Wednesday, March 27, 2019

7 SaaS Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Gains

Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, isn’t a new concept. This idea that companies can take on-premise software solutions, host them through the cloud and offer them in a subscription package to customers has been around for a while.

But, just because the SaaS concept has been around for a while, that doesn’t mean it’s too late to jump on the SaaS bandwagon. Truth be told, SaaS stocks in the right industry are winning stocks. They are high-growth companies because they align with the secular pivot to cloud solutions, and they’re high-margin companies, too, because the costs associated with delivering a cloud-hosted software service at scale are small. Plus, SaaS stocks are also supported by steady and predictable subscription revenue streams.

Broadly speaking, then, SaaS stocks are often big growers with big margins and lots of revenue predictability. That combination usually makes SaaS stocks big winners in the long run.

This trend won’t reverse course any time soon. Only 20% of enterprise workloads have migrated to the cloud, so the runway for cloud growth remains long and promising. Meanwhile, margins will likely only head higher as the industry scales, and revenue predictability won’t waver.

Overall, then, it’s not too late to get bullish on SaaS stocks. With that in mind, let’s take a look at seven SaaS stocks to buy for long-term gains.


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Shopify (SHOP) SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains SHOPSaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains SHOPSource: Shopify via Flickr

Software Service: E-commerce solutions

One of my favorite SaaS stocks is Shopify (NYSE:SHOP). In short, Shopify offers e-commerce solutions to retailers of all shapes and sizes so that any seller can sell any item to any buyer through any channel.

These solutions have both tremendous value, and tremendous room for growth. On the value side, consumers are increasingly connected to content and products through various digital channels. Retailers need to connect with consumers through those various channels. Shopify gives them the tools to do so.

On the growth side, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) owns about 50% of the U.S. e-commerce market. That’s unsustainable. Over the next several years, the e-commerce market will democratize as retailers pivot more aggressively into digital. That pivot will include a bunch of those retailers adopting Shopify’s solutions.

Overall, Shopify is a winning SaaS stock. The stock has already increased ten-fold over the past three-plus years. But, with revenue growth running at 50%-plus and margins roaring higher, SHOP stock will only keep heading higher in the long run.


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Twilio (TWLO) SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains TWLOSaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains TWLOSource: Web Summit Via Flickr

Software Service: Communication solutions

Another one of my favorite SaaS stocks to buy for the long haul is Twilio (NASDAQ:TWLO). Twilio offers real-time communication solutions to businesses of all shapes and sizes so that they can connect with customers at any point in time through any communication channel.

Much like Shopify, Twilio’s communication solutions have both tremendous value and tremendous growth potential. On the value side, customers increasingly demand a unique and personalized customer experience. A big part of that is personalized and real-time communication. Twilio offers solutions that allow businesses to do just that, and dramatically improve their customer experience.

On the growth front, Twilio has less than 65,000 customers. There are 30 million-plus businesses in the U.S., and somewhere around 200 million across the globe, nearly all of whom will develop a need for Twilio’s services as real-time communication becomes a vital part of the customer experience.

Overall, Twilio stock is a winning SaaS stock with big growth potential. Gross margins are also high, and operating margins are scaling nicely with revenues. As such, Twilio projects to be a big winner for a lot longer.


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Adobe (ADBE) SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains: Adobe (ADBE)SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains: Adobe (ADBE)Source: Shutterstock

Software Service: Creative solutions

A bigger SaaS stock that also falls into the long-term winners category is Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE). Adobe does a lot of things, but at its core, the company offers creative and visual-oriented cloud solutions to creative amateurs, creative professionals and businesses.

Adobe’s business breaks into three categories, all three of which are big growth categories. First, there’s the Document Cloud, which enables customers to sign, edit, amplify and organize digital documents. This business is supported by the secular rise in enterprise-level digital workload adoption. Second, there’s the Creative Cloud that delivers second-to-none, visual-focused editing solutions. This business is supported by a global consumption shift toward visual-first content. Third, and perhaps most importantly, there’s the Experience Cloud, which is an enterprise-level cloud solution aimed at improving the customer experience. This business is supported by a global shift to an experience-driven economy.

Ultimately, Adobe has three big growth businesses, the sum of which create a $100 billion-plus revenue opportunity for Adobe. Revenues this year are projected at just $11 billion. Thus, there’s a long runway for growth ahead. Also, gross margins are really high, and this company has a chance to run at 50%-plus operating margins one day.

Overall, Adobe is a big company with big growth potential ahead, a combination that should lead to Adobe stock trending higher in the long run.


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Axon (AAXN) SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains: Axon (AAXN)SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains: Axon (AAXN)Source: Shutterstock

Software Service: Law enforcement solutions

One of my favorite under-the-radar SaaS stocks is Axon (NASDAQ:AAXN). Axon provides cloud-hosted and next-gen solutions aimed at upgrading, optimizing and digitizing law enforcement processes of all sorts.

The idea here is pretty simple. One area of the market that the big technology revolution hasn’t hit as hard is the law enforcement world. But, as the world gets more technologically advanced, the need for a law enforcement tech makeover gets bigger. Axon wants to help them with that makeover, and that includes selling smart weapons, body cameras and various related cloud solutions (like a records management system).

There are a few things that make Axon attractive as an investment. For starter’s, the secular growth narrative of digitizing the law enforcement world is very healthy and it has a lot of room for growth. Second, Axon sells to law enforcement agencies, so demand is largely recession-proof. Third, revenue growth has consistently been north of 15% for a long time. Fourth, margins are roaring higher thanks to the software pivot.

All in all, Axon has all the makings of a winning SaaS stock, and I fully expect this stock to head way higher in the long run.


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Okta (OKTA)

SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains: Okta (OKTA)SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains: Okta (OKTA)

Software Service: Identity solutions

Most SaaS stocks are exciting, and all the SaaS stocks on this list are very exciting. But, one of the more exciting SaaS stocks on this list is Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA), given the company’s unique approach to a potentially huge market.

Broadly speaking, Okta is pioneering what management calls the identity cloud. The whole idea of the identity cloud is enabling enterprises to securely adopt any technology and/or software, by focusing on protecting a user’s identity. This service has tremendous value in today’s enterprise environment, wherein new technologies and software are being adopted in bulk, and where personal privacy and data protection have become of increasing importance recently.

This is a big idea. Big ideas have big markets. Indeed, the addressable market for Okta’s identity cloud is the whole IT space. Okta recorded revenues of just over $100 million last quarter from growth of nearly 60%. This is nothing new. Over the past several quarters, the average revenue growth rate has hovered around 60% and the average customer growth rate has hovered around 40%.

Thus, this is a small company that is consistently and rapidly growing in a huge market. That makes Okta an attractive SaaS stock to own for the long run.


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The Trade Desk (TTD) SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains: The Trade Desk (TTD)SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains: The Trade Desk (TTD)Source: Shutterstock

Software Service: Programmatic ad buying solutions

One of my favorite SaaS stocks for the long run is The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD), and that’s mostly because this company is the unparalleled leader in a huge growth industry.

The Trade Desk is in the field of programmatic advertising. Essentially, programmatic advertising is using machines and algorithms to buy ads. A few years back, the ad buying process involved two or more human parties negotiating back and forth until an agreement was made. This process worked, but it was also time-consuming, costly, and largely inefficient in optimizing ad spend return. As technology has advanced, this process has become better. Now, instead of using human parties to negotiate, big companies are allocating their ad-spend using machines, which take data-driven inputs to optimize ad spend, and do so quickly, dynamically and without labor costs.

The Trade Desk is the undisputed leader in offering programmatic advertising solutions. As such, the company has been a big grower for the past several years as programmatic advertising has really come into its own. This growth narrative is far from over. While programmatic advertising is already dominant in some advertising markets (like mobile), it is much smaller and less known in other advertising markets (video, audio, offline, so on and so forth).

Eventually, programmatic advertising will become big in those other areas given its cost, time and efficiency advantages. As such, at scale, all $1 trillion worth of global advertising dollars will be transacted programmatically. Gross spend on The Trade Desk’s platform was under $2.5 billion last year, meaning there’s still a long runway for growth ahead. That long runway, coupled with big margins, should keep TTD stock on a winning path.


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Salesforce (CRM) SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains: Salesforce (CRM)SaaS Stocks To Buy For Long Term Gains: Salesforce (CRM)Source: Shutterstock

Software Service: Enterprise cloud solutions

Perhaps the godfather of all SaaS stocks is Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), and that’s because this company is a $100 billion-plus empire built on enterprise SaaS cloud solutions.

Broadly speaking, Salesforce is the company both at the heart of and leading the cloud and data revolutions. The company offers cloud-based solutions that leverage analytics, data and AI to optimize enterprise operations of all sorts, ranging from sales, to marketing, to engagement. This market has big growth potential, mostly because the cloud revolution is still far from over (only 20% of enterprise workloads have migrated to the cloud) and the data revolution is just getting started (the volume of data globally is expected to surge higher over the next several years).

Thus, as cloud adoption permeates and data volume surges, Salesforce will continue to win over clients and be a big grower in the SaaS market. This big revenue growth will couple with healthy and expanding margins, and continue to power robust profit growth. So long as the robust profit growth narrative remains intact, CRM stock will head higher.

As of this writing, Luke Lango was long SHOP, AMZN, ADBE, A

Monday, March 25, 2019

Tiffany & Co (TIF) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Transcript

Logo of jester cap with thought bubble.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Tiffany & Co  (NYSE:TIF)Q4 2018 Earnings Conference CallMarch 22, 2019, 8:30 a.m. ET

Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to this Tiffany & Company Fourth Quarter 2018 Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. Participating on today's call is Mr. Mark Aaron, Vice President of Investor Relations; Mr. Mark Erceg, Tiffany's, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Alessandro Bogliolo, Tiffany's Chief Executive Officer.

At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Mark Aaron. Please go ahead.

Mark L. Aaron -- Vice President of Investor Relations

Thank you. Thank you, everyone for joining us on today's call. Earlier today, we issued Tiffany's fourth quarter and full year results with the news release and the filing of our Annual Report on Form 10-K. I hope you've had a chance to review at least some of the results. Following some comments from Alessandro and Mark, we will be pleased to take your questions.

Before continuing, please note that statements made on this call that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Actual results might differ materially from the planned, assumed or expected results, expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by applicable law or regulation.

Additional information concerning factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially as well as the required reconciliations of the non-GAAP measures referenced in this presentation to their comparable GAAP measures is set forth in Tiffany's Form 10-K filed earlier today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the news release filed today under cover of Form 8-K. Those filings can be found on Tiffany's website https://investor.tiffany.com by selecting Financial Information.

I'm now pleased to turn the call over to Alessandro.

Alessandro Bogliolo -- Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Mark, and hello, everyone. Mark Erceg and I will address these results in a broad sense and as they pertain to our key strategic priorities. And then we will allow plenty of time for your questions. The specific details of our financial results can be found in today's news release and 10-K filing. Broadly speaking, I'm pleased with Tiffany's annual results in 2018 and with what our global team accomplished.

For the full year, sales rose in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Japan and Europe and increased in most product capitals and we were encouraged to experience higher sales attributed to local customers in the full year, even though sales attributed to foreign tourists were volatile. As you know, our sales growth decelerated in the second half, we can talk about external factors that benefited us in the first half and then went against us in the second half. But I believe it is more productive to focus on the journey that we started exactly one-year ago. When we presented to you our six strategic priorities as well as our decision to increase investment spending in several areas to support sustainable long-term growth and we made substantial progress in the past year and at last is going to happen in 2019.

Our strategy to amplify and evolved brand message was highlighted with bolder messaging in the BELIEVE IN LOVE, "Believe in Dreams" and holiday campaigns. These campaigns came as a pleasant surprise to our audience and signal that something new and exciting was starting to happen at Tiffany. I'm pleased that as a result sales growth in 2018 came from our existing customer base as well as from new customers and former customers were not shopped at Tiffany in a number of years. Then since January 2019, we have strengthened our message on diamonds. A (inaudible) Tiffany diamond at a campaign on social media. Our leading innovation of providing to customers, the country, or region of origin of our individually registered diamond and the enormous visibility of the legendary 128 carat Tiffany yellow diamond with Lady Gaga at the Oscars are a synchronized ascertain of the beauty, traceability and glamour, of our superlative Tiffany diamonds.

Another strategy is to renew our product offerings at a faster pace. And in 2018, we unveiled the Paper Flowers jewelry line introduced numerous expansions of existing collections made a significant investment in high jewelry inventory to build a more powerful assortment in some of our key locations around the world. And we began to offer expensive jewelry customization through the Make It My Tiffany program. For Holiday 2018, we launched in the US, a limited assortment of the Tiffany True collection. We are now excited to roll-out the launch of the Tiffany True solitaire and boldly design jewelry in all the regions and with increasing new styles throughout 2019.

For our priority to deliver an exciting customer experience, in 2018, we expanded Tiffany's store presence with the opening of 10 stores in high potential markets around the world, while relocating a number of existing stores and closing four stores for a net increase of six stores. And of course, we announced a bold initiative to transform our New York flagship store into an exciting 21st century retail experience by the end of 2021.

In 2019, we will have some important openings in key cities. We just completed the relocation of our most important store in Australia, a significant market for Tiffany. It's a beautiful store in Sydney, at the corner of Pitt and King streets that has surprised customers, press and the entire industry for its stylish aesthetics, imposing size and the refine experience. And next week, we will celebrate the grand opening of our newest location in the US. The first -- our first store in Washington DC in City Center DC, a new luxury destination for local customers and tourists. We plan to announce other important new stores in key markets such as in Greater China during the course of the year.

In addition to opening new stores, we are also evolving our presentations within existing stores through our fresh and innovative global display announcement initiative in North America, which we are now pleased to extend in 2019 to the rest of the world. In terms of delivering a more exciting omni-channel experience, we are now upgrading our websites globally, which provides a number of benefits to both the consumer experience and Tiffany's ability to innovate. We are offering a rich blended experience of content and commerce, elevating the brand, while reducing the friction in the user's journey as much as possible. The announcements give Tiffany more agility in testing, personalizing and content optimization.

For example, on our US website, we have just begun offering for sale, select, love and engagement diamond rings online. US clients can now filter available inventory for purchase on tiffany.com, in addition to consulting a diamond expert to find the perfect ring. In recent years, Tiffany has been accepting phone orders for diamond rings from customers solely beyond our store distribution. So we believe this is a natural and complementary expansion of our in-store experience for the love and the engagement category. And we look forward to a process of continuous improvement in our digital capabilities going forward, including plans to introduce a company operated, e-commerce enabled website in China later this year.

In summary, we are still in the early stages of the long and exciting journey that I referred to one-year ago. The Tiffany brand is increasingly recognized and desired. Our talented organization is aligned with our strategic priorities and is getting more proactive and agile everyday. I believe that the long-term outlook is very promising.

I will now turn the call over to Mark Erceg.

Mark J. Erceg -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Alex. From a financial perspective, fiscal 2018 results are consistent with what we hoped to achieve, when just a little over one-year ago, we shared our six strategic priorities and declared that in order to properly fund those priorities, fiscal 2018, would be an investment year. Since Alex has already commented on our sales performance, let me say just a few words about earnings from operations, diluted net earnings per share and free cash flow. You will recall us stating that fiscal 2018 operating earnings were expected to be flat or slightly down, in order to fund meaningful investments across a number of areas we felt were essential to support sustainable, long-term, mid-single digit sales growth. Consistent with that earnings from operations came in at $790 million versus $809 million, during fiscal 2017, a decline of approximately 2%.

We also passed along significant benefits associated with US tax reform. Specifically, we started the year expecting an overall 2018 effective tax rate somewhere in the high-20s and is more information became available and we completed our analysis, we ultimately ended the year at just a fraction over 21%. While our 2018 effective tax rate did include some one-time benefits, not directly associated with the lower US statutory tax rate, a lower effective tax rate was the primary driver that allowed us to finish the year with diluted net EPS at $4.75 per share, which was toward the higher end of the last guidance range we provided at $4.65 to $4.80 per share and well above our initial fiscal 2018 guidance of being somewhere between $4.25 to $4.45 per share.

Finally, we started the year projecting approximately $380 million of free cash flow and after revising our projections to account for higher inventory levels, including for high jewelry and increased cash payments for income taxes related to US tax reform, we ended the year at $250 million of free cash flow. So in total and across our key financial performance indicators of sales growth, operating earnings, net earnings and free cash flow, I think it is fair to say we delivered what we set out to achieve.

From a balance sheet perspective, we finished the year with $855 million of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments versus roughly $1 billion of total short-term and long-term debt. This means that after spending more than $400 million to repurchase shares of our common stock and after increasing our quarterly dividend rate by 10%, which was the 17th increase in the past 16 years, our balance sheet remains a major source of strength and flexibility.

In terms of our outlook for 2019, we are maintaining the preliminary guidance we provided on January 18th, when we reported holiday sales results. Low single digit sales growth for the full year as reported and slightly higher on a constant exchange rate basis and a mid single-digit increase in diluted EPS.

It's worth noting that our forecast for mid single-digit EPS growth and our expectation of modest operating margin expansion includes a number of unique factors. First, incremental SG&A expense related to the New York flagship store project, which was $0.07 per share in 2018 is expected to be $0.10 per share to $0.15 per share in each of 2019, 2020 and 2021. Second, our 2019 forecast accounts for the fact that we will no longer be able to recognize an $8 million a year deferred gain on previous sale leasebacks due to a new accounting standard. Finally, we expect an all-in effective income tax rate of approximately 23% in 2019, which is roughly 200 basis points higher than fiscal 2018.

From a timing standpoint and consistent with January results, while we expect full year reported sales to grow by a low-single digit percentage, we expect sales in the first half to be adversely affected by several factors; a meaningful FX headwind, lower foreign tourist spending and a difficult comparison to strong base period comps. In addition to these items, first half earnings will also be negatively affected by incremental strategic investment spending that began in the second quarter of 2018 and has not yet fully annualized. We anticipate that these pressures will lessen throughout the year and as additional new products are introduced, our marketing message continues to resonate and our in-store experience becomes even stronger, we expect reported sales growth to strengthen and earnings growth to resume in the second half of the year.

That wraps up my brief remarks. So I'll turn the call back over to Mark.

Mark L. Aaron -- Vice President of Investor Relations

Thanks, Alessandro and Mark. Operator, we are ready to take some questions.

Questions and Answers:

Operator

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) And our first question will come from Michael Binetti with Credit Suisse.

Michael Binetti -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst

Hey, guys. Good morning. Thanks for taking our questions here. Mark, could you speak to some of the puts and takes on the gross margin in the fourth quarter. I guess, I'm looking at it on a multi-year basis. Just trying to see, if I understand why the leverage slowed a bit of the comps got easier there, maybe you could help us with some of the puts and takes? And then I also was curious why the SG&A -- maybe a little help on why the SG&A growth rate slowed fairly significantly. I think, you know, when we talked previously you kind of said the big break point in that growth rate would be middle of this year to your comments about anniversarying some of the step-up for the investments?

Mark J. Erceg -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Yeah, sure. I think, on the gross margin point, I think the bigger story in 2018 is the fact that our gross margin was up 70 basis points for the full year. As far as you know what happens in any given quarter on gross margin, I don't think that's overly helpful to unpack. There's always mix effects, there is any number of things that can fall within that. And of course our sales growth in the fourth quarter was lower than the balance of the year and so there's going to be less fixed cost leverage even through the COGS line. As far as SG&A is concerned, I think one of the things that we've talked about a lot in the past is the need to ensure that our cost takeout programs are robust and strong and that takes a little bit of time to gear up. So to the extent that SG&A growth in the fourth quarter was lower than you might have seen throughout the year. I think that's a positive indicator. And as we think about the guidance we provided for 2019, we're basically saying that we're going to get operating margin expansion on a low single-digit sales growth. So I think again our cost takeout programs continue to ramp up and I think you're seeing some of that in the fourth quarter at this point.

Michael Binetti -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst

Great. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Operator

And next we will hear from Paul Lejuez with Citi.

Paul Lejuez -- Citi -- Analyst

Hey, thanks, guys. I'm curious, what you might be able to point to that makes you feel confident that the amplification of the brand message is working and that you just hit a macro speed bump. Anything you could share with us that you're looking at, any data that you can provide. Also curious, if you think about what was the biggest disappointment to you this quarter relative to what you were thinking before it started and also curious if there any positive surprises? Thanks.

Alessandro Bogliolo -- Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Paul for your question. Well, about the messaging, it was a big change in 2018, and we are pleased to see that the sales, both to existing customers as well as new customers are increasing. And so we are happy with it and we have seen also in the last quarter, even if it was softer, a nice result in terms of sales to existing customers, which is reassuring that the new message is not putting away customers from our brand, but on the contrary, bringing them back. Now, in terms of disappointment, well, of course, the last quarter, I think it was a mix of external factors, we have seen it also in general in the industry, especially in (inaudible) that the last quarter has not been as fantastic as the first part of the year. So Tiffany was affected by this. But on the other side, there were surely internal factors because we are really at the first year of our transformative journey and we are working very hard on it, but we are far from having all the pieces of the puzzle put together. So we are working on it going ahead, but we were not perfect. We have done a lot of new things. Also things where we have made some mistakes and we are learning and we are addressing it. So I would say it's a mix of external, but also reasonably expected internal factors.

Paul Lejuez -- Citi -- Analyst

Alex, anything you can share on those internal factors? What you would have done better?

Alessandro Bogliolo -- Chief Executive Officer

Well, for example, I would have started holiday campaign three weeks earlier to give you an example. I mean, many other detailed things that you know, if the life -- the operational life of the company. And I think this is all good experience, because it was a year of innovation. And so we are -- the most important thing for us is that, we have a very good analysis of these results of our fourth quarter and we have adjusted plans in order to keep on surprising customers. When it comes to communication, so for example, the communication that we have seen in 2018, I think it was appropriate, because it was communicating that something big and new was happening at Tiffany. Now, don't expect the same communication in 2019, because we want to keep on surprising our customers. And this is one example among many others.

Paul Lejuez -- Citi -- Analyst

Got you. Thank you. Good luck.

Alessandro Bogliolo -- Chief Executive Officer

Thank you.

Operator

And now we will hear from Oliver Chen with Cowen and Company.

Oliver Chen -- Cowen and Company -- Analyst

Hi, good morning. Alessandro, I would love your thoughts on bala

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Best Clean Energy Stocks To Watch Right Now

tags:MPWR,SHOP,MTW,ACRE,

Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 results after market close on March 12, and Mr. Market was very pleased. Shares surged more than 20% at the open on March 13, and finished the first trading day after earnings up almost 30%. Whew! 

The main catalysts behind the big earnings surge were a beat versus analyst expectations for revenue and earnings, along with strong guidance that suggests the company is returning to growth after a relatively lackluster 2018 that saw fuel volumes grow only 4% for the full year. 

Let's look at Clean Energy's earnings and management's expectations. 

Image source: Clean Energy Fuels.

How Clean Energy's results stacked up

Fourth quarter key metrics:

Metric Q4 2018 Q4 2017 Year-Over-Year Change Revenue $96.2 million $89.3 million 7.7% Net income (loss) $6.9 million ($28.3 million) n/a Earnings per share $0.03 ($0.19) n/a Operating cash flow $9 million ($900,000) n/a Free cash flow ($2.1 million) ($9.7 million) n/a Fuel volume* 98.7 million 86.4 million 14.2%

*Gallon-equivalents. Source: Clean Energy Fuels.  

Best Clean Energy Stocks To Watch Right Now: Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.(MPWR)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    News headlines about Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR) have been trending somewhat positive recently, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. Accern identifies negative and positive news coverage by reviewing more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Monolithic Power Systems earned a coverage optimism score of 0.16 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news stories about the semiconductor company an impact score of 46.1278970459044 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the near future.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) CEO Michael Hsing sold 17,634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.05, for a total transaction of $2,487,275.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,115,369 shares in the company, valued at $157,322,797.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Best Clean Energy Stocks To Watch Right Now: Shopify Inc.(SHOP)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Steve Symington, Travis Hoium, and Neha Chamaria]

    So with that in mind, we asked three top Motley Fool investors to each find a stock that doubled last year -- and to determine whether they think those stocks are still worth buying. Read on to learn what they had to say about Align Technologies (NASDAQ:ALGN), Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO). 

  • [By Motley Fool Staff]

    In this episode of The Motley Fool's Industry Focus: Technology, host Dylan Lewis is joined by Motley Fool contributor Brian Feroldi to discuss customer acquisition cost, lifetime value, and a few other must-know metrics. They also chat about why Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE), BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL), AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF), HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS), and Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) might deserve a spot on your radar.

  • [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos, George Budwell, and Dan Caplinger]

    With that important balance in mind, we asked Motley Fool investors to highlight high-growth stocks that appear to have strong fundamentals that back up their sales gains. Here's why Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), Wayfair (NYSE:W), and uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) made this list.

  • [By Rick Munarriz]

    There's some healthy momentum in Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) as we head into this week's critical financial update. Shares of the e-commerce platform provider have soared 27% so far this young year -- moving higher in seven of the past eight trading days -- and that translates into high expectations for Tuesday morning's fourth-quarter report.

  • [By Leo Sun]

    Square's plans with Weebly could also fall short of challenging Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), which leads the market in "digitizing" offline businesses. Shopify already helps businesses launch e-commerce platforms, design websites, process payments, launch marketing campaigns, handle deliveries, and more -- so Square still has a lot of catching up to do.

Best Clean Energy Stocks To Watch Right Now: Manitowoc Company, Inc. (MTW)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Motley Fool Transcribers]

    Manitowoc Co Inc  (NYSE:MTW)Q4 2018 Earnings Conference CallFeb. 08, 2019, 10:00 a.m. ET

    Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

    Operator

  • [By Lisa Levin]

     

    Companies Reporting After The Bell Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) is projected to post quarterly loss at $1.31 per share on revenue of $1.97 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $1.59 per share on revenue of $909.36 million. Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.06 per share on revenue of $294.79 million. General Cable Corporation (NYSE: BGC) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $0.15 per share on revenue of $980.61 million. Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ: CENT) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.84 per share on revenue of $598.45 million. Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $1 per share on revenue of $746.42 million. Fabrinet (NYSE: FN) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.71 per share on revenue of $319.71 million. National General Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: NGHC) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $0.55 per share on revenue of $1.08 billion. The Navigators Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NAVG) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $0.75 per share on revenue of $320.92 million. Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. (NYSE: DPLO) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.22 per share on revenue of $1.29 billion. Trex Company, Inc. (NYSE: TREX) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $1.19 per share on revenue of $172.22 million. AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.09 per share on revenue of $1.35 billion. Envision Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: EVHC) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $0.64 per share on revenue of $2.02 billion. Regal Beloit Corporation (NYSE: RBC) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $1.23 per share on revenue of $869.64 million. Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $0.67 per share on revenue of $39
  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Wednesday was a good day on Wall Street, with the Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000 indexes both hitting record highs and other major benchmarks also generally posting solid gains. Optimism about the strong U.S. economy was enough to offset geopolitical concerns related to trade even as White House officials reiterated their position on keeping newly imposed tariffs in place. Some individual companies also had good news that sent their shares sharply higher. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR), and Manitowoc (NYSE:MTW) were among the best performers on the day. Here's why they did so well.

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on The Manitowoc (MTW)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Neha Chamaria]

    First, cost inflation isn't a company-specific concern. Manitowoc (NYSE:MTW), for instance, pointed out last quarter how higher material, particularly steel, and labor costs are proving to be notable headwinds, compelling the company to bank on product price increases to tide over the challenges.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Global X Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in The Manitowoc Company (NYSE:MTW) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 7,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Best Clean Energy Stocks To Watch Right Now: Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation(ACRE)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Ares Commercial Real Estate Corp (NYSE:ACRE) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $14.78 and last traded at $14.74, with a volume of 18790 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.03.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    ACRE (CURRENCY:ACRE) traded up 104% against the US dollar during the 24-hour period ending at 20:00 PM ET on August 28th. One ACRE coin can currently be bought for approximately $0.28 or 0.00003989 BTC on major cryptocurrency exchanges. ACRE has a market capitalization of $492,942.00 and $739.00 worth of ACRE was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. During the last seven days, ACRE has traded up 95.5% against the US dollar.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corp (NYSE:ACRE) by 113.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,888 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,719 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP owned approximately 0.08% of Ares Commercial Real Estate worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    ACRE (CURRENCY:ACRE) traded up 19.6% against the dollar during the 1-day period ending at 21:00 PM E.T. on March 13th. One ACRE coin can now be bought for approximately $0.0002 or 0.00000006 BTC on exchanges. Over the last seven days, ACRE has traded up 20% against the dollar. ACRE has a total market capitalization of $1,028.00 and approximately $0.00 worth of ACRE was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours.

  • [By Motley Fool Transcribers]

    Ares Commercial Real Estate Corp  (NYSE:ACRE)Q4 2018 Earnings Conference CallFeb. 21, 2019, 11:00 a.m. ET

    Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

    Operator

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Better economic data needed before Wall Street can rise back to all-time highs

Stocks kicked off 2019 with a bang as U.S.-China trade tensions simmered while the Federal Reserve signaled patience in raising rates. However, stocks will need improving economic data to make a run at the record levels set last year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are both 4 percent away from their all-time highs. The Nasdaq Composite is trading about 5.5 percent away from its record. However, the main catalysts that led stocks to this point — declining worries over China trade and Fed monetary policy — have largely been priced in. Meanwhile, the economic data have been mixed at best.

The recent weakness in economic data comes as at a time when global central banks fret over a potential slowdown in the global economy, which investors fear could hurt corporate profits.

"What the market needs and must have is a spate of data suggesting the economy continues to expand, albeit slowly, but not stalling," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. "That worry that the economy could stall out has the market worried."

The Citi Economic Surprise Index, a widely followed barometer of how economic data do relative to economist expectations, is currently near negative 35 and hit its lowest level since August 2017 earlier this month. A negative print on the index shows a majority of economic data are missing estimates; a positive print indicates data are outperforming expectations.

Citi economic surprise index in past 2 years

Source: FactSet

U.S. jobs creation came near to a screeching halt in February as only 20,000 jobs were created. While some experts attributed the weak print to factors like the weather and the government shutdown, it was still the worst month of jobs creation since September 2017.

The National Federation of Independent Business' small-business optimism index, meanwhile, remained near its lowest levels since the 2016 election in February despite inching higher.

Retail sales, a widely followed barometer of consumer health, unexpectedly rose 0.2 percent in January. However, December sales were revised down to show a 1.6 percent decline.

"[Monday's] retail sales report wasn't enough to clear the earlier one out," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth. "December is still a question mark in people's minds."

"You have to see an improvement in retail sales," he said. "That's another potential catalyst."

US-China trade deal won't be a 'rally maker'

Investors are increasingly looking toward economic data since a trade deal between China and the U.S. is likely priced in at this point.

China and the U.S. are expected to sign a deal sometime between late March and April. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told CNBC on Feb. 28 the two countries made "fantastic" progress in talks last month.

China has also agreed to bolster its purchases of U.S. agricultural products to try and narrow its trade surplus with the U.S., a sticking point of President Donald Trump. However, the two sides have yet to come to terms on key structural issues like intellectual property theft.

"We doubt this deal will be much of a rally maker," said Donald Straszheim, head of the China research team at Evercore ISI, in a note Monday. "It will not clear the air on US-China relations, and won't spur now nearly-frozen global companies to restart plans on where and how much to invest, produce, hire and source."

"We still expect a deal 'lite' – advertised as a win but not clearing the air," he said.

Some of the data starting to improve

The good news for investors, however, is some of the economic data is starting to turn around.

Activity in the U.S. services sector rose to 59.7 in February, while new home sales climbed to a seven-month high in December.

Durable goods orders in the U.S., meanwhile, rose 0.4 percent in January to surpass economist expectations. Constriction spending also rose 1.3 percent in January in to mark its biggest gain in nine months.

"What you have to start seeing is what you saw in the service sector in other economic reports. The ISM services index had pared back but then the most recent one was a nice showing. I think you have to see that in manufacturing. That's going to be hard," SlateStone Wealth's Pavlik said. "If you start seeing some of those things, … then it takes off a bit of the concern from the global economy."

Not everyone thinks stronger economic data can lead stocks to new highs, however. Paul Schatz, president at Heritage Capital, said stronger economic data could push the Fed's hand into tightening monetary policy, which could be detrimental to equities.

"The Fed changed the whole landscape," Schatz said. "You do not need unusually strong economic data. What you can't have is cascading lower economic data, but stable economic data is all the market needs to go higher."

"I think we're in that Goldilocks scenario right now. Stocks had a horrific decline and an amazing rally. Our thesis right now is stocks are in a trading range and will continue sideways for a little bit longer and then the next upward assault is going to take place."

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—CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

Old Line Bancshares Inc (OLBK) Files 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended on December 31, 2018

Old Line Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:OLBK) files its latest 10-K with SEC for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2018. Old Line Bancshares Inc is a bank holding company. The firm through its subsidiary provides general banking and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurs, professionals, consumers and high net worth clients. Old Line Bancshares Inc has a market cap of $464.340 million; its shares were traded at around $27.33 with a P/E ratio of 15.90 and P/S ratio of 4.37. The dividend yield of Old Line Bancshares Inc stocks is 1.38%.

For the last quarter Old Line Bancshares Inc reported a revenue of $28.3 million, compared with the revenue of $19.04 million during the same period a year ago. For the latest fiscal year the company reported a revenue of $101.9 million, an increase of 45.7% from last year. For the last five years Old Line Bancshares Inc had an average revenue growth rate of 15.2% a year.

The reported diluted earnings per share was $1.71 for the year, an increase of 26.7% from previous year. Over the last five years Old Line Bancshares Inc had an EPS growth rate of 18.2% a year. The profitability rank of the company is 3 (out of 10).

At the end of the fiscal year, Old Line Bancshares Inc has the cash and cash equivalents of $43.5 million, compared with $34.9 million in the previous year. The long term debt was $38.4 million, compared with $38.1 million in the previous year. Old Line Bancshares Inc has a financial strength rank of 3 (out of 10).

At the current stock price of $27.33, Old Line Bancshares Inc is traded at 48.8% premium to its historical median P/S valuation band of $18.37. The P/S ratio of the stock is 4.37, while the historical median P/S ratio is 2.95. The stock lost 18.38% during the past 12 months.

Directors and Officers Recent Trades:

Director Jeffrey A Rivest bought 1,005 shares of OLBK stock on 03/12/2019 at the average price of $27. The price of the stock has increased by 1.22% since.Director Suhas R Shah bought 182 shares of OLBK stock on 03/11/2019 at the average price of $26.91. The price of the stock has increased by 1.56% since.Director Gail D Manuel bought 375 shares of OLBK stock on 02/22/2019 at the average price of $28.66. The price of the stock has decreased by 4.64% since.Director Gregory S Jr Proctor bought 1,000 shares of OLBK stock on 02/22/2019 at the average price of $28.69. The price of the stock has decreased by 4.74% since.Director Thomas H Graham bought 2,000 shares of OLBK stock on 02/21/2019 at the average price of $27.43. The price of the stock has decreased by 0.36% since.

For the complete 20-year historical financial data of OLBK, click here.

Friday, March 15, 2019

Where Will AT&T Be in 5 Years?

The clock is finally ticking in favor of AT&T (NYSE:T). Shares of the telco giant are trading higher in 2019, and starting to eat into last year's rough 22% decline. 

You have to take the good with the bad when you size up AT&T. Its wireless business continues to be a steady grower, and there are signs that its recent acquisition of Time Warner will be an early contributor to the telecommunications bellwether's growth. However, you also have the gradual slide with its legacy business and a problematic pace of defections at DirecTV. It all adds up to flattish growth now, but things are unlikely to balance out perfectly in the future. Let's head out to 2024 to see how AT&T will fare as a company and -- more importantly -- as an investment. 

AT&T logo in a blue cloud of dust with OUR THING as text.

Image source: AT&T.

Party like it's 2024

Let's start with AT&T's dividend, since it's a big draw for income investors. When AT&T boosted its payout rate late last year, it stretched its streak of annual hikes to 35. The chances are strong that AT&T will be celebrating 40 years of dividend increases by the end of 2023. 

AT&T's quarterly disbursements translate into a current yield of 6.7%. That may sound juicy, but it's a payout ratio of just 58%. Analysts see profits growing slightly in the coming years, more than enough room to keep tossing another penny per share into its quarterly dividend checks with every passing year. If you're confident that the distributions will keep inching higher, it makes things easier in deciding to buy the stock. You will either have capital appreciation and a lower yield or a lower-priced stock with a heck of a dividend. 

With income investors addressed, let's move on to the business itself. While AT&T's legacy wireline services has likely peaked, there's a long tail to the decline. The same came be said about DirecTV, as cable television may never grow again, but the fade should continue at a gradual clip. AT&T's wireless business should still be growing, and by 2024, it's inevitable that the third and fourth largest mobile carriers will have merged to provide even more pricing power to the remaining players. 

Sizing up WarnerMedia is trickier. It's easy to get excited about HBO with Game of Thrones coming back next month, but this is the final season of the show. HBO is more expensive as a streaming service than its rivals with larger content libraries. If Warner can take a page out of the Marvel playbook and breathe new life into its DC Comics franchises -- and it's starting to make baby steps in that direction -- this content grab on AT&T's part will be paying off nicely in five years. However, as it stands, this is probably the segment with the least visibility as to where it will be in five years.

Growth isn't going to be spectacular for AT&T, and with so many cash cow businesses, it wouldn't be a surprise if it gobbles up another needle-moving company or two in the next five years. The stock won't be scorching hot, but there are things more worthwhile than slow growth, like a fat dividend to reward patient investors. AT&T will be fine in five years, even if it all it does is keep pace with the general market.  

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

China Trade War Update: Does Anybody Know What's Going On?

&l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image ap size-large wp-image-287eeaf2afc74db682801dfffd1fce55&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/287eeaf2afc74db682801dfffd1fce55/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;540&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; An Evergreen Line refrigerated container is lifted by a ship-to-shore crane at the Port of Savannah in Savannah, Georgia. The trade war has done nothing to curtail Chinese imports. Hundreds of U.S. companies have filed for exemptions from tariffs to no avail. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)

The China trade war is on pause again. New tariffs, which were supposed to double on March 2, are part of a new ceasefire agreement between Beijing and Washington. Is it a 60-day trade truce? Is there no timeline on it? Nobody knows.

This Chinese trade war is a moving target. Market insights on the subject seem to change every third day. We went from Trump and Xi Jinping ready to sign a &a;ldquo;great deal&a;rdquo; at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in March to Trump and Xi ready to sign something that looks kind of like a deal at the Mar-a-Lago resort in April&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-china-trade-deal-isnt-imminent-ambassador-branstad-says-11552031163?mod=djemRTE_h&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;to maybe Xi is not coming &l;/a&g;after all ... in a matter of 72 hours.

China and the U.S. battling over trade is like watching the New England Patriots play the New York Yankees. What on earth is this game? Why is the Gronk playing third base? What&a;rsquo;s Aaron Judge doing in shoulder pads covering Julian Edelman in deep left? Oh, man, and here comes Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo to kick a field goal. Okay, this is getting ridiculous.

Two weeks ago, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin supposedly got China to agree not to weaken the yuan. A weaker currency is an easy way for China to lessen the impact of tariffs. Why would China agree to keep its currency within a particular trading band at the behest of a country whose &l;a href=&q;https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATA-SFR---SSCI.pdf&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;intelligence agencies have recently declared it public enemy No. 1&l;/a&g;? The only way China would do that is if they were promised no more tariffs.

A currency deal, in other words, is a gentleman&a;rsquo;s agreement at best. It is unenforceable as it is now. And it depends on maximum trust from both sides, which is nonexistent.

China has a managed foreign exchange rate, unlike the Brazilian real or the Russian ruble, which are free-floating.

On Friday, Larry Kudlow, Trump&a;rsquo;s economic advisor, told Fox Business News that there might not be a deal. It sent the market lower. Trump hates it when the market goes lower, especially when it can be blamed on his policies.

&l;img class=&q;dam-image bloomberg size-large wp-image-43224802&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/43224802/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;639&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Larry Kudlow said on Friday that Trump will walk from a weak China deal. The market is calling his bluff. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg&a;nbsp;

Kudlow maintains that Beijing and Washington still do not see eye-to-eye on important items. State subsidies to favored industries is one, especially high tech.

China has its own wishlist. It&a;nbsp;wants the U.S. to open the market to its tech infrastructure industries like telecommunications systems. Think Huawei. Forget it, Beijing. That won&a;rsquo;t happen.

The U.S. wants China to get tougher on intellectual property. They opened a new IP court in December. What else does the U.S. want China to do on this front?

&a;ldquo;Chinese demands have yet to be addressed. They want to break into the U.S. e-commerce payments system and have it blessed by the U.S. side. And the U.S wants the Chinese to promise not to retaliate if there are new tariffs. I cannot imagine China agreeing to this,&a;rdquo; Michael Pillsbury, American Director of the Center on Chinese Strategy at the Hudson Institute,&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://vimeo.com/322269803/54beffdd13&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;told FBN last week.&l;/a&g;

Despite the standoff, the tariff threat is on ice for a good 60 days.

Barclays Capital said Friday that their new base case scenario has President Trump actually removing the 10% tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports set in September. Their Hong Kong-based economist Jian Chang says that Xi has told them that new tariffs are a dealbreaker.

The European Union is now threatening to leave Trump&a;rsquo;s side on the issue.

Their chief trade negotiator urged Trump to stop with tariff escalations against them if he wants to keep them as a partner against China. In an interview in Washington, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said she and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer have had productive meetings about Chinese industrial policies and how to challenge China in the World Trade Organization, &l;a href=&q;https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-07/eu-urges-trump-to-lift-tariffs-so-allies-can-cooperate-on-china&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Bloomberg reported on March 7. B&l;/a&g;oth sides agree China is a problem, but they don&a;rsquo;t agree on how to fix it.

&l;strong&g;See: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2019/03/08/barclays-capital-thinks-trump-removes-china-tariffs/#4dc704524634&q;&g;Trump Caves: Barclays Thinks Trump Removes China Tariffs&l;/a&g;&a;nbsp;&a;mdash; Forbes&l;/strong&g;

&l;img class=&q;dam-image ap size-large wp-image-574f3ea3b6f24f3987f4c345c751fdcd&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/574f3ea3b6f24f3987f4c345c751fdcd/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;540&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; The U.S. imported a recorded-breaking $400 billion-plus worth of Chinese made products in 2018. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)&a;nbsp;

The lack of solutions is even a bigger problem then. If multilateral institutions, namely the WTO, cannot get China to play by certain rules, and if Washington is struggling to move the needle, then who moves it? Now you&a;rsquo;re requiring China having a &a;ldquo;come-to-Jesus&a;rdquo; moment. Who&a;rsquo;s ready for China to make life easier for European and American companies at their expense?

Here it is in a nutshell: either tariffs go up or the trade war was for nothing. China wins. The other option is a total barrage of anti-dumping cases filed against them in the WTO.

To whit, China has done nothing that it hasn&a;rsquo;t promised to do already&a;mdash;more market access for important industries like financial services and stronger IP laws. State subsidies are numerous, and coming down, depending on the sector. Plus a lot of these subsidies are coming from provincial leadership. They can set subsidies on things like plywood or no-interest loans even if they run afoul of Beijing.

There is also no way China will give&a;nbsp;up its drive to become an Asian tech powerhouse, no matter how much Washington goes after Huawei or complains about Made in China 2025.

Why would China give up its industrial policy for the U.S. and Europe? Unless the advanced economies hit them with tariffs, making it more expensive to buy Chinese goods, then there is no incentive for China to stop doing what made them what they are today.

&l;img class=&q;dam-image ap size-large wp-image-406177a32a0a48158344adc8e3cad3fa&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/406177a32a0a48158344adc8e3cad3fa/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;645&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Huawei CEO Richard Yu displays the new Huawei Mate X foldable 5G smartphone at the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, Spain, On February&a;nbsp;24, 2019. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)&a;nbsp;

I think the market sees the trade war shifting its focus.

A tariff war is becoming a tech war. China wants more of its tech companies here. The U.S. wants more of our tech companies there, not to mention hindering China growth in Asia as a sort of quasi-reparations for past harms due to IP theft. Beijing says IP theft is minuscule and large-scale harm to American industry is&a;nbsp;just a product of Washington&a;rsquo;s imagination.

Washington sees Chinese companies as extensions of the Communist Party, even Huawei, which is privately held. To them, China can&a;rsquo;t be trusted. Huawei is probably spying on you like they do in China.

Huawei building smart city grids in the U.S. would bring in a lot of foreign direct investment and lead to high-paying jobs, assuming jobs are filled by Americans. But good luck getting Washington to back down from its centerpiece claim that China tech has grown thanks to IP theft. Maybe they throw a bone to Huawei and get China to open up its public, telecom infrastructure bids to Cisco Systems.

The new market insight seems to be that the trade war turns away from tariffs. If so, then the manufacturing base Trump sought to protect will lose. They will have to rely on the WTO and the International Trade Commission of the Department of Commerce, filing trade claims in hopes they can hit China with punitive tariffs.

The U.S. is not New York, Boston, Austin, and San Francisco. Midsize and smaller cities and towns are not finance and high tech hubs. They make Yankee Candles in Whately, Massachusetts, and kitchen cabinets in rural South Dakota and metal toolboxes in Lakewood, New York. If China does it cheaper and floods the market, those blue-collar labor jobs get tossed. Companies will close shop or continue to do what they&a;rsquo;ve been doing: manufacture in Mexico or China and handle the sales and warehousing back home.

&l;img class=&q;dam-image bloomberg size-large wp-image-43204312&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/43204312/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;640&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Probably won&a;rsquo;t be seeing these two together in March. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg photo credit: &a;copy; 2019 Bloomberg Finance LP

&a;ldquo;We&a;rsquo;re left with two paths to a deal: Xi agrees to the U.S-unilateral enforcement mechanism or Xi rejects the enforcement mechanism but Trump agrees to a deal anyway,&a;rdquo; says Brian McCarthy, chief strategist for Macrolens, a big picture investment research firm based in Stamford, Connecticutt. &a;ldquo;Each of these outcomes would be surprising, but we only need one to get to a deal. I think, perhaps stubbornly, that the market is still too optimistic.&a;rdquo;

BlackRock analysts believe the &a;ldquo;tech war&a;rdquo; could lead to the decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese tech sectors, with China quickly developing its own Silicon Valley. Don&a;rsquo;t doubt their ability to do this quickly, including wooing American and other foreign, chipmaking talent to Hong Kong for big bucks.

&a;ldquo;There are parallel efforts underway in the U.S. to confront China,&a;rdquo; says Tom Donilon, chairman of BlackRock Investment Institute. The first is trade. Trump wants to lower the trade gap. That&a;rsquo;s a Sisyphisean undertaking.

&l;img class=&q;dam-image bloomberg size-large wp-image-41587998&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/41587998/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;640&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; A sign for billionaire Jack Ma&a;rsquo;s e-commerce creation, AliPay, sits near a Mastercard logo. If China allows Mastercard and Visa to gain more market share in China, then Beijing wants AliPay to be allowed to become an e-commerce player in the U.S. Photographer: Amanda Mustard/Bloomberg&a;nbsp;

The second is technology and China&a;rsquo;s branching out into Asia. This is something the military and intelligence agencies prefer to play with. It could get ugly.

What started out as a trade war to protect America&a;rsquo;s manufacturing base is turning more into a battle between U.S. capitalism and the Chinese one-part Communist, one-part capitalist &l;span&g;Frankenstein&l;/span&g;. Either China is forced to open more, subsidize less, or the U.S. will be forced to close more.

If the U.S. does not close more&a;mdash;because it may be deemed harmful to our consumer-based economy&a;mdash;then there is a real chance that the U.S. will be forced to spend more to protect those who have been adversely affected by Chinese mercantilism. (There&a;rsquo;s your cause for socialism, right there.)

&a;ldquo;The U.S. and China are in a race to dominate the industries of the future,&a;rdquo; says Donilon. He adds a word of caution in a report published last week together with other BlackRock fund managers, saying, &a;ldquo;Beyond technology, the risks include an accidental or deliberate clash in the South China Sea ... and tensions over Taiwan.&a;rdquo;

&a;nbsp;&l;/p&g;

Monday, March 11, 2019

Morgan Stanley CEO doesn't see a 'meaningful' rally in stocks with a trade deal

Don't expect a significant boost to stocks if and when the U.S. and China strike a deal on trade, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said Friday.

Stopping the trade spat from turning into a true trade war "is clearly a positive. I think the market would rally on the news of that," Gorman said during an interview at the Council on Foreign Relations. But "would it be a meaningful rally? I'd be very surprised."

Gorman made his comments after President Donald Trump told reporters earlier in the day he thinks a "very big spike" will take place in the stock market once a trade deal is reached.

Stocks are up sharply this year in part because of increasing expectations for a U.S.-China trade deal. Since the start of the year, the S&P 500 is up more than 8 percent.

However, stocks struggled this week in partially due to worries that most positive news on trade was already priced into the market.

"I think the market has been observing the trade talks for a while. I think there will be some deal involving some set of victories on some sheets of paper, some warm hearts and handshakes, but the fundamental challenges on global trade will not be resolved in the next days, weeks or even months," Gorman said. "These are multi-decade issues."

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Friday, March 8, 2019

National Research Corp (NRCIB) Files 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended on December 31, 2018

National Research Corp (NASDAQ:NRCIB) files its latest 10-K with SEC for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2018. National Research Corp provides analytics and insights that improves measurement and improvement of the patient and employee experience. Its subscription-based solutions provide actionable information and analysis to healthcare organizations. National Research Corp has a market cap of $905.944 million; its shares were traded at around $53.01 with a P/E ratio of 58.90 and P/S ratio of 6.81. The dividend yield of National Research Corp stocks is 4.53%. National Research Corp had annual average EBITDA growth of 0.80% over the past ten years.

For the last quarter National Research Corp reported a revenue of $30.6 million, compared with the revenue of $29.90 million during the same period a year ago. For the latest fiscal year the company reported a revenue of $119.7 million, an increase of 1.8% from last year. For the last five years National Research Corp had an average revenue growth rate of 5.5% a year. The National Research Corp enjoyed an operating margin of 29.47%, compared with the operating margin of 29.11% a year before. The 10-year historical median operating margin of National Research Corp is 26.07%. The profitability rank of the company is 5 (out of 10).

At the end of the fiscal year, National Research Corp has the cash and cash equivalents of $13.0 million, compared with $34.7 million in the previous year. The company had no long term debt. The interest coverage to the debt is at a comfortable level of 23.3. National Research Corp has a financial strength rank of 7 (out of 10).

At the current stock price of $53.01, National Research Corp is traded at 917.5% premium to its historical median P/S valuation band of $5.21. The P/S ratio of the stock is 6.81, while the historical median P/S ratio is 0.67. The stock gained 33.20% during the past 12 months.

For the complete 20-year historical financial data of NRCIB, click here.

Thursday, March 7, 2019

When You Should Sell a Net-Net?

Many investors say that selling stocks is much more difficult than buying them. This certainly can be true. Much more is also written about how to decide when is the right time to buy a certain stock. It's just that much easier to hunt for bargain stocks and buy them than to know when the parties are over and it is time to sell.

How long should you hold a stock? Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) once said: “Our favorite holding period is forever." This may be true with wonderful businesses, but net-nets are rarely if ever great companies. Investors buy these stocks because they are cheap. Occasionally, net-nets are valued under their intrinsic values and when they are selling clearly below their net current asset value, they should offer adequate margins of safety. This was the reason Benjamin Graham started to buy these stocks – and made this style of investing famous.

Then when is selling a net-net stock the right move? There is definitely no one right answer. Graham himself liked to buy these stocks at two-thirds (or less) of their net current asset value and sell them when they passed NCAV. When a stock stayed stagnant, he held it for at least two years.

Likewise, another legendary net-net investor, Walter Schloss, simply sold when the stock reached its intrinsic value, which for him was usually when the market capitalization climbed to the net current assets level. This is a clear and effective strategy that takes the emotion out of the act of selling.

However, in 21st century global market, it is difficult to give a single selling rule for all stocks. Many things in business can change much faster than they could in the 1950s and 1960s. There are many activists and small investors looking for net-nets all over the world. Corporate governance, accounting and market rules are not the same everywhere. Many things that sharply increase or decrease the share price can happen much faster.

Yet the biggest mistake of many investors is that they sell net-nets too early. If the stock has risen by 30-50% in a few months, there is great temptation to sell it to realize a quick profit. You should remember that the net-net stock was initially dirty cheap and when something positive occurs in the company, the upside possibility can be enormous. Don’t cut the future of three-, five- or even 10-bagger stocks too early. By doing so, long-term returns easily become more modest. Often this means that the investor does not have the nerve to implement this strategy as required. Keep in mind that the return on these winning stocks must compensate for the losses of the loser stocks -- and with net-nets investors will also have losses.

With any net-net stock, you should at least hold it long enough for the research you did to be relevant. Maybe you anticipate a turnaround, some activists are playing with it, there is new and improvement management, or something else. Whatever the reason you bought the stock, you should at least hold it for enough time that those things can have an influence on its performance and price.

What time frame is enough? You never know. Usually it is at least one year. Often it can be two or three years -- particularly if there is no visible catalyst.

As the share price rises to the NCAV level, the stock is still on average quite cheap. Most of these stocks would be very cheap even if they were priced at tangible book value. In this case you should make a new valuation and find out why the price has risen. Often you will find that there has been a clear, positive change in the company's profitability or in the balance sheet. The net current asset value of the company may also have risen to a new level. In the best case, the company’s value can multiply within a few years. These cases are not uncommon for net-net stocks.

One useful way to sell is to do it in parts. For example, sell one half of a holding when the company reaches its NCAV level. In this way, an investor can lock in a good profit and reduce the risk of loss. But at the same time, they still retain the possibility of higher profits is the stock price rises further. This is the preferred and effective method for most net-net stocks.

Waiting can be the most difficult thing if nothing happens with the stock for a long time or it loses some of its value. But, if the basic fundamental analysis is correct and remains valid, investors should be patient. Remember, if you liked a stock in the first place, you should like it more if it goes down. Often, the success of these companies is based on a surprisingly unpredictable event. The company can be sold with great profit is some activist investor comes in and improves the business, or the business environment of the company undergoes a major change.

There are still some things to keep in mind when considering stock sales. When the share price changes (up or down), check whether the new price level of the company still gives a sufficient margin of safety. In addition, evaluate whether there has been any change in the company's business. If a stock at its new price level still provides the required margin of safety, it is frequently wise not to do anything. Smart passivity is too often the most undervalued investment activity. In many cases, therefore, the best investment decision is to do nothing. If the business instead worsens, but the value of the stock has already risen sharply, then it may be a good time to sell immediately. It is always possible that the price of a stock will still rise, but trying to sell at a price peak is an impossible strategy.

The best investment is often a company whose NCAV increases with its share price. In this case, it is possible that after a few years, the investor will own a much more valuable company, which will still offer the same margin of safety as when it was purchased. Unfortunately, this is a rare case.

There are also some situations in which a net-net stock must be sold in short order.

1. You have made a mistake in your analysis at the time of purchase.

You can later find out the surprising negative things that you might not have noticed when you first analyzed the company. Likewise, a change in the business may invalidate the original analysis. Then you need to quickly re-evaluate the situation and act accordingly.

If you notice the risk of a large loss (the chance to lose more than 50% of invested capital), you should immediately sell the stock, regardless of how long you have owned it or how much it may be at a loss.

2. You need money for another better net-net investment.

In this case, the new investment clearly should be better. Investors are easily tempted to jump from one position to another, especially if the current stock ownership feels boring. This should be strongly avoided, and changes should only be made when they rationally appear to be well justified.

There are also some special cases that affect the sale of a stock. The first is if the stock has been acquired below its net cash value (cash and cash equivalents less all liabilities), and the company no longer has much operational business, but is basically "sitting" on its cash pile. In this case, it may be reasonable to sell a share when it reaches its net cash value because it hardly has any other business value. Similarly, if a company's business has long been unprofitable or the business typically is rarely valued over its tangible book value, then selling at that price may be the most sensible solution.

Remember when selling net-nets:

 Do not sell too early or precipitately (especially if the share price has risen quickly) – prefer to sell in parts. Be prepared to hold the shares for at least one to three years. Make a new analysis if the share price has risen or dropped sharply.

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Hot Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2019

tags:MRO,NDLS,MBFI,QDEL,BPFH,GNTX, What happened

Shares of Alta Mesa Resources (NASDAQ:AMR) are plunging today, down 17.7% as of 11:45 a.m. EDT, after the oil and gas exploration and production company posted second-quarter earnings that fell well short of Wall Street expectations.

So what

Alta Mesa reported a net loss of $0.04 per share compared to analysts' expectations of a per-share profit of $0.10. While the company was able to grow production significantly -- July production was 50% higher than the beginning of the year -- and volumes of gas fracking water were up across its set of pipeline assets, low price realizations because of some unfavorable futures contracts and higher costs ate away at any chance of generating a positive return.

Image source: Getty Images.

Management tried to put its best face forward by raising production guidance for the full year, adding an additional drilling rig to its capital spending plan, and expanding its midstream footprint, but these capital spending plans are more than likely going to outstrip the company's cash-generating ability.

Hot Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2019: Marathon Oil Corporation(MRO)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Matthew DiLallo]

    Saudi Aramco's valuation, however, isn't the only one that would benefit from a pop in the price of crude. Many oil producers in the U.S. restructured their operations to run on $50 oil, so if the Saudi strategy is successful, these oil companies would produce a gusher of cash flow, which could fuel high-octane gains for investors. While that rise would likely lift the entire sector, Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) and Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) could outperform in that scenario.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Thursday was a volatile day on Wall Street, as major stock indexes lost a lot of ground early in the day but then rebounded to finished mixed. Gains for the Nasdaq Composite came even as Dow Jones Industrial Average fell modestly, and although investors spent much of the session trying to parse through the implications of the latest economic report on retail sales, earnings played a key role in moving many well-known stocks. Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO), AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN), and Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) were among the top performers. Here's why they did so well.

  • [By Matthew DiLallo]

    Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) is another oil company built to thrive at lower oil prices. At $50 oil, Marathon can generate enough cash to grow production at a 10% to 14% annual pace for the next several years while living within cash flow. At $60 oil, Marathon's plan would generate about $500 million in free cash flow. With oil above that level even after the recent OPEC chatter, Marathon is on pace to produce a windfall of excess cash this year. 

  • [By Matthew DiLallo]

    Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) CEO Lee Tillman feels the same way. He stated on the company's first-quarter call that: "Our financial flexibility is at the top of our peer group and was further strengthened by receipt of proceeds from Libya and our final Canadian oil sands payment. This flexibility allows us to pursue multiple high-return uses of free cash, but we are taking a disciplined approach and we are not considering large-scale M&A."

  • [By Matthew DiLallo]

    That prediction would have been unfathomable just a few months ago. While some oil bulls thought prices could surprise to the upside, the consensus outlook was that crude would be in the low to mid $50s this year thanks to surging U.S. oil production. Because of that, most producers based their budgets on oil averaging $50 a barrel, including EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG), Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO), and Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC). In EOG Resources' case, $50 oil would provide it with the cash flow to pay a dividend that was 10.4% higher than 2017's level and drill 690 more wells, which would boost oil production about 18%. Meanwhile, Marathon Oil could produce enough cash at that price point to pay its dividend and fund the new wells needed to boost companywide output 12% compared to last year. Anadarko Petroleum, likewise, could fully fund its dividend and a growth-focused capital plan, which would see it boost oil output 14% this year.

Hot Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2019: Noodles & Company(NDLS)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Max Byerly]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Noodles & Co (NDLS)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Lisa Levin] Gainers The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD) jumped 36.2 percent to $71.82 after the company reported upbeat results for its first quarter. The company also issued strong second-quarter and FY18 sales guidance. WideOpenWest, Inc. (NYSE: WOW) jumped 30.4 percent to $8.80 after the company reported Q1 results. MoSys, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOSY) shares surged 28.6 percent to $1.9541 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results and issued strong Q2 forecast. Boxlight Corporation (NASDAQ: BOXL) gained 24 percent to $6.39. Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKCA) shares gained 19.1 percent to $24.60. Akcea Therapeutics, an affiliate of Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: IONS) announced that the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee, which met to discuss the safety and efficacy of subcutaneously injected volanesoren solution for patients with familial chylomicronemia syndrome, voted 12-8 to support its approval. Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: UEPS) shares rose 17 percent to $10.31 after reporting Q3 results. ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCB) gained 16.8 percent to $43.1457 after reporting upbeat quarterly earnings. Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASYS) rose 16.2 percent to $8.60. Amtech posted Q2 earnings of $0.19 per share on sales of $32.783 million. Identiv, Inc (NASDAQ: INVE) surged 14.4 percent to $3.8450 following Q1 results. Omeros Corporation (NASDAQ: OMER) shares rose 14.3 percent to $18.43 following Q1 results. VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ: VVPR) gained 11.5 percent to $2.71. Intersections Inc. (NASDAQ: INTX) gained 11.4 percent to $2.55 after reporting Q1 results. Noodles & Company (NASDAQ: NDLS) shares rose 10.9 percent to $8.65 following Q1 results. Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VYGR) climbed 10.6 percent to $18.54 following Q1 results. Blink Charging Co. (NASDAQ: BLNK) rose 10.4 percent to $5.739. Immersion Corporation (NASDAQ: IMMR) gained 9.6 percent to $12.69
  • [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]

    It might seem odd that the industry's biggest winner so far this year isn't growing. In fact, Noodles & Co. (NASDAQ:NDLS) recently posted a quarterly net loss while revenue decreased 5%. But that result still shot past investors' expectations by showing surprising progress in the casual-dining chain's recovery efforts. Noodles & Co. has lots of work ahead of it before it can snap out of its four-year stretch of annual net losses. Yet, with shares having fallen by over 80% since 2013, even modestly good news proved to be enough to spark at least a short-term rally in the stock.

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Noodles & Co (NASDAQ:NDLS) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 1,113 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,084% compared to the average volume of 94 put options.

Hot Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2019: MB Financial Inc.(MBFI)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY increased its holdings in shares of MB Financial Inc (NASDAQ:MBFI) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,744 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY owned 0.06% of MB Financial worth $2,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Breaking news

    Roper Technologies Inc (NYSE: ROP) announced plans to acquire PowerPlan for $1.1 billion in cash. Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) agreed to acquire MB Financial Inc (NASDAQ: MBFI) for $54.70 per share in cash and stock. General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) agreed to merge its transportation unit with Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp (NYSE: WAB). IHS Markit Ltd (NASDAQ: INFO) announced plans to Ipreo for $1.855 billion.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    MB Financial Inc (NASDAQ:MBFI) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.46.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on MB Financial (MBFI)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Hot Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2019: Quidel Corporation(QDEL)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Quidel (QDEL)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Quidel (QDEL)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Quidel (NASDAQ: QDEL) and IPSEN S A/S (OTCMKTS:IPSEY) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and earnings.

  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Quidel (QDEL)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Hot Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2019: Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc.(BPFH)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Media stories about Boston Private Financial (NASDAQ:BPFH) have been trending somewhat negative this week, according to Accern Sentiment. Accern identifies positive and negative news coverage by reviewing more than twenty million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Boston Private Financial earned a media sentiment score of -0.04 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media headlines about the bank an impact score of 46.1452934043319 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the immediate future.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Boston Private Financial (NASDAQ:BPFH) was downgraded by equities research analysts at ValuEngine from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Boston Private Financial (NASDAQ:BPFH) was downgraded by stock analysts at BidaskClub from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Boston Private Financial (BPFH)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH) – Equities research analysts at SunTrust Banks cut their Q2 2018 earnings estimates for Boston Private Financial in a report released on Sunday, May 20th. SunTrust Banks analyst M. Young now expects that the bank will post earnings per share of $0.10 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.20.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Boston Private Financial (BPFH)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Hot Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2019: Gentex Corporation(GNTX)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Dana (NYSE: DAN) and Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) are both mid-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Gentex (GNTX)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By ]

    Even the best-run businesses on the planet would find it difficult to control 92% of their markets, let alone increase that share over time. But auto supplier Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) is not most businesses. The company ended 2016 with a 92% market share in automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, then managed to edge that up to 93% one year later. Hardly exciting stuff, but good enough to earn a market cap in excess of $6 billion and deliver enough excess profit to hand shareholders a 1.9% dividend yield.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Gentex (GNTX)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Gentex (NASDAQ: GNTX) is one of 45 publicly-traded companies in the “Motor vehicle parts & accessories” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Gentex to related companies based on the strength of its profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.