Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Target Corporation
Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is the second largest general merchandise and food discount chain retailer in the U.S. Target sells a number of products from household essentials, home furnishings, and kitchenware to fashion apparel, multimedia entertainment, groceries, and pet supplies. Target operates through roughly 1,740 brick-and-mortar Target and SuperTarget stores in 49 states, as well as online through Target.com. Target also supplies credit to its customers through its proprietary Target Visa and Target Card.
Key Competitors
Costco Wholesale Corporation
Kmart Corporation
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Summary Financials
Fiscal Year-End: January
2010 Sales (mil.): $65,357.0
1-Year Sales Growth: 0.6%
2010 Net Income (mil.): $2,488.0
1-Year Net Income Growth: 12.4%
Company Industry Median Market Median
Price/Sales Ratio 0.65 0.52 3.48
Price/Earnings Ratio 17.18 17.33 25.58
© 2010 Morningstar, Inc. Financial Data provided by
Reason to Own
• With consumer spending down and unemployment up, discount retailers are positioned to be more attractive to consumers
Reasons to Sell
•
Recent News
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) is a global provider of investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals. Goldman Sachs operates through three business segments: Trading and Principle Investments, Asset Management and Securities Services, and Investment Banking.
- Trading and Principle Investments
The Trading Principle Investments is Goldman Sachs' largest segment, comprising 78% ($662B) of total assets. The market-making arm of Goldman Sachs is one of the largest sitting on the New York Stock Exchange. It engages in market making activities in all aspects of financial securities, derivatives, real estate, and private equity investing and subordinate lending. - Asset Management and Securities Services
Goldman Sachs' Asset Management and Securities Services segment offers asset management services comprising of investment advisory services, financial planning, and investment products; management of merchant banking funds; and securities services, such as prime brokerage, financial services, and securities lending. - Investment Banking
Goldman Sachs' Investment Banking segment, which accounts for an estimated 25% of revenues, is comprised of two components: Financial Advisory and Underwriting. Financial Advisory includes advisory services with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructuring, and spin-offs. Underwriting includes both equity underwriting and debt underwriting, public and private.
Morgan Stanley
Citigroup, Incorporated
JPMorgan Chase & Company
Bank of America Corporation
Summary Financials
GS 5-day Stock Price - Yahoo! Finance
Reason to Own
- Arguably most prestigious and profitable bank on Wall Street
Reasons to Sell
- Large amount of equity highly exposed to derivative risk
- China urging state-owned enterprises to default on existing commodity derivatives
Saturday, April 10, 2010
CONSOL Energy Inc.
CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) is a multi-fuel energy producer and energy services provider primarily serving the electric power generation industry in the United States. It primarily has two business units: Coal and Gas. During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Company produced quality bituminous coal from 16 mining complexes in the United States.
- The Coal unit, majorly involves activities such as mining, preparation and marketing of steam coal (for power generation) and metallurgical coal (for steel and coke production).
- The Gas unit principal activity is to produce methane gas for sale primarily to gas wholesalers.
- CONSOL Energy’s allied businesses include terminal services, river and dock services, industrial supply services and other business activities, including rentals of building and flight operations.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Apple Inc.
Western Digital (WDC)
Altria Group
Altria Group, Inc., (NYSE: MO) is involved in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, wine, and other tobacco products in the United States and internationally. The subsidiaries of Altria are; PhillipMorrisUSA, US Smokeless Tobacco Company, John Middleton, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and Phillip Morris Capital Corporation. It offers cigarettes under the Marlboro, Virginia Slims, and Parliament brands; smokeless tobacco products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.
Key Statistics
Revenue $ 16.82 Billion EBITDA $ 6.63 Billion Net Income $ 3.20 Million Operating Margin 19.06 % Revenue Growth (Quarterly/yoy) 7.00 %
Reasons to buy
- Alcohol and Tobacco are shown to be fairly recession proof products as they are viewed by users as necessities
- High Dividend and Earnings yield - Motley Fool
Reasons to sell
- Constant risk of litigation in the tobacco industry
- Rising prices of tobacco products as a result of continued taxation could reduce demand for products and deter new customers
Amazon.com Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is a online retailer in North America and internationally. The company has multiple retail web sites, including amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.de, amazon.fr, amazon.co.jp, amazon.ca, and amazon.cn. Its major categories include books; movies, music, and games; digital downloads; electronics and computers; home and garden; toys, kids, and baby; grocery; apparel, shoes, and jewelry; health and beauty; sports and outdoors; and tools, auto, and industrial. The company serves its consumer customers through its retail Websites and focuses on selection, price, and convenience. It also offers programs that enable seller customers to sell their products on its Websites and their own branded Websites. In addition, the company serves developer customers through Amazon Web Services, which provides access to technology infrastructure that developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Amazon also manufactures and sells the kindle e-reader. Additionally, the company offers co-branded credit card programs, fulfillment, and other marketing and promotional services, such as online advertising. Amazon.com, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
Key Statistics
| Revenues | $ 24.51 Billion |
| EBITDA | $ 1.39 Billion |
| Net Income | $ 902 Million |
| Operating Margin | 4.81 % |
| Revenue Growth (Quarterly/yoy) | 42.00 % |
Reasons to buy
- The Amazon web services business, especially the cloud computing space, has been growing rapidly and appears to have a strong future
- Amazon.com has shown strong revenue growth with growth of 42% year over year this past quarter
Reasons to Sell
- The new iPad could take market share from the Kindle e-reader