Winter 2014

Issue 20 · analyzed

17 ideas

position long
BDSI Baghdad Soft Drinks

Baghdad Soft Drinks has a dominant market position in Iraq with Pepsi holding 80% market share. The company has improved operational efficiency and is expected to see significant revenue growth due to increasing soft dri…

pitch short
FUEL Rocket Fuel Inc.
2013 Darden @ Virginia Investing Challenge

Rocket Fuel Inc. is overvalued at 5.9x 2014E revenue compared to the average of 2.2x in the ad-tech space. Despite expected revenue growth, the company's business model is not as strong as valuations suggest, and the com…

position long worked
+850.3%
SRLS SeraCare Life Sciences, Inc.

SeraCare Life Sciences is a post-bankruptcy small company that provides critical reagents to laboratories. The investment thesis is based on the company's durable competitive advantage due to the necessity of its product…

pitch long inconclusive
AIG American International Group, Inc.

We had the thesis that over five years the stock would be at least a triple because we were investing at half of stated tangible book value, investment income was below normal due to artificially depressed bond yields, a…

position long inconclusive
OSTE Osteotech, Inc.

Osteotech was a situation where a large institutional investor asked us to partner with them. We ran a campaign to replace the entire board, and it was a good investment that resulted in shareholders making a 100% return…

position long inconclusive
SERA SeraCare Life Sciences, Inc.

SeraCare was interesting and relatively straightforward in terms of the work, and we understood how the issues applied to the company and why it was protected from a lot of challenges in the healthcare industry, making i…

position long
HHC Howard Hughes Corporation

Howard Hughes is expected to continue developing its assets and adding value over a long period of time. The company has been owned since its spin-off from General Growth Properties and has tremendous assets that are pro…

position long inconclusive
null Iraq

Iraq has the potential for significant economic growth due to its increasing oil production, greater foreign exchange reserves, and higher GDP per capita compared to Nigeria, despite both countries facing similar securit…

pitch short
FUEL Rocket Fuel Inc.
Darden @ Virginia Investing Challenge

FUEL is overvalued at 5.9x 2014E revenue compared to the industry average of 2.2x, with no earnings or positive cash flow expected until 2016. The company faces significant competition and margin compression due to commo…

pitch long inconclusive
XPO XPO Logistics
null

Buy XPO Logistics shares with a target price of $49 over three years, representing an 87% upside. The investment thesis is supported by the company's position in a large and growing market, high freight demand, and strat…

pitch long worked
+671.1%
XPO XPO Logistics, Inc.

XPO is positioned to capitalize on a large and growing market in third-party logistics with significant acquisition opportunities. The company has a strong management team led by CEO Brad Jacobs, who has a proven track r…

pitch short worked
-116.4%
WRLD World Acceptance Corp.
Moon Lee Prize Competition

Short World Acceptance Corp. (NASDAQ: WRLD) with a target price of $46, a 48% short upside from its current level. The core business is deteriorating with increasing delinquency rates and regulatory pressures that could …

pitch long worked
+212.2%
P Pandora Media, Inc.
Pershing Square Challenge

Pandora is positioned for significant growth as it has found ways to monetize mobile listeners effectively, with barriers to radio advertising decreasing. The company is capturing a larger share of the radio advertising …

pitch long partial
+62.8%
POST Post Holdings, Inc.
5th annual Moon Lee Prize Competition

Post Holdings is positioned for significant growth due to its strong management team led by Bill Stiritz, who has a proven track record of delivering shareholder value through strategic acquisitions and operational impro…

position long inconclusive
NLY Annaly Capital Management

Annaly Capital Management is a mortgage real estate investment trust that trades at 83% of book value and yields 11.4%, making it a reasonable risk for income-seeking investors.

position long inconclusive
BXMT Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust is a new real estate finance company that trades at 113% of book value and yields 6.43%, which is considered a reasonable risk given the current market conditions.

position long
Puerto Rico general obligation bonds

Long-dated Puerto Rico general obligation bonds, specifically the 5s of 2041 trading at 65.40 to yield a triple tax-exempt 8.18%, are seen as speculative but appropriately priced for the risk involved.