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Citigroup 01-21 03:51 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
Citigroup (C) is moving forward with its "strategic refresh" program. Last year the bank decided to exit consumer banking in 13 mostly Asian countries, including...
Progress Report by Kathleen Shanley, CFA
MGM Resorts International 01-21 03:15 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
MGM Resorts (MGM) just released a business update of its joint venture BetMGM, a leading sports betting and iGaming operator in the U.S. ...
A Good Bet by Kim Noland
Sasol Limited 01-21 02:41 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
The stock price of Sasol Limited (SASOL) hovers around the highest level seen since January 2020, just before the freefall towards record-low levels seen in...
Oil Proxy by Alexandre Dray
Kinder Morgan 01-20 15:09 GMT
(Comment)
Kinder Morgan reported a 1.4% increase in adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter. In the Natural...
Earnings by Dave Novosel, CFA
Kinder Morgan reported a 1.4% increase in adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter. In the Natural Gas Pipelines segment, by far its largest unit, adjusted EBITDA rose 2%, reflecting higher contributions from the Permian Highway Pipeline, the addition of the Stagecoach assets, and increased volumes and pricing on the Altamont and South Texas gathering systems. Products Pipelines adjusted EBITDA increased 9% due primarily to a 9% gain in total refined products volumes and a 48% surge in jet fuel volumes. Terminals adjusted EBITDA fell 5%, attributable to lower average charter rates. CO2 adjusted EBITDA was down 5% because of lower CO2 sales, along with lower crude volumes and realized crude prices. For the full year KMI posted a 16% increase in adjusted EBITDA, reflecting the huge first quarter and the impact of the winter storm Uri. That was obviously a one-time occurrence. So the guidance for 2022 adjusted EBITDA of $7.2 billion, a 13% decline versus 2021, was not surprising. Compared to 2020, the 2022 forecasted level is roughly 1% better. Distributable free cash flow is also expected to be much lower this year. Discretionary capital spending is expected to be approximately $1.3 billion, up from 2021. And the company raised its dividend by 3%. Nevertheless, management expects to have roughly $750 million of available cash for opportunistic share repurchases or other capital projects. Given the much better than expected adjusted EBITDA, leverage at year-end was 3.9x. Since adjusted EBITDA is likely to drop significantly, leverage at the end of this year is likely to be about 4.4x, with net leverage about 4.3x. That leverage is slightly less than management's long-term target of 4.5x. Management noted on its conference call that it does not believe that a lower leverage target would lead to a meaningful decline in its cost of capital so it does not see the value of reducing its target.
Microsoft 01-20 02:50 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
Microsoft announced that it is acquiring Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion in an all-cash deal. Activision's well-known video games include Call of...
A Big Deal That's Not That Big by Dave Novosel, CFA
Tenneco 01-20 02:37 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
While Tenneco's (TEN) third quarter value-added volume and mix were down 5% year over year, it strongly outpaced the 20% decline in global industry light vehicle...
Temporary Headwinds by Evan Mann, CFA
Central China Real Estate Ltd 01-20 02:30 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
The year has started badly for the real estate sector in China, as the deterioration seen since the summer months is now reverberating...
From Bad To Worse by Cedric Rimaud, CFA
Procter & Gamble 01-20 02:24 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
PG reported strong top-line results for its fiscal second quarter, with an organic sales increase of 6%. Half of the increase came from pricing (the...
Higher Costs, Higher Prices by Carol Levenson, CFA
Kohl's 01-18 20:59 GMT
(Comment)
Activist shareholders Macellum Capital Management released a letter to Kohl's shareholders today calling...
Shareholder Pressure by Carol Levenson, CFA
Activist shareholders Macellum Capital Management released a letter to Kohl's shareholders today calling for dramatic strategic changes at the company, citing continued share underperformance. You may recall Macellum was part of an activist group that reached an agreement with the board in lieu of conducting a proxy battle last spring, which included board representation. Now Macellum, which owns nearly 5% of Kohl's shares, is again threatening to run a slate of directors for election at the 2022 annual meeting. Its suggestions feature most prominently "optimizing the balance sheet" via a $4 billion sale-leaseback of retail properties with the proceeds used to repurchase shares, although Kohl's has already indicated a sale-leaseback (depending upon the size) would violate its bond indentures and we believe it would send the credit profile to junk by adding debt-like lease obligations. Other suggestions include separating the e-commerce business from the brick-and-mortar stores, and running a sale process for the company, which Macellum claims has been approached by several qualified buyers. The response from Kohl's is to claim Macellum refused to engage constructively with management, and to encourage investors to wait and see the company's plans to be revealed in its March investor conference. As we noted previously with regard to similar activist proposals, such proposals are likely to be materially negative for the credit profile. We expect that even another negotiated agreement with activists would at a minimum result in a more aggressive financial strategy and could be even more severe. The bonds have widened further, but we reiterate our "underperform" (2031 notes at T+193).
Microsoft 01-18 18:55 GMT
(Comment)
Microsoft announced that it is acquiring Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion in an all-cash...
Acquisition by Dave Novosel, CFA
Microsoft announced that it is acquiring Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion in an all-cash deal. Activision's well-known games include Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush. Gaming represents a small portion of Microsoft's portfolio, but it is rapidly growing sector, and the deal will boost the company to the #3 position in the industry behind Tencent and Sony. Microsoft did not discuss how it would fund the transaction, but it has almost $20 billion in cash and generates annual free cash flow of roughly $45 billion. More to come.
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