A Chicken-Fueled Pairs Trade: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Versus Restaurant Brands

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. (PLKI) is one expensive stock, especially for a (fried chicken) restaurant: trailing P/E of 36.2, forward P/E of 28.9, price/sales of 5.5, and price/book of 187.4. PLKI most recently reported 4.7% year-over-year revenue growth and -1.9% earnings growth. (Data from Yahoo Finance). According to briefing.com, year-over-year revenue growth has stagnated in … Read more

Century Communities Hits All-Time Highs With Strong Preliminary Earnings

I have long been a fan of Century Communities (CCS) and regional home builders in general. When I took profits in April of 2016 on my accumulated CCS position, I timed the sale to coincide with the end of the seasonally strong period for home builders. CCS was also struggling to break through resistance at … Read more

Awful Offerings: Acacia Communications and Twilio

I raise yellow flags when companies implement a secondary stock offering soon after going IPO, especially after the stock has experienced a massive run-up. I get even more worried when the majority of the shares are being sold by shareholders rather than the majority of proceeds going into corporate investments. Two recent IPOs have popped … Read more

T2108 Update (October 28, 2016) – Divergences Weigh Further on the Stock Market

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more

Meritage Homes: Margin Pressures Cap An Already Low Valuation

Three months ago, I reviewed earnings guidance from Meritage Homes (MTH) for second quarter 2016. The guidance and subsequent positive market reaction came within weeks of a first quarter earnings report that was very poorly received (13% loss on the day). I called the guidance “too late” because of the sour taste left by the … Read more