The Salad Oil Scandal of 1963 was a crucial event in the career of Warren Buffett. In the aftermath of massive fraud, Buffett concentrated a large part of his portfolio in the stock of American Express (the victim of the scam) after its market value had dropped by more than half. For Buffett, the scandal … Continue reading XL Media’s Salad Oil Scandal
Category: Fundamental Analysis
Is UpWork Profitable?
UpWork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) recently appointed Jeff McCombs as its new Chief Financial Officer. Now imagine that you are Jeff. You want to get a solid understanding of the business model, the drivers of value creation and profitability. A good place to start is to look at the income statement over the last few years. UpWork … Continue reading Is UpWork Profitable?
Is Gamco Investors a Value Trap?
From most value investing metrics, the stock of Gamco Investors (NYSE:GBL) looks dirt cheap. Based on the trailing twelve-month earnings per share, GBL trades at a Price-to-Earnings ratio of about 5.3: 2Q20$0.421Q20$0.424Q19$0.913Q19$0.50EPS (TTM)$2.25Share Price12.11P/E Ratio5.38 If we use the 2019 Earnings per Share, the trailing P/E is about 4: 4Q190.913Q190.502Q190.881Q190.70EPS (TTM)2.99Share Price12.11P/E Ratio4.05 The operative … Continue reading Is Gamco Investors a Value Trap?
About that LTRPA NAV-discount
Liberty TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:LTRPA) is a publicly trading holding company that is effectively the controlling shareholder of TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP). Since the TripAdvisor stake is the company’s main asset, its fairly easy to track whether LTRPA stock is trading at a discount or premium to the current market value of TripAdvisor. Since 2018, Liberty TripAdvisor … Continue reading About that LTRPA NAV-discount
On Goodwill Hunting & Hidden Value
Imagine the following: You get a call from an investment banker you are acquainted with. He chirpily informs you that you are in for a treat. It just so happens that due to circumstances, he is in the know of two companies that are in play. He goes on to tell you, that not only … Continue reading On Goodwill Hunting & Hidden Value
Embedded Optionality | FRMO Case Study
When people talk about the Quality of Earnings, what they usually mean is how well do current earnings predict future earnings. This is, literally, the textbook definition of earnings quality. The problem with this definition, however, is that it favours the stability of earnings above anything else. What if, as an example, a future stream … Continue reading Embedded Optionality | FRMO Case Study
Return on (re)Invested Capital | TripAdvisor Case Study
TripAdvisor will announce its 2019 fourth quarter and full-year results in a couple of days. The company began its life as a publicly-traded company on December 21, 2011, when it was spun-off from its parent Expedia (which itself had been spun-off Barry Diller’s IAC in 2005). Under the ticker symbol TRIP, TripAdvisor shares opened trading … Continue reading Return on (re)Invested Capital | TripAdvisor Case Study
Overstock | Retail Value and Risk Factors
On May 15, Overstock (OSTK) filed a Form 4 with the SEC. The filing disclosed that Patrick Byrne, Overstock's CEO and Chairman, had sold 500,000 shares of common stock in the open market. That revelation sent Overstock down about 15% on the day. For me, going long Overstock has been a humbling experience. The thesis … Continue reading Overstock | Retail Value and Risk Factors