Mastercard (NYSE: MA) released its Q3 2018 results October 30, 2018. Mastercard and VISA have recently agreed to pay $5.54B - $6.24B to a class of more than 12 million merchants who accept the payment networks’ cards in the largest-ever class-action settlement of a U.S. antitrust case. This brings to an end one litigation matter [...]
Summary HSY recently released Q3 2018 results and warned its profits will come under pressure given rising costs. Higher costs will likely persist into 2019 but there are plans to offset these higher costs with strategic price increases on roughly a fifth of HSY products. HSY shares are more suited for investors seeking to avoid [...]
Summary Moody’s (MCO) and S&P Global Inc. (SPGI) command a ~80% market share of the ratings industry. I view these two companies much like I view the VISA and Mastercard oligopoly. MCO released less than stellar Q3 results on October 26th. Its share price has been taking a beating subsequent to the last week of [...]
In my March 4th analysis written exclusively for Financial Freedom is a Journey subscribers I indicated I viewed S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) as being overvalued. Now that SPGI has pulled back in the past month and has released Q3 and YTD results and has updated its guidance for the remainder of the current fiscal year, [...]
Summary CNR released its Q3 results on October 23rd and reported quarterly revenue of $3.688B - the highest in its 99 year history. Net income was lower than in Q2 due to higher fuel prices, higher labour costs (increase in headcount and higher training costs for new employees), higher costs as a result of increased [...]
Summary While MMM reported Q3 results on October 23rd and revised FY2018 earnings downward, the revised FY2018 EPS projections are 11 % - 13% higher than FY2017 results. MMM will be holding its Investor Day on November 15th at which time management will lay out its 5-year plan and the framework for that plan. View [...]
Summary UTX released Q3 results on October 23 and provided an upward revision to its adjusted EPS for FY2018. The Rockwell Collins acquisition has received approval from the EU Commission and from the U.S. Department of Justice. The deal is currently under review in China and the acquisition is expected to close in 2 - [...]
W.W. Grainger (GWW) released its Q3 2018 results on October 16th. Included in these results was a ~$0.139B write-down of Goodwill and Intangible Assets. In addition to this write-down, there has been an impact to revenue by reason of the new revenue recognition accounting standard where certain service costs are reclassified from operating expense [...]
Summary Following the 2017 Valspar acquisition, SHW is the leader in the highly fragmented coatings industry with the top 10 suppliers holding a ~55% market share. Goodwill and Intangible Assets now comprises over 64% of SHW’s Total Assets. SHW’s Long-Term Debt to EBITDA ratio upon completion of the Valspar acquisition rose to 4.5Xs. At its [...]
Attractive buying opportunities have been hard to find and with PPG's stock price having retraced ~22% from its 52 week high I take a look at whether PPG is a worthwhile investment. Summary The news coming from PPG in recent months has been less than positive. PPG released lower earnings guidance for Q3 and Q4 [...]
