Stockchase Opinions

Rick StuchberryVolkswagen AGVOW.DEWAITOct 22, 2013

The argument for this one is that the environment looks pretty good. Big sales in China and US sales are ramping up. The fleet is getting old, some say 13-14 years. Asia is a very important place to be. When he analyzed balance sheets he bought Tata (TTM-N) and Ford (F-N). They will all break out and do better. Wait for a pull back.

$0.01

Stock price when the opinion was issued

$103.30

As of Aug 29, 2024. Market Open.

Automotive
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DON'T BUY

Not a huge fan. Reasonably well managed. Slowdown in EV buying, just as it's been ramping up its EV production. The field is getting crowded, and Chinese makers have the cost advantage. These factories take so many 10s of billions of dollars of investment, so if you don't get demand in a reasonable time, EPS suffers.

Auto companies haven't been great investments over the long haul.

BUY
Volkswagen is a really good opportunity for a value investor. Growing rapidly in EV space, one of the global leaders, owns luxury brands. Will take patience for clouds to dissipate around higher costs of production in Germany.
BUY
Trades at half the valuation of GM and Ford, yet much further along in EVs.
BUY
A market bounce underway? Be cautious. Not all the market negatives are known. He predicts China will at some point still go after Taiwan. Russia does not have a big impact on the U.S. economy, but China does. Volkswagen has gotten cheap at 4-5x earnings and is a great buy. Similarly, FedEx at 10x earnings is a great buy. It's been bouncing off last week's earnings and he bought right after that report. Yes, stocks rise as interest rates do, but margins will be hit because of inflation and rising costs. It's a stockpicker's market.
BUY ON WEAKNESS
Every time it hits $27, shares bounce. They may have a big announcement, separating Porsche, at the end of March.
BUY
He believes they will spin out Porsche and this will add heavily to their market cap.
HOLD
Good global presence, including China. He wouldn't count on penetration in China, as domestic makers are favoured. Not as strong as others. TSLA has the lead in EV, and he doesn't think anyone will catch up. Good company that will do fine over the long term.
BUY ON WEAKNESS

He's buying this week's dip. These shares fell to $30, which is obscene compared to other carmakers. Overall, FedEx and Nike are talking about supply chain issues which he hears is worsening, not improving, as rising wages will narrow margins. So, he will likely return to high cash levels.

DON'T BUY
Huge run on EV announcement. All of the major car companies are heavily discounted, but they're all transitioning into EVs. Tesla won't be the only game in town. A bit rich. Do your own research and look to other names.
DON'T BUY

He is not a big fan of car companies because they don't generate much free cash flow. Cap X is very high. He would prefers LFUS-Q. It makes all the fuses that go into electric vehicles.

DON'T BUY

He wouldn't invest in any automotive company, because we are already running ASAR (a seasonally adjusted rate of production) in the US of 16 or 17 million vehicles. Your best-case scenario to get to 18 million vehicles is extremely limited. We’ve also seen producers do a lot of subprime financing in order to place cars, which implies they have had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find demand.

DON'T BUY

They will tell you that everyone was cheating but he talked to the other OEMs who said there was no way they were cheating. He wants to invest in great businesses run by great people. He cannot say this for VW so has a hard time investing. He can’t get around their corporate governance.

WAIT

It is on his radar. It has been hurt badly, although the core business is still quite good. It is in Europe and valuations there are better than in North America. It looks like auto manufacturing has peaked for this cycle. This will be number one on his list for the next cycle.

DON'T BUY

He sold it a few years ago. BMW has said one of their sport utility vehicles does not meet standards. He would avoid the sector right now. Two Canadian auto parts makers make almost nothing for VW and may be worth looking at.

DON'T BUY

It is a screaming avoid. There are so many opportunities in the market. Don’t try to catch this falling knife. There is obviously some internal cancer inside this company. It had to be a broad group of management involved. If it happens to recover, then so be it.