Will Whirlpool's Price Continue to Climb?

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On January 12th, shares of Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE:WHR) crossed the $200/sh threshold for the first time ever. Now trading at $200.92/sh, the stock has risen by 44% in the last 4 months.

Whirlpool (WHR) stock price increase from 2012 - 2015.
Chart courtesy of YCharts.com.

The rapid price rise is nothing new; Whirlpool’s stock is in the midst of an extended run of robust performance. Over the last 3 years, WHR has increased almost four-fold, climbing by 277% since being quoted at $53.33/sh on January 23rd, 2012. During that same period, the company’s earnings expanded by 137% to their current level of $9.41/sh.

Looking at these numbers alone, one might assume that the stock is due for a correction. Has its price climbed too quickly? Is the stock overvalued? I’d argue that WHR remains undervalued, and that investors can expect the stock to continue outperforming the market with ease. Continue reading "Will Whirlpool's Price Continue to Climb?"

GameStop Corp. (GME) is an Attractive Buying Opportunity

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GameStop Corp. (SPX: GME) has been victimized of late by the market’s bearish sentiment for video game retailers. Analysts claim the gaming industry is making an abrupt transition into streaming. In order for this statement to be true, a rather large assumption must be made -- that consumer preferences within the gaming industry are perfectly aligned. This has led investors to largely overlook GameStop’s bottom line growth thus far in FY 2015, in addition to the company’s strong forward earnings projections.


Chart courtesy of FinViz.com

As short interest approaches 50%, GameStop’s stock price has suffered through the turn of the New Year. The stock declined by 19% in less than 2 months after trading at $44.70/sh on November 20th, 2014. With a current price of $36.35/sh, GME is trading 22% below its 52-week high. Continue reading "GameStop Corp. (GME) is an Attractive Buying Opportunity"

Manitex (NASDAQ:MNTX) Looks Primed For Excess Returns

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In theory, the price of any stock represents the present value of future cash flows. When those cash flows (i.e. earnings per share) are undergoing a contraction, the share price should theoretically decline. Occasionally, a share price will fail to reflect a future rebound in earnings growth that's expected to occur. In such a scenario, the intelligent investor takes notice. He knows that if projections are indicating a future rebound in earnings, then he can expect a future rebound in the stock price as well. He's aware that, in this instance, the further the share price declines today, the larger the percentage gain investors will see tomorrow. Thus, the stock is an obvious buying opportunity.

Let us turn our attention to Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTX), a provider of engineered lifting solutions. The company is currently valued at a market cap just north of $150M. Like many fast-growing small cap stocks, MNTX has seen plenty of volatility in both its earnings and share price.

MNTX chart

With full-year EPS expected to contract by 17.5% YOY (from $0.80/sh to $0.66/sh), the stock is trading roughly 38% below its 52-week high. Furthermore, its P/E ratio of 15.6 is in the lower echelon of its long-term range, which would seem to imply a further earnings contraction to occur beyond 2014. Continue reading "Manitex (NASDAQ:MNTX) Looks Primed For Excess Returns"

Buy Qualcomm (QCOM) While It’s Cheap

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QCOM Chart

On July 23rd of this year, shares of Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) stock were quoted at $81.97, representing the highest price they've reached all year. At the time, its P/E ratio was just north of 20. In an overpriced market, for a company of Qualcomm's caliber - whose double digit earnings growth is projected to hold steady in the long term - one would logically think it was a rare bargain at the time.

But the way in which QCOM's priced has moved in recent months has been largely devoid of logic. On Friday, December 12th, the stock closed at $70.59, just 4% above its 52-week low. The price is indicative of a 14% drop which occurred within just 5 months of hitting its high point. That’s a 34% annualized drop in price.

Speculation Has Been Hurting QCOM's Stock Price

...But for any well-known stock, speculative-based price movements never seem to hold steady in the long term.

Whenever a company has at least some level of earnings growth, its stock becomes an attractive target when its price takes a large enough dip to push it into value territory. In the case of QCOM, this would apply at its current price level. Continue reading "Buy Qualcomm (QCOM) While It’s Cheap"