A large write-down of its deferred tax assets could be devastating for Citi--over 30% of its total book value is comprised of net deferred tax assets. Our detailed analysis of the Notes to the Financial Statements also found these RED FLAGS :
1. Over $7bn in off-balance sheet debt
2. $2.2bn in under-funded Pension liabilities
3. Over $10bn in Asset write-offs
HIDDEN GEM: Our detailed discounted cash flow analysis shows that MDT's current valuation (stock price of $31.95) implies that the company's profits will decline by 50% and never grow again. Our economic earnings model shows profits are growing, not declining, which makes the Risk/Reward for MDT Very Attractive.
RED FLAG: Our analysis of the Financial Footnotes reveals: the company has written off over $60bn in assets over the last twelve years. That is a big number compared to the company’s market cap of roughly $2.2bn and its net assets of about $1.3bn. This results in economic earnings of -$5,346mm compared to Net Income of -$866mm during the last fiscal year. For details on what causes the difference between Economic Versus Accounting Profits, see Appendix 3 on page 10 of our free report on JDSU.
RED FLAG: The main driver of the difference between Economic and Accounting earnings is FDX's $11.9bn of off-balance sheet debt, a big number compared to $19.7bn in Net Assets and $25.6bn of market value.
Here is our free report on Sandridge Energy for Ask Matt readers. Our analysis of the Financial Footnotes reveals a major RED FLAG: the company has written off over $3.4bn in assets in just the last two years.
HIDDEN GEM: Our detailed valuation model shows that IBM grew its "economic" profits more than it accounting profits during its last fiscal year. Economic profits rose by $1.15bn while accounting profits rose by $1.09bn.
Overall, the Risk/Reward of investing in Yahoo's stock looks Very Dangerous to me. There is lots of downside risk given the Misleading Earnings and there is little upside reward given the already-rich expectations embedded in the stock price.
HIDDEN GEM: Our detailed valuation model shows that XLNX grew its "economic" profits by nearly $14mm during its last fiscal year while it reported an $18mm decline in accounting profits.
A newcomer to our Most Attractive Stocks for July, this small cap stock has an excellent risk/reward profile, which earns it our highest Rating: Very Attractive.
As highlighted in LPL Group excellent "Mid-Year Outlook for 2010", the economy is moving from 'recovery' mode to 'expansion' mode, which is very different from moving from 'recovery' back to 'recession' - a prediction made by many attention-seeking alarmists these days. We are still growing, just not as fast.
The difference between Investing and Speculating is much larger than Wall Street would have you believe. In fact, they could not be too more different activities. Speculating is gambling. Investing is intelligent decision-making.
Hidden Gem - GPS: economic earnings are rising faster than reported accounting earnings b/c the company lowered the capital employed to run the business. GAAP earnings do not capture increase capital efficiency of the business.
TheStreet.com recently published three articles quoting me on SIRI. Andrea Tse called and, after reviewing our models on SIRI, I told her that the stock was Dangerous because:
There are two primary reasons a stock gets on our Most Dangerous List:
1. Misleading earnings: reported GAAP earnings are positive and rising while economic earnings are negative and declining
2. Expensive valuation: future cash flow expectations embedded in the current price are unusually high especially compared to historical performance.
Free copy of our report on NYX is in the Free Archive on www.newconstructs.com. Or just click here: NYX Company Valuation Report.