Shawn Robinson

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• Scanning for Financial Shenanigans

  By Shawn Robinson - July 18, 2012 | Tickers: EBAY, GMCR, SFLY |

  In the late 1990’s, Indiana University professor Messod Beneish developed a model that gave investors the ability to target companies that are manipulating their earnings. His model, known as the Beneish M-Score, uses 8 key attributes (explained more in the Appendix below) that he believed were relevant in detecting fraudulent earnings. His research, linked here, can be a useful tool for investors.*
  
  Creating a screen using the M-score model more »

• Searching for the Next Great Retail Stock

  By Shawn Robinson - May 9, 2012 | Tickers: DSW, GCO, LULU

  Back in January, I wrote an article here on the Motley Fool Blogging Network which attempted to show that restaurant stocks are a good place for growth investors to examine because their business models allow for rapid expansion. Investors should also keep an eye out for companies in the retail industry because they have similar models and can often result in great returns for shareholders.

  
  Take Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULUmore »)

• Does This Stock Have a First Mover Advantage?

  By Shawn Robinson - April 16, 2012 | Tickers: ACOM, F, HTZ, ZIP |

  Every Zipcar (NASDAQ: ZIP) shareholder knew the day was coming when larger car rivals like Hertz (NYSE: HTZ), would attempt to offer rentals on an hourly basis to directly compete against ZIP. That day has come as Hertz recently unveiled an hourly rental service in attempt to partake in this growing consumer trend. Given that Zipcar enjoys roughly a $20 per car per day value greater than Hertz (see table more »

• Jack in the Box: The Poor Man’s Chipotle

  By Shawn Robinson - April 3, 2012 | Tickers: CMG, JACK

  There has been a great deal of debate recently on the valuation of Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) given its meteoric rise over the past few years. Does the company serve fantastic food? Absolutely. Should it be valued at 61 times current earnings? I am not sure. But investors who want a piece of the casual Mexican taco should take a look at much more reasonably priced Jack in the Box (NASDAQ: JACKmore »)

• Rising Taxes? Could be Time for a Few Special Dividend Candidates

  By Shawn Robinson - March 22, 2012 | Tickers: DELL, EMC, JNPR, SNDK

  Special dividends are distributions to shareholders that are made on a non-recurring basis, which are different than traditional quarterly dividends that shareholders are accustomed to. The most notable special dividend in recent memory came from Microsoft in 2004 when it paid $3 per share, or $32 billion to shareholders in one transaction. Other recent notables include Garmin, the satellite navigation maker and Limited Brands, the company behind apparel stores like more »

• Just the Facts, Ma'am

  By Shawn Robinson - March 12, 2012 | Tickers: FDS, MORN

  Back in January of this year, I wrote an article here on the Motley Fool Blog Network titled, “One Simple Screen for Bargain Stocks,” where I attempted to find stocks that have recently underperformed relative to the S&P 500, but could be a bargain given managements' past performance in allocating capital. One stock that appeared on my screen was FactSet Research Systems (NYSE: FDS), which leverages large databases of more »

• Does Your Stock Have a Commitment Problem?

  By Shawn Robinson - March 6, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, NFLX, S

  Investors have been taught well by websites like The Motley Fool the importance of examining the balance sheet to determine the health of a company.  The balance sheet discloses the company’s assets, short term requirements and long term financial debt, which could affect the future value of the company. But given the variability on what actually constitutes a true balance sheet transaction (at least in eyes of the Financial more »

• Can this Stock Keep up its Growth?

  By Shawn Robinson - February 28, 2012 | Tickers: BWLD, DRI |

  A few weeks ago, I wrote an article here on the Motley Fool Blog Network titled, “Searching for the Next Great Restaurant Stock,” where I noted that investors tend to like restaurant stocks as their business models can often result in accelerated revenue growth over a short period of time. One stock that I didn’t discuss which has generated fantastic shareholder returns over the past five years was Buffalo more »

• The Decline in this Stock is all Google Needs

  By Shawn Robinson - February 20, 2012 | Tickers: ACOM, GOOG

  Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM) reported fourth quarter earnings in line with analyst estimates but showed weakness in estimated 2012 profit driven by a less than expected 12% growth in subscribers. The negative outlook caused shares of the company to plunge almost 17% by the end of trading this past Thursday. This significant drop in the share price will surely begin to attract suitors who could find value in ACOM’s more »

• Why are there Bears in these Stocks?

  By Shawn Robinson - February 14, 2012 | Tickers: BBRY, UBNT, ZNGA

  Investors should make it part of their routine to periodically check for changes in market statistics for insight into trends affecting their holdings. One of the trends I like to monitor is if the short sellers, or investors who are betting on a stock’s decline, are increasing their number of shares held short. This type of information allows an investor to examine, on the whole, if the company they more »

• The Case for Optimism at Abercrombie

  By Shawn Robinson - February 7, 2012 | Tickers: ANF, ARO, AEO

  Anyone who has shopped at Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), the well known maker of specialty apparel, knows the company has a knack for receiving premium pricing on clothes that are remarkably similar to their direct competitors. This pricing power can be seen in the company’s gross margins, or the difference between total sales and the cost of the products, which are in their own stratosphere compared to their direct more »

• One Simple Screen for Bargain Stocks

  By Shawn Robinson - January 31, 2012 | Tickers: BBRY, DECK, FDS, NEOG, RSH

  Lately I have been bargain hunting for stock ideas using the simple screening criteria outlined below. Stock screens are useful because they let investors search through the thousands of publicly traded stocks for specific attributes and ratios that can lead to more favorable investments (check out this tutorial or this video from Fool.com’s Rex Moore if you are unfamiliar with stock screens). This screen, or any screen for more »

• Searching for the Next Great Restaurant Stock

  By Shawn Robinson - January 22, 2012 | Tickers: BBRG, CMG, BAGL, PNRA, PZZI

  Restaurant stocks are typically a favorite among investors because their business models can often result in accelerated revenue growth over a short period of time.

  Take Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), for example. The company popularized the fast casual restaurant model and has grown sales from $875 million in 2006 to an estimated $2.2 billion in 2011 by opening more than 600 locations. Any investor who purchased shares in more »

• Make Al Bundy Proud, Under Armour

  By Shawn Robinson - January 17, 2012 | Tickers: NKE, UA

  Under Armour (NYSE: UA) releases fiscal fourth quarter earnings on January 26th. Investors should be monitoring UA's overall profit growth, international expansion progress and the all important footwear category (Hence the Al Bundy joke in the title) for insight into how UA’s shares could perform in the next few years.
  
  Why is the footwear category so important?
  
  The company has proven that they can succeed in the apparel more »

• Is GameStop Prime for a Dividend?

  By Shawn Robinson - January 10, 2012 | Tickers: GME

  The video game retailer GameStop (NYSE: GME) could announce its first ever dividend over the next few months. The gesture will be directed to appease shareholders who are concerned the company lacks growth and sustainability in its business model. The fiscal third and fourth quarters (ending October and January, respectively) is typically when GME, like most retailers, generate the vast majority of their free cash flow (FCF) for the year more »

• The Big Box Retailer Risk

  By Shawn Robinson - January 3, 2012 | Tickers: ATVI, BBY, GME, MJN, NTGR, SHLD, WMT, WHR

  Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) announced last week that they plan to close over 100 Sears and Kmart stores to trim costs due to poor holiday sales. That news sent shares of the retailer down around 25% as investors fear that Sears will continue to have trouble operating in this competitive environment.

  Investors also reacted to the news by sending shares of Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) down almost 9%. Why? Because according more »

• Can Zipcar Become Profitable?

  By Shawn Robinson - December 27, 2011 | Tickers: CSTR, HTZ, ZIP

  Zipcar (NASDAQ: ZIP) operates a car sharing business in 16 major cities and over 250 college campuses that is growing rapidly. The service is popular among college students and those living in dense metropolitan areas as it offers a convenient way of accessing a vehicle without the hassle of ownership. Even with 65% annual growth in members over the last five years, consistent profitability has been elusive for the 11 more »

• Tracking Stock Buybacks

  By Shawn Robinson - December 19, 2011 | Tickers: TIVO

  On August 12th of this year, TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) announced the approval of a $100 million share repurchase program. The stock closed up 5.2% on the news to around $8 per share. The company noted in their press release that they felt a share repurchase is an effective use of their capital given the market volatility. Investors seemed to agree. For those who aren’t as familiar with the more »

• Should Intel Continue to Play Venture Capitalist?

  By Shawn Robinson - December 13, 2011 | Tickers: GOOG, INTC, MSFT, VMW

  During the third quarter Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) recorded a $150 million gain on the sale of VMWare (NYSE: VMW) shares. I have known for a while that tech giants like INTC use a portion of their cash flow to invest in other tech companies. Intel has Intel Capital, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has Google Ventures and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which doesn’t have a cool name for their investment vehicle, did more »

• The Case For Optimism at TD Ameritrade

  By Shawn Robinson - December 8, 2011 | Tickers: AMTD

  Remember when you visited your middle school as an adult and were shocked at how small the lockers were? The lockers didn’t change, just your perception of them. That is how I felt today when I read the number of client assets held at TD Ameritrade (NYSE: AMTD): $407 billion. That’s it. Some of you are probably thinking that I am crazy for thinking $407 billion is small more »