DLH delivers improved health and readiness solutions for federal programs through research, development, and innovative care processes. The Company’s experts in public health, performance evaluation, and health operations solve the complex problems faced by civilian and military customers alike, leveraging digital transformation, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, cloud-based applications, telehealth systems, and more. With over 2,300 employees dedicated to the idea that “Your Mission is Our Passion,” DLH brings a unique combination of government sector experience, proven methodology, and unwavering commitment to public health to improve the lives of millions. For more information, visit www.DLHcorp.com.
Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.
Investor Call. Earlier this week, DLH management hosted a conference call to discuss the acquisition of Grove Resource Solutions. We came away from the call even more excited about the combination of the two firms and the significant growth potential. We believe this transaction to be a case of where one plus one equals more than three.
Rationale. In a sentence: GRSi offers significant expansion opportunities by broadening DLH’s capabilities thus providing access to mission-critical programs that are expected to accelerate growth, both near and long-term. Combining GRSi’s technical capabilities with DLH’s research expertise creates a highly differentiated solution offering, in our view.
Equity Research is available at no cost to Registered users of Channelchek. Not a Member? Click ‘Join’ to join the Channelchek Community. There is no cost to register, and we never collect credit card information.
This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).
*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Equity Analysts* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
Determining the potential of a company stock involves more time and perhaps more understanding than the average self-directed investor can provide. Fortunately, there are investment analysts that specialize in equities and spend their days staying current on the industry, individual companies, and the risks associated with the overall market. The investment world is becoming more transparent as the work of these well-educated professionals has become more accessible to DIY investors.
Just what is it that equity analysts do, and how do individual and professional investors benefit from their work?
The Value of Equity Analysts
Equity analysts have a deep understanding of company financials. This begins with formal education, as most true analysts have an accounting background that may include an MBA and, in many cases, the highly esteemed Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
In addition to being able to read and pull data for analysis from financials, they understand the industries they cover. This is important because external trends up or down in input prices or competition will impact the whole sector, including the companies they cover. A macro view of what is impacting the industry is foundational to understanding a company within the industry.
For individual investment opportunities, the analysts’ focus is on the equity portion of the capital structure, but understanding debt levels and factors that could impact debt financing is critical to building an overall financial picture. Comparing the financial structure to company goals and initiatives provides information on how realistic they may or may not be based on internal factors.
Using data from the past and present, an analyst will build a model tailored to the specific company. These models are usually detailed spreadsheets with many interconnections between the various categories. The models generally include industry growth trends, the company’s own numbers (past, current, and projected scenarios), and then what-if scenarios. Financial models are a tool used to estimate the valuation of the company, how it changes under various scenarios, and then compare the business to its peers.
Shocking a forecast for different risks is important to assess the overall risk to the forecast.
The main risks impact different industries differently. For example, a healthcare company may be more or less immune to inflation, a mining operation could benefit from it, and a hospitality-based business could be hurt by it. Analysts assess the potential impacts of known risks and weigh them into their evaluation.
Primary Risks
The primary risks impacting any industry could be thought of as Business Risks, the challenges of a particular company’s circumstances. This could include the ability to hire talent, legal changes that could be impactful, natural resource availability, etc.
Market Risk or systemic risk is the idea that a sinking stock market will weigh on all stocks. While an analyst may choose top performers if the price target assigned was from an evaluation under average market growth of X%, an actual experience of negative Y% is a risk to the forecast.
Sovereign Risk has become a much bigger concern as trading partners like Russia, and China has shown us that politics and business policies can greatly impact U.S. trading partners. This risk tends to be greater among large international companies.
Foreign Exchange Risk. An analyst will review the impact of conversion back to the native currency and profit impacts. They may even project whether customers could be lost if the U.S. dollar becomes too costly.
Inflation Risk, what might the impact be on the company under various possible scenarios? A company with a large inventory may actually go through a beneficial period while prices are rising.
Interest Rate Risk is the real threat of inflation because it typically raises the cost of money. If the company is a large borrower and will be rolling maturing debt at new interest rate levels, the analyst will determine how this impacts operating costs and profit going forward.
Liquidity Risk. If a company’s stock is not well followed and trades sporadically, selling shares to raise capital may be severely hindered and, therefore, negatively impact the company’s ability to finance its business plan. What is interesting to note here is that analyst coverage of a company by itself has been shown to improve a stock’s liquidity. This is because more information about companies, even if not positive, helps investors understand the company, its risks, and its value.
Equity analysts benefit investors (retail and institutional) that are looking for information and an evaluation from a professional to weigh against their own evaluation. But they also benefit issuers as their stock may get less attention if there is minimal quality information available.
Direct Access to Management
Analysts essentially have a hotline to the covered company’s CEO and CFO to ask questions and get details of any change within the company or outside change that may impact results. Most investors don’t have this, so relying on analysts takes on even more importance.
Nuances Known to Analysts
The best reason to check the thoughts and forecasts of a seasoned analyst as part of your own due diligence is that every company has so many moving parts. A good analyst will be aware of what a DIY investor won’t know about the company. For example, the veteran analysts that provide research to Channelchek. On an ongoing basis, they have their finger on the pulse of the companies they cover.
There’s an opportunity you will want to take advantage of on Wednesday, December 15. You will meet online the Wall Street Analysts who are behind the research published on Channelchek. During this no-cost meeting, the veteran analysts have been asked to uncover what they are looking at, especially as it relates to companies they are bullish on.
This could be a great kickoff to organizing your portfolio for 2023 as these analysts cover the less talked about and perhaps the most overlooked stocks – stocks with great potential and “nuance” that you may have missed.
Tokens.com Corp is a publicly traded company that invests in Web3 assets and businesses focused on the Metaverse, NFTs, DeFi, and gaming based digital assets. Tokens.com is the majority owner of Metaverse Group, one of the world’s first virtual real estate companies. Hulk Labs, a wholly-owned Tokens.com subsidiary, focuses on investing in play-to-earn revenue generating gaming tokens and NFTs. Additionally, Tokens.com owns and stakes crypto assets to earn additional tokens. Through its growing digital assets and NFTs, Tokens.com provides public market investors with a simple and secure way to gain exposure to Web3.
Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.
Getting More Cash. Last week, Tokens.com announced the selling of some of the Company’s cryptocurrency inventory in favor of holding cash. This is due to the current volatile environment recently highlighted by the fall of FTX and BlockFi. We believe the selling of cryptocurrency will allow the Company to ride out the volatility of the market and allow the Company to be strategic in future coin purchases.
What Was Sold and Impact. In regards to what was sold from Tokens.com, the Company sold some of the staking rewards generated this year and its smaller non-core holdings of Oasis Rose, ANKR, Mana, and SHIB. The total gross proceeds of the sales is approximately CAD$1.4 million. The Company will now own less Layer 2 assets, although it will continue to focus on holding Layer 1 digital assets including Ethereum and Polkadot.
Equity Research is available at no cost to Registered users of Channelchek. Not a Member? Click ‘Join’ to join the Channelchek Community. There is no cost to register, and we never collect credit card information.
This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).
*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision.
DLH delivers improved health and readiness solutions for federal programs through research, development, and innovative care processes. The Company’s experts in public health, performance evaluation, and health operations solve the complex problems faced by civilian and military customers alike, leveraging digital transformation, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, cloud-based applications, telehealth systems, and more. With over 2,300 employees dedicated to the idea that “Your Mission is Our Passion,” DLH brings a unique combination of government sector experience, proven methodology, and unwavering commitment to public health to improve the lives of millions. For more information, visit www.DLHcorp.com.
Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.
Acquisition. Last night, DLH announced the acquisition of privately-held Grove Resource Solutions (GRSi). The acquisition broadens DLH’s digital transformation and IT modernization solutions, paving the way for new growth opportunities, in our view. GRSi provides a broad array of cloud-based enterprise modernization and cyber security solutions to numerous civilian and military federal agencies.
Details. Cost is $185 million, broken out to $178 million of cash and $7 million of DLH equity. Net cost after transaction-related tax benefits is $157.9 million. GRSi is expect to add $140 million of revenue and $18.5 million of EBITDA in year one and is expected to be accretive in fiscal 2024. The purchase price is approximately 10x 2023 projected EBITDA, or 8.5x after including tax benefits. The acquisition is being financed through an expansion of DLH’s credit facility.
Equity Research is available at no cost to Registered users of Channelchek. Not a Member? Click ‘Join’ to join the Channelchek Community. There is no cost to register, and we never collect credit card information.
This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).
*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision.
Will Asset Managers Start Stepping Back from ESG Pledges?
The Net Zero Asset Managers (NAZM) initiative is an international group of 291 asset managers with 66 trillion in combined AUM. They all signed that they are committed to supporting the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner. This week the number of asset managers was reduced by one as Vanguard, with $8.1 trillion AUM left the agreement. Vanguard said it made the decision in an effort to better speak for itself on its views and to be certain to balance client’s needs and returns along with climate impact in its funds’ investments.
“Industry initiatives like NZAM can advance constructive dialogue, but they can also create confusion about the views of individual firms. We want to provide greater clarity that Vanguard speaks freely on important matters such as climate risk. After a considerable period of review, we have decided to withdraw from the NZAM in order to provide clarity on what our investors want about the role of index funds and how we think about material risks, including climate-related risk,” said Alyssa Thornton, a spokesperson for Vanguard.
Firms that have signed the NAZM agreement are coming under a lot of pressure from states, pension funds, and others to defend how this is measurably best for the assets left in the care of the manager.
Vanguard, the world’s top mutual fund manager, official statement read, “We have decided to withdraw from NZAM so that we can provide the clarity our investors desire about the role of index funds and about how we think about material risks, including climate-related risks—and to make clear that Vanguard speaks independently on matters of importance to our investors.” Again, the themes are to not be beholden to outside control over its decisions and the company developing its own measurements of material risks from world energy-related moves.
Vanguard, said the change “will not affect our commitment to helping our investors navigate the risks that climate change can pose to their long-term returns.”
Is This Going to Be a Trend?
There is a movement growing with large clients asking investment firms to explain how their energy-investment-related decision is in line with their fiduciary role. Roughly a week ago, Consumers’ Research and 13 state attorneys general asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to review Vanguard’s request to own energy company stocks. “Americans are paying sky-high electricity rates and companies like Vanguard are making the problem worse,” Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.
Another issue Hild has with Vanguard is its meddling with strategic decisions and corporate governance at energy firms. Hild wrote, “With more than $7 trillion in assets under management, the Pennsylvania-based investment firm has publicly committed to pressuring utilities to lower their emissions.” Hild then accused, “Vanguard appears to be not only putting America’s critical infrastructure at risk but violating its agreement only to control utility company shares passively. To protect U.S. consumers and safeguard national security, FERC should investigate the company’s conduct.”
Vanguard isn’t the only firm of the 291 that are being questioned by their largest customers.
Today North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell sent a letter to BlackRock’s board of directors calling for Fink to step aside because the CEO’s “pursuit of a political agenda has gotten in the way of BlackRock’s same fiduciary duty” to its investors. “A focus on ESG is not a focus on returns and could potentially force us to violate our fiduciary duty,” Folwell wrote. North Carolina has approximately $14 billion with Blackrock, and $111 billion under management.
BREAKING: North Carolina Treasurer @DaleFolwell just called for @BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to RESIGN, saying his obsession with driving ESG and net-zero objectives is at odds with BlackRock’s fiduciary duty to shareholders.https://t.co/LeGIfn9CJd
But the fiduciary knife can be cut both ways. Those that are more concerned with any impact that continued fossil-fuel use would have on climate and economies stand behind the argument that it is not in anyone’s best interest not to follow a net zero 2050 goal. “It is unfortunate that political pressure is impacting this crucial economic imperative and attempting to block companies from effectively managing risks — a crucial part of their fiduciary duty,” said Kirsten Snow Spalding, a vice president at sustainability nonprofit Ceres and a NZAM founding partner.
Meanwhile in order to be able to best decipher how to view concepts like net zero investing, the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs will hold a hearing on December 15 to discuss the impacts of environmental social governance (ESG) policies on state pensions. The panel has asked Vanguard, BlackRock, StateStreet and ISS to appear and answer questions about their ESG practices. Texas previously asked the four firms to turn over documents in August. The Lone Star state had subpoenaed BlackRock to provide additional documents in person after the firm failed to comply with certain aspects of the initial request.
Take Away
All trends, whether investment related or not go through a vetting period, followed by a continued push and pull to seek balance. Firms that have signed on to NAZM can do their own analysis and develop their own plans that best serve their customers. The NZAM may only get in the way. Yet, they don’t have to back-off of caring about and keeping in mind environmental principles, they can just better tailor them to those they are contracted to invest for. An outside global organization is less likely to understand how to be a fiduciary for a Vanguard fund that may be used in the Louisiana state pension system. And with more investment firms acting independently, more and better opportunities will grow from the competition.
ESG, which is in a related family, will also develop and evolve over time. Down the road, investors, analysts, and organizations providing ESG scoring can get revised measures on impact and adjust scoring based on effectiveness.
PHOENIX, Dec. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — QuoteMedia, Inc. (OTCQB: QMCI), a leading provider of market data and financial applications, today announced that it will be presenting at the Planet MicroCap Showcase: VIRTUAL 2022 on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, at 12:30 PM EST. Dave Shworan, CEO of Quotemedia, Ltd. will be hosting the 30-minute presentation providing an overview of QuoteMedia for existing shareholders and potential shareholders.
QuoteMedia provides banks, brokerage firms, private equity firms, financial planners and sophisticated investors with a more economical, higher quality alternative source of stock market data and related research information. We compete with several larger legacy organizations and a modest community of other smaller companies. QuoteMedia provides comprehensive market data services, including streaming data feeds, on-demand request-based data (XML/JSON), web content solutions (financial content for website integration) and applications such as Quotestream Professional and Quotestream Web Trader.
To access the presentation, please use the following information:
If you would like to watch’s presentation at the Quotemedia’s Planet MicroCap Showcase 2022, please make sure you are registered here: https://planetmicrocapshowcase.com/signup
If you can’t make the live presentation, all company presentations “webcasts” will be available directly on the conference event platform on this link under the tab “Agenda”: https://planetmicrocapshowcase.com/agenda
About QuoteMedia
QuoteMedia is a leading software developer and cloud-based syndicator of financial market information and streaming financial data solutions to media, corporations, online brokerages, and financial services companies. The Company licenses interactive stock research tools such as streaming real-time quotes, market research, news, charting, option chains, filings, corporate financials, insider reports, market indices, portfolio management systems, and data feeds. QuoteMedia provides industry leading market data solutions and financial services for companies such as the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, TMX Group (TSX Stock Exchange), Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), London Stock Exchange Group, FIS, U.S. Bank, Bank of Montreal (BMO), Broadridge Financial Systems, JPMorgan Chase, Scotiabank, CI Financial, Canaccord Genuity Corp., Hilltop Securities, HD Vest, Stockhouse, Zacks Investment Research, General Electric, Boeing, Bombardier, Telus International, Business Wire, PR Newswire, FolioFN, Regal Securities, ChoiceTrade, Cetera Financial Group, Dynamic Trend, Inc., Qtrade Financial, CNW Group, IA Private Wealth, Ally Invest, Inc., Suncor, Leede Jones Gable, Firstrade Securities, Charles Schwab, First Financial, Equisolve, Stock-Trak, Mergent, Cision, Day Trade Dash, LLC and others. Quotestream®, QMod™ and Quotestream Connect™ are trademarks of QuoteMedia. For more information, please visit www.quotemedia.com.
About Planet MicroCap
Planet MicroCap is a global multimedia and publishing financial news investor portal specifically focused on covering the MicroCap market by providing news, insights, education tools and expert commentary. We have cultivated an active and engaged community of folks that are interested in learning about and to stay ahead of the curve in the MicroCap space.
Dramatic Collapse of the Cryptocurrency Exchange FTX Contains Lessons for Investors but Won’t Affect Most People
In the fast-paced world of cryptocurrency, vast sums of money can be made or lost in the blink of an eye. In early November 2022, the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, was valued at more than US$30 billion. By Nov. 14, FTX was in bankruptcy proceedings along with more than 100 companies connected to it. D. Brian Blank and Brandy Hadley are professors who study finance, investing and fintech. They explain how and why this incredible collapse happened, what effect it might have on the traditional financial sector and whether you need to care if you don’t own any cryptocurrency.
What Happened?
In 2019, Sam Bankman-Fried founded FTX, a company that ran one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges.
FTX is where many crypto investors trade and hold their cryptocurrency, similar to the New York Stock Exchange for stocks. Bankman-Fried is also the founder of Alameda Research, a hedge fund that trades and invests in cryptocurrencies and crypto companies.
Sam Bankman-Fried founded both FTX and the investment firm Alameda Research. News sources have reported some less-than-responsible financial dealings between the two companies. Image via The Conversation.
Within the traditional financial sector, these two companies would be separate firms entirely or at least have divisions and firewalls in place between them. But in early November 2022, news outlets reported that a significant proportion of Alameda’s assets were a type of cryptocurrency released by FTX itself.
A few days later, news broke that FTX had allegedly been loaning customer assets to Alameda for risky trades without the consent of the customers and also issuing its own FTX cryptocurrency for Alameda to use as collateral. As a result, criminal and regulatory investigators began scrutinizing FTX for potentially violating securities law.
These two pieces of news basically led to a bank run on FTX.
Large crypto investors, like FTX’s competitor Binance, as well as individuals, began to sell off cryptocurrency held on FTX’s exchange. FTX quickly lost its ability to meet customer withdrawals and halted trading. On Nov. 14, FTX was also hit by an apparent insider hack and lost $600 million worth of cryptocurrency.
That same day, FTX, Alameda Research and 130 other affiliated companies founded by Bankman-Fried filed for bankruptcy. This action may leave more than a million suppliers, employees and investors who bought cryptocurrencies through the exchange or invested in these companies with no way to get their money back.
Among the groups and individuals who held currency on the FTX platform were many of the normal players in the crypto world, but a number of more traditional investment firms also held assets within FTX. Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm, as well as the Ontario Teacher’s Pension, are estimated to have held millions of dollars of their investment portfolios in ownership stake of FTX. They have both already written off these investments with FTX as lost.
In traditional markets, corporations generally limit the risk they expose themselves to by maintaining liquidity and solvency. Liquidity is the ability of a firm to sell assets quickly without those assets losing much value. Solvency is the idea that a company’s assets are worth more than what that company owes to debtors and customers.
But the crypto world has generally operated with much less caution than the traditional financial sector, and FTX is no exception. About two-thirds of the money that FTX owed to the people who held cryptocurrency on its exchange – roughly $11.3 billion of $16 billion owed – was backed by illiquid coins created by FTX. FTX was taking its customers’ money, giving it to Alameda to make risky investments and then creating its own currency, known as FTT, as a replacement – cryptocurrency that it was unable to sell at a high enough price when it needed to.
In addition, nearly 40% of Alameda’s assets were in FTX’s own cryptocurrency – and remember, both companies were founded by the same person.
This all came to a head when investors decided to sell their coins on the exchange. FTX did not have enough liquid assets to meet those demands. This, in turn, drove the value of FTT from over $26 a coin at the beginning of November to under $2 by Nov. 13. By this point, FTX owed more money to its customers than it was worth.
In regulated exchanges, investing with customer funds is illegal. Additionally, auditors validate financial statements, and firms must publish the amount of money they hold in reserve that is available to fund customer withdrawals. And even if things go wrong, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation – or SIPC – protects depositors against the loss of investments from an exchange failure or financially troubled brokerage firm. None of these guardrails are in place within the crypto world.
Why is this a Big Deal in Crypto?
As a result of this meltdown, the company Binance is now considering creating an industry recovery fund – akin to a private version of SIPC insurance – to avoid future failures of crypto exchanges.
But while the collapse of FTX and Alameda – valued at more than $30 billion and now essentially worth nothing – is dramatic, the bigger implication is simply the potential lost trust in crypto. Bank runs are rare in traditional financial institutions, but they are increasingly common in the crypto space. Given that Bankman-Fried and FTX were seen as some of the biggest, most trusted figures in crypto, these events may lead more investors to think twice about putting money in crypto.
If I Don’t Own Crypto, Should I Care?
Though investment in cryptocurrencies has grown rapidly, the entire crypto market – valued at over $3 trillion at its peak – is much smaller than the $120 trillion traditional stock market.
While investors and regulators are still evaluating the consequences of this fall, the impact on any person who doesn’t personally own crypto will be minuscule. It is true that many larger investment funds, like BlackRock and the Ontario Teachers Pension, held investments in FTX, but the estimated $95 million the Ontario Teachers Pension lost through the collapse of FTX is just 0.05% of the entire fund’s investments.
The takeaway for most individuals is not to invest in unregulated markets without understanding the risks. In high-risk environments like crypto, it’s possible to lose everything – a lesson investors in FTX are learning the hard way.
This article was republished with permission from The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the research-based findings and thoughts of D. Brian Blank, Assistant Professor of Finance, Mississippi State University and Brandy Hadley, Associate Professor of Finance and the David A. Thompson Professor in Applied Investments, Appalachian State University
Kelly (Nasdaq: KELYA, KELYB) connects talented people to companies in need of their skills in areas including Science, Engineering, Education, Office, Contact Center, Light Industrial, and more. We’re always thinking about what’s next in the evolving world of work, and we help people ditch the script on old ways of thinking and embrace the value of all workstyles in the workplace. We directly employ nearly 350,000 people around the world and connect thousands more with work through our global network of talent suppliers and partners in our outsourcing and consulting practice. Revenue in 2021 was $4.9 billion. Visit kellyservices.com and let us help with what’s next for you.
Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.
3Q22. Revenue of $1.17 billion was down 2.3% year-over-year (up 0.3% in constant currency). Consensus was $1.22 billion and we were at $1.23 billion. Kelly took a $30.7 million asset impairment charge related to its RocketPower acquisition during the quarter. As a result, GAAP EPS loss was $0.43 compared to net income EPS of $0.88 in 3Q21. Adjusted EPS for the third quarter was $0.25 versus $0.26 last year. We had projected adjusted EPS of $0.24.
GP Rate Continues to Improve. Management continues to drive gross profit rate. GP rate for the quarter was 20.6%, up 140 basis points y-o-y, with all segments once again reporting increased gross profit rate. The improvement has come from a combination of steps to improve organic GP and the addition of higher margin specialty business through recent acquisitions. We believe GP rate can continue to increase.
This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).
*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision.
This is a rare opportunity to join an elite group of independent, award-winning Wall Street analysts as they highlight how they set their price targets and market ratings. The fundamental reasons to consider investment. And this is not a one-way street. You can submit questions throughout the presentations and the analysts will tackle as many as possible. Small and microcap investing comes with its challenges. And the potential for significant upside. Get a front row seat for this once-a-year event. (Questions will be prioritized by the date of registration). It’s at no cost thanks to Noble Capital Markets and Channelchek. Tis the season to plan your investment roadmap for 2023. A full agenda will be released soon.
Q3 revenue down 2.3%; up 0.3% in constant currency
Q3 operating loss of $21.4 million and loss per share of $0.43 down from a year ago on a non-cash goodwill impairment charge
Adjusted operating earnings of $9.5 million; up 7% from a year ago or up 21% in constant currency
Kelly’s Board of Directors approves a $50 million share repurchase plan
TROY, Mich., Nov. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Kelly (Nasdaq: KELYA, KELYB), a leading specialty talent solutions provider, today announced results for the third quarter of 2022.
Peter Quigley, president and chief executive officer, announced revenue for the third quarter of 2022 totaled $1.2 billion, a 2.3% decrease, or 0.3% increase in constant currency, compared to the corresponding quarter of 2021. Year-over-year revenue trends were impacted by foreign currency headwinds and the impact of the sale of our Russian operations in July 2022. Year-over-year results in the quarter also reflect the impact of the recent acquisitions of RocketPower, a recruitment process outsourcing firm, and Pediatric Therapeutic Services, a specialty firm providing in-school therapy services.
Kelly reported a loss from operations in the third quarter of 2022 of $21.4 million, compared to earnings of $9.0 million reported in the third quarter of 2021. The loss in the third quarter of 2022 resulted from a $30.7 million goodwill impairment charge related to RocketPower. The charge reflects the impact of increasing economic uncertainty including the sharp decline in hiring in the high-tech industry in which RocketPower specializes, as well as slowing growth in the near-term demand for recruitment process outsourcing more broadly. Excluding the impairment charge, adjusted earnings from operations were $9.5 million compared to $8.9 million in the third quarter of 2021. Earnings improved primarily as a result of structural improvements in the business mix which resulted in higher gross profit.
Loss per share in the third quarter of 2022 was $0.43 compared to earnings per share of $0.87 in the third quarter of 2021. Included in the loss per share in the third quarter of 2022 is a $0.67 per share goodwill impairment charge, net of tax, related to RocketPower, and a $0.01 loss per share, net of tax, related to the completion of the sale of our Russian operations. Included in the third quarter of 2021 earnings per share is a $0.62 gain, net of tax, related to non-cash gains, net of tax, on Persol Holding common shares. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were $0.25 in the third quarter of 2022, consistent with $0.25 in the corresponding quarter of 2021.
“Kelly’s third-quarter performance demonstrates that our more profitable solutions are in demand and our specialty growth strategy is delivering a higher-margin, higher-value business mix even in the face of heightened uncertainty, rising interest rates, and inflationary pressures,” said Quigley. “We saw solid revenue growth in our SET and Education specialties, and all five operating segments delivered GP rate growth in the quarter. While challenges precipitated the RocketPower goodwill impairment, we remain confident that with diversification and integration this acquisition will bring strategic long-term value to our business. Finally, our planned buyback of Kelly Class A common shares highlights our flexible and balanced capital allocation strategy to maximize the return on capital and complements our organic and inorganic specialty growth strategy.”
Kelly also reported that on November 9, its board of directors declared a dividend of $0.075 per share. The dividend is payable on December 7, 2022 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on November 23, 2022.
In conjunction with its third-quarter earnings release, Kelly has published a financial presentation on the Investor Relations page of its public website and will host a conference call at 9 a.m. ET on November 10 to review the results and answer questions. The call may be accessed in one of the following ways:
Via the Telephone (877) 692-8955 (toll free) or (234) 720-6979 (caller paid) Enter access code 5728672 After the prompt, please enter ”#”
A recording of the conference call will be available after 2:30 p.m. ET on November 10, 2022, at (866) 207-1041 (toll-free) and (402) 970-0847 (caller-paid). The access code is 8237932#. The recording will also be available at kellyservices.com during this period.
This release contains statements that are forward looking in nature and, accordingly, are subject to risks and uncertainties. These factors include, but are not limited to, changing market and economic conditions, the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, competitive market pressures including pricing and technology introductions and disruptions, disruption in the labor market and weakened demand for human capital resulting from technological advances, competition law risks, the impact of changes in laws and regulations (including federal, state and international tax laws), unexpected changes in claim trends on workers’ compensation, unemployment, disability and medical benefit plans, or the risk of additional tax liabilities in excess of our estimates, our ability to achieve our business strategy, our ability to successfully develop new service offerings, material changes in demand from or loss of large corporate customers as well as changes in their buying practices, risks particular to doing business with government or government contractors, the risk of damage to our brand, our exposure to risks associated with services outside traditional staffing, including business process outsourcing, services of licensed professionals and services connecting talent to independent work, our increasing dependency on third parties for the execution of critical functions, our ability to effectively implement and manage our information technology strategy, the risks associated with past and future acquisitions, including risk of related impairment of goodwill and intangible assets, risks associated with conducting business in foreign countries, including foreign currency fluctuations, risks associated with violations of anti-corruption, trade protection and other laws and regulations, availability of qualified full-time employees, availability of temporary workers with appropriate skills required by customers, liabilities for employment-related claims and losses, including class action lawsuits and collective actions, our ability to sustain critical business applications through our key data centers, risks arising from failure to preserve the privacy of information entrusted to us or to meet our obligations under global privacy laws, the risk of cyberattacks or other breaches of network or information technology security, our ability to realize value from our tax credit and net operating loss carryforwards, our ability to maintain specified financial covenants in our bank facilities to continue to access credit markets, and other risks, uncertainties and factors discussed in this release and in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from any forward-looking statements contained herein, and we undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company’s expectations.
About Kelly®
Kelly Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: KELYA, KELYB) connects talented people to companies in need of their skills in areas including Science, Engineering, Education, Office, Contact Center, Light Industrial, and more. We’re always thinking about what’s next in the evolving world of work, and we help people ditch the script on old ways of thinking and embrace the value of all workstyles in the workplace. We directly employ more than 350,000 people around the world, and we connect thousands more with work through our global network of talent suppliers and partners in our outsourcing and consulting practice. Revenue in 2021 was $4.9 billion. Visit kellyservices.com and let us help with what’s next for you.
CoreCivic is a diversified, government-solutions company with the scale and experience needed to solve tough government challenges in flexible, cost-effective ways. We provide a broad range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through high-quality corrections and detention management, a network of residential and non-residential alternatives to incarceration to help address America’s recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions. We are the nation’s largest owner of partnership correctional, detention and residential reentry facilities, and believe we are the largest private owner of real estate used by government agencies in the United States. We have been a flexible and dependable partner for government for nearly 40 years. Our employees are driven by a deep sense of service, high standards of professionalism and a responsibility to help government better the public good. Learn more at www.corecivic.com.
Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.
3Q22 Operating Results. CoreCivic reported revenue of $464.2 million, compared to $471.2 million in the year ago period and our estimate of $456 million. Higher expenses, related to labor costs, including hiring additional staff ahead of expected population increases, caused net income to be below our forecast. Driven by the gain on the McRae sale, reported net income was $68.3 million, or $0.58 per diluted share, versus our estimate of $72.5 million, or $0.61 per share.
La Palma Update. Ongoing expenses with the La Palma transition impacted 3Q22 but the good news is the transition should now be complete by yearend as opposed to 1Q23. With the ICE contract at La Palma expired, management believes the Company is well positioned to add additional ICE populations at its other Arizona facilities. Overall, CoreCivic is well positioned to accept additional populations, from the Federal government or state governments.
This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).
*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn., Nov. 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE: CXW) (the Company) announced today its financial results for the third quarter of 2022.
Damon T. Hininger, CoreCivic’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are pleased to continue executing on our capital allocation strategy of reducing debt while also returning capital to shareholders through our share repurchase program. Since the initial repurchase program was authorized by our board earlier this year, we have repurchased over 5% of our outstanding shares, or a total of 6.6 million shares at a cost of $74.5 million, and have authorization under the program to repurchase $150.5 million more in shares of our common stock.
Hininger continued, “The resiliency of our cash flows has allowed us to execute our share repurchase program while reducing our outstanding debt balances by nearly $250 million so far this year, reducing our future interest expense and improving our long-term cost of borrowing. Our financial results for the third quarter were in-line with our expectations, and we continued producing stable financial results in a challenging labor market and while occupancy restrictions implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic remained largely in place. We have increased staffing levels at certain facilities in anticipation of increased occupancy levels, and are poised to accept additional residential populations as such occupancy restrictions are removed. Our financial results also continue to be negatively impacted in the short-term by our La Palma Correctional Center’s transition to a new state contract award that commenced in April 2022. We believe our operating and capital allocation strategies have positioned us well to return to earnings growth once the transition at our La Palma Correctional Center is complete, which we expect to occur near the end of this year, and as the remaining occupancy restrictions caused by the pandemic are removed.”
Financial Highlights – Third Quarter 2022
Total revenue of $464.2 million
CoreCivic Safety revenue of $423.2 million
CoreCivic Community revenue of $26.4 million
CoreCivic Properties revenue of $14.6 million
Net Income of $68.3 million
Diluted earnings per share of $0.58
Adjusted Diluted EPS of $0.08
Funds From Operations per diluted share of $0.28
Normalized Funds From Operations per diluted share of $0.29
Adjusted EBITDA of $68.4 million
Third Quarter 2022 Financial Results Compared With Third Quarter 2021
Net income in the third quarter of 2022 totaled $68.3 million, or $0.58 per diluted share, compared with net income in the third quarter of 2021 of $30.0 million, or $0.25 per diluted share. Adjusted for special items, adjusted net income in the third quarter of 2022 was $9.7 million, or $0.08 per diluted share (Adjusted Diluted EPS), compared with adjusted net income in the third quarter of 2021 of $33.7 million, or $0.28 per diluted share. Special items for each period are presented in detail in the calculation of Adjusted Diluted EPS in the Supplemental Financial Information following the financial statements presented herein, and for the third quarter of 2022 reflect, most notably, a gain on sale of real estate assets of $83.8 million, including $77.5 million for the sale of our McRae Correctional Facility, which was consummated in August 2022.
The decline in adjusted per share amounts was primarily the result of transitioning to a new contract with the state of Arizona at our 3,060-bed La Palma Correctional Center in Arizona, the non-renewal of contracts in 2021 with the United States Marshals Service (USMS) at the 1,033-bed Leavenworth Detention Center in Kansas and the 600-bed West Tennessee Detention Facility, and the expiration of a managed-only contract with Marion County, Indiana at the Marion County Jail, which the County replaced with a newly constructed facility. We expect the transition at the La Palma facility to be complete near the end of 2022. Our renewal rate on owned and controlled facilities remained high at 95% over the previous five years. We believe our renewal rate on existing contracts remains high due to a variety of reasons including the aged and constrained supply of available beds within the U.S. correctional system, our ownership of the majority of the beds we operate, the value our government partners place in the wide range of recidivism-reducing programs we offer to those in our care, and the cost effectiveness of the services we provide.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $147.9 million in the third quarter of 2022, compared with $95.7 million in the third quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA was $68.4 million in the third quarter of 2022, compared with $100.9 million in the third quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA decreased from the prior year quarter primarily due to the previously mentioned transition of offender populations at our La Palma Correctional Center, which resulted in a reduction in EBITDA of $11.8 million, and the aforementioned non-renewal of contracts at three facilities that collectively resulted in a reduction in EBITDA of $2.7 million from the third quarter of 2021 to the third quarter of 2022. Now that the contract with U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) at our La Palma Correctional Center has expired, we expect average daily populations from ICE at our other facilities in Arizona to increase in the fourth quarter of 2022, including particularly at our Eloy Detention Center. We also achieved higher staffing levels and incurred $5.6 million more in temporary incentives than in the prior year quarter to attract and retain facility staff in the challenging labor market. We believe these investments in staffing are preparing us to manage the increased number of residents we anticipate at our facilities once the remaining occupancy restrictions caused by the pandemic are removed.
Funds From Operations (FFO) was $33.3 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2022, compared to $54.9 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2021. Normalized FFO, which excludes special items, was $33.9 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2022, compared with $58.6 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2021. Normalized FFO was negatively impacted by the same factors that affected Adjusted EBITDA.
Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, FFO, and Normalized FFO, and, where appropriate, their corresponding per share amounts, are measures calculated and presented on the basis of methodologies other than in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Please refer to the Supplemental Financial Information and related note following the financial statements herein for further discussion and reconciliations of these measures to net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure.
Asset Dispositions
During the second quarter of 2022, we entered into an agreement with the Georgia Building Authority (GBA) to sell our 1,978-bed McRae Correctional Facility located in McRae, Georgia, and reported in our Safety segment, for a sale price of $130.0 million. The sale was completed on August 9, 2022, resulting in a gain on sale of $77.5 million. We currently have a management contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at the McRae facility, which expires November 30, 2022. As previously disclosed, we do not expect the BOP to renew the contract upon its expiration. In connection with the sale, we entered into an agreement with the GBA to lease the facility through November 30, 2022 to allow us to fulfill our obligations to the BOP.
During July 2022, we sold our Stockton Female Community Corrections Facility and our Long Beach Community Corrections Center, both located in California and reported in our Properties segment. The sale of these properties to a third party generated net sales proceeds of $10.9 million, resulting in a gain on sale of $2.3 million. During July 2022, we also sold an undeveloped parcel of land, generating net proceeds of $4.8 million and resulting in a gain on sale of $4.2 million.
In September 2022, we entered into a Letter of Intent with a third-party for the sale of our Roth Hall Residential Reentry Center and the Walker Hall Residential Reentry Center, both located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and reported in our Properties segment, for a gross sales price of $6.3 million. Also in October 2022, we entered into an agreement with a third-party for the sale of our idled Oklahoma City Transitional Center, reported in our Community segment, for a gross sales price of $1.0 million. The buyer intends to redevelop the property for an alternative use. We recognized an impairment charge of $3.5 million during the third quarter of 2022 associated with this facility, based on its estimated net realizable value less costs to sell. These sales are subject to customary closing conditions. If consummated, we expect to use the net proceeds from these sales for general corporate purposes, including for our share repurchase program and/or for additional debt reduction.
Debt Repayments
During the third quarter of 2022, we reduced our debt balance by $109.1 million, net of the change in cash. We purchased $3.6 million of our 4.625% Senior Notes in open market purchases, reducing the outstanding balance of the 4.625% Senior Notes to $166.5 million. The 4.625% Senior Notes mature in May 2023, which we currently expect to repay with cash on hand and capacity under our $250.0 million Revolving Credit Facility, which remains undrawn. We also purchased $33.5 million of our 8.25% Senior Notes in open market purchases, reducing the outstanding balance of the 8.25% Senior Notes to $641.5 million. Beyond the maturity of our 4.625% Senior Notes in May 2023, we have no other maturities until the 8.25% Senior Notes mature in April 2026.
Share Repurchases
On August 2, 2022, our Board of Directors authorized an increase in our share repurchase program of up to an additional $75.0 million in shares of our common stock. As a result of the increased authorization, the aggregate authorization under our share repurchase program increased from the original authorization of up to $150.0 million in shares of our common stock to up to $225.0 million in shares of our common stock. Through November 1, 2022, we have repurchased 6.6 million shares of our common stock at an aggregate purchase price of $74.5 million, excluding fees, commissions and other costs related to the repurchases.
We currently have $150.5 million remaining under the Board authorized share repurchase program. Additional repurchases of common stock will be made in accordance with applicable securities laws and may be made at management’s discretion within parameters set by the Board of Directors from time to time in the open market, through privately negotiated transactions, or otherwise. The share repurchase program has no time limit and does not obligate us to purchase any particular amount of our common stock. The authorization for the share repurchase program may be terminated, suspended, increased or decreased by our Board in its discretion at any time.
2022 Financial Guidance
Based on current business conditions, we are providing the following update to our financial guidance for the full year 2022:
Guidance Full Year 2022
Prior Guidance Full Year 2022
Net Income
$110.1 million – $114.1 million
$106.6 million – $118.2 million
Adjusted Net Income
$55.5 million – $59.5 million
$52.0 million – $60.0 million
Diluted EPS
$0.93 – $0.96
$0.89 – $0.99
Adjusted Diluted EPS
$0.47 – $0.50
$0.44 – $0.50
FFO per diluted share
$1.22 – $1.26
$1.19 – $1.26
Normalized FFO per diluted share
$1.28 – $1.32
$1.25 – $1.32
EBITDA
$375.6 million – $378.1 million
$375.2 million – $386.2 million
Adjusted EBITDA
$301.5 million – $304.0 million
$299.0 million – $305.0 million
During 2022, we expect to invest $82.5 million to $86.0 million in capital expenditures, consisting of $33.5 million to $34.0 million in maintenance capital expenditures on real estate assets, $30.0 million to $32.0 million for capital expenditures on other assets and information technology, and $19.0 million to $20.0 million for facility renovations.
Supplemental Financial Information and Investor Presentations
We have made available on our website supplemental financial information and other data for the third quarter of 2022. Interested parties may access this information through our website at http://ir.corecivic.com/ under “Financial Information” of the Investors section. We do not undertake any obligation and disclaim any duties to update any of the information disclosed in this report.
Management may meet with investors from time to time during the fourth quarter of 2022. Written materials used in the investor presentations will also be available on our website beginning on or about November 11, 2022. Interested parties may access this information through our website at http://ir.corecivic.com/ under “Events & Presentations” of the Investors section.
Conference Call, Webcast and Replay Information
We will host a webcast conference call at 10:00 a.m. central time (11:00 a.m. eastern time) on Thursday, November 3, 2022, which will be accessible through the Company’s website at www.corecivic.com under the “Events & Presentations” section of the “Investors” page.
Please note there is a new process to access the live call for those who wish to ask questions. To participate via telephone and join the call live, please register in advance here https://register.vevent.com/register/BId5639495ba264dd3b66eae4d5db8ced1. Upon registration, telephone participants will receive a confirmation email detailing how to join the conference call, including the dial-in number and a unique passcode.
About CoreCivic
CoreCivic is a diversified, government-solutions company with the scale and experience needed to solve tough government challenges in flexible, cost-effective ways. We provide a broad range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through high-quality corrections and detention management, a network of residential and non-residential alternatives to incarceration to help address America’s recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions. We are the nation’s largest owner of partnership correctional, detention and residential reentry facilities, and believe we are the largest private owner of real estate used by government agencies in the United States. We have been a flexible and dependable partner for government for nearly 40 years. Our employees are driven by a deep sense of service, high standards of professionalism and a responsibility to help government better the public good. Learn more at www.corecivic.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements as to our beliefs and expectations of the outcome of future events that are “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties associated with: (i) changes in government policy (including the United States Department of Justice, or DOJ, not renewing contracts as a result of President Biden’s Executive Order on Reforming Our Incarceration System to Eliminate the Use of Privately Operated Criminal Detention Facilities, or the Private Prison EO) (two agencies of the DOJ, the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons and the United States Marshals Service utilize our services), legislation and regulations that affect utilization of the private sector for corrections, detention, and residential reentry services, in general, or our business, in particular, including, but not limited to, the continued utilization of our correctional and detention facilities by the federal government, and the impact of any changes to immigration reform and sentencing laws (our company does not, under longstanding policy, lobby for or against policies or legislation that would determine the basis for, or duration of, an individual’s incarceration or detention); (ii) our ability to obtain and maintain correctional, detention, and residential reentry facility management contracts because of reasons including, but not limited to, sufficient governmental appropriations, contract compliance, negative publicity and effects of inmate disturbances; (iii) changes in the privatization of the corrections and detention industry, the acceptance of our services, the timing of the opening of new facilities and the commencement of new management contracts (including the extent and pace at which new contracts are utilized), as well as our ability to utilize available beds; (iv) general economic and market conditions, including, but not limited to, the impact governmental budgets can have on our contract renewals and renegotiations, per diem rates, and occupancy; (v) fluctuations in our operating results because of, among other things, changes in occupancy levels; competition; contract renegotiations or terminations; inflation and other increases in costs of operations, including a continuing rise in labor costs; fluctuations in interest rates and risks of operations; (vi) the duration of the federal government’s denial of entry at the United States southern border to asylum-seekers and anyone crossing the southern border without proper documentation or authority in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, a policy known as Title 42 (On April 1, 2022, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, terminated Title 42, and began preparing for a resumption of regular migration at the United States southern border, effective May 23, 2022; however, on April 25, 2022, a judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the termination of Title 42 and on May 20, 2022, ruled that the administration violated administrative law when it announced that it planned to cease Title 42.); (vii) government and staff responses to staff or residents testing positive for COVID-19 within public and private correctional, detention and reentry facilities, including the facilities we operate; (viii) restrictions associated with COVID-19 that disrupt the criminal justice system, along with government policies on prosecutions and newly ordered legal restrictions that affect the number of people placed in correctional, detention, and reentry facilities, including those associated with a resurgence of COVID-19; (ix) whether revoking our REIT election, effective January 1, 2021, and our revised capital allocation strategy can be implemented in a cost effective manner that provides the expected benefits, including facilitating our planned debt reduction initiative and planned return of capital to shareholders; (x) our ability to successfully identify and consummate future development and acquisition opportunities and realize projected returns resulting therefrom; (xi) our ability to have met and maintained qualification for taxation as a REIT for the years we elected REIT status; and (xii) the availability of debt and equity financing on terms that are favorable to us, or at all. Other factors that could cause operating and financial results to differ are described in the filings we make from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CoreCivic takes no responsibility for updating the information contained in this press release following the date hereof to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof or the occurrence of unanticipated events or for any changes or modifications made to this press release or the information contained herein by any third-parties, including, but not limited to, any wire or internet services.
Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, FFO, and Normalized FFO, and, where appropriate, their corresponding per share metrics are non-GAAP financial measures. The Company believes that these measures are important operating measures that supplement discussion and analysis of the Company’s results of operations and are used to review and assess operating performance of the Company and its properties and their management teams. The Company believes that it is useful to provide investors, lenders and security analysts disclosures of its results of operations on the same basis that is used by management.
FFO, in particular, is a widely accepted non-GAAP supplemental measure of performance of real estate companies, grounded in the standards for FFO established by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT). NAREIT defines FFO as net income computed in accordance with GAAP, excluding gains (or losses) from sales of property and extraordinary items, plus depreciation and amortization of real estate and impairment of depreciable real estate and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures calculated to reflect funds from operations on the same basis. EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, and Normalized FFO are useful as supplemental measures of performance of the Company’s properties because such measures do not take into account depreciation and amortization, or with respect to EBITDA, the impact of the Company’s tax provisions and financing strategies. Because the historical cost accounting convention used for real estate assets requires depreciation (except on land), this accounting presentation assumes that the value of real estate assets diminishes at a level rate over time. Because of the unique structure, design and use of the Company’s properties, management believes that assessing performance of the Company’s properties without the impact of depreciation or amortization is useful. The Company may make adjustments to FFO from time to time for certain other income and expenses that it considers non-recurring, infrequent or unusual, even though such items may require cash settlement, because such items do not reflect a necessary or ordinary component of the ongoing operations of the Company. Normalized FFO excludes the effects of such items. The Company calculates Adjusted Net Income by adding to GAAP Net Income expenses associated with the Company’s debt repayments and refinancing transactions, and certain impairments and other charges that the Company believes are unusual or non-recurring to provide an alternative measure of comparing operating performance for the periods presented.
Other companies may calculate Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, FFO, and Normalized FFO differently than the Company does, or adjust for other items, and therefore comparability may be limited. Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, FFO, and Normalized FFO and, where appropriate, their corresponding per share measures are not measures of performance under GAAP, and should not be considered as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities, a measure of liquidity or an alternative to net income as indicators of the Company’s operating performance or any other measure of performance derived in accordance with GAAP. This data should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related notes included in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tokens.com Corp is a publicly traded company that invests in Web3 assets and businesses focused on the Metaverse, NFTs, DeFi, and gaming based digital assets. Tokens.com is the majority owner of Metaverse Group, one of the world’s first virtual real estate companies. Hulk Labs, a wholly-owned Tokens.com subsidiary, focuses on investing in play-to-earn revenue generating gaming tokens and NFTs. Additionally, Tokens.com owns and stakes crypto assets to earn additional tokens. Through its growing digital assets and NFTs, Tokens.com provides public market investors with a simple and secure way to gain exposure to Web3.
Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.
Providing an Update. Tokens.com issued a press release yesterday that highlighted the Company’s operations in its three different operations: staking, Metaverse, and crypto gaming. Along with the Company’s main operations, Tokens.com included updates on the domain names the Company currently owns and the current capitalization structure. We expect the Company to release its year-end financial results for the nine months ended in mid-December.
Staking. Management showed the current portfolio of coins the Company has, in which very slight changes occurred from the end of the last quarter ended June 30, 2022. Coins such as Ethereum were sold (from 3,499 to 3,206) although coins like ANKR (from 3.01 million to 3.02 million) and ROSE (6.99 million to 7.23 million) were earned or purchased. Although not many changes have been made in the portfolio since the last quarter, we would not be surprised if the Company were to sell or buy coins for the portfolio during the volatile market.
This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).
*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision.