Tag: Amazon

Apple’s earnings decline again: third time unlucky? | Responsible Investor Weekly Newsletter, August 5th, 2023

Responsible Investor is a weekly newsletter and an Apple/Spotify podcast for those who are interested in investing responsibly. Go to responsibleinvestor.dk for more information and to read our disclaimer. This week’s newsletter is titled “Apple’s earnings decline again: third time unlucky?”, and was written on August 5th, 2023.

Weekly summary in a paragraph

The US stock market indices were lower this week, as all the major indices were spooked by Fitch downgrading to AA+ the US national debt and by mixed labour market data. The European stock market was also weaker on negative sentiment caused by poor Q2 earnings and 2024 forecasts. The 2-10y spread shrunk again and significantly this week, but it is still inverted at -73 basis points. The Bank of England raised interest rates to a new 15-year high, warning that its fight against inflation may require tighter borrowing conditions for a longer period. In corporate news, one third of the S&P500 companies reported Q2 earnings with Amazon beating and Apple underwhelming investors. Next week more S&P500 companies will report Q2 earnings, including Disney, UPS and Novo Nordisk to name a few.

Asset classes weekly performance

This week the Dow finished -1.1% lower (+5.8% year to date) while the S&P500 lost -2.3% (+16.6% year to date), the Nasdaq depreciated -2.9% (+32.9% year to date) and the Russell 2000 was -1.2% weaker (+11.1% year to date). Gold finished -1.5% lower (+2.7% year to date) while Silver slid -5.0% (-4.4% year to date). Crude Oil appreciated +1.0% (+8.4% year to date). The 10-y US treasury yield gained +2.6% (+7.0% year to date). The European stock market tanked -3.8% (+16.7% year to date). The Euro lost -0.1% against the US Dollar (+2.8% year to date).

Weekly pitch

We don’t typically feature individual stocks in the weekly pitch: the comments on Apple that follow are meant to illustrate the link between earnings and stock prices. As a general, well-established trend, stock prices follow earnings and earnings expectations. Last Thursday Apple reported the third consecutive quarterly decline in sales in a row. While the Services income reached an all time high, the decline in overall earnings may put pressure on the stock price, at least until the new lineup of models is presented in September. Responsible Investor has owned Apple on and off over the years (mostly on!), though we are not buyers at these levels. Responsible investors should review their positions during the earnings season, exercise caution and maintain a healthy proportion of their portfolio in cash and hedges as well as a diversified portfolio with some exposure to the European stock market.

Weekly Portfolio Update

Here are this week’s movements: we have taken full profits on our Draftkings (+52.9%), Yelp (+28.4%) and Range Resources (+14.3%) long positions and partial profits on our KWEB (+10.5%) long position. We have accumulated our Zimmer Biomet Holdings long position and initiated long positions on Newmont Mining, Hershey’s and Gilead Sciences as well as a short position on XPO Logistics. Cash, US treasury bills, precious metals and hedges amount to 43.5% in our portfolio (reduced compared to last week).

Top 5 Weekly Portfolio Performers

iPath Series B S&P500 VIX Short-Term Futures +12.8% (Volatility ETN)

ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ +9.5% (3x inverse Nasdaq ETF)

Duerr AG +4.5% (Industrial Machinery)

ACI Worldwide +4.4% (Packaged Software)

Halliburton +3.6% (Oil Services)

Portfolio Asset Allocation

US stocks long positions 48% (increased)

EU stocks long positions 8.5% (unchanged)

US stocks short position 2.5% (unchanged)

Hedges 8.0% (unchanged)

Silver & Gold 2% (unchanged)

US Treasury bills 2% (unchanged)

Cash 29% (reduced)

1-year Portfolio Performance

Our portfolio performance over the last 12 months is +11.3% (excl. dividends) vs the S&P500 gain of +7.9%, which corresponds to a 3.4% market beat.

Invest responsibly!!!

Q2 earnings decline: now what? | Responsible Investor Weekly Newsletter, July 29th, 2023

Responsible Investor is a weekly newsletter and an Apple/Spotify podcast for those who are interested in investing responsibly. Go to responsibleinvestor.dk for more information and to read our disclaimer. This week’s newsletter is titled “Q2 earnings decline: now what?”, and was written on July 29th, 2023.

Weekly summary in a paragraph

The US stock market indices were higher this week, with all the major indices advancing on news of generally good earnings and positive economic data. The European stock market was also stronger though this week’s gain was offset by the Euro depreciating relative to the US Dollar. The 2-10y spread shrunk after two weeks of widening and is still inverted at -91 basis points. Economic data this week included the FED’s decision to hike by another 0.25%, as widely expected, and core PCE continuing to decelerate. The Bank of Japan surprised markets by announcing it first shift from a decade-long period of monetary easing. In corporate news, one third of the S&P500 companies reported Q2 earnings season with notable beats from Meta, Google and Intel. On the flipside, Procter & Gamble’s 2024 outlook disappointed and Chipotle’s earnings were mixed. Next week 170 S&P500 companies report Q2 earnings, including Apple, AMD, Amazon and Starbucks to name a few.

Asset classes weekly performance

This week the Dow finished +0.7% higher (+7.0% year to date) while the S&P500 gained +1.0% (+19.3% year to date), the Nasdaq jumped +2.0% (+36.8% year to date) and the Russell 2000 was +1.1% stronger (+12.5% year to date). Gold finished -0.2% lower (+3.7% year to date) while Silver slid -1.4% (-1.4% year to date). Crude Oil appreciated +1.3% (+5.8% year to date). The 10-y US treasury yield gained +1.5% (+4.6% year to date). The European stock market gave up +0.7% (+21.6% year to date). The Euro lost -0.95% against the US Dollar (+2.9% year to date).

Weekly pitch

With 51% of the S&P500 companies having reported Q2 earnings so far, an attempt to draw some preliminary conclusions can be made. Q2 earnings decline is presently -7.3%, lower than expectations of -7.0% at the beginning of the quarter. If this figure is confirmed, it would be the third quarterly earnings decline in a row and the highest since the disastrous Q2 2020 which was due to the pandemic. Even if the forecasted earnings growth in Q3 and Q4 were confirmed, the expected earnings growth for 2023 is a meager +0.4%. Therefore, responsible investors should exercise caution and maintain a healthy proportion of their portfolio in cash and hedges as well as a diversified portfolio with some exposure to the European stock market.

Weekly Portfolio Update

Here are this week’s movements: we have taken partial profits on our Meta (+129%) and Campari (+19.3%) long positions. We have accumulated our Disney, Raytheon and Zimmer Biomet Holdings long positions and initiated a short position on Molson Coors Brewing. Stop losses were triggered on our XPO Logistics, Rivian and Overstock short positions. Cash, US treasury bills, precious metals and hedges amount to 44.5% in our portfolio (unchanged compared to last week).

Top 5 Weekly Portfolio Performers

The Gap +13.4% (Apparel)

KraneShares CSI China Internet +12.7% (Internet services Chinese companies ETF)

Meta +10.6% (Tech)

Google +10.6% (Tech)

Yelp +9.0% (Tech)

Portfolio Asset Allocation

US stocks long positions 47% (unchanged)

EU stocks long positions 8.5% (unchanged)

US stocks short position 2.5% (reduced)

Hedges 8.0% (unchanged)

Silver & Gold 2% (unchanged)

US Treasury bills 2% (unchanged)

Cash 30% (increased)

1-year Portfolio Performance

Our portfolio performance over the last 12 months is +11.9% (excl. dividends) vs the S&P500 gain of 12.5%.

Invest responsibly!!!

Earnings surprise! What to do now | Responsible Investor Weekly Newsletter, April 29th, 2023

Responsible Investor is a weekly newsletter and an Apple/Spotify podcast for those who are interested in investing responsibly. Go to responsibleinvestor.dk for more information and to read our disclaimer. This week’s newsletter is titled “Earnings surprise! What to do now”, and was written on April 29th, 2023.

Weekly summary in a paragraph

The US stock market indices finished higher this week, though the Russell 2000 didn’t participate. Q1 GDP data published this week reported a 1.1% growth in the US while the Europe area stopped at 0.1%, and avoided a recession by a hair. The European stock market saw an end to multi-week gains but is still leading year to date, globally. The 2-10y spread was flat and is still inverted at -60 basis points. Oil now in negative territory after the first four months of 2023. In terms of economic data, March headline and core PCE inflation came in mostly in line. Personal income and spending for March was reported slightly higher than expected. In corporate news, mega cap companies like Microsoft and Meta smashed Q1 2023 earnings, Alphabet reported a beat while Amazon’s guidance underwhelmed. Many other long positions in our portfolio reported an earnings beat this week, Chipotle and Fielmann above all. Next week 126 S&P500 companies report earnings, including AMD, Apple and Novo Nordisk.

Asset classes weekly performance

This week the Dow finished +0.86% higher (+2.9% year to date) while the S&P500 gained +0.87% (+8.6% year to date), the Nasdaq advanced +1.28% (+16.8% year to date) and the Russell 2000 lost -1.26% (+0.4% year to date). Gold finished flat (+6.5% year to date, we are long) while Silver lost -0.74% (+3.0% year to date, we are long). Oil tanked -2.7% (-0.8% year to date). The 10-y US treasury yield gave up -1.79% (-9.0% year to date). The European stock market lost -0.4% (+19.7% year to date). The Euro gained +0.24% against the US Dollar (+2.9% year to date).

Weekly pitch

The earnings estimate for the S&P500 companies in Q1 2023 was just over 50$, in aggregate, at the beginning of the earnings season. After 222 companies reported so far that number has increased by 2.5%. If this increase is representative of the other half which will report in May, the overall figure may increase to 54-55$, ie one of the largest in recent years. It is important to note, however, that the year to date increase on the index is led by very few companies, therefore now more than ever before it is a stock picker’s market. Until more earnings data is available over the next couple of weeks, responsible investors should exercise caution and maintain a healthy proportion of their portfolio in cash and hedges. Analysts now believe that another quarter point rate hike will happen at next week’s FOMC meeting, with an 86% probability. This week we have taken full or partial profits on long and short positions and initiated new long positions.

Weekly Portfolio Update

Here are this week’s movements: we took profits on our Eli Lilly (+13.9%) long position, on our Snapchat (+2.6%) and Pinterest (+16%) short positions and partial profits on our Microsoft (+15.3%), Halliburton (+4.5%), Raytheon Technologies (+4.3%), Sibanye Stillwater (+4.2%) and Capri Holdings (+3.6%) long positions. We initiated long positions on three Chinese ETFs. Cash, precious metals and hedges amount to 40% in our portfolio (increased compared to last week).

Top 5 Weekly Portfolio Performers

Fielmann +16.43% (Medical Specialties)

Chipotle Mexican Grill +14.87% (Restaurants)

Meta +12.88% (Technology Services)

Microsoft +7.52% (Technology Services)

Centene +4.46% (Managed Healthcare)

Portfolio Asset Allocation

US Long stock positions 50% (reduced)

EU Long stock positions 10% (unchanged)

US Short stock position 4% (reduced)

Hedges 7.5% (unchanged)

Silver & Gold 3.5% (reduced)

Cash 25% (increased)

1-year Portfolio Performance

Our portfolio performance over the last 12 months is +4.2% (excl. dividends) vs the S&P500 loss of -2.8%, which corresponds to a +7.0% market beat.

Invest responsibly!!!

Please donate for the earthquake in Turkey | Responsible Investor Weekly Newsletter, February 11th, 2023

With such a devastating force of nature and ailing shelters, the havoc wreaked in Turkish left at least 23,000 dead, with the count only poised to grow in the coming days. With news like these nothing financially relevant seems relevant, really. So read what follows lightly and make your hearts heavy with grief for those who fell. Donate if you can.

Weekly summary in a paragraph

US stock markets finished lower on Friday after a 3-week and a 6-week rise for the S&P500 and the Nasdaq, respectively. Value continues to underperform relative to growth. Oil higher mostly due to Russia cutting production by 0.5M barrels. The terminal rate is now expected at 5.15% from 4.9% last Thursday. The 2-10y inversion has reached 80 basis points. Economic data published this week threw a spanner in the works of the disinflationary path: it is very difficult to go from 4 to 2% and the Fed does not seems to backtrack from its 2% target. In corporate news, Disney earnings beat expectations on a cost cutting programme while Google got clobbered by losing an AI competition.

Asset classes weekly performance

This week the Dow finished -0.17% lower (+2.2% year to date) while the S&P500 did worse with a -1.1% decrease (+6.5% year to date, we are 1 time short), the Nasdaq tanked -2.4% (+12.0% year to date, we have a 3 times inverse position) and the Russell 2000 lost as much as -3.4% (+9.0% year to date). Gold finished lower -0.1% (+2.2% year to date, we are long) while Silver was -1.6% weaker (-8.8% year to date, we are long). Oil jumped +8.4% (-0.7% year to date). The 10-y US treasury yield jumped +1.9% this week (-1.3% year to date). The European stock market gave up -1.8% (+11.3% year to date). The Euro finished -1.1% lower against the US Dollar (-0.3% year to date).

Weekly pitch

It was too good to be true, wasn’t it? And often when things are too good to be true they just aren’t. The Nasdaq failed to add a 7th week of consecutive gains and retraced after having delivered what were basically a year’s worth of gains in the first 40 days of 2023.

It is tempting to go all in when markets outperform but it is prudent to either keep profitable positions on a tight leash (do you use automatic sell stops and take profits like we do?) or have cash and hedges in one’s portfolio (see our portfolio asset allocation below). We have beaten the market this week and are protected to the downside should there be more pain coming next week when the January CPI is announced.

Weekly Portfolio Update

Here are this week’s movements: we took profits on Nucor (+9.3%), Qualcomm (+3.2%) and Global Lithium ETF (+7.9%); take profits were triggered on our Pinterest, Peloton, SL Green Realty and Semrush Holdings short positions. Cash, precious metals and hedges amount to 39.5% in our portfolio (increased compared to last week).

Top 5 Weekly Portfolio Performers

ProShares UltraPro Short Russell 2000 +10.8% (3x inverse Russell 2000)

Vix short-term S&P500 future +7.5% (Volatility)

ProShares UltraPro QQQ +6.4% (2x inverse Nasdaq)

Denbury +4.3% (Oil)

Callon Petroleum Company +4.0% (Oil)

Portfolio Asset Allocation

US Long stock positions 44% (reduced)

EU Long stock positions 10% (unchanged)

Short stock position 6.5% (unchanged)

Hedges 7% (unchanged)

Silver & Gold 4% (unchanged)

Cash 28.5% (increased)

Year to date Portfolio Performance

Our year to date portfolio performance is +4.7% (excl. dividends) vs the S&P500 gain of +6.5%.

…in case you missed it…

Check out our first 2023 weekly newsletter to read the 5 things I got right in 2022…and the 5 I got wrong.

Podcasts

You can now listen to this newsletter on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Invest responsibly!!!

Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft disappoint: who is left to save the earnings season? | February 4th, 2023 Newsletter

Weekly summary in a paragraph

Fifth straight week of upside for the Nasdaq despite most of the Q4 earnings reports from the major tech stocks disappointed, the exception being Meta (which we own). Ford, Qualcomm and Starbucks also missed. The Fed confirmed the expected quarter point rate hike on Wednesday and Powell came across as relatively dovish during the press conference. The most notable data point of the week was the January nonfarm employment which was up 517k vs 190k consensus – a clear underestimation, which would suggest continued strength in the job market and brings the unemployment down to 3.4% (vs 3.6% expected). More than half of the S&P500 companies are yet to report: the next two weeks will be key to assess the extent of the year on year earnings decline for Q4.

Asset classes weekly performance

This week the Dow finished -0.1% lower (+2.4% year to date) while the S&P500 did better with a +1.6% increase (+7.7% year to date, we are 1 time short), the Nasdaq gapped +3.3% higher (+14.7% year to date, we have a 3 times inverse position) and the Russell 2000 gained +3.9% (+12.7% year to date). Gold finished lower -3.2% (+4.0% year to date, we are long) while Silver was -5.1% weaker (-6.7% year to date, we are long). Oil tanked -7.8% (-4.6% year to date). The 10-y US treasury retraced -0.3% this week (-6.9% year to date). The European stock market gained +0.9% (+13.3% year to date). The Euro finished +0.7% higher against the US Dollar (+0.82% year to date).

Weekly pitch

Investors have finally been able to catch a breath after a very positive January. Given the steep climb of these first 5 weeks of 2023, particularly for long-duration tech stocks, one wonders whether the Nasdaq has gone up too quickly. Despite finishing up again this week, the fact that all the four biggest tech companies have disappointed is weakening the bullish sentiment in the Nasdaq, at least in the short term.

It is tempting to go all in when markets outperform but it is prudent to either keep profitable positions on a tight leash (do you use sell stops and take profits like we do?) or have cash and hedges in one’s portfolio (see our portfolio asset allocation below).

Weekly Portfolio Update

Here are this week’s movements: we took profits on Newmont Mining (+13%) and Amazon (+8%); partial sell stops were triggered on our Intel, Mattel, Oak Street Health and Williams-Sonoma short positions. Cash, precious metals and hedges amount to 37% in our portfolio (reduced compared to last week).

Top 5 Weekly Portfolio Performers

Meta +24.4% (Social media/Tech)

Gap +12.12% (Retail trade)

Thor +11.04% (Recreational products)

Orsted +8.18% (Utilities, Green Power)

NXPI +8.05% (Semiconductors)

Portfolio Asset Allocation

US Long stock positions 47% (unchanged)

EU Long stock positions 10% (unchanged)

Short stock position 6.5% (increased)

Hedges 7% (reduced)

Silver & Gold 4% (unchanged)

Cash 26% (reduced)

Year to date Portfolio Performance

Our currency-adjusted year to date portfolio performance in Euro is +4.51% (excl. dividends) vs the European market gain of +12.51% and +5.6% in US Dollars vs the S&P500 gain of 7.7%.

…in case you missed it…

Check out our first 2023 weekly newsletter to read the 5 things I got right in 2022…and the 5 I got wrong.

Podcasts

You can now listen to this newsletter on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Invest responsibly!!!

October 29th, 2022 | Should you still be invested in Apple, Microsoft, Google and Amazon? | $GOOG $AMZN $MSFT $AAPL $META $GILD $TLT $GL $AIG $CHTR $ORSTED.CO $PINS $BWA $FIS $CMG $V $MBG.DE $CARLB.CO $EL.PA $DSV.CO $GMAB

Weekly summary in a paragraph

It was a tale of two stock markets in the US: while all the major indices continued to rally for the second week in a row, major tech companies reported poor earnings and most importantly week outlook which limited gains for the Nasdaq. Given the hotter than expected inflation data (core PCE came in at 0.5% vs 0.4% consensus) this recent optimism seems largely unjustified although we are heading towards a period of positive seasonality coupled with favourable technicals.

Asset classes weekly performance

This week the Dow gained +3.9% (-11.9% YTD) just like the S&P500 (-18.2% YTD, we are 1x short) and the Nasdaq limited its advance to +2.2% (-31.0% YTD, we have a 3x inverse position). The Russell 2000 skyrocketed +6.0% (-19.5% YTD, we are 1x short). $Gold lost 0.6% (-9.5% YTD) while silver finished flat -0.1% (-16.4% YTD). $Oil rose 3.4%. The 20-y recovered +5.7% this week (-34.2% YTD). The European stock market rose +4.9% (-26.5% YTD). The Euro recovered 1.0% against the USD (-10.9% YTD).

Weekly pitch

The four biggest tech companies in the US stock market all reported earnings this week. There are clear signs of weakness in all four although $AAPL appears more resilient. These are all companies full with an incredible pool of talented individuals though more short-term pain ahead is likely. We had exited our position in $AMZN and $AAPL at the beginning of August, just before they peaked. $META’s earnings were particularly concerning especially the reported losses from investments associated to the metaverse.

Weekly Portfolio Update

After the blowout earnings report $GILD rose sharply and finished with a 19% weekly gain: we have taken partial profit (+26.45%) on our long position. We have also taken partial profits on our short-term $TLT trade (+3.8%). Finally, we initiated long positions on $MP and $AJRD. Cash, precious metals and hedges were reduced to 37% in our portfolio which finished 1.64% higher this week.

Here are the top 5 performers of our portfolio this week:

$GILD +16.93% (Drug-Biotech)

$CHTR +11.45% (Telecom Services)

$BWA +9.55% (Auto/Truck-Original Equipment)

$ORSTED.CO +9.54 (Green Energy)

$FIS +9.08% (Financial)

This is our asset allocation as things stand:

– Long stock positions 63% (increased)

– Hedges 9%, though equal to 15% considering leveraged ETFs (unchanged)

– Silver + Gold 3% (unchanged)

– Cash 25% (decreased)

Our currency-adjusted YTD portfolio performance is -3.8% (excl. dividends) vs the European market loss of -15.6% (+11.8% market beat).

Invest responsibly!!!

$SQQQ as a hedge proved to be a winner

Over the past two weeks the market has been quite choppy, especially intraday, but overall it has continued to hold. In fact, the Nasdaq has gained 4.4% and the S&P500 1.1% while the Dow was basically flat at -0.2%.

The difference in performance can be explained by the stocks which compose these indices, with the Nasdaq obviously being packed with many technology stocks which have been outperforming most indices. To give a couple of examples, one of the technology ETF $XLK is up 5.1% this past two weeks, and the so called FAANG stocks are all above 4% with $NFLX up 9.4%.

The relative lack of technology stocks in the European indices, which are dragged down by many bank stocks ($XLF), is the main reason why the European stock markets have been laggards. The financial sector was already suffering from the dovish monetary policies of various areas of the world, with negative interest rates in Japan and Europe for example. The pandemic has only increased their pain as money printing continued everywhere, including the US.

Some say that March 23rd is when the markets bottomed: since then the 3 main US indices have recovered a lot of the previous losses due to the pandemic crisis with a gain ranging between 27 and 31%, while the European stock market has only rebounded by 14%. When they say that it is a market of stocks rather than a stock market, what they mean is that you have to pick the right indices if you want to invest in ETFs, or the right stocks if you want to have more chances of beating the market.

Here are my top 3 winners for these past two weeks:

$SQQQ +6.96% (this is a hedge)

$AMAT +5.07%

$BMY +4.51%

The earnings seasons is not over but its pace is certainly slowing down with a lot fewer companies reporting earnings next week: the one I will be watching most closely is $BABA on Friday.

If you want to see which stocks, ETFs and currencies I own in my eToro portfolio, please follow this link.

Have a great weekend everybody and invest responsibly !

Featured stock of the month: #Verizon $VZ

Verizon (ticker: $VZ ) has been a great investment for me so far, I have owned it for about 2 years now. It is one of the value stocks which offers both a solid dividend (>4%) and capital appreciation.

It is considered a 5G play and its deal with $DIS related to Disney+ has helped it soar.

Verizon is a mega cap, with a market value of 240B $. It currently trades at 58.13$ and it was trading at about 48$ when I bought it. This means a 20+% capital appreciation which outperformed the SP500 by 15 percentage points over the same period. And then you have to add the dividend, which was about 5% at the start of my investment and is now 4.28%. American stocks typically pay dividends out on a quarterly basis which gives you the option of re-investing more frequently than, say, most European stocks which pay a dividend on a yearly basis.

In terms of valuation, the stock is actually quite pricey at the moment and the projected total return over the next 5 years, including dividend, is of 41%. There are plenty of better valued stocks out there which offer a greater growth potential (even >100%), like $AMZN and $TSLA, but you probably want to combine more aggressive plays with other less volatile investments in order to stabilise your portfolio. In 2008, when the market was down 38.5%, Verizon was “only” down 21%. So far in 2020 Verizon is down 7% compared to a 15% fall of the SP500.

The stock has had a steep recover from the late March lows and is now trading above the 5 and the 50 moving average, with the 200 moving average within grasp.

VZ TA

It reports earnings for Q1 of 2020 on Friday the 24th of April. Consensus estimates are EPS of $1.22 and revenue of $32.37B.

If you want to see all the positions of one of my portfolios, you are welcome to follow me on eToro here.