Investment Q&A

Q: These digital solution providers seem to be pioneering Ai partnerships .
Which would be the ones to invest in and the ones to avoid ?
Thankyou .

Q: you have used price to sales many times in the past to identify stocks you like for capital appreciation since this metric has improved significantly please name your current 3 favourite US growth stocks using this metric thanks Richard

Q: Looking at buying ORCL or Now or both . Buy now or wait a few months till things settle down. Your comments ? Thanks.

Q: Which would you buy now? Thanks

Q: Hi 5i:
I've been away for a while and not keeping up with Questions, so this may already have been asked and answered. if so, please provide a link to the answer.
I'm hoping you could advise what sectors you think will reverse the current trend and begin to appreciate in value more quickly than others and, also, if you could identify three or so names you would expect to 'lead the charge' in each of those sectors.
If time and space permit, any commentary you might have regarding each identified sector and/or name would be appreciated. Thanks!
Peter

Q: Hi, ServiceNow stock, a large US Enterprise Digital Solutions provider company, dropped 12%, Today, after CEO's comments, last evening on Mad Money, warning about the macro headwinds faced by a continuously extra strong US Dollar, by Technology companies, particularly those with large enterprise customers, around the world. Some of the comments are as below:

" You’re at 41-year high inflation. The dollar right now is the highest it’s been in over two decades. We have interest rates rising. People worried about security. You’ve got a war in Europe. So, the mood is not great,” McDermott said in an interview that aired on “Mad Money” after the closing bell on Monday.

“You’re going to see the headwind of the dollar right now against well-known technology brands,” the CEO added. “No one’s going to outrun the currency right now.”

Shares of ServiceNow, which helps companies and organizations digitize their workflows, fell 13% on Tuesday after McDermott’s comments, which were meant as an overall industry observation, not ServiceNow-specific news due to the company being in a quiet period ahead of reporting its latest quarterly earnings on July 27. "

“When you think about energy, and the dislocation caused by the war in Europe, and this reprioritization I’m talking about, you’re going to see longer cycles [to close deals] in Europe. We saw that,” McDermott said. “But this doesn’t fundamentally change the narrative that tech is the only way to cut through the crosswinds.”

The reprioritization he’s referring to is the increase in demand for a fast return-on-investment — another symptom of cautiousness in the current environment.

“There’s a new level or prioritization in the enterprise. And I have seen this, actually since we last met, Jim, hitting a new gear. Where companies are first saying ‘which platforms do we want to bet on,’” and then try to sort their priorities, McDermott said.

“There’s one filter on all of this now. And that is fast return on investment. And if you can’t put an architecture in there that gives the customer a fast ROI, chances are, you’re going to get postponed,” he added.

Stifel said in a note on Tuesday that it believes the company is “likely” to lower their expectations when it reports earnings, citing McDermott’s comments on reprioritization. The investment bank also expects other companies across the industry to follow suit in the coming weeks.

There was chatter that Today's 4.10% decline in MSFT and 4.61% in Sales Force, which was ugly, was not company specific but in reaction to this macro warning,

Most large Technology will start reporting in a few weeks time.

Some strategists were seen on CNBC talking about the" Generals" being the last to drop and MSFT's sharp drop today was noticed by many.

Do you agree with above comments/sentiments ?

We are trying to assess, if these companies, in your view, are likely to be faced with similar headwinds - CSU ( worldwide revenues), TOI ( Europe) and SYZ ( >55% US rev ), for all those reasons. And if you think, they are not immune to this, is there any caution warranted, or is it prudent to reduce our exposure to a more reasonable level, at this time.

Thank You

Q: Hi,

As a follow up to your answer to Curtis's question. What are some of the better companies in the data analytics space?
Thank-you.

Q: Good morning. What would you recommend for an investment Canadian and US data analytics company or space? Thanks again.

Q: I'm thinking of a Covered Call strategy on dividend paying US stocks. I know the dividends are treated differently in Canada, but I wanted stocks that offered weekly call options.

Are there any suggestions you have?

Q: Hi Team,
I am an aggressive investor, which paid off lovely in 2020, but now am being crushed. I hold the following stocks (with weightings in brackets) in total in my brokerage accounts. Could you have a quick look and tell me how this basket looks "In general"? And if you see this basket doing well over the longer term (say 5-10yr hold), pointing out any suggested changes you would make, if any are "sells" or worth switching out. Note that if I sell any GSY it would incur tax (the weighting is large because the position has grown and have been a firm believer in the company as its valuation still looks cheap and am collecting a nice div off it as well). I am 42yrs old so retirement is a ways away and my goal is maximum returns with reasonable risk until retirement. Please deduct credits as required. Thanks
ATZ(3.2%)DOO(1.3%),GSY(24.7%),NVEI(6.3%),TOI(8.6%),WCP(2.8%),SQ(3.5%),APPS(2.5%),RBLX(2.7%),BAM.A(1.7%),LSPD(3%),FB(8.2%),TTD(2.9%),U(2.2%),ABNB(2.4%),CRWD(2.4%),NVDA(6%),PINS(1.7%),CRM(2.9%),NOW(2.7%),SWKS(1.7%),TWLO(2.4%),VEEV(1.4%)WELL(2.5%).

Q: HI, 5i team,
What are a few of your best Cloud Companies.

Ken

Q: Service Now has had quite a drop in price. Why ? Do you think buying now is good timing ? Thanks.

Q: I am doing a comparison between U and NOW. When looking at guidance given by both companies, they are very similar, both around 30% revenue growth for the next two years. NOW has lots of cash flow and a growing operating margin, U is far from being profitable. The price multiples for U is almost double NOW. Is the difference in valuation justified? Which would you buy?

Q: I am thinking of selling my long term holding in KXS (held in RRSP) in favour of NOW. I acknowledge the obvious difference in size and risk. I would like to continue to position in a consistent performer with visible earnings growth in the cloud-based enterprise SAAS space. The recent poor subscription guidance, significantly lower margin expectations and the “cockroach theory” has made me contemplate the change out of KXS. NOW would appear to be an emerging platform company with a much larger TAM than KXS. Would you be ok with this considering my objective of consistency or would this be an over-reaction on my part as KXS has been good to me (thanks to 5i)?

Q: I would like to use my $10,000 in my TSFA for a technology stock, either software, hardware. I am balanced in my account, so I would like a growth even speculative stock. It can be either Canadian or US

Q: I am looking to buy a position in U.US (Unity Software), but I need to sell one of the other listed companies to raise the cash to do this. Which one would you sell (or trim) to do this, taking into consideration this would be a long term investment. I am looking for maximum share price appreciation. Thanks

Shane.

Q: With recent vaccine development and big price drop on Monday , I am wondering what stocks are good to buy . Can you please rank them according to potential. Thanks a million.

Q: Please rank them according to the potential. TWLO move up so much on Friday. Should I wait for a pull back . Thanks a lot.

Q: Hi team,
I was looking at adding to my position in Veev. However, to do that I would be looking at trimming either twlo or Now. Would this be advisable? How would you compare Veev to the other 2 as far as long term growth prospects? Note my positions in both twlo and now are approx 50% larger than my position in Veev . Thank You

Q: What are your thoughts on the recent Q2 results from ServiceNow? Do you consider the stock to be overpriced given the current valuation?