Category Archives: Safety & Security

Weekly Issue: Several thematic bright spots among  2nd Quarter earnings disappointments

Weekly Issue: Several thematic bright spots among 2nd Quarter earnings disappointments

Key points inside this issue

  • Boosting our stop loss on Middle-Class Squeeze Thematic Leader Costco Wholesale (COST) to $240.
  • Safety & Security Thematic Leader Axon Enterprise Inc. (AAXN) catches a TAZR win.
  • Housekeeping: The next issue of Tematica Investing will be published during the week of July 29th. Why? Because next week I will be on vacation. Even though I’ll be catching up on some reading and thematic thinking, I’ll be kicking back and recharging for what lies ahead.

Last week, we started the June-quarter earnings season. While there were only 20 reports, what we heard from BASF SE, Fastenal (FAST), and MSC Industrial (MSM) served to remind us that, even though the Fed will likely cut interest rates, odds are the current earning seasons will be a challenging one. That view was reaffirmed this week with results from JB Hunt (JBHT) and CSX (CSX) that confirmed the slowdown in freight traffic, an indicator that we here at Tematica watch rather closely as a gauge for the domestic economy’s health.

Given the declines in the Cass Freight Index over the last seven months, the results out of JB Hunt, CSX and other shippers should hardly be news to the investment community. On the other hand, what is somewhat concerning to me is that these declines in freight are coming in even as June Retail Sales surprise to the upside and e-tailers, like Thematic King Amazon (AMZN), Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT) and others, are embracing one-day and same-day shipping from the prior table stakes that were two-day shipping. The growing concern that I have is that despite the tailwind associated with our Digital Lifestyle investing theme, continued declines in the Cass Freight Index and other freight indicators could signal that the domestic economy is moving from one that is slowing into one that is in contraction territory.

Despite the upside surprise in the June Retail Sales report, it was counterbalanced by a revelation contained in the June Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization report. What we learned yesterday from that report was that domestic factory production fell at an annualized rate of 2.2% in the June quarter. Paired with the slowing freight-related signals mentioned earlier, there is little question over the vector of the domestic economy. Clearly the June quarter will be slower than the March one, but the real question we need to face as investors is, how slow will it be in the current third quarter, as well as the fourth quarter this year? That speed along with the degree of the expected July Fed rate cut and the continuation of the current US-China trade war will influence business spending and earnings expectations for the back half of the year.

As far as the June Retail Sales report goes, while I am all for consumers spending, I’m not in love with the fact that it is increasing credit card debt that is likely driving it. According to data collected by the FDIC and published by MagnifyMoney, “Americans paid banks $113 billion in credit card interest in 2018, up 12% from the $101 billion in interest paid in 2017, and up 49% over the last five years.” And as we’ve seen in the monthly Consumer Credit Report issued by the Federal Reserve, revolving consumer credit, which includes credit card balances, has only grown year to date. In other words, consumers are using credit card debt to fund their spending and rising interest payments will squeeze disposable income levels.

While increasing consumer debt is not exactly an uplifting thought, and certainly a headwind for the economy in the coming quarters, these development are a tailwind for Middle-Class Squeeze Thematic Leader Costco Wholesale (COST):

  • Year to date, COST shares are up some 37%, and we are only now heading into the seasonally strongest time of the year for the company’s business. We should continue to hold COST shares, but we will also increase our stop loss to $240 from roughly $225.

Thematic Leader dates to watch

With investor attention turning to corporate earnings, here are the announced reporting dates for the Thematic Leaders:

  • Netflix (NFLX) –  July 17
  • Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) – July 23
  • Amazon (AMZN) – July 25
  • AMN Healthcare (AMN) – August 6
  • Dycom Industries (DY) – N/A
  • Costco Wholesale (COST) – N/A
  • Alibaba (BABA) – N/A
  • Axon Enterprises (AAXN) – N/A

Not all of the Leaders have shared the reporting dates for their latest quarterly earnings, but no worries as I’ll be filling the calendar in as the missing ones announce them. And it goes without saying that as the June 2019 earning season continues, I’ll be sifting through the sea of reports looking for thematic data points to be had.

Safety & Security Thematic Leader Axon Enterprise Catches a TAZR Win

As I was putting this issue of Tematica Investing to bed, I saw that Safety & Security Thematic Leader Axon Enterprises (AAXN) announced a big win for its business — a significant order for its TASER Conducted Energy Weapons from agencies across the United States. These orders, which were landed during the first half of 2019, will ship in multiple phases in the coming quarters.

Why are we only hearing about this now?

Partly because Axon needed permission from the agencies make the announcement, and even with such permission granted, the company still needed further permission to name those agencies as customers. A full list of those announced orders can be found here.

Of course, this news is a positive for Axon, and it serves as a reminder that even though the headline story for Axon is the company’s ongoing transformation into a digital security company as it grows it body-camera and digital subscription storage business, the steadfast TAZR business remains a firearm alternative.

We’ve enjoyed a nice run in Axon shares since they were added to the Thematic Leader board, and year to date the shares are up more than 46%. I see no reason to abandon them just yet and our long-term price target of $90 remains intact. For now, our stop loss on the shares continues to sit at $51.

And for what it’s worth, as impressive as that year to date gain is for AAXN shares, it still trails behind Cleaner Living Leader Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), which as of last night’s close was up more than 76% year to date.

Weekly Issue: Watching the G20 for what the Fed may or may not do

Weekly Issue: Watching the G20 for what the Fed may or may not do


Key points inside this issue

  • The G20 meeting will set the stage for what the Fed does next
  • Earnings expectations have yet to follow GDP expectations lower
  • We are implementing a $340 stop loss on Digital Lifestyle Thematic Leader Netflix (NFLX).


Over the last few days several economic data points have reinforced the view that the domestic economy is slowing. Meanwhile, the continued back and forth on the trade front, between the U.S. and China as well as Mexico, has been playing out.

What has really captured investors’ focus, however, is the Federal Reserve and the comments earlier this week from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that the Fed is monitoring the fallout from trade issues and eyeing the speed of the economy. Powell said the Fed will “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion, with a strong labor market and inflation near our symmetric 2 percent objective.”

This has led to a pronounced shift in the market, from bad economic data is bad news for the market, to bad news for the economy and trade is good news for the Fed to take action and cut interest rates.

In other words, after the disappointing one-two punch of the IHS Markit US PMI and May ISM Manufacturing Index data, combined with the sharp uppercut that was the May ADP Employment Report, “hopium” has returned to the market.  

Over the weekend, we received signs the potential trade war with Mexico will be averted, though few details were shared. China is up next, per comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, who warned Beijing of tariffs to come if it does not “move forward with the deal … on the terms we’ve done.”

“If China doesn’t want to move forward, then President Trump is perfectly happy to move forward with tariffs to re-balance the relationship,” Mnuchin said.

Near-term, we’re likely to see more “bad news is good news” for the stock market as evidenced by Friday’s market rally following the dismal May jobs report that fell well short of expectations. More economic bad news is being greeted as a positive right now by the market under the belief it will increase the likelihood of the Fed cutting rates sooner than expected.



While that data has indeed led to negative GDP expectation revisions for the current quarter as well as the upcoming one, this new dynamic moved the market higher last week and helped reverse the sharp fall in the market in May, when the major stock indices fell between 6.5% and 8.0%.

As I see it, while the Fed has recently done a good job of telegraphing its moves, the new risk is the market over-pricing a near-term rate cut.

The next Fed monetary policy meeting is less than two weeks away and already expectations for a rate cut exiting that two-day event have jumped to around 21% from less than 7% just over a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Let’s remember there are four more Fed monetary policy meetings — in July, September, October and December — and those give the Fed ample room to cut rates should the upcoming G20 Osaka Summit on June 28-29 fail to get U.S.-China trade talks back on track.

To me, this makes the next two weeks imperative to watch and to build our shopping list. If there is no trade progress coming out of the G20 meeting, it increases the potential for a July rate cut. If trade talks are back on track, we very well could see the Fed continue its current wait-and-see approach.

And what about that potential for over-pricing a rate cut into the market? Anyone who has seen the Peanuts cartoons knows what happens when Lucy yanks the football out from under Charlie Brown at the last minute as he goes to kick it. If you haven’t, we can assure you it never ends well, and the same is true for the stock market when its expectations aren’t fulfilled.

I talk much more about this on this week’s Thematic Signals podcast, which you can listen to here.



Earnings expectations have yet to follow GDP expectations lower

Here at Tematica our view is that one of the clear-cut risks we face in the current market environment is the over- pricing in of a Fed rate cut at a time when profit and EPS expectations are likely to be revised lower for the second half of 2019. When we see falling GDP expectations like those depicted in the two charts above, it stands to reason we will likely see, at a minimum and barring any substantial trade progress at the G20 summit, companies adopt a more cautious tone for the back half of the year in the coming weeks as we enter the June quarter earnings season. 

If that proves to be the case, we are likely to see negative revisions to EPS expectations for the second half of the year. Despite the slowing economic data and impact of tariffs, current expectations still call for an 11% increase in earnings for the S&P 500 in the second half of the year compared to the first half. Viewed a different way, those same expectations for the second half of 2019 call for mid-single digit growth on a year over year basis. To me, given the current backdrop there seems to be more downside risk to those expectations than upside surprise. 

Between now and then, we should be listening closely as management teams hit the investor conference circuit this week and next. This week alone brings the Stifel Inaugural Cross Sector Insight Conference 2019, Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference 2019, JP Morgan European Automotive Conference 2019, UBS Asian Consumer, Gaming & Leisure Conference 2019, Deutsche Bank dbAccess 16th Global Consumer Conference 2019, Nasdaq 40th Investor Conference 2019 and the Goldman Sachs 40th Annual Global Healthcare Conference 2019, to name just a few. What we’ll be listening for is updated guidance as well as industry comments, including any tariff impact discussion.

In my view, the conferences and the information spilling out of them will reveal what we are likely to see and hear from various industry leaders in the upcoming June- quarter earnings season.


Tematica Investing

The June rebound in the stock market propped up a number of the Thematic Leaders, most notably Cleaner Living leader Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) and Safety & Security leader Axon Enterprises (AAXN). Digital Infrastructure Leader Dycom Industries continues to tread water on a year to date basis, but with 5G deployments accelerating I see a more vibrant landscape for it as well as Disruptive Innovator Leader Nokia (NOK). 

In recent weeks, we’ve gotten greater clarity and insight into forthcoming streaming video services from Apple (AAPL) and Disney (DIS), which are likely to make that market far more competitive than it has been to date. Disney’s rumored $6.99 per month starter price recently led Comcast (CMCSA) to not only abandon its own streaming initiative due in 2020 but to also sell its stake in Hulu to Disney. That to me is a potential game changer depending on how Disney folds Hulu’s streaming TV service into Disney+. 

One of our key tenants is to observe the shifting landscape, and with regard to streaming video we are seeing the beginning of such a shift. For that reason as well as the risk of a challenging June quarter earnings season in the coming weeks, we are implementing a $340 stop loss on Digital Lifestyle Thematic Leader Netflix (NFLX). That will lock in a profit of just over 27% for NFLX shares. 

Later this week, we’ll get the May Retail Sales report, which should once again showcase the accelerating shift to digital shopping. In my view, it’s just another positive data point to be had for Thematic King Amazon (AMZN)… as if all the UPS and other delivery vehicles aren’t enough proof.

 

Weekly Issue: As trade concerns escalate, investors brace for an expectations reset

Weekly Issue: As trade concerns escalate, investors brace for an expectations reset


Key points inside this issue

  • Safety & Security Thematic Leader is up big year to date, and new body camera and digital records products hitting later this year should accelerate the company’s transition. Our long-term price target on AAXN shares remains $90.
  • The April Retail Sales Report should offer confirmation for Thematic King Amazon (AMZN) as well as Middle-Class Squeeze Thematic Leader Costco Wholesale (COST). 


Given the wide swings in the market over the last few days that are tied back to the changing US-China trade talk landscape, I thought it prudent to share my latest thoughts even if it’s a day earlier than usual. 

As we discussed in the last issue of Tematica Investing, we knew that coming into last week, it was going to be a challenging one. Trade tensions kicked up to levels few were expecting 10 days ago and as the week progressed the tension and uncertainty crept even higher. We all know the stock market is no fan of uncertainty, but when paired with upsized tariffs from both the US and China that will present new economic and earnings headwinds, something that was not foreseen just a few weeks ago, investors will once again have to revisit their expectations for the economy and earnings. And yes, odds are those past and even more recent expectations will be revisited to the downside. 

What was originally thought to have been President Trump looking to squeeze some last- minute trade deal points out of the Chinese instead turned out to be more of a response to China’s attempt to do the same. This revealed the tenuous state of U.S./China trade talks. Last Friday morning, the U.S. had boosted tariffs to 25% from 10% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods with President Trump tweeting there is “absolutely no need to rush” and that “China should not renegotiate deals with the U.S. at the last minute.” Even as the new tariffs and tweets arrived, trade negotiations continued Friday in Washington with no trade deal put in place, which dashed the hopes of some traders. Candidly, I didn’t expect a trade deal to emerge given what had transpired over the prior week. 

That hope-inspired rebound late Friday in the domestic stock market returned to renewed market pressure over the weekend and into this week as more questions over U.S.-China trade have emerged. As we started off this week, the trade angst between the U.S. and China has edged higher as China has responded to last week’s U.S. tariff bump by saying it would increase tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods to 25% from 10% beginning June 1st. Clearly, the latest round of tweets from President Trump won’t ease investor concern as to how the trade talks will move forward from here.

As the trade war rhetoric kicks up alongside tariffs, the next date to watch will be the G-20 economic summit in Japan next month. According to Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow, there is a “strong possibility” Trump will meet Chinese President Xi and this morning President Trump confirmed that. 

The cherry or cherries on top of all of this is the growing worries over increasing tension with Iran, which is weighing on the market this morning, and yet another 2019 growth forecast cut by the EU that came complete with a fresh warning on Italy’s debt levels. Growth projections by the European Commission showed a mere 0.1% for GDP growth this year in Italy. The country has the second-largest debt pile in the EU and, according to the latest forecasts by the commission, the Italian debt-to-GDP ratio will hit 133% this year and rise to 135% in 2020. I point these out not to worry or spook you, but rather remind you there are other issues than just US-China trade that have to be factored into our thinking.

The natural market reaction to all of these concerns is to adopt a “risk off” attitude, which, as we’ve seen before, can ignite a storm of “fire first, ask questions later.” And as should be no surprise, that has fueled the sharp move lower in the major market indices. Over the last several days, the S&P 500, which as we know if the barometer used by most institutional and professional investors, fell 4.7% while the small-cap heavy Russell 2000 dropped 5.7%.

At times like this, it pays to do nothing. Hard to believe but as you’ve often heard few will step in to catch a falling knife and given the sharp declines, we also run the risk of a dead cat bounce in the market. We should be patient until the market finds its footing, which means parsing what comes next on the economic and earnings as well as trade front.  

I’ll continue to look for replacements for open Thematic Leader slots as well as other contenders poised to benefit from our pronounced thematic tailwinds. In the near-term, that will mean focusing on ones that also have a more U.S.-focused business model, a focus on inelastic and consumable products. Another avenue that investors are likely to revisit is dividend-paying companies, particularly those that fall into the Dividend Aristocrats category because they’ve consistently grown their dividends for the past 10 years. As I sift through the would-be contenders, I’ll be sure to look for those that intersect our investing themes and the aristocrats. 


Tematica Investing

As the stock market has come under pressure, a number of our Thematic Leaders, as well as companies on the Select List, have given back some of their year-to-date gains. One that has rallied and moved higher in spite of the market sell-off is Safety & Security Thematic Leader Axon Enterprises (AAXN) and are up some 48% year to date. That makes it the second-best performer on the Thematic Leaderboard year to date behind Clean Living company Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) that is up nearly 60% even after the market’s recent bout of indigestion.

Axon reported its March quarter earnings last week, which saw revenue grow 14% year over year as Axon continues to shift its business mix from Taser hardware to its Software & Sensor business that fall under the Axon Body and Axon Records businesses. During the company’s earnings conference call, the management team shared its next gen products will be available during the back half of the year. These include the Axon Body, its first camera with LTE live streaming, will launch during the September quarter and Axon Records, its first stand-alone software product. Records w will launch with a major city police department and it is already testing with a second major police department. As far as the new Axon Body product, I suspect the untethering of this camera could spur adoption much the way Apple’s (AAPL) Apple Watch saw a pronounced pick up when it added cellular connectivity to its third model. 

These new products, which leverage the intersection between our Digital Infrastructure investing theme and our Safety & Security one, should accelerate the transition to a higher margin, recurring revenue business in the coming quarters. In other words, Axon’s transformation is poised to continue and as that happens investors will be revisiting how they value the company’s business. More than likely that means further upside ahead for AAXN shares. 

  • Our price target on Safety & Security Thematic Leader Axon Enterprises (AAXN) remains $90.


Here comes the April Retail Sales Report

Later this week, we’ll get the April Retail Sales Report, which should benefit for the late Easter holiday this year. Up until the March report, this data stream was disappointing during December through February but even so from a thematic perspective the reports continued to reinforce our Digital Lifestyle and Middle-class Squeeze investing themes. 

When we look at the April data, I’ll be looking at both the sequential and year over year comparisons for Nonstore retailers, the government category for digital shopping and the category that best captures Thematic King Amazon (AMZN). I’ll also be looking at the general merchandise stores category with regard to Middle-Class Squeeze Thematic Leader Costco Wholesale (COST). Costco has already shared its April same-store sales, which rose 7.7% in the US despite having one less shopping day during the month compared to last year. Excluding the impact of gas prices and foreign exchange, Costco’s April sales were up 5.6% year over year. From my perspective, the is the latest data point that shows Costco continues to take consumer wallet share. 

With reported disposable income data inside the monthly Personal Income & Spending reports essentially flat for the last few months and Costco continuing to open new warehouse locations, which should spur its high margin membership revenue, I continue to see further upside ahead in COST shares. And yes, the same applies to Amazon shares as well.

  • Our $250 price target for Middle-class Squeeze Thematic Leader Costco Wholesale (COST) is under review.


Tematica Investing: Thematic Tailwinds for 2019 and Scaling into AXON

Tematica Investing: Thematic Tailwinds for 2019 and Scaling into AXON

 

Key Points Inside this Issue:

Last Friday’s favorable December Employment Report showed the domestic economy is not falling off a cliff and comments by Fed Chair Jay Powell reflected that the central bank will be patient with monetary policy as it watches how the economy performs. Those two things kicked the market off on its most recent three-day winning streak as of last night’s close. In many ways, Powell gave the market what it was looking for when he shared the Fed will remain data dependent when it looks at the economy and its next step with monetary policy.

Taking a few steps back, we’ve all experienced the market volatility over the last several weeks as it contends with a host of issues that we here at Tematica have laid out through much of the December quarter. These include:

  • U.S.-China trade issues
  • The slowing economy
  • A Fed that could boost rates twice in 2019 and continues to unwind its balance sheet
  • Brexit and political uncertainty in the Eurozone
  • And more recently the government shutdown.

These factors have led investors to question growth prospects for the global as well as the domestic economy and earnings in 2019.

Powell’s comments potentially take one of those issues off the table at least in the short-term. If the economy continues to deliver job creation as we saw in December, with some of the best year-over-year wage gains we’ve seen in years, before too long the Fed-related conversation could very well turn from two rate hikes to three.

Currently, that isn’t what the market is expecting.

The reason it isn’t is that outside of the December jobs report, data from ISM and IHS Markit continued to show a decelerating global and U.S. economy. With new orders and backlog levels falling, as well as pricing-related data, it likely means we won’t see a pronounced pickup in the January data. The JPMorgan Global Composite Output Index for December delivered its lowest reading since September 2016 due principally to the slowdown in the eurozone. Rates of expansion slowed in Germany (66-month low) and Spain (three-month low), while Italy stagnated. China, the UK, and Brazil all saw modest growth accelerations.

 

Despite the month over month declines in the December data for the US, it was the best performer on a relative basis even though the IHS Markit Composite PMI reading for the month hit a 15-month low. A more sobering view was shared by Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit who said:

“Manufacturers reported a weakened pace of expansion at the end of 2018, and grew less upbeat about prospects for 2019. Output and order books grew at the slowest rates for over a year and optimism about the outlook slumped to its gloomiest for over two years.”

That should give the Fed some room to hold off boosting rates, but it also confirms the economy is decelerating, which will likely have revenue and earnings guidance repercussions in the upcoming December-quarter earnings season.

There are several catalysts that could drive both the economy and the stock market higher in the coming months. These include a “good deal” resolution to the U.S.-China trade situation and forward movement in Washington on infrastructure spending. This week, the US and China have met on trade and it appears those conversations have paved the way for further discussions in the coming weeks. A modest positive that has helped drive the stock market higher this week, but thus far concrete details remain scant.

Such details are not likely to emerge for at least several weeks, which means the next major catalyst for the stock market will be the upcoming December quarter earnings season that begins in nine trading days.

 

Earnings expectations are being revised lower

Facing a number of risks and uncertainties over the last several weeks, investors have once again questioned growth prospects for both the economy and earnings growth for 2019. The following two charts – one of the Citibank Economic Surprise Index and one showing the aggregate profit margin for the S&P 500 companies – depict what investors are grappling with weaker than expected economic data at a time when corporate operating margins have hit the highest levels in over 20 years.

While expectations for growth in both the domestic economy and earnings for the S&P 500 have come in compared to forecasts from just a few months ago, the current view per The Wall Street Journal’s Economic Forecasting Survey calls for 2019 GDP near 2.3% (down from 3.0% in 2018) with the S&P 500 group of companies growing their collective EPS by 7.4% year over year in 2019.

 

Here’s the thing, in recent weeks, analysts lowered their earnings estimates for companies in the S&P 500 for the December quarter by roughly 4% to $40.93. The Q4 bottom-up EPS estimate (which is an aggregation of the median EPS estimates of all the companies in the index) dropped by 4.5% to $40.63. In the chart below, you can see this means quarter over quarter, December quarter earnings are expected to drop breaking the typical pattern of earnings growth into the last quarter of the year. What you can’t see is that marks the largest cut to quarterly S&P 500 EPS estimates in over a year.

 

 

Getting back to that 7.4% rate of earnings growth that is currently forecasted for 2019, I’d call out that it too has been revised down from 9% earlier in the December quarter. That new earnings forecast is a far cry from 21.7% in 2018, which was in part fueled by a stronger economy as well as the benefits of tax reform that was passed in late 2017. As we all know, there that was a one-time bump to corporate bottom lines that will not be repeated this year or in subsequent ones. The conundrum that investors are facing is with the market barometer that is the S&P 500 currently trading at 15.9x consensus 2018 EPS of $161.54, the factors listed above have investors asking what the right market multiple based on 2019’s consensus EPS of $173.45 should be?

And while most investors don’t “buy the market,” its valuation and earnings growth are a yardstick by which investors judge individual stocks.

 

Thematic tailwinds will continue to drive profits and stock prices

One of the key principles to valuing stocks is that companies delivering stronger EPS growth warrant a premium valuation. Of course, in today’s stock buyback rampant world, that means ferreting out those companies that are growing their net income. My preference has been to zero in on what is going on with a company’s operating profit and operating margins given that their vector and velocity are the prime drivers of earnings. That was especially needed last year given the widespread bottom-line benefits of tax reform.

At the heart of it, the question is what is driving the business?

As I’ve shared before, sector classifications don’t speak to that as they are a grouping of companies by certain characteristics rather than the catalysts that are driving their businesses. As we’ve seen before, some companies, such as Amazon (AMZN) or Apple (AAPL) capitalize on those catalysts, while others fail to do so in a timely manner if at all. Sears (SHLD), JC Penney (JCP) are easy call outs, but so are Toys R Us, Bon-Ton Stores, Sports Authority, Blue Apron (APRN), and Snap (SNAP) to name just over a handful.

Very different, and we can see the difference in comparing revenue and profit growth as well as stock prices. The ones that are performing are responding to the changing landscapes across the economic, demographic, psychographic, technological, regulatory and other playing fields they face. In short, they are riding the thematic tailwinds that we here at Tematica have identified. As a reminder those themes are:

 

As we move into 2019, I continue to see the tailwinds associated with those themes continuing to blow hard. Despite all the vain attempts to fight it temporarily, there is no slowing down the aging process. Consumers continue to flock to better for you alternatives, and as you’ll see below that has led Thematic Leader Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) to bring a new offering to market.

As we saw this past holiday shopping season, consumers are flocking more and more to digital shopping while hours spent streaming content continue to thwart broadcast TV and the box office. This year 5G networks and devices will become a reality as AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ) and others launch those commercial networks. The legalization of cannabis continues, and consumers continue to consume chocolate, alcohol and other Guilty Pleasures.

Whether you are Marriott International (MAR), Facebook (FB), British Airways or the Bridgeport School System, cyber threats continue to grow and as we saw last night during the presidential address and Democratic response, border security be it through a wall, technology or other means is a pain point that needs to be addressed. While the last two monthly Employment Reports have shown some of the best wage gains in years, Middle-class Squeeze consumers continue to face a combination of higher debt and interest rates as well as rising healthcare costs and the need to save for their golden years that will weigh on the ability to spend.

Like any set of winds, there will be times when some blow harder than others. For example, as we peer into the coming year the launch of 5G networks and gigabit ethernet will likely see the Digital Infrastructure tailwind accelerate in the first half of the year as network and data center operators utilize the services of companies like Thematic Leader Dycom Industries (DY) to build the physical networks. Some tailwinds, such as those associated with Aging of the Population, Clean Living and Middle-class Squeeze are likely to be more persistent over the coming year. Other tailwinds will gust hard at times almost seemingly out of nowhere reminding that they have been there all along. Given the nature of high profile cyber attacks and other threats, that’s likely to once again be the case with Safety & Security.

The bottom line is this – the impact to be had of the tailwinds associated with our 10 investment themes will continue to be felt in 2019. They will continue to influence consumer and business behavior, altering the playing field and forcing companies to either respond or not. The ones that are capitalizing on that changing playing field and are delivering pronounced profit growth are the ones investors should be focusing on.

 

TEMATICA INVESTING 

Scaling into AAXN, and updates on NFLX, CMG, and DFRG

As I discussed above, the December quarter was one of the most challenging periods for the stock market in some time. Even though we are just over a handful of days into 2019, we’re seeing the thematic tailwinds blow again on the Thematic Leaders with 9 of the 11 positions ahead of the S&P 500. Yes, we’re looking pretty good so far but it’s too early in the year to start patting our backs, especially with the upcoming earnings season. Odds are Apple’s (AAPL) negative preannouncement last week won’t be the only sign of misery to be had, and that’s why I’m keeping the ProShares Short S&P 500 ETF (SH) active for the time being. As I shared with you last week, while Apple and others are contending with a maturing smartphone market, I continue to like the long-term Digital Lifestyle aspects as it moves into streaming content and subscription-related businesses.

Of those 9 companies that are ahead of the S&P 500, as you can see in the table above, there are several that are significantly outperforming the market in the brief time that is 2019. These include Netflix (NFLX) shares, Axon Enterprises (AAXN), and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)  as well as Del Frisco’s (DFRG).

After falling just over 28% in the December quarter as investors gave up on the FANG stocks, as of last night’s market close Netflix shares are up 20% so far for the new year. Spurring them along have been favorable comments and a few upgrades from the likes of Piper Jaffray, Barclays, Sun Trust, and several other investment banks. From my perspective, even though Netflix will face a more competitive landscape as AT&T (T), Disney (DIS), Hulu, Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOGL), Facebook (FB), and Apple (AAPL), it has a substantial lead in the original content race over the likes of Facebook, Apple, Google and Amazon.

Candidly, only AT&T given its acquisition of Time Warner, and Disney, especially once it formally acquires with the movie, TV and other content from 21stCentury Fox (FOXA), will be streaming content contenders in the near term. And Disney is starting from scratch while AT&T lags meaningfully behind Netflix in terms of not only overall subscribers but domestic ones as well. For now, the digital streaming horse to play remains Netflix, especially as it brings more content to its service for both the US and international markets, which should drive its global subscriber base higher.

 

New bowls at Chipotle signal the Big Fix continues

Since its beginnings, Chipotle has been at the forefront of our Clean Living investing theme, but last week it took another step to attract those who are aiming to eat healthier when it introduced a line of Lifestyle Bowls. These included Keto, Paleo, Whole30, and Double Protein versions are only available through the company’s mobile app and the Chipotle website. Clearly, the new management team that arrived last year understands the powerful tailwind associated with our Digital Lifestyle investing theme. More on those new bowls can be found here, and we expect to hear more on the management team’s Big Fix initiatives when the company presents at the ICR Conference on Jan. 15.

 

Adding to Axon Enterprises as EPS expectations move higher

When we added shares of Axon Enterprises to the Thematic Leaders for the Safety & Security slot, we noted the company’s long reach into US police departments and other venues that should drive adoption of its newer Taser units but more importantly its body cameras and digital storage businesses. In the company’s November earnings report we saw that positive impact as its Axon Cloud revenue rose 47% year over year to $24 million, roughly $24 million or 23% of revenue vs. 18% in the year-ago quarter. Even better, the gross margin associated with that business has been running in the mid 70% range over the last few quarters, well above the corporate gross margin average of 36%-37%. Over the last 90 days, we’ve seen Wall Street boost its EPS forecasts for the company to $0.77 for 2018, up from $0.52, and to $0.92 for 2019 up from $0.73.

Even though we AAXN shares are on a roll thus far in 2019, the position is still in the red since joining the Thematic Leaders. Against the favorable tailwind of our Safety & Security investing theme and rising EPS expectations, we will scale into AAXN shares at current levels, which will drop our cost basis to around $61 from just under $73. Our $90 price target remains intact.

  • We are scaling into shares of Safety & Security Thematic Leader Axon Enterprises (AXON) at current levels, which will dramatically improve our cost basis. Our $90 price target remains intact.

 

Del Frisco’s shares jump on takeout speculation

Over the last few weeks, there has a sizable rebound in the shares of high-end restaurant name Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group. Ahead of the year-end 2018 holidays, the company’s board of directors was the recipient of activist investor action from Engaged Capital. During the holiday weeks, the company shared it has hired investment firm Piper Jaffray to “review and consider a full range of options focused on maximizing shareholder value, including a possible sale of the Company or any of its dining concepts.”

In other words, Del Frisco’s is putting itself in play. Often this can result in a company being taken out either by strategic investors, private equity or a combination of the two. There is also the chance a company going through this process is not acquired due primarily to a mismatch between the potential buyer(s) and the board on price as well as underlying financing.

From my perspective, 2018 was a challenging year for Del Frisco’s as it repositioned its branded portfolio. This included the sale of Sullivan’s Steakhouse and the acquisition of Barteca Restaurant Group, the parent of both Bartaco and Barcelona restaurants.

Transitions such as these can be challenging, and in some cases, the benefits of the transformation may take longer to emerge than planned. That said, given the data we’ve discussed previously on the recession-resistant nature of high-end dining, such as at Del Frisco’s core Double Eagle Steakhouse and Grille, we do think the company would be a feather in the cap for another restaurant group. As we noted when we added DFRG shares to the Thematic Leaders, there are very few standalone public steakhouse companies left — the vast majority of them have been scooped up by names such as Landry’s or Darden Restaurants (DRI).

From a fundamental perspective, the reasons why we are bullish on Del Frisco’s are the same ones that make it a takeout candidate. While we wait and see what emerges on the bid front, I’ll be looking over other positions to fill DFRG’s slot on the Thematic Leaders should a viable bid emerge.  Given the company’s restaurant portfolio, the continued spending on high-end dining and its recession-resistant nature, odds are rather high of that happening.

  • Our price target on Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG) remains $14.

 

 

Weekly Issue: Looking Around the Bend of the Current Rebound Rally

Weekly Issue: Looking Around the Bend of the Current Rebound Rally

 

Stock futures are surging this morning in a move that has all the major domestic stock market indices pointing up between 1.5% for the S&P 500 to 2.2% for the Nasdaq Composite Index. This surge follows the G20 Summit meeting of President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping news that the US and China will hold off on additional tariffs on each other’s goods at the start of 2019 with trade talks to continue. What this means is for a period of time as the two countries look to hammer out a trade deal during the March quarter, the US will leave existing tariffs of 10% on more than $200 million worth of Chinese products in place rather than increase them to 25%.  If after 90 days the two countries are unable to reach an agreement, the tariff rate will be raised to 25% percent.

In my view, what we are seeing this morning is in our view similar to what we saw last week when Fed Chair Powell served up some dovish comments regarding the speed of interest rate hikes over the coming year – a sigh of relief in the stock market as expected drags on the economy may not be the headwinds previously expected. On the trade front, it’s that tariffs won’t escalate at the end of 2018 and at least for now it means one less negative revision to 2019 EPS expectations. In recent weeks, we’ve started to see the market price in the slowing economy and potential tariff hikes as 2019 EPS expectations for the S&P 500 slipped over the last two months from 10%+ EPS growth in 2019 to “just” 8.7% year over year. That’s down considerably from the now expected EPS growth of 21.6% this year vs. 2017, but we have to remember the benefit of tax reform will fade as it anniversaries. I expect this to ignite a question of what the appropriate market multiple should be for the 2019 rate of EPS growth as investors look past trade and the Fed in the coming weeks. More on that as it develops.

For now, I’ll take the positive performance these two events will have on the Thematic Leaders and the Select List; however, it should not be lost on us that issues remain. These include the slowing global economy that is allowing the Fed more breathing room in the pace of interest rate hikes as well as pending Brexit issues and the ongoing Italy-EU drama. New findings from Lending Tree (TREE) point to consumer debt hitting $4 trillion by the end of 2018, $1 trillion higher than less five years ago and at interest rates that are higher than five years ago. Talk about a confirming data point for our Middle-class Squeeze investing theme. And while oil prices have collapsed, offering a respite at the gas pump, we are seeing more signs of wage inflation that along with other input and freight costs will put a crimp in margins in the coming quarters. In other words, headwinds to the economy and corporate earnings persist.

On the US-China trade front, the new timeline equates to three months to negotiate a number of issues that have proved difficult in the past. These include forced technology transfer by U.S. companies doing business in China; intellectual-property protection that the U.S. wants China to strengthen; nontariff barriers that impede U.S. access to Chinese markets; and cyberespionage.

So, while the market gaps up today in its second sigh of relief in as many weeks, I’ll continue to be prudent with the portfolio and deploying capital in the near-term.  At the end of the day, what we need to see on the trade front is results – that better deal President Trump keeps talking about – rather than promises and platitudes. Until then, the existing tariffs will remain, and we run the risk of their eventual escalation if promises and platitudes do not progress into results.

 

The Stock Market Last Week

Last week we closed the books on November, and as we did that the stock market received a life preserver from Federal Reserve Chair Powell, which rescued them from turning in a largely across-the-board negative performance for the month. Powell’s comments eased the market’s concern over the pace of rate hikes in 2019 and the subsequent Fed November FOMC meeting minutes served to reaffirm that. As we shared Thursday, we see recent economic data, which has painted a picture of a slowing domestic as well as global economy, giving the Fed ample room to slow its pace of rate hikes. 

While expectations still call for a rate increase later this month, for 2019 the consensus is now looking for one to two hikes compared to the prior expectation of up to four. As we watch the velocity of the economy, we’ll also continue to watch the inflation front carefully given recent declines in the PCE Price Index on a year-over-year basis vs. wage growth and other areas that are ripe for inflation.

Despite Powell’s late-month “rescue,” quarter to date, the stock market is still well in the red no matter which major market index one chooses to look at. And as much as we like the action of the past week, the decline this quarter has erased much of the 2018 year-to-date gains. 

 

Holiday Shopping 2018 embraces the Digital Lifestyle

Also last week, we had the conclusion of the official kickoff to the 2018 holiday shopping season that spanned Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, and in some cases “extended Tuesday.” The short version is consumers did open their wallets over those several days, but as expected, there was a pronounced shift to online and mobile shopping this year, while bricks-and-mortar traffic continued to suffer. 

According to ShopperTrak, shopper visits were down 1% for the two-day period compared to last year, with a 1.7% decline in traffic on Black Friday and versus 2017. Another firm, RetailNext, found traffic to U.S. stores fell between 5% and 9% during Thanksgiving and Black Friday compared with the same days last year. For the Thanksgiving to Sunday 2018 period, RetailNext’s traffic tally fell 6.6% year over year. 

Where were shoppers? Sitting at home or elsewhere as they shopped on their computers, tablets and increasingly their mobile devices. According to the National Retail Federation, 41.4 million people shopped only online from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday. That’s 6.4 million more than the 34.7 million who shopped exclusively in stores. Thanksgiving 2018 was also the first day in 2018 to see $1 billion in sales from smartphones, according to Adobe, with shoppers spending 8% more online on Thursday compared with a year ago. Per Adobe, Black Friday online sales hit $6.22 billion, an increase of 23.7% from 2017, of which roughly 33% were made on smartphones, up from 29% in 2017.

The most popular day to shop online was Cyber Monday, cited by 67.4 million shoppers, followed by Black Friday with 65.2 million shoppers. On Cyber Monday alone, mobile transactions surged more than 55%, helping make the day the single largest online shopping day of all time in the United States at $7.9 billion, up 19% year over year. It also smashed the smartphone shopping record set on Thanksgiving as sales coming from smartphones hit $2 billion.

As Lenore Hawkins, Tematica’s Chief Macro Strategist, and I discussed on last week’s Cocktail Investing podcast, the holiday shopping happenings were very confirming for our Digital Lifestyle investing theme. It was also served to deliver positive data points for several positions on the Select List and the Thematic Leader that is Amazon (AMZN). These include United Parcel Service (UPS), which I have long viewed as a “second derivative” play on the shift to digital shopping, but also Costco Wholesale (COST) and Alphabet/Google (GOOGL). Let’s remember that while we love McCormick & Co. (MKC) for “season’s eatings” the same can be said for Costco given its food offering, both fresh and packaged, as well as its beer and wine selection. For Google, as more consumers shop online it means utilizing its search features that also drive its core advertising business.

As we inch toward the Christmas holiday, I expect more data points to emerge as well as more deals from brick & mortar retailers in a bid to capture what consumer spending they can. The risk I see for those is profitless sales given rising labor and freight costs but also the investments in digital commerce they have made to fend off Amazon. Sales are great, but it has to translate into profits, which are the mother’s milk of EPS, and that as we know is one of the core drivers to stock prices.

 

Marriott hack reminds of cyber spending needs

Also last week, we learned of one of the larger cyber attacks in recent history as Marriott (MAR) shared that up to 500 million guests saw their personal information ranging from passport numbers, travel details and payment card data hacked at its Starwood business. As I wrote in the Thematic Signal in which I discussed this attack, it is the latest reminder in the need for companies to continually beef up their cybersecurity, and this is a profound tailwind for our Safety & Security investing theme as well as the  ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF (HACK) shares that are on the Select List.

 

The Week Ahead

Today, we enter the final month of 2018, and given the performance of the stock market so far in the December quarter it could very well be a photo finish to determine how the market finishes for the year. Helping determine that will not only be the outcome of the weekend’s G-20 summit, but the start of November economic data that begins with today’s ISM Manufacturing Index and the IHS Markit PMI data, and ends the week with the monthly Employment Report. Inside those two reports, we here at Tematica be assessing the speed of the economy in terms of order growth and job creation, as well as inflation in the form of wage growth. These data points and the others to be had in the coming weeks will help firm up current quarter consensus GDP expectations of 2.6%, per The Wall Street Journal’s Economic Forecasting Survey that is based on more than 60 economists, vs. 3.5% in the September quarter.

Ahead of Wednesday’s testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Powell on “The Economic Outlook” before Congress’s Joint Economic Committee, we’ll have several Fed heads making the rounds and giving speeches. Odds are they will reinforce the comments made by Powell and the November Fed FOMC meeting minutes that we talked about above. During Powell’s testimony, we can expect investors to parse his words in order to have a clear sense as to what the Fed’s view is on the speed of the economy, inflation and the need to adjust monetary policy, in terms of both the speed of future rate hikes and unwinding its balance sheet. Based on what we learn, Powell’s comments could either lead the market higher or douse this week’s sharp move higher in the stock market with cold water.

On the earnings front this week, we have no Thematic Leaders or Select List companies reporting but I’ll be monitoring results from Toll Brothers (TOL), American Eagle (AEO), Lululemon Athletica (LULU), Broadcom (AVGO) and Kroger (KR), among others. Toll Brothers should help us understand the demand for higher-end homes, something to watch relating to our Living the Life investing theme, while American Eagle and lululemon’s comments will no doubt offer some insight to the holiday shopping season. With Broadcom, we’ll be looking at its demand outlook to get a better handle on smartphone demand as well as the timing of 5G infrastructure deployments that are part of our Disruptive Innovators investing theme. Finally, with Kroger, it’s all about our Clean Living investing theme and to what degree Kroger is capturing that tailwind.

 

Safety & Security – A robust tailwind that is more than just cyber security

Safety & Security – A robust tailwind that is more than just cyber security

KEY POINTS FROM THIS ALERT:

  • We are issuing a Buy on Axon Enterprises (AAXN) and adding them to the Tematica Investing Select List with a $90 price target.

 

The right to defend yourself and your property apply in today’s increasingly connected world, just as it did more than 200 years ago. While the public debate and much of the media coverage focus on the Second Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms, the threats we face today are changing, just as the way we interact with people, data and content are changing. As individuals, companies and countries, we must be increasingly on guard and behaviors need to shift away from reactionary defense towards always prepared and secure, much the way we’ve seen with homeland security and traditional national defense.

Tematica’s Safety & Security investing theme looks to tap into evolving needs across individual, cyber, corporate and homeland security. In turn, the Safety & Security Index targets companies that offer products and services across that range, from corporate security and monitoring solutions, to personal firearms arms and home-security, to individual, corporate and national cyber security to defense spending.

It wasn’t too long ago that the WannaCry and Petya cyber-attacks dominated the headlines. Over the past few years, cyber  security we have seen a significant increase in the number of cyber-attacks plaguing individuals, corporations and other institutions across the globe. In our view, there is little cybersecurity is a growth market as individuals, companies and other institutions look to ward off future attacks, shore up their existing cyber defenses, assess attack and intrusion analytics and become far more secure.

We see this reflected in the forecasts calling for cybercrime to cost $6 trillion annually by 2021, up from $3 trillion in 2015 according to Cybersecurity Ventures. From a somewhat different perspective, in the five years ending in 2021, worldwide spending on cyber security software, services, and hardware services is expected “to eclipse $1 trillion”. As one might expect one of the fastest growing tech categories through 2021 will be managed security services with CAGR 14.7%, according to International Data Corporation.

Here’s the thing, as crucial as cybersecurity will be in the coming years, it is still just one aspect of the far larger amount of spending that occurs each and every year to keep our nation, businesses, homes and families safe.

Case in point, total global cyber security spending represented roughly 23 percent of the $522 billion 2017 U.S. defense budget. Candidate Trump pledged to rebuild the US military and President Trump is looking to boost defense spending to $716 billion in 2019, a 10 percent increase from the amounts set for the Department of Defense in the continuing resolutions levels. Over the 10-year budget window, funding for the Department of Defense is $1 trillion above projections from the previous administration. In addition to big-ticket items like military aircraft, ships and other marine vessels, the budget includes national security spending, cyber defense, weapons procurement, as well as research and procurement.

Keep in mind that is just at the federal level. At the local and state level, we are seeing shifts in spending by law enforcement to more Disruptive Innovator led solutions such as body cameras and tasers to name a few. According to QY Market, the global market for body cameras is expected to reach about $1.5 billion by 2021 from $259.5 million in 2016. Forces driving the growth in the body camera market include the growing demand for monitoring police conduct as well as transparency in evidence collection and handling. The non-lethal weapons market comprised of military and law enforcement is estimated to reach $8.4 billion by 2020, a CAGR of 8.2 percent from 2015 to 2020.

Outside the US, rising global tensions have led to increasing demand for defense and military products in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, North Korea, the Far East and South China Seas. This is, in turn, instigating increased defense spending globally, especially in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan, India, China, Russia. For example, the Middle Eastern Homeland Security market is slated to grow at a CAGR of 15.5 percent to achieve $17.05 billion by 2021, up from $7.19 billion in 2015, driven by government initiatives to create a smart and secure environment amidst high terrorist activities in the region.

 

Protections Gets Personal

With the media’s emphasis on cyber security (just Google “security” and see what comes up), attention is lost on other aspects of individual or personal security. The global home security solutions market, (which includes video surveillance, electronic locks, alarms, access control, sensors, detectors and corresponding services) is predicted to reach $30.3 billion by 2022, up from $8.3 billion in 2014.

The increasing acceptance of video surveillance systems is expected to propel the video surveillance sub-sector in the years to come with demand for IP-based video surveillance expected to increase due to its improved video capturing quality. This growth is not just U.S.-based as the number of monitored alarm systems in Europe is forecast to grow from 8.7 million in 2016 to reach 10.6 million in 2021, according to a new research report by Berg Insight. By comparison, in North America, the number of monitored alarm systems is forecasted to grow from 32.1 million at the end of 2016 to 37.1 million at the end of 2021.

 

THE SAFETY & SECURITY TAILWINDS

As much as the Safety & Security investment theme is demand-driven as people, corporations, governments and other entities spend on protecting and securing themselves, it is one that is ripe for change as industries evolve and in some cases embrace our Digital Lifestyle and Digital Infrastructure themes. Just one case in point, the M&A activity in the defense contracting sector for cyber firms as the “battlefield” increasingly expands into the virtual world.

Another component arises when we look to the Internet of Things (IoT) and the increasing reality that even our own personal possessions could be rendered useless through a cyberattack unleashed by a foreign government or other entity. In 2015 for example, Black Hat hacked a 2014 Jeep Cherokee over the internet and paralyzed it on I-64 forcing Chrysler to recall 1.4 million vehicles. Hackers have found security flaws in smart home connectors that are used to turn up the thermostat, turn on your lights or access your Wi-Fi network through your smart fridge.

It’s this reality that the Tematica Safety & Security investing theme taps into as it covers the full range of companies participating in the security and monitoring of our homes, families, companies and homeland.

 

Axon Enterprise – Not just Taser anymore

Given the wide lens of our Safety & Security theme, there are many companies to consider, but the one we are focusing on is Axon Enterprises, the company formerly known as Taser, of which most of us have heard. Why the name change? Odds are there were several reasons, but the most poignant one is the transformation of the company’s business model from one predicated on conducted electrical weapons (CEW), better known as Tasers, to a more balanced one between those weapons and connected wearable on-officer cameras (Axon), an in-car camera variant (Axon Fleet) and complimentary cloud-based digital evidence management software (Evidence.com). Evidence.com is the company’s data management system, chain-of-custody controls and security protocols that law enforcement agencies use to preserve and protect data from body cameras and in-car video systems.

There are several reasons why we like that transformation. The company now has more diversified business model and one that has aspects of recurring revenue streams that tend to receive more favorable valuation multiples, compared to the 15x-19x earnings at which firearm companies American Outdoor Brands (AOBC; formerly Smith & Wesson), and Sturm, Ruger & Company (RGR) are trading at based on expected 2019 EPS. There is also the replacement cartridge aspect of CEW weapons, which is very similar to ammunition in that continued replenishment is required, which results in an on-going revenue stream. Currently, munitions company Vista Outdoors (VSTO) is trading at 36x expected 2019 earnings.

As we touched on above, the outlook for the domestic body camera market looks vibrant over the next several years, and that augurs for growth for corresponding digital records management solutions.  Easing Axon’s entrance into this market and the transformation in its business model is its existing relationship with more than 20,000 public safety agencies worldwide that span law enforcement, corrections, and military forces as well as private security personnel and in the case of its CEWs, private individuals. At the end of 2017, 38 of the top 50 metropolitan areas in the U.S. were on the Axon network.

Strengthening Axon’s position in the body camera and digital storage markets was its May 2018 acquisition of VIEVU, a body camera and cloud-based evidence management system competitor. That acquisition expanded Axon’s customer base to include among others the New York City Police Department, the Miami-Dade Police Department, the Phoenix Police Department, the Oakland Police Department and the Aurora, CO Police Department as well as Mexico City and Mexico’s federal police. Given the timing of the acquisition, it had a modest impact on the June 2018 quarter, but should be a greater contributor over the coming quarters from a revenue and cost synergy perspective as Axon integrates its customers and platforms.

In June, Axon reached a partnership with Milestone Systems, a leading open platform IP video management software provider, that brings data from more than 6,000 models of cameras from 150 manufacturers, including CCTV footage, into Evidence.com. As with other data stored in Evidence.com, this new data will be trackable, easily shareable, and redactable.

Also, in the first half of 2018, Axon inked a strategic partnership with drone manufacturer DJI to sell its video-capable drones directly to police officers through a new Axon Air program. More than 900 American public safety agencies use drones to improve officer safety, support tactical actions, reconstruct traffic collisions, support public safety at large events and perform search-and-rescue missions. Axon’s strategy is to leverage its police and law enforcement customer base to sell the DJI drones bundled with access to Axon’s connected data network and Evidence.com services.

Exiting the June 2018 quarter, the company’s install base included 450,000 Tasers in the U.S, an active camera count of more than 300,000 and a growing subscription business at Evidence.com. While the bulk of the company’s business is inside the U.S., roughly 20% of its CEW business is international with fresh opportunities in both the UK and Italy. Based on the company’s current market share as well as recent moves to expand its reach with its VIEVU acquisition and partnership with DJI, Axon is well positioned to ride the expanding tailwind that is the body camera and digital support market. Exiting 2017 the global body-worn camera shipment market was 1.05 million units, up from 0.17 million, and is forecasted to reach 1.59 million units this year and more than 5.6 million units in 2021. While the US is the largest body camera market today, the adoption of body-worn cameras by the police officers in Europe region is growing and that is expected to be followed by Asia-Pacific in the coming years.

Following the completion of a 4 million share equity offering this past May that raised roughly $245 million in capital, Axon’s balance sheet had net cash of $311.6 million ($5.35 per share). Combined with its positive cash flow from operations, the company has ample funding to pursue other strategic initiatives, including additional acquisitions and alliances, to expand its business in both the domestic and international markets. Per the company, it sees its total addressable market in the near term as $7.7 billion, which breaks down to $1.5 billion in TASER weapons, $0.7 billion in hardware sensors/body cameras and $5.5 billion in cloud-based public safety software. Even if we were to annualize Axon’s June 2018 revenue, which would clock in at just under $400 million vs. the $344 million achieved in 2017, there are ample share gains to be had in this expanding market that are expected to drive its EPS to $1.07 in 2020, up from $0.52 this year and $0.27 in 2017.

Inherent in those EPS expectations is for its Software and Sensors business segment to turn from one generating operating losses to profits. In the first half of 2018 quarter, all of Axon’s operating profits were derived from its Taser business while Software and Sensors reported an operating loss of $16.9 million on $76 million in revenue. In comparing that time period with the first half of 2017, we see the Software and Services business made considerable ground in reducing the drag on the company’s overall profits as segment revenue continued to climb. For the first half of 2017, Axon’s Software and Sensor business reported an operating loss of $31.6 million on revenue of $48.2 million. Crunching the year over year change in operating losses vs. revenues tells us the Software and Sensor business achieved incremental operating margins of 52.5% in the first half of 2018, a very positive sign that says for every incremental revenue dollar, the company was earning $0.52 in operating profit. In other words, the likelihood that Software and Sensors becomes a profit generator in the coming quarters is rather high. Our analysis suggests the break-even level for the business is around $220-240 million in annual revenue vs. the annualized first half of 2018 level near $153.6 million and $96.4 million for the first half of 2017.

If there were one bone to pick with Axon, it would be the stock’s current valuation, which sits at a P/E ratio of more than 65x expected 2020 EPS of $1.07 and an eye-popping 102x consensus forecasted $0.69 in 2019. When faced with such robust valuations, we recognize the danger of solely focusing on a stock’ P/E ratio if one does not account for the underlying EPS growth. Hence our usage of the price-earnings to growth ratio for Amazon (AMZN) and here with Axon shares. Over the 2017-2020 period, Axon is forecasted to grow its EPS at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 157%. Granted this slows to roughly 143% for the 2018-2020 time frame from 160% over the 2017-2019 period, but even if we utilize that slower growth rate it means Axon shares are trading at a steep discount on PEG basis using either 2019 or 2020 EPS expectations.

While it can be tempting to get all “pie in the sky” with that valuation potential, it does point to upside in the shares near $100-$110 if Axon delivers on the consensus 2019 EPS forecast with a PEG multiple of just 1.0x, we have to consider a potential profitability timing slip with Axon’s Software and Sensor business. This could impact EPS expectations, so to be conservative we’re haircutting both the company’s EPS CAGR and expected EPS in 2019 and 2020.

Applying either . . .

  • An EPS CAGR rate of 140% on potential 2019 EPS of $0.65 with a PEG ratio of 1.0 or
  • A 0.9 PEG ratio to an EPS CAGR of 145% on potential 2019 EPS of $0.69

. . . and both deliver a price target of $90. If Axon’s can hit the expected growth trajectory through 2020, a similar analysis implies upside to more than $130.

Yes we know, quite the math-Olympics in that last paragraph, but those efforts reveal upside of at least 28% from current levels over the coming year. On the downside, AAXN shares have bottomed out at an average of 58.5x forward earnings over the 2016-2018 period, which suggests downside to just over $60. That’s potential downside of 14%, which means net upside vs. downside in the shares over the coming year, on a conservative basis is 14%.

Recognizing the strong likelihood for continued adoption of its Software and Services business that will drive its business transformation, we are adding shares of Axon Enterprises (AAXN) to the Tematica Investing Select List with a $90 price target over the 15 months. Based on the company’s ability to wring profitability out of this business segment, we’ll look to revise that target in the coming months. Should AAXN shares come under pressure, all things being equal we would look to scale into the shares closer to $60.

As we monitor the position, we’ll continue to watch the further adoption of body cameras and Evidence.com by existing customers as well as new ones. We’ll also be keeping tabs on the patent litigation against Axon from competitor Digital Ally (DGLY), which has the date of January 16, 2019 for its Final Pretrial Conference. With a market cap of $20.4 million and roughly $11 million in net cash following a recent $10 million equity infusion, one way for Axon to remove this concern would be to utilize its balance sheet in a move that would further shore up its competitive position.

  • We are issuing a Buy on Axon Enterprises (AAXN) and adding them to the Tematica Investing Select List with a $90 price target.

 

 

Companies riding the Safety & Security tailwind:

  • American Outdoor Brands (AOBC)
  • Carbonite (CARB)
  • Check Point Software (CHKP)
  • Cisco Systems (CSCO)
  • F5 Networks (FFIV)
  • Fortinet (FTNT)
  • General Dynamics (GD)
  • Imperva (IMPV)
  • Lockheed Martin (LMT)
  • Northrop Grumman (NOC)
  • OSI Systems (OSIS)
  • Palo Alto Networks (PANW)
  • Proofpoint (PFPT)
  • Qualys (QLYS)
  • Raytheon (RTN)
  • Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC)
  • Sturm, Ruger & Co. (RGR)
  • Verisign (VRSN)
  • Vista Outdoor (VSTO)

 

WEEKLY ISSUE: Trade and Tariffs, the Words of the Week

WEEKLY ISSUE: Trade and Tariffs, the Words of the Week

 

KEY POINTS FROM THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:

  • We are issuing a Sell on the shares of MGM Resorts (MGM) and removing them from the Tematica Investing Select List.
  • While the markets are reacting mainly in a “shoot first and ask questions later” nature, given the widening nature of the recent tariffs there are several safe havens that patient investors must consider.
  • We are recasting several of our Investment Themes to better reflect the changing winds.

 

Investor Reaction to All the Tariff Talk

Over the last two days, the domestic stock market has sold off some 16.7 points for the S&P 500, roughly 0.6%. That’s far less than the talking heads would suggest as they focus on the Dow Jones Industrial Average that has fallen more than 390 points since Friday’s close, roughly 1.6%. Those moves pushed the Dow into negative territory for 2018 and dragged the returns for the other major market indices lower. Those retreats in the major market indices are due to escalating tariff announcements, which are raising uncertainty in the markets and prompting investors to shoot first and ask questions later. We’ve seen this before, but we grant you the causing agent behind it this time is rather different.

What makes the current environment more challenging is not only the escalating and widening nature of the tariffs on more countries than just China, but also the impact they will have on supply chain part of the equation. So, the “pain” will be felt not just on the end product, but rather where a company sources its parts and components. That means the implications are wider spread than “just” steel and aluminum. One example is NXP Semiconductor (NXPI), whose chips are used in a variety of smartphone and other applications – the shares are down some 3.7% over the last two days.

With trade and tariffs being the words of the day, if not the week, we have seen investors bid up small-cap stocks, especially ones that are domestically focused. While the other major domestic stock market indices have fallen over the last few days, as we noted above, the small-cap, domestic-heavy Russell 2000 is actually up since last Friday’s close, rising roughly 8.5 points or 0.5% as of last night’s market close. Tracing that index back, as trade and tariff talk has grown over the last several weeks, it’s quietly become the best performing market index.

 

A Run-Down of the Select List Amid These Changing Trade Winds

On the Tematica Investing Select List, we have more than a few companies whose business models are heavily focused on the domestic market and should see some benefit from the added tailwinds the international trade and tariff talk is providing. These include:

  • Costco Wholesale (COST)
  • Dycom Industries (DY)
  • Habit Restaurants (HABT)
  • Farmland Partners (FPI)
  • LSI Industries (LYTS)
  • Paccar (PCAR)
  • United Parcel Services (UPS)

We’ve also seen our shares of McCormick & Co. (MKC) rise as the tariff back-and-forth has picked up. We attribute this to the inelastic nature of the McCormick’s products — people need to eat no matter what — and the company’s rising dividend policy, which helps make it a safe-haven port in a storm.

Based on the latest global economic data, it once again appears that the US is becoming the best market in the market. Based on the findings of the May NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, that looks to continue. Per the NFIB, that index increased in May to the second highest level in the NFIB survey’s 45-year history. Inside the report, the percentage of business owners reporting capital outlays rose to 62%, with 47% spending on new equipment, 24% acquiring vehicles, and 16% improving expanded facilities. Moreover, 30% plan capital outlays in the next few months, which also bodes well for our Rockwell Automation (ROK) shares.

Last night’s May reading for the American Trucking Association’s Truck Tonnage Index also supports this view. That May reading increased slightly from the previous month, but on a year over year basis, it was up 7.8%. A more robust figure for North American freight volumes was had with the May data for the Cass Freight Index, which reported an 11.9% year over year increase in shipments for the month. Given the report’s comment that “demand is exceeding capacity in most modes of transportation,” I’ll continue to keep shares of heavy and medium duty truck manufacturer Paccar (PCAR) on the select list.

The ones to watch

With all of that said, we do have several positions that we are closely monitoring amid the escalating trade and tariff landscape, including

  • Apple (AAPL),
  • Applied Materials (AMAT)
  • AXT Inc. (AXTI)
  • MGM Resorts (MGM)
  • Nokia (NOK)
  • Universal Display (OLED)

With Apple we have the growing services business and the eventual 5G upgrade cycle as well as the company’s capital return program that will help buoy the shares in the near-term. Reports that it will be spared from the tariffs are also helping. With Applied, China is looking to grow its in-country semi-cap capacity, which means semi- cap companies could see their businesses as a bargaining chip in the short-term. Longer- term, if China wants to grow that capacity it means an eventual pick up in business is likely in the cards. Other drivers such as 5G, Internet of Things, AR, VR, and more will spur incremental demand for chips as well. It’s pretty much a timing issue in our minds, and Applied’s increased dividend and buyback program will help shield the shares from the worst of it.

Both AXT and Nokia serve US-based companies, but also foreign ones, including ones in China given the global nature of smartphone component building blocks as well as mobile infrastructure equipment. Over the last few weeks, the case for 5G continues to strengthen, but if these tariffs go into effect and last, they could lead to a short-term disruption in their business models. Last week, Nokia announced a multi-year business services deal with Wipro (WIT) and alongside Nokia, Verizon (VZ) announced several 5G milestones with Verizon remaining committed to launching residential 5G in four markets during the back half of 2018. That follows the prior week’s news of a successful 5G test for Nokia with T-Mobile USA (TMUS) that paves the way for the commercial deployment of that network.

In those cases, I’ll continue to monitor the trade and tariff developments, and take action when are where necessary.

 

Pulling the plug on MGM shares

With MGM, however, I’m concerned about the potential impact to be had not only in Macau but also on China tourism to the US, which could hamper activity on the Las Vegas strip. While we’re down modestly in this Guilty Pleasure company, as the saying goes, better safe than sorry and that has us cutting MGM shares from the Select List.

  • We are issuing a Sell on the shares of MGM Resorts (MGM) and removing them from the Tematica Investing Select List

 

Sticking with the thematic program

On a somewhat positive note, as the market pulls back we will likely see well-positioned companies at better prices. Yes, we’ll have to navigate the tariffs and understand if and how a company may be impacted, but to us, it’s all part of identifying the right companies, with the right drivers at the right prices for the medium to long-term. That’s served us well thus far, and we’ll continue to follow the guiding light, our North Star, that is our thematic lens. It’s that lens that has led to returns like the following in the active Tematica Investing Select List.

  • Alphabet (GOOGL): 60%
  • Amazon (AMZN): 133%
  • Costco Wholesale (COST) : 30%
  • ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF (HACK): 34%
  • USA Technologies (USAT): 62%

Over the last several weeks, we’ve added several new positions – Farmland Partners (FPI), Dycom Industries (DY), Habit Restaurant (HABT) and AXT Inc. (AXTI) to the active select list as well as Universal Display (OLED) shares. As of last night’s, market close the first three are up nicely, but our OLED shares are once again under pressure amid rumor and speculation over the mix of upcoming iPhone models that will use organic light emitting diode displays. When I added the shares back to the Select List, it hinged not on the 2018 models but the ones for 2019. Let’s be patient and prepare to use incremental weakness to our long-term advantage.

 

Recasting Several of our investment themes

Inside Tematica, not only are we constantly examining data points as they relate to our investment themes we are also reviewing the investing themes that we have in place to make sure they are still relevant and relatable. As part of that exercise and when appropriate, we’ll also rename a theme.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing these repositions and renamings with you, and then providing a cheat sheet that will sum up all the changes. As I run through these I’ll also be calling out the best-positioned company as well as supplying some examples of the ones benefitting from the theme’s tailwinds and ones marching headlong into the headwinds.

First up, will be a recasting of our Rise & Fall of the Middle-Class theme.  As the current name suggests, there are two aspects of this theme — the “Rise” and the “Fall” part. It can be confusing to some, so we’re splitting it into two themes.  The “Rise” portion will be “The New Global Middle Class” and will reflect the rapidly expanding middle class markets particularly in Asia and South America. On the other hand, the “Fall” portion will be recast as “The Middle Class Squeeze” to reflect the shrinking middle class in the United States and the realities that poses to our consumer-driven economy.

We’ll have a detailed report to you in the coming days on the recasting of these two themes, how it impacts the current Select List as well as other companies we see as well-positioned given the tailwinds of each theme.

 

 

BlackBerry’s accelerating transition lands it on the Tematica Contender List

BlackBerry’s accelerating transition lands it on the Tematica Contender List

We’re adding a new name to the Tematica Investing Contender List today, and it’a one that you may have heard something about before – BlackBerry (BBRY).

As you read that sentence there is a distinct probability that you said “huh?” or something similar to yourself or the person next to you.

Yes, we said BlackBerry, as in the company that was once the dominant smartphone manufacturer until it was outflanked by Apple (AAPL) with the iPhone, which as we all know revolutionized the smartphone industry. Back in the day, we had BlackBerry’s named device and while it was ahead of the competitors when it came to email, the reality was  the device had a horrible internet browser, a click wheel that made maneuvering around the screen challenging to say the least and its phone capabilities paled in comparison to other mobile phones at the time. In short, it was ripe for disruption and Apple did just that.

All of this helps explain the “huh?” reaction you likely had.

Here’s the thing, one of the traps that investors fall into is thinking things remain the same at companies. Sometimes that is true, and we’re seeing as part of the reason activist investor Nelson Peltz was gunning for a seat on the board of Proctor & Gamble (PG) – more on this is another post. In the case of BlackBerry, it has been a turnaround in the making that has spanned several years with revenue falling from $6.8 billion in 2014 to $1.05 billion for the 12 months ending this past August.

Now, this is where things start to get interesting because during that time period the company managed to not only shrink its bottom line losses from $1.99 per share in 2014, over the last 12 months it delivered EPS of $0.13. Current consensus expectations sit at $0.06 per share for the current year, rising to $0.08 next year even as revenue is forecasted to decline further. From a stock perspective, this means the shares are still uber expensive even if we back out the roughly $3.00 per share the company has in net cash. That’s one reason why the shares are only making it onto the Contender List, and I’ll share a few more before too long.

The nagging question is what is driving the bottom line improvement even as revenue is expected to fall further over the coming quarters?

It’s the transition in the business model from hardware to software services, which carry richer gross margins, and focuses on security. This transition brought BlackBerry back onto our radar screens as part of our Safety & Security investment theme. As we all know in reading the headlines, there isn’t likely to be any slowdown in the speed of cyber-attacks, and this is helping fuel BlackBerry’s transition. In the recently reported August quarter, its software services business accounted for just under 80% of overall revenue vs. 44% in the year-ago quarter. To show the power of that transition, gross margins in the recently completed August quarter rose to nearly 74% vs. 29% in the year-ago quarter. Lending a helping hand, the comparatively lower margin device business fell to just $16 million in revenue vs. $105 million in the August 2016 quarter. This accelerating transition helps explain why BBRY shares have climbed 15% over the last three months vs. 6.6% for the Nasdaq Composite Index and 5.3% for the S&P 500.

As this transformation continues, another item to watch at BlackBerry is its embedded software business, a key part of our Asset-Lite investment theme.  The initial licensing focus for BlackBerry has been in the automotive industry with regard to autonomous cars. Recently Delphi Automotive (DLPH) announced that it chose BlackBerry QNX for its Centralized Sensing Localization and Planning platform, which is a fully integrated autonomous driving solution. Given our recent Cocktail Investing Podcast with Audi on prospects for autonomous cars, we know this is a development that still has several years to go until it is ready for prime time. That said, the win for BlackBerry at Delphi is certainly encouraging.

Finally, BlackBerry has had some success leveraging its licensing business, which includes software licensing, intellectual property licensing, and technology licensing. As we know given the position in Nokia (NOK) on the Tematica Investing Select List, licensing businesses tend to carry very favorable margins, but it’s also one that moves in fits and starts not a smooth, continuous line. We also know that it’s a business that takes time to convert prospects and opportunities into revenue and profits, and in the case of BlackBerry, there are others such as Qualcomm (QCOM), InterDigital (IDCC) and Nokia that have competing licensing businesses. This means we’re not apt to see leaps and bounds of improvement with this Blackberry business in a short period of time, but more likely periodic wins.

The bottom line is that BlackBerry’s transition to a Safety & Security and Asset Lite Business Model is accelerating, it has yet to really reap the rewards on its bottom line. With the shares currently trading at 142x expected 2018 earnings and well into overbought territory, we are going to place BBRY shares on the Contender List and watch for either a pullback in the shares to $8 to $9 at which they have support or signs its EPS generation is poised to accelerate in a meaningful manner over the coming quarters.

 

 

The Expanding Pain Point Fueling Safety and Security Investment Theme

The Expanding Pain Point Fueling Safety and Security Investment Theme

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been reminded of the dark side of our increasingly Connected Society, given cyber attacks and hacks at Equifax (EFX) and more recently Amazon’s (AMZN) Whole Foods and Sonic Corp. (SONC). Those are but a handful of examples in what is an expanding pain point that is fueling our Safety & Security investing theme and the ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF (HACK)* shares on the Tematica Investing Select List.

Unsurprisingly to us, there is yet another new report that not only paints a gloomier picture but also forecasts a continued ramp in cyber attacks. We see this as confirming our $35 price target on HACK shares over the coming quarters. New research by Gemalto showed that almost 2 billion data records around the world were lost or stolen by cyber attacks in the first half of 2017. Worse yet, the number of breaches is slated to rise further. Per the latest Gemalto breach level index report, there were 918 breaches during the first six months of 2017, and of those breaches, 500 had an unknown number of compromised records. Meanwhile, the top 22 breaches involved more than one million compromised records.

With new regulations such as the U.K. data protection bill, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and Australia’s Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Act set to come into force in the coming months and quarters, odds are we will see another step up in the number of reported security breaches. No wonder in its latest annual results, consulting firm Deloitte described cybersecurity as a “high growth area” for the firm.

A somewhat different view on this was had with FedEx’s (FDX) recent earnings report, in which it copped to the fact that cyberattack Petya cost the company around $300 million dollars. This should serve as a reminder the impact of a cyber attack can cost a company day to day, but it also has implications for its stock price when it misses earnings expectations.

We see all of the above as a reminder of the incremental spending to be had to fend and secure companies from prospective cyberattacks, a good thing for the companies contained inside the HACK ETF.

  • Our price target on Safety & Security investing position in the ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF (HACK) remains $35.

 

* One quick housekeeping item, there was a recent name change for HACK shares to ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF from PureFunds. The underlying strategy of the ETF and its focus on cybersecurity stocks remains intact.

No Sleepy End of  Summer in Sight

No Sleepy End of  Summer in Sight

 

We’ve survived the eclipse, and while the display was a bit underwhelming outside of the Beltway, we hope you enjoyed this rare experience that pulled 10 percent of US viewers away from Netflix while it was happening. Rest assured the consumers of streaming content that help power our Connected Society investing theme were back on board soon thereafter propelling Marvel’s The Defenders to a binge viewing pop after dropping last Friday. From time to time we may see speed bumps for our Connected Society investing theme, but much like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube, we don’t see a reversal in this tailwind or any other of those associated with our investing themes anytime soon.

If anything, as we break down the monthly retail sales data, examine data points such as the box office take and maneuverings by companies like Target (TGT) and Wal-Mart (WMT), we see that Connected Society tailwind blowing even harder as we head into the 2017 holiday shopping season. This morning it was shared that Wal-Mart is teaming with Alphabet (GOOGL) to bring Wal-Mart products to people who shop on Google Express, Google’s online shopping mall. What’s significant about this news is that it marks the first time Wal-Mart has made its products available in the U.S. on a website other than its own. Also, too, Wal-Mart is embracing aspects of our Disruptive Technology theme as it makes it products available to customers via Google Home (Google’s answer to Amazon’s Echo) as well as Google Assistant, its artificial intelligence software assistant found in smartphones powered by Google’s Android software.

Clearly, Wal-Mart is shoring up its position and investing for where retail continues to head — a path that is increasingly chartered by the Connected Society. To us, this development, along with Nike’s (NKE) recent teaming with Amazon (AMZN), is a clear signal of what’s happening in retail. It also says that lines are being drawn between those partnered with Amazon and those that aren’t. We suspect many will see this as evidence of the “retail-megeddon” that is upending the retail industry. Here at Tematica, however, our view is Amazon and Wal-Mart are in the thematic sweet spot and are positioned to become the Coke and Pepsi of retail.

We also continue to see Costco Wholesale (COST) emerging as the bronze medal winner in retail. The company’s July retail sales metrics certainly showed it is gaining consumer wallet share as it rides our Cash-Strapped Consumerand Rise & Fall of the Middle-Class tailwinds. Plus, Costco’s business model is also based on collecting membership fees, which continue to grow, and thus insulates it somewhat from the struggles of brick & mortar retail. In our view, if Costco were to acquire Boxed.com, that transaction would be a game changer for Costco’s digital shopping business.

  • We continue to have Buy ratings on Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Costco Wholesale (COST) shares with price targets of $1,150,  $1,050 and $190, respectively. 

 

 

The No Man’s Land that is the last two weeks of August. 

As we shared in this week’s Monday Morning Kickoff, trading volumes are likely to be lower these next 10 days ahead of the Labor Day weekend.  Of course, while many try to get their last bit of R&R in at a nearby beach or lake, Washington is once again taking center stage. As you have probably guessed that means some back and forth political maneuvering will push the market around over the coming weeks as renewed hopes of U.S. tax reform contend with President Trump threatening a government shutdown if Congress didn’t present him with a spending bill for the next fiscal year that included funding for a border wall. Not exactly the tone we’d like to hear ahead of the debt ceiling negotiations.

While we ultimately think the debt ceiling will be raised, we’re not looking forward to the “deadline is approaching” drama that will likely unfold. Giving us some reassurance, during a public event on Monday in Kentucky with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said there was “zero chance — no chance” that Congress would fail to raise the debt ceiling. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a walk in the park getting there.

As we watch those developments, we’ve started to get some hints as to what tax reform might look like. Early indications suggest capping the mortgage interest deduction for homeowners, scrapping people’s ability to deduct state and local taxes, eliminating businesses’ ability to deduct interest and allowing for the “repatriation” of corporate profits from overseas. As we’ve seen with the efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, the devil will be in the details, and more solid ones should emerge in the coming weeks.

Finally, less than a week into NAFTA renegotiations, President Trump has cast doubt on the future of the trade agreement saying, “I think we’ll end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point.” Again, the devil will be in the details, and until those emerge we’re likely to see corporate American hem and haw as it faces several new obstacles that are fanning the flames of uncertainty.

In our view, this is points to a potentially tumultuous next few weeks, low volume end of August followed by September, historically one of the worst months for the stock market. From a Tematica Select List perspective, we’ve seen the recent volatility ding some of the positions, but we remain comfortable given the confirming data points that we are seeing.

For example, during his address Monday night, President Trump announced a new strategy that calls for sending more troops to Afghanistan. Trump provided few specifics about his policy and how much the U.S. military commitment in the region would increase as a result. The decision, however, to further commit rather than withdraw equates to a tailwind for defense spending that is a part of our Safety & Security investing theme. Also, this week, security researchers have discovered several apps on the Google Play store harboring malware, another reminder of the downside to our increasingly Connected Society that provides lift for the cyber security aspect of our Safety & Security investing theme. As we look for details on incremental defense spending, we’ll continue to recommend subscribers add PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (HACK) shares to their holdings if they haven’t already done so.

  • We continue to have a buy on PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (HACK) shares with a long-term price target of $35.

 

 

More Tailwinds for OLEDs

Last week, as it reported a solid earnings beat and raised its outlook for the balance of the year, Applied Materials (AMAT) had several bullish things to say on organic light-emitting diode display demand:

“Display is growing even faster than wafer fab equipment as customers make multi-year investments to address large inflections in both TV and mobile. In TV, a major push to new Gen 10.5 substrates is under way. These huge, 10- square-meters substrates are ideally suited for manufacturing larger-format screens, 60 inches and bigger. We now expect 30 new Gen 10.5 factories to be built over the next several years. At the same time, mobile organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display investment is getting stronger as customers prepare for broad adoption of OLED in smartphones. OLED enables new form factors that result in a larger display area for smartphone, further expanding the overall market.”

We could not have summed it up better ourselves, and that report keeps us bullish on both AMAT and Universal Display (OLED) shares despite the recent pullback both have experienced.

  • We continue to have Buy ratings on both Applied Materials (AMAT) and Universal Display (OLED) shares with prices targets of $55 and $135, respectively

 

USAT Beats Expectations and Offers Bullish Outlook

Yesterday, shares of Cashless Consumption company USA Technologies (USAT) popped in early trading following an earnings and revenue beat for the June quarter. More specifically, the company beat bottom line expectations by $0.01 per share and topped revenues with $34.3 million, $3.2 million ahead of consensus forecasts, and up more than 55% year over year. Ticking through the press release there were a number of positive connection and customer metrics shared by the company and as expected the company offering a bullish outlook for the coming quarters.

That’s the good news.

The less good news is the company fell short when it came to discussing the impact of its recent stock offering that was completed in late July. Yes, during the current quarter, and we find that somewhat disappointing. The company did say, however, that it plans to “to take advantage of opportunities both organic and inorganic that may present themselves in this rapidly evolving landscape” and that means an acquisition or more. When peppered on the earnings conference call, USAT shared that it would seek acquisitions to “enhancing our offering with additional value-added services or allowing us to expand into additional verticals or geographies to drive further growth.”

Not a bad development by any stretch, but it is one that raises some unknowns, particularly for a small company. As we’ve heard many a banker say, the headaches associated with small acquisitions are the same ones with big ones, the only difference is the size of the fee. Given the size of the business as well as the team, the question is will USAT undertake nip and tuck acquisitions that add to its capabilities and expand its footprint or would it look to make a bolder move, potentially swallowing a larger player? We’re fans of the former, while the latter tends to result in some of those headaches such as product, facility, technology and spending integration and rationalization, as well as layoffs.

Given the global proliferation of mobile payments and the first-hand experience I had in Singapore, we’re going to stick with USAT shares for the time being. Based on any potential acquisition, we’ll look to digest the implications and what it may mean for holding the shares.

  • Our price target on USA Technologies (USAT) shares remains $6.

 

 

Disruptive Voice Technology Continues to Take Hold

Last night we shared the news that Barclays (BRC) has enabled voice payments to be made using Apple’s (AAPL) Siri functionality. This is another step forward in the disruptive use of voice technology as an interface across smartphones, intelligent speakers and soon other applications. As more and more applications come to market, we continue to be bullish on shares of Nuance Communications (NUAN) despite the slow tumble they’ve experienced over the last several weeks. As a reminder, the company has inked technology deals with Apple as well as Facebook (FB) to power their respective messaging chat bots even as the use of voice technology proliferates.

  • We remain bullish on Nuance (NUAN) shares, and our price target stands at $21.

 

 

Even Though DY Remains in Radio-Silence, We Continue to Be Patient

Next week Dycom Industries (DY) will report its quarterly results on Wednesday morning (August 30). Despite the ever-increasing need to add incremental wireless capacity and build out next generation wireline networks, in part for wireless data backhaul, to keep up with data demand, DY shares have sunk some 28% over the last three months. This equates to a round trip in the position from a high of just over $110 back to our blended cost basis of $76.68 on the Tematica Select List.

Frustrating to say the least. That frustration is compounded by the lack of news to be had from the company. Its last communique was at the Stifel Industrials Conference back in June. We know network spending at its key customers — AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ) and Comcast (CMCSA) — remains on track as they look to bring incremental 4G and gigabit internet capacity on stream, while beta-ing 5G capacity. Comcast’s recent launch of Xfinity Wireless also likely means additional wireless capital spending will be had in the coming quarters.

  • We’ll continue to be patient with Dycom Industries (DY), which is hovering in oversold territory.
  • Should the shares retreat further into the mid-$60s, we’re inclined to once again scale into the position, improving our cost basis along the way.