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j.a. graham

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  • Once Upon a Time Netflix Rented DVDs

    By j.a. graham - June 25, 2012 | Tickers: CSTR, NFLX

    Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) is in metamorphosis/transformation. Without looking at the history and the recent results, it is tempting to think of it as a huge bargain in the mid-$60s down from $300 last summer.

    If you do spend some time with the company pre-and post-streaming, it is clear Netflix will never again be the fast-growing king of content rental it was. Not only are subscriber additions slowing, but more »

  • Whole Joe’s Food Trader AKA The Fresh Market

    By j.a. graham - June 23, 2012 | Tickers: ARDNA, TFM, VLGEA, WFM | Editor's Choice

    Overview

    The Fresh Market (NASDAQ: TFM) is Whole Joe’s Food Trader and a breath of fresh air in the grocery sector. It is not a pure organic retailer like Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM) and it is not specialty packaged foods, wine and beer like Trader Joe’s. TFM sells high-quality food and specialty items including wine and beer. Perishables are its forte (like WFM) and account for more than more »

  • Yongye Gets Tough

    By j.a. graham - May 16, 2012 | Tickers: YONG

    Yongye (NASDAQ: YONG) collected some of its receivables, but they had to be pushed by public opinion to do it. Last quarter, there was a fair amount of negative press regarding the runaway accounts receivables after they reported fourth quarter and annual earnings. Apparently, it was important enough to the company, to compel them to issue a press release April 3, 2012, to reassure investors everything was under control.

    During more »

  • Hologic's Wholly Illogical Merger

    By j.a. graham - May 7, 2012 | Tickers: GPRO, HOLX, QGEN

     

    Hologic (NASDAQ: HOLX) specializes in women’s health and operates in four business segments:

    • Breast Health   31%
    • Diagnostics     32%
    • GYN Surgical    17%
    • Skeletal Health  3%

    The company was a pioneer in digital mammography taking on the big conglomerates like GE and Siemens AG who had much larger and better-established radiology divisions. Hologic’s early growth was astronomic. 

    Part of that growth was through business mergers and acquisitions. They made six more »

  • Green Mountain Sinks in a Sea of K-cups

    By j.a. graham - May 7, 2012 | Tickers: GMCR, SBUX

    Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR) is once again plumbing new depths as it sinks to lows not seen since the fall of 2010 when the SEC announced its interest in Green Mountain’s accounting. At the time, that represented a buying opportunity as Green Mountain rebounded from around $27 to $110 one year later -— a three-fold gain. It has given back all those gains in the past six months more »

  • Is the Party Over for Aubrey McClendon

    By j.a. graham - May 1, 2012 | Tickers: CHK

    Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) is now in the news and no doubt wishes it wasn’t. The CEO, Aubrey McClendon, with his penchant for living on leverage, has reportedly borrowed over one billion dollars using his ownership in Chesapeake wells as collateral.  The media is now concerned about this almost two decades old agreement granting the CEO and founder participation rights in Chesapeake’s wells (FWPP). McClendon is granted up more »

  • Expeditor's Legal Hot Water Boils the Frog

    By j.a. graham - April 30, 2012 | Tickers: EXPD, UPS, UTIW

    I regard freight forwarders as canaries in the coal mine when it comes to making any predictions about the global economy.  Freight forwarders handle the logistics of moving a customer's products around the world or locally by ship, plane, and truck. They can be asset light like Expeditors International (NASDAQ: EXPD) and UTi Worldwide (NASDAQ: UTIW) or more heavily invested in trucks and planes as United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPSmore »)

  • Johnson & Johnson Waiting to Exhale

    By j.a. graham - April 26, 2012 | Tickers: JNJ, MDT, SYK, ZMH

    Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and investors take a deep breath and wait for Fort Washington to re-open, drugs to be approved and Synthes to recharge medical devices. In the meantime, things are a little slow.

     Q1 was a nexus of bad news spanning all segments. Combined, they contributed to a first quarter that will not go down in history as one of their better efforts.

     Global combined revenue for Q1 more »

  • Citigroup's Shareholder Smackdown

    By j.a. graham - April 20, 2012 | Tickers: C, WFM | Editor's Choice

    This is the second year that proxy say on pay has been up for a vote by shareholders. It was part of Dodd-Frank:

     At least once every 3 years, a public corporation is required to submit to a shareholder vote the approval of executive compensation. And once every six years it should be submitted to shareholder vote whether the required approval of executive compensation should be more often than once more »

  • American Eagle Gets Some High-Priced Help

    By j.a. graham - April 17, 2012 | Tickers: ANF, ARO, AEO

     

    American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) has been stalled for the last three years giving shareholders little to be excited about except for a $0.44 dividend yielding 2.6% which is not a lot to be excited about.

    The current CEO, James O’Donnell, retired in January 2012 after being with AEO for 8 years. At least 5 of those years were good but since 2008, he has been unable more »

  • Amazon Sweatshops Get Cool Robotic Workforce--Just in Time For Summer

    By j.a. graham - April 16, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN | Editor's Choice

    Over the past year, there have been a couple of exposés looking inside warehouses or fulfillment centers at working conditions.

    Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) does not call these warehouses, instead preferring to place the emphasis on the customer—fulfilling the needs of consumers. It shapes the culture at Amazon and places relentless pressure on employee performance.

    From Jeff Bezos -- a 2009 video:

    "The first thing I know is that you need more »

  • Fly Like an American Eagle--or Not

    By j.a. graham - April 15, 2012 | Tickers: ARO, AEO

    Gotta go back in time to 2007-2008 when distressed denim was in its prime but getting ready to die.  There were whole industries specializing in taking perfectly good denim and shredding and fading it. Distressed denim was selling for $200, $300, $400 a pair for jeans. They were ripped, wrinkled, stained and sequined. Companies like Aeropostale(NYSE: ARO) and American Eagle(NYSE: AEO) were doing big business in jeans at more »

  • Linn Energy Hedges a 7% Yield

    By j.a. graham - April 11, 2012 | Tickers: APC, CHK

     A limited liability corporation, or LLC, is not a dividend payer but rather a pass through tax structure much like a master limited partnership. As an LLC that produces natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids (NGLs), Linn Energy (NASDAQ: LINN) is not double taxed. Instaed, the profits pass through to unitholders and the taxes on those profits are paid by the unitholders. The “payout” ratio is called a distribution more »

  • Groupon Grapples With Accounting 101

    By j.a. graham - April 10, 2012 | Tickers: GRPN

    Another day, another accounting gaffe – restatements already and it’s just their first quarter as a publicly traded company.

    Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) has been publicly traded since November 2011 and was born in a choppy sea of accounting irregularities with no smooth sailing in sight for shareholders yet. 

    In a seemingly endless series of highly entertaining exchanges with the SEC pre-IPO, Groupon was forced to accede to several accounting changes more »

  • Amazon Meet Asimov

    By j.a. graham - March 28, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, OSTK | Editor's Choice

    Isaac Asimov was one of the most prolific science fiction writers of his time. He created worlds populated by robotic intelligence and from his work we get the three rules that govern robots:

     1.A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

     2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders more »

  • Starbucks Evolves

    By j.a. graham - March 26, 2012 | Tickers: JMBA, SBUX

    Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) acquired Evolution Fresh in November 2011 for $30 million. Evolution Fresh was a privately held juice company in the business of making cold-pressed juices with a unique pasteurization process not requiring the heat that harms flavor and nutrition. The juices are fresh and flavorful with the emphasis on organic, wholesome drinks.

    Evolution was not a retailer and engaged solely in selling wholesale to grocery outlets including traditional more »

  • Aeropostale Aiming Low--Q4 2011

    By j.a. graham - March 21, 2012 | Tickers: ARO

    Fourth Quarter 2011

    It was not a good quarter. Net sales decreased 4% and same store sales were down 9%. Net income was $26.1 million down 69% and diluted EPS was $0.32 including a $0.12 asset impairment charge.  Without the impairment net would still be down 58%. Not exactly a banner quarter. Cost of sales is still eating them alive. Cotton was a factor but promotional more »

  • Aeropostale Aiming Low--Backstory

    By j.a. graham - March 21, 2012 | Tickers: ANF, ARO, AEO, GPS

    It’s been a volatile couple of years for Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO). Two years ago, ARO was at historic highs around $30 per share. And why not? ARO was coming off some of the best comps and growth in its history with 19% increases in same store salese in 2009, 18% for 2010 and revenue growth at 18% in 2009-2010.

    2011 was not as kind. The price dropped from over more »

  • Yongye Hits the Great Wall

    By j.a. graham - March 20, 2012 | Tickers: YONG | Editor's Choice

    Yongye (NASDAQ: YONG) continues to see high revenue growth. Unfortunately, in 2011, much of the growth has rested on extending longer and longer credit terms to distributors. The credit shows up as higher dollar amounts in receivables and long days sales outstanding. 

     Accounts Receivable

    The company has not been as far behind in receivables in its history as it was in Q4 2011. In Q2 2011, management was confident of more »

  • Biglari Holdings Signature Move

    By j.a. graham - March 12, 2012 | Tickers: BRK-A, BH, CAW, DENN, MCD

    Biglari Holdings (NYSE: BH), modestly and eponymously named after Sardar Biglari, has been called the next Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) and Mr. Biglari the next Warren Buffet. Biglari clearly is a Buffett disciple.

    Berkshire, of course, is the company Warren Buffet built in large part using insurance company floats for cash. The lesson was not lost on Biglari and he has pursued two insurance companies in the past two and more »