Daily Brief United States: Amer Sports , Delek US Holdings , Arlo Technologies Inc, Marsh & Mclennan, Science Applications Inte, Penn National Gaming, Advance Auto Parts, Soluna Holdings , HashiCorp , Lifevantage and more

• Amer Sports (AS US) raised around US$1.3bn in its US IPO, after pricing its IPO below its initial range, as per media reports.
• Amer Sports is a sports and outdoor brands company making clothing and other sporting equipment for use in snow sports, running, climbing, baseball, american football, tennis and other sports.
• We have looked at the company’s performance and valuation in our past note. In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics.

• A change of pace from the usual Asia-Pac stubs: Delek US (DK US), a deep value downstream refining and logistic (via 78.7% held Delek Logistics Partners (DKL US)) play
• Preceding my comments on Delek are the current setup/unwind tables for Asia-Pacific Holdcos.
• These relationships trade with a minimum liquidity of US$1mn, and a % market capitalisation >20%.

• ARLO maintained a steady presence of inventory and pricing during the holiday shopping of the fourth quarter and now ARLO is scheduled to report Q4 results in February
• ARLO introduced a line of Essential cameras at Wal-Mart, which we believe was a success and should contribute to fourth quarter 2023 revenue and first quarter 2024 net subscriber adds
• ARLO ended the September quarter with approximately 2.5 million paid subscribers. We are projecting ARLO added 170 thousand paid subscribers in the fourth quarter

• This is our first report on global insurance major, Marsh McLennan.
• The company had a mixed quarterly result as it failed to meet the revenue expectations of analysts but managed an earnings beat.
• The company recently announced the acquisition of MZI (McDonald Zaring Insurance), a full-service agency situated in Walla Walla, Washington.

• Analyzing the recent earnings call of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), it appears that the company’s strategy for future growth focuses on four strategic pivots: the solutions portfolio, go-to-market strategy, company culture, and brand strength.
• Following this strategy, SAIC seek to maintain its leading position in the market and deliver long-term value for stakeholders.
• Baptista Research looks to evaluate the different factors that could influence the company’s price in the near future and attempts to carry out an independent valuation of the company using a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) methodology.

• This is our first report on entertainment major, Penn National Gaming.
• The company generated revenues of $1.62 billion and an adjusted EBITDAR of $445.1 million in the third quarter.
• In this report, we have carried out a fundamental analysis of the historical financial statements of the company.

Key points (machine generated)

• Advance Auto Parts (AAP) is considered a value trap and not a good investment due to its stagnant stock price since July 2010 and declining operating income over the past 14 years.
• The author suggests that AAP could present a good short opportunity and could serve as a hedge against industry and macro risks for a long position in competitor O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY).
• The author highlights the challenges of retail in general and the failure of many tier 2 and tier 3 players in the past.

This article is sourced from an online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. This article was originally published 3 months ago on Value Investors Club.

• Soluna’s AI datacenter initiative advancing. Progress continues on the ‘Helix’ AI pilot that is part of Project Dorothy 2, with its engineering team working on the new design with a leading datacenter design firm.
• In addition, Soluna has retained BitOoda Technologies LLC as a financial advisor to assist with raising capital for the new AI business venture that we expect will house the company’s AI-related assets going forward.
• We continue to see AI as driving the next phase in Soluna’s growth, opening it to a market opportunity well in excess of the still-growing Bitcoin mining market.

• This is our first report on HashiCorp, a software company that offers cloud infrastructure automation.
• The company recently reported on its third-quarter fiscal 2024 financial results.
• In this report, we have carried out a fundamental analysis of the historical financial statements of the company.

• 2QFY24 (December) ongoing EPS was $0.10 versus ($0.07) in 2QFY23 and ahead of our $0.04 estimate.
• Ongoing EBITDA was $3.1MM in the quarter, well above the $0.8MM in 2QFY23 and ahead of our $2.5MM estimate.
• EBITDA margins of 6.0% exceeded our 4.6% estimate.