions, both small and big. I would not even be surprised if GE merges with another industrial business.

Investors are very happy with the deal, including me. General Electric’s stock (Ticker: GE) rose more than 10%, on a heavy volume, to $28.68, highest since September 2008. On Friday, more than 350 million shares (GE) were traded. GE expects to return more than $90 billion in cash to investors through dividends, share buybacks and the Synchrony exchange through the end of 2018. $50 billion will come from a share repurchase program, one of the biggest on record. As of January 31, GE had 10.06 billion shares outstanding. GE expects to reduce it by 20% to 8-8.5 billion by 2018. In the longer term, the stock price will continue to increase.

GE (General Electric) - Daily — GE (General Electric) – Daily

Not only GE wins here, but also Uncle Sam. GE will bring back $36 billion in cash that resides overseas and will have to pay tax to the U.S government, ranging from $4 billion to $6 billion.

GE said it would take after-tax charges of about $16 billion for the restructuring in the first quarter, with $12 billion being non-cash charges. It will reduce their Earnings Per Share (EPS). On Friday (April 17, 2015), GE will report their first quarter earnings.

GE expects that by 2018 more than 90% of its earnings will be generated by its industrial businesses, up from 58% in 2014.

Past & Future:

GE's past and future — GE’s past and future (source: http://www.ge.com)

Note: I currently own shares in GE, which I brought last year at $25.83. I plan to hold on to it. I may even buy more shares. I believe GE’s share-price will reach $38 by the first half of 2016.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, and/or leave comments. Thank you.

UPDATE: Click http://www.outofwacc.com/ges-slight-positive-earnings-report-and-its-about-to-change/ or click here.

Update on Microsoft, RBNZ, and upcoming events to watch out.

Update on MSFT: I’m still watching MSFT (Microsoft stock ticker) for good entry. I will go long on it in the future at a good entry price. Microsoft stock and other blue chip stock fell after Intel slashed revenue outlook due to weak PC demand. The decrease in the price of MSFT is still a good buying opportunity.

Microsoft (MSFT) - Hourly — Microsoft (MSFT) – Hourly

Last Wednesday, Reserve Bank of New Zealand left the Official Cash Rate unchanged at 3.5%. NZD (Kiwi) quickly reacted by rising as it disappointed traders who were looking for rate cut. In a statement by the Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler, cited that the New Zealand dollar “…remains unjustifiably high and unsustainable in terms of New Zealand’s long-term economic fundamentals.” I still believe that RBNZ will intervene and send NZD down, if not by rate-cut. I would be short on NZD/USD, at this time.

Upcoming: Bank of Japan (BoJ, Late Monday/early Tuesday – March 16/March 17 EST), Federal Reserve (Wednesday – March 18 – 2 P.M EST) and Swiss National Bank (SNB, Thursday – March 19 – 4:30 A.M EST).

BoJ will either hold or increase the stimulus package. If they do, JPY (Yen) will be bearish–sending USD/JPY further up–after rising to over 121.00 this week. If they don’t, we have to watch for their tone. It will be either bearish or bulling on the Yen, depending on what BoJ say, or react.

Federal Reserve will be watched very closely after a very positive non-farm payrolls last week. This week, U.S stocks were a roller coaster. There was a hard sell-off in equities and a bullish USD (U.S Dollar), due to an increasing chance of rate-hike. On Thursday (March 12, 2015), Retail Sales came out very negative. Retail Sales fell 0.6% (-0.6%), worse than expected of 0.3%, following -0.8%. Core Retail Sales (excluding automobiles which accounts for 20% of Retail Sales) fell 0.1% (-0.1%), worse than expected of 0.6%, following -1.1%. However, it was little better than previous report in February. I believe people who are saving money from low oil-prices are probably paying off their debts, before they spend on “wants”. The U.S market reacted positively because some people thought that negative Retail Sales would hold-off the Federal Reserve from raising the interest rates. On Wednesday, the Fed might also drop “patient”, signaling that rate-hike is very close.

S&P 500 (SPX) - Hourly — S&P 500 (SPX) – Hourly

SNB might set a new floor to the exchange rate (EUR/CHF). I would not trade CHF (Swiss Franc) because of two reasons. One, it’s too violent and there is no clear direction yet. Second, SNB does not know what it’s doing after what they did in January. But, I would still watch out closely, as it might affect other pairs, such as EUR and USD.

Microsoft Earnings and its game changer product, Hololens

On January 26, 2015, Microsoft reported their quarterly financial results for FY15 Q2 (FisicalYear 2015, Quarter 2 – ending on December 31) and it was below what analysts expected. Thomas Reuters had consensus estimates of $0.71 in earnings per share on $26.33 billion in revenue. Microsoft reported a revenue of $26.470 billion from $24.519 billion in the previous year, 8% increase. Microsoft reported earnings of $0.71 per share from $0.78 in the previous year, 9% decrease (Diluted EPS).

Microsoft stock (MSFT) dropped almost 4% after-hours or from around $47 (4 P.M) to about $45.50 (5 P.M). It continued to drop. The next day, the stock opened at $42.96 and finished the day at $42.6 7. From the announcement of financial results to the next day, the stock dropped about 10%. As of right now, it’s around $43.50. I view this as buying opportunity even it rose after almost $3 in almost 2 weeks. I will explain why MSFT is great stock down below.

Microsoft’s numbers looked weak because of currency and a restructuring charge. U.S dollar has been getting strengthening for some time now. It’s having a bad effect on international companies. Microsoft’s (International Company) international sales are being converted into fewer dollar, for now. Plus, Microsoft cannot control what happens to Forex market. In the last quarter, Microsoft had $243 million in restructuring charges, $0.02 per share negative impact. It comes from the integration of the Nokia Devices and Services business. Phone hardware revenue came at $2.3 billion, with 10.5 million Lumia units sold. It was successful. $0.04 per share loss came from IRS audit adjustment. Restructuring charges (-$0.02) and IRS audit adjustment (-$0.04) are temporary or one-time events. Succesful revenue from hardware and one-time losses are the two reasons to buy Microsoft stock (MSFT).

Last week, Microsoft showed off a product that I believe is a game-changer, HoloLens. It’s a headset with transparent lenses. What you see in reality is transformed into different world with 3-D objects floating, virtual screens, virtual characters and more. I believe it’s way better than Oculus Rift. Oculus Rift is designed for gaming only, targeting gamers only. HoloLens can be used for learning and experiencing new era of technology in a new way. Not only it targets gamers, but also non-gamers and people with dreams (creating/inventing products, etc). The price of HoloLens is unknown at this time. It should be affordable and fair if they want to get into mass-market. This is just the beginning and it has the potential to be huge. Hololens is another reason to buy Microsoft stock (MSFT). >>> Microsoft HoloLens YouTube <<<

Another reason is Microsoft’s acquisitions of small companies that has potential to grow a lot. Recently, Microsoft announced an acquisition of Revolution Analytics, Equivio and Sunrise. Revolution Analytics is a statistical software company. Equivio is startup producing test analysis software. Sunrise is a developer of calendar apps. So why is Microsoft acquiring small companies? They know that these companies will be very useful and helpful for their products. Therefore, driving up the sales. When they drive the sales (revenue) up, they will make us, the shareholders (or potential shareholders) happy.

Last reason to invest in Microsoft is its dividends. MSFT gives annual dividend of $1.24 at the yield of 2.83%. I would reinvest the dividends, known as DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Plan). Why? There will no fees or commissions to reinvest, buying additional shares or fraction of a share. Over the long-run, it will benefit you as reinvestment adds up.

If you have any opinions, etc, feel free to leave comments or contact by email (khojinur_us@yahoo.com). Write “FMITBOOK” on subject line. Thank you.

UPDATE 1: I’m still watching MSFT (Microsoft stock ticker) for a good entry. I will go long on it in the future at a good entry price. Microsoft stock and other blue chip stock fell after Intel slashed revenue outlook due to weak PC demand. The decrease in the price of MSFT is still a good buying opportunity. (http://www.outofwacc.com/update-on-microsoft-rbnz-and-upcoming-events-to-watch-out/).

UPDATE 2: Microsoft FY15 Q3 earnings (http://www.outofwacc.com/microsofts-earnings/).