New Empire Junior Partnership; Alphabet's earnings report; Buffett Should Get Ready for Buyback Questions at Berkshire's Annual Meeting; My cocktail party in Omaha; KIPP Casino Night
1) I regularly get flak from readers about all of the marketing e-mails we send out...
I guess I view them as sort of a necessary evil because we're not running a charity. Our business model is to offer great content for free – like this daily e-mail and Empire Financial Daily, written by my colleagues Berna Barshay and Herb Greenberg – and even better content (namely, profitable stock ideas) in our paid newsletters, which, of course, we regularly encourage our free subscribers to upgrade to!
Once someone signs up for a paid newsletter, we don't need to do nearly as much marketing. So to make this happen, we've developed a new program – the Empire Junior Partnership – that I think is the best deal we've ever offered for our paid products. Click here to learn more.
2) Tech giant Alphabet (GOOGL) was a core original recommendation in our two flagship newsletters, Empire Investment Report and Empire Stock Investor, which were launched in April and December 2019, respectively. (Junior Partnership subscribers receive Empire Stock Investor for life and can opt to receive Empire Investment Report for life also.)
The stock has been a huge winner, nearly doubling in both portfolios, approximately 50 percentage points ahead of the S&P 500 Index.
It's taking a bit of a breather today, however, after Alphabet reported first-quarter earnings after the close yesterday. While ad revenues at YouTube came in below expectations, it was an exceptional quarter overall:
- Revenue (constant currency) rose 26%
- Operating income grew 22%, with operating margin stable at 30%
- Operating cash flow jumped 30%
- Share repurchases increased from $11.4 to $13.3 billion
- The company announced a massive $70 billion increase in its share purchase authorization
The stock is down 25% from its all-time high six months ago, which presents an attractive entry point in my opinion...
3) Barron's reporter Andrew Bary has been covering Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) for just about as long as I've been going to the annual meetings (25 years).
Here's his latest article, in which I'm quoted: Buffett Should Get Ready for Buyback Questions at Berkshire's Annual Meeting. Excerpt:
It could be like a rock concert in Omaha on Saturday when Warren Buffett hosts Berkshire Hathaway's first in-person annual shareholder meeting since 2019.
The Berkshire Hathaway faithful revere Buffett, 91, the company's chairman and CEO, and its vice chairman, Charlie Munger, 98, and recognize that this could be one of the last times that the pair shares the stage.
Buffett and Munger will take questions from shareholders at the CHI Health Center for more than five hours, as is their custom. That is the high point of a weekend of festivities at what Buffett calls a Woodstock for capitalists...
Whatever the numbers, shareholders should be in a good mood. "It's going to be an enormous celebration" says Whitney Tilson, CEO of Empire Financial Research and a longtime Berkshire investor. During the pandemic, it was uncertain whether Buffett and Munger would ever be together again at an in-person annual meeting, Tilson says. "It's not just about Buffett and Munger. It's like a religious revival. Fellow pilgrims are making the pilgrimage"...
Tilson calculated Monday that Berkshire was trading at just a 5% discount to his estimate of intrinsic value, against a 20% discount a year ago. He calls Berkshire "America's No. 1 retirement stock." He thinks investors should hold the stock, not add to existing holdings at current levels.
4) A final reminder that I will once again be hosting my annual cocktail party from 8 p.m. to midnight the evening before the Berkshire meeting, Friday, April 29.
It's free and open to all: no agenda, no speeches, no dress code. Just come, enjoy the drinks and snacks, and meet other investors. And if we've never met, be sure to introduce yourself!
It will be in the St. Nicholas Room (2nd floor) at the Hilton Omaha, right across the street from the CHI Health Center, where the meeting is held.
You can RSVP for it here.
5) Back after a two-year hiatus, I'm delighted that KIPP, the charter school I've been on the board of for more than 20 years, is once again hosting its annual Casino Night.
It's taking place one week from tomorrow on Thursday, May 5 at Gotham Hall in New York City. Please join me – it's an absolute blast! You can learn more and buy a ticket here.
Best regards,
Whitney
P.S. I welcome your feedback at WTDfeedback@empirefinancialresearch.com.