Investment Q&A

Q: Judging by the price slide in Uber's stock investor sentiment seems to suggest that earnings will be significantly impacted by the Waymo move. Have analysts adjusted their earnings estimates for next year?
Would you consider the current price a good entry point?
Mike

Q: Your system did not recognize the ticker for Rigetti Computing (RGTI-Q).

This company operates in the Quantum Computing space. It has minimal revenue, big losses, the owner has (I understand) left the company, yet it is getting print and yesterday, after a joint announcement with Quantum Machines, has jumped to >$6.00 - still trading today at huge volumes. all this and a large market cap without support in the numbers? Stock price has risen dramatically in the past month.

Can you provide some insight into the business space this company operates in. Is this company one to watch? Is this space one to watch, and if so which companies should be on the radar (in order of preference please)?

As always, thanks for your advice.

Dave

Q: At current valuations, does Meta have more upside potential than Microsoft?

Q: Palantir stock price is growing by leaps and bounds, do you believe it's overpriced now?

Q: May I have your thoughts on RGTI (NASDAQ)? No income and losses I would expect. It charts volatility for sure. Is there anything positive about the company?
Thanks,
Jim

Q: good morning:
if you were going to start buying a etf today that had low costs [mer] in canadian dollars and invested outside of canada and paid a decent dividend which 5 would you look at? can be small cap, european, etc

Q: What etf (s) do you like US small cap for a USD account

Q: Thoughts on the results?

Q: What do you think of Brown Forman? I am thinking of it as a tax loss selling candidate.

Q: LYB is in a downtrend can you shed any light on why? I like the div. and do need companies in the materials sector and consider. his a long term hold for me am I looking at this wrong?

Q: Could you please provide an assessment of this company. Also risk rating and potential growth rating, Worth adding to a portfolio ? If so, what % of portfolio would you go to.

Q: Thanks for your response to my previous question. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, CVS is down 4% this morning on this news:

A Senate bill, sponsored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Josh Hawley (R., Mo.), would force the companies that own health insurers or pharmacy-benefit managers to divest their pharmacy businesses within three years.

But surely, if CVS divested their pharmacy business then the proceeds could be used to reduce their debt? So why has the market reaction been so harsh?

Q: Most of my TFSA is in Canadian stocks (plus some US CDRs GOOGL, MSFT, AMZN). Now I'm thinking of adding 2 ETFs to my unregistered account. So far, my first choice is VFV, because I know you like it. But you mentioned another one that broadens out from the S&P 500. Not sure about that one: thoughts? But I want one more, particularly with dividend and some growth. If there is a USA one that, like VFV, trades in Canada TSX but pays dividends in US dollars, that might work nicely. Alternatively, maybe a Canadian one that is not too focused on Financials and Energy, one with which I could get dividend tax credit, may work. Between dividend and growth, I would lean toward growth and sacrifice some dividend. Between Canada and USA, I'd like USA, but only if I can buy on TSX. I'd like to stick to just two, but maybe three would work best? What say you? Thank you, yet again, for such a fabulous service.

Q: On Oct 22, concerning ELV's quarterly results, you said, "a key issue was the 'timing mismatch' between Medicaid reimbursement rates and the higher healthcare needs of members" - an issue linked to post-COVID resumption of full-service healthcare.

But isn't this a case of 'one-off' cyclicality in an industry which was assumed to be secular? In which case, doesn't ELV become mis-priced as reimbursements and higher needs fall back into balance?

Finally, to operationalize this strategy, would it be preferable to seek-out the most beaten-down health insurer (perhaps you have suggestions), or to pick something like IHF (ditto)?

Q: Your recent market report suggested US small caps May out perform during the next few years. Can you recommend a couple of ETFs that trade in Cdn $

Q: I have seen some people recommanding AMD over the last week. With ATH at 227 and now 127, its a big correction and probably some tax loss harvesting. Can you explain the drop in share price?

Stock looks cheaper than Nvidia, but its not really cheaper either at 38x eps and still trading higher than its 10 years average.

Would you consider to start a long term position at this level?

What would be an attrative price?

Q: In your reply to Brad, who asked for your views on CVS, you said: The issues are very very high debt (15X cash flow!!!) and low growth. You also said: We might be willing to await a turnaround here if it was not for the giant debt level.

And yet:

Argus Research rates CVS a buy with a Medium Financial Strength rating.

Morningstar has a 5-star US$93 fair value rating on the stock.

There are 13 analysts with a buy rating, 4 with a hold rating, none with a sell rating and a $67.5 average target price.

CVS was one of Lorne Steinberg's top picks on Market Call today.

And on TD Webroker's Peer/Industry Comparison screen, CVS has a debt to capital ratio of 46.5% compared to 50.5% for the industry. How is this a giant debt level?

Could you recheck your numbers on CVS and see if you still come to the same giant debt level conclusion? Does your negative view of the stock take into account its depressed price at only 0.9 times book?

Q: In your opinion, is mdb a buy, sell or hold?

Q: Please explain the drop in TOL stock price when all the metrics look are looking good (as far as I can tell).

Does profit taking explain a 5% drop? What would be the logic in selling the stock of a company that has tailwind ?

Finally, if systematic, would a good contrarian strategy to buy those dips?

Thank you very much, especially for your patience with member's layman questions.

Merry christmas to all hard working staff at 5i Research

Q: Hi,
I'm wondering if you can shed any light on why VRT's price has become more volatile lately - any geopolitical concerns, or maybe new competition? It has been a bit surprising lately.
Many thanks for all your great input!