December saw them deliver 48,135 vehicles. A new record. Records are made to be broken, of course. It’s the natural order of things. The fourth quarter was even better, up 71.7% year over year. Numbers. They dance around, signifying… what, exactly? Progress, perhaps. Or just more cars on the road.
They’re not shouting it from the rooftops, this Seizert lot. They’re quietly, persistently buying. Seven straight quarters now. While the stock has been… let’s say, underappreciated. Dropped from $50 to $33. It’s the sort of thing that makes me wonder if they know something we don’t. Or if they’re just exceptionally patient. Or possibly both. I’m leaning towards the latter. It’s never just one thing, is it?
The stock now trades at a valuation that suggests a profound lack of enthusiasm, a single-digit P/E ratio being a rather pointed rebuke from the market. Yet, amidst the prevailing gloom, one detects the faintest glimmer of possibility. The company is, it seems, attempting a multitude of initiatives, a veritable bouquet of projects, though whether they will blossom into anything substantial remains to be seen. One might say they are sowing seeds in rather stony ground.
The choice, while predictable, is not without a certain logic. Disney, after all, is no longer merely a purveyor of animated fantasies; it is a sprawling, multifaceted enterprise. To place a master of experience at its helm suggests a shrewd understanding of where the true loyalties – and revenues – now reside. It is a recognition that a perfectly executed parade, a flawlessly themed hotel, can prove far more enduring than any fleeting cinematic trend.
A recent acquisition, veiled in the customary secrecy of such affairs, is presented as the key to unlocking fresh revenue streams. A noble endeavor, to be sure, though one cannot help but observe that such “unlocking” often requires a rather vigorous application of shareholder funds. The stock, alas, currently resides some distance from its former glories—a circumstance that presents both a challenge and, for the discerning investor, a most intriguing opportunity. It is as if the company, having momentarily lost its footing, now attempts a daring recovery, hoping to recapture the applause of the market.
The company’s continued investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure is being treated as a reckless gamble. Analysts fixate on capital expenditure, on the immediate outflow of funds. They demand a return on investment now. But to focus solely on the present cost is to miss the larger, more troubling implications.
The surprisingly affirmative answer, I submit, lies not in breathless speculation, but in a careful parsing of their current portfolio and, more importantly, the subtle, almost coquettish, hints of future endeavors. Let us, then, delve into the particulars, shall we?
VXUS, see, it’s tryin’ to track every stock outside the U.S. that’s worth a tinker’s darn. Thousands of ’em! EEM, though, it’s pickin’ and choosin’ just the up-and-comin’ places. Sounds excitin’, don’t it? Like a gold rush. But I’ve seen enough rushes to know most folks end up with nothin’ but dust and regrets. This here comparison ain’t about pickin’ a winner, mind you. It’s about understandin’ what you’re gettin’ yourself into, and what a body’s likely to pay for it.
This morning, Roth Capital, with a flourish worthy of a baroque composer, revised its price target for Bloom stock upwards—to $133 per share, a 29% augmentation. A rather bold stroke, considering the underlying substrate. The market, ever susceptible to such pronouncements, reacted with predictable alacrity. One wonders if the analysts themselves truly believe in this particular alchemy, or if it is merely a performance—a dazzling display of financial ventriloquism.
The forecasts called for fifty-seven cents a share on sixteen-point-eight billion in sales for the last quarter. What Pfizer brought in was sixty-six cents on seventeen-point-six billion. A good harvest, by most measures. But the fields aren’t yielding as abundantly as they once did.