The 42% revenue decline in FICC to GBP1.23mm in 2014Q1, reported yesterday, is a poor showing on both an absolute and relative-to-peers basis (even allowing for Barclays tilt to rates vs. better-performing credit, the currency headwind from stronger sterling, and
Using patent data, we estimate the relative ‘true economic’ value of companies’ pre-phase 3 (aka ‘hidden’ pipelines), then compare these estimates to the apparent market capitalization of these same pipelines. Our fundamentally based estimate of a given pipeline’s value often
The retirement of CEO Greg Steinhafel, apparently related to the Target data breach last November, is shocking. While the proximate cause of the breach was weak security in the POS systems, the ultimate cause is Visa’s desire to preserve the
This morning, TSN reported Q2 ’14 EPS results of $0.60 per share, falling shy of consensus by $0.03 per share. Revenue, a less important metric given the volatility of the company’s margin structure, was +7.2% year on year, beating consensus
MRK’s economic returns to R&D spending (the relationship between Yr1 R&D spending and Yr10 adjusted earnings) have been slightly below the (falling) industry average since 2009. For reference, industry returns to current R&D spending appear to be below cost of
MA is aggressively buying back stock with the payout ratio in 2014Q1 rising to 2x as the firm repurchased $1.7bn funded in part by an inaugural debt issue of $1.5bn (taking the debt-to-equity ratio to 22%). The repurchase of 21mm
In conjunction with its earnings release this morning, ENR announced its intent to separate into two, separate publicly traded companies: Consumer products (batteries and lighting products) – battery category is in secular decline, excellent free cash flow profile, capital structure
WLK has indicated that it will place its US ethylene and pipeline assets into an MLP and has filed a registration statement for an initial public offering of the MLP. Not surprisingly the stock has reacted very favorably to the
ADM reported Q1 ’14 results that were well shy of consensus this morning ($0.55 per share, adjusted, versus expectations of $0.74 per share). While a less impactful number, revenues missed consensus estimates as well. While we like ADM’s long-term positioning
The USDA is set to release the weekly crop progress report later today, and we expect substantial improvement in the amount of corn that has been put in the ground versus last week’s total of 6%. As we mentioned last
