Is UBS a Buy After Earnings?

With shares of UBS (NYSE:UBS) trading around $19, is UBS an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

UBS, a financial services firm, provides wealth management, asset management, and investment banking products and services worldwide. Its Wealth Management division provides financial services to high net worth individuals worldwide.  Its Investment Bank division offers products and services in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, and commodities to corporate and institutional clients, sovereign and government bodies, financial intermediaries, alternative asset managers, and its wealth management clients. UBS Asset Management division offers investment solutions to various asset classes.

UBS has reported a 577 million franc ($644.2 million) profit during the quarter, beating analyst estimates, but the Swiss bank also warned that legal costs could increase as UBS said it has received requests from various authorities regarding its foreign exchange businesses. Swiss authorities have demanded that UBS set aside more funds for litigation, and so UBS likely won't reach its 2015 profit goals. The results caused shares to drop in Swiss trading this morning.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Strong

UBS stock has remained in a range over the last five years. The stock is currently near highs for the year. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, UBS is trading above its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of UBS options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
UBS Options	22.11%	0%	0%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a minimal t amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
November Options	Flat	Average
December Options	Flat	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a minimal amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Mixed Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on UBS’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for UBS look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	31.29%	-8.15%	-658.46%	-306.58%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	17.92%	14.54%	9.54%	-5.10%
Earnings Reaction	2.57%	N/A	N/A	N/A

UBS has seen decreasing earnings and increasing revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have had mixed feelings about UBS’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has UBS stock done relative to its peers, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), and sector?

	UBS	JPMorgan Chase	Goldman Sachs	Wells Fargo	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	25.48%	20.04%	27.10%	25.07%	25.42%

UBS has been a relative performance leader, year-to-date.

Conclusion

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UBS, a financial services firm, provides wealth management, asset management, and investment banking products and services worldwide. The company might not reach its profit goals in 2015 since Swiss authorities demanded that they set aside more funds for litigation. The stock has been in a range over the last five years, however, it’s currently near highs for the year. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been decreasing while revenues have been increasing, which has produced mixed feelings among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, USB has been a relative performance leader year-to-date. Look for UBS to OUTPERFORM.