Today's stock picks by Barry Schwartz and The Panic-Proof Portfolio (Stockchase Research) are META, NA.TO, CSU.TO, NRIM, V, CM.TO.
Canadian banks deserve to trade at higher PEs, including NA, because it's focused on wealth management and fees. They're making hay with this market volatility. Loves their Western Canadian Bank deal so they can sell services to Alberta. The PE is only 15x 2027. Expects double-digit earnings growth for years. Expect annual returns around 10% for years.
(Analysts’ price target is $211.45)Price fell off a cliff, and that's what he likes about it. Just bought it. CEO is very, very good. Operates in over 30 countries. Three huge divisions: real estate, engineering (just made an acquisition), and asset management (growing like crazy). Great balance sheet. Management owns ~30% of stock.
Real estate's been beaten down, but people/institutions are still leasing properties and still need help managing those portfolios. Huge margin of safety on the downside, with lots of potential upside. Yield is 0.31%.
Largest pharma company in the US, and possibly the world. Breaking out to fresh all-time highs. Leading GLP-1 drugs. 150-year history of healthcare innovation.
Obesity + diabetes comprise ~55% of revenues, and growing fast. Also into oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and more. Well-insulated from patent cliffs. 80% of marketed drugs are "biologic", which stand up better to generic competition. Prolific FCF. M&A frenzy this year on top of pretty robust R&D. Yield is 0.61% (growing 15% compound pace over last 5 years, should continue).
Clear global leader in high-quality video content streaming. Pricing power in the face of competition, best-in-class customer retention. He expects revenue to grow at double-digit pace, margins should expand.
Aggressive investment in movies and shows, but increasingly podcasts and live events. Capitalizing on digital ads. Earnings should grow at 22% compound pace for next 3 years. Trades ~22x PE, good tradeoff between value and growth. Share buybacks. No dividend.
Sharp drawdown on the AI-killing-software train, now starting to perk up. Second-biggest tech company in Canada, behind SHOP. Revenues are sticky, though growing slowly organically. Exceptional in deploying capital for acquisitions -- slowed down in last years, but reaccelerated in latest quarter.
New initiative to take strategic long-term stakes in publicly traded software companies. Yield is 0.19%.
It has underperformed the AI trade, but is crazy profitable. Will earn $30 EPS this year at under 20x PE. It has proven that AI is accelerating its business. Unlike peers, Meta is not re-selling its compute, but using it for itself. The market was scared when Google said it was selling $80 billion of shares so there were rumours Meta would do the same. He doubts it. The market is stunned by Meta's AI spend, but the growth is there. He expects strong revenue growth this quarter.
(Analysts’ price target is $820.76)