Browse by ▼

Piyush Arora

All Posts

  • BHP Billiton Seems Well Poised For A Turnaround

    By Piyush Arora - May 25, 2013 | Tickers: BHP, VALE, RIO

    Due to the falling demand (and prices) of most industrial commodities over the last year, BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) has been beaten down severely. Since it’s a well-diversified natural resources company, most of its divisions of been reporting declining revenues. To sustain its expensive operating structure (and to expand), BHP Billiton has been raising debt over the last couple of years (perhaps a bit too much). Yet there seems more »

  • Why Baxter Is Soaring Despite Alzheimer's Disappointment

    By Piyush Arora - May 25, 2013 | Tickers: BAX, JNJ, MNTA

    Earlier this month, Baxter International (NYSE: BAX) reported that the clinical trials for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (Gammagard) had failed. The company also announced that it would be discontinuing its research work on Alzheimer’s, following which its shares tanked by around 5%.

    Alzheimer’s blow

    Alzheimer’s disease impacts 36 million people annually around the globe, and any breakthrough in curing the disease would have raked in more »

  • Visa And MasterCard Seem Destined For Greatness

    By Piyush Arora - May 24, 2013 | Tickers: AXP, EBAY, MA, V

    One of the key reasons behind the gold crash was the recovering investor’s confidence. According to recent report, investor’s sentiment in the U.S is reaching two year highs and the prolonged economic recovery would only strengthen the investors’ confidence. Furthermore, with the dipping unemployment rate and $85 billion worth of monthly liquidity injections in a low interest rate environment, personal disposable income in the U.S economy more »

  • Time to Catch This Refiner Before It Reaches Fair Value

    By Piyush Arora - May 23, 2013 | Tickers: CST, HFC, VLO

    Oil prices have been volatile over the last year, due to which profiting from the oil sector (especially refining sector) has been quite challenging. But shares of Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) have more than doubled over the last year and could continue to soar.

    Value Unlocking

    In a bid to unlock shareholder value, Valero Energy recently decided to spin off its retail division, CST Brands (NYSE: CST), which began trading more »

  • Why Panera Bread Seems Better Than McDonalds and Yum! Brands

    By Piyush Arora - May 23, 2013 | Tickers: MCD, PNRA, YUM

    One of the biggest challenges for retail chains is to increase same store sales, with minimal capital expenditures. And the most common way to grow is, by opening new stores and entering new territories. However, some retail chains introduce new products while some acquire companies, to diversify their food offerings. In my opinion, Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) fits the growth description perfectly and seems well poised for a significant upside more »

  • A Joint Venture That Will Rule The NAND Industry

    By Piyush Arora - May 23, 2013 | Tickers: SSNLF, SNDK, TOSBF

    This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2013) did more than just pumping up the adrenaline levels of geeks. Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 800 and NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 chips are not only blazing fast, but have also unfolded growth prospects for the hard drive industry. These chips are capable of recording and rendering 4k content, which would naturally pump up the data storage requirements with their gradual adoption.

    Good more »

  • What Blackberry Needs To Do

    By Piyush Arora - May 22, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, BBRY, NOK

    It’s a well-known fact that Blackberry (NASDAQ: BBRY) has been reporting losses and has belonged to the group of mobile laggards for quite some time now. But its recent OS 10 launch has bolstered investors’ confidence, and even improved its sales--but is this growth sustainable?

    Industry Outlook

    The smartphone industry grew by 45.1% last year, and analysts estimate the industry growth to average around 44% this year. Pessimists more »

  • This Company Is Set To Soar

    By Piyush Arora - May 21, 2013 | Tickers: CAM, FTI, SLB

    Due to the looming economic uncertainty and poor investors’ sentiment, oil prices remained under pressure for the first half of 2012. But with the Fed’s announcement of QE3 and rising tensions in Middle East, oil exploration has again become profitable. Naturally, oil E&P requires expensive equipment which are mostly leased, which is why Cameron International (NYSE: CAM) is back in action.

    Solid Results

    Cameron International is the leading more »

  • A Chipmaker That's About to Pop

    By Piyush Arora - May 13, 2013 | Tickers: MU, SSNLF, TOSBF

    Anybody who is following the DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) industry must be aware of the recent crash in DRAM prices, which wreaked havoc on most DRAM manufacturers. The crash was a result of falling PC sales, while ultrabooks failed to grow at the expected rate.

    To counter the falling prices, DRAM manufacturers, including Toshiba (NASDAQOTH: TOSBF) and Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF), cut the production of their memory modules, which, coupled more »

  • This Company Seems Poised For A Rally

    By Piyush Arora - May 10, 2013 | Tickers: M, RGS, ULTA

    Initiating a well-researched contrarian position can yield tremendous returns, but the possibility of catching falling knives has always been the risk. However, the success rate of a contrarian position is significantly higher, if the company has been beaten down due to overly optimistic estimates and short term issues. The company in focus is Ulta Salon (NASDAQ: ULTA), which lost nearly 15% of its market cap YTD. Here are a few more »

  • The EPA's Optimistic Report Will Boost These Companies

    By Piyush Arora - May 10, 2013 | Tickers: COG, LNG, E

    Thanks to the shale gas boom in North America, natural gas has proved to be an economically viable replacement for coal in the continent. But, mining for natural gas involves the leakage of methane, the greenhouse effect of which is 21 times greater than carbon dioxide. Currently, methane accounts for 9% of total greenhouse gases, and a ramp up in it natural gas production would obviously have disastrous environmental consequences more »

  • A Good Company With Great Growth Prospects

    By Piyush Arora - May 10, 2013 | Tickers: AGU, CF, MON

    Agriculture is one of the oldest industries in the world and is considered to be one of the most consistent and stable sectors, yielding steady returns over time. Last year’s drought in the U.S wreaked havoc on its crop yields, which led to the stellar financial performance of most agricultural companies. The weatherman is predicting that the dry spell isn’t over yet, which suggests that agriculture companies more »

  • The Best Way to Play the Coal Rebound

    By Piyush Arora - May 7, 2013 | Tickers: ACI, BHP, BTU

    Those who thought that coal was a fuel of the past are gravely mistaken. Natural gas may have replaced coal in the U.S, but rising energy demand in Asia is forcing countries like India, Japan and China to shift toward coal gasification technology. As a result, global coal demand is expected to grow at a rate of 17% over the next four years, which has revived hope for coal-mining more »

  • Building a Solid Income Growth Portfolio: Part 1

    By Piyush Arora - May 6, 2013 | Tickers: KMP, WMB, WPZ

    Mater Liability Partnerships, or MLPs, generally have steady cash flow and distribute the bulk of earnings to their unit holders. Since MLPs aren't required to pay taxes on their income, they sport a 5% to 8% yield, which is backed by their consistent cash flows. However, the downside is that MLPs generally don’t have much growth potential and investors have to pay taxes on the distributions. But for more »

  • A Brewer With Solid Growth Prospects

    By Piyush Arora - May 6, 2013 | Tickers: BEAM, BF-B, DEO

    There’s a saying that goes:  "When the economic conditions are bad, people drink to forget their miseries. And when the economic conditions are good, they drink to celebrate their joy!" With this thesis, brewers are often mistaken for defensive plays that deliver steady returns over time.

    Shares of Diageo (ADR) (NYSE: DEO) have risen 26% over the last year, and have not only outperformed the defensive space but also more »

  • And You Thought the Rally Wouldn't Continue...

    By Piyush Arora - May 6, 2013 | Tickers: CAG, GIS, K

    Good economy or bad economy, food manufacturing and processing companies make money most of the time. The famous rationale suggesting “people need to consume” ensures a stable stream of cash flow, which is perfect to navigate economically uncertain scenarios like these. And to top it all off, a healthy dividend yield makes defensive stocks all the more attractive, especially in choppy markets. The company in focus is ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAGmore »)

  • A Value Play in Banking

    By Piyush Arora - May 1, 2013 | Tickers: GS, JPM, WFC

    With the sluggish U.S economic recovery, major banks in the country are finding it difficult to report impressive growth figures. Adding to the miseries, the pending Dodd-Frank reform and Basel III norms will further crunch the banks financially and maybe even slowdown their growth. In such a scenario, aggressive banks often increase their leverage to boost their gains, but Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) has discovered a new growth avenue more »

  • There's a Jewel to Be Found in Waste

    By Piyush Arora - May 1, 2013 | Tickers: RSG, WCN, WM

    Investing in income-growth stocks as a way to ride out market uncertainty has always been a good strategy. But investing in just any income-growth stock could be disastrous. For this kind of investing, a company needs to have a solid balance sheet, as well as ample and consistent cash flows to sustain its payouts. One such company that meets the criteria is Waste Management (NYSE: WM), and here are a more »

  • 3 Stocks That Seem Poised to Rally

    By Piyush Arora - April 29, 2013 | Tickers: COH, KORS, RL

    Thanks to the recovering U.S. economy, investor confidence in North American institutions stood at 95.5% while the global investor confidence stood at 88%. Meanwhile, the Fed’s monthly liquidity injections have driven the U.S consumer comfort index (by Bloomberg) to five-year highs, and consumer spending has risen 21% over the last five years. It’s an age old thesis that when the faith in an economy is more »

  • This Restaurant Stock Will Continue to Soar

    By Piyush Arora - April 29, 2013 | Tickers: CMG, MCD, YUM

    Over the last few years, Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) has been a dream stock and has helped investors accumulate fortunes. This has been made possible by its aggressive expansions in the U.S., which somewhat revolutionized the Mexican cuisine in the country.

    As a result, its shares have risen nearly 220% over the last five years, while shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) and McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) have more »

  • Page 1 of 14