30 Non-US Companies That Have Positive Net Cash

I summarize the material below from Richard Shaw's Article in SA, entitled "Cash-Rich Non-US Companies Trading in the US". Here is :

We looked at all the companies traded in the US with a market capitalization of $1 billion or more. From those, we identified all that had Net Cash as of the most recent quarterly report, and that also had a positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

The table below shows the 30 non-US companies from the list that passed the filter criteria.


The companies in the list are not purchase recommendations, and the table does not address issues of valuation or prospects for the companies. However, if cash-rich non-US companies are of interest, this list may be an interesting pool of research prospects.

Don’t rely entirely on data services and other people’s opinions. Be sure to review a company’s website and read their annual report to get a good feel for the company before you form an opinion or take any action.

Please Note!

This is generally never true. Before buying or selling any asset you should do your own research and reach your own conclusion. See my Disclaimer on the bottom for more information.

You are welcome to republish this article, or any portion thereof.
Please, cite the actual/original source. I would be grateful if you could link back.

Baidu(BIDU)'s Q3 2008 Earning Estimate

Baidu's management will hold an earnings conference call at 8 PM on July 23, 2008 U.S. Eastern Time (8 AM on July 24, 2008 Beijing/Hong Kong time).
Piper Jaffray analysts Gene Munster and Vivian Li, maintain their Buy rating and $430 price target. They said, "We expect Baidu to report slight upside to the Street's estimate of $112m in revenue, despite concerns over the China earthquake in May. From our conversation with four Baidu advertisers and two ad agencies, we believe Baidu's business remains robust given by :

1. Consistent addition of new customers as advertisers continue to adapt to paid search marketing and
2. Increased ARPU from bundled sales of Baidu's display ad and search ad."

There is still a small negative impact from the Chinese earthquake on the company's business "as traffic and small and medium advertisers in the earthquake area were both affected." However, the expected impact is not meaningful.

The Analysts current revenue estimate for 3Q08 implies sequential growth of 19%. Baidu is the leading search engine in China, attracting 5.5 million visitors annually.

While Canaccord Adams expects BIDU to report "healthy" Q2 results but remains concerned about the global economic slowdown and inflationary pressures. The firm maintains a Sell rating and $265 target.

Source: Schaeffer's Investment Research

However Bidu's Short Interest Ratio is still hight as figured on the chart above. It indicates that investors remain bearish on Baidu. But as contrarians, it might be seen as a buying opportunity. Key findings of Pearl Research’s new report “Baidu vs. Google: A Study of Search Engine Preferences among Chinese Youth” is : Google is thought of as a foreign service which is not as suitable for Chinese searches Our interviews indicate that many Chinese youth chose to use Baidu over Google because they believe Baidu is a domestic product and thus should be better at indexing Chinese content.

China has the worlds largest population with over 1.3 billion people and according to a several studies China has more internet users than the USA with over 160 million internet users and spends 2 billion hours online per week. So thats why Baidu.com is the 5th largest internet website in the world and is bigger than Ebay and Amazon.

Source: istockanalyst.com

Baidu's Financial Performance:

• EPS Growth in Last Quarter: -31.03 %
• EPS Growth in Last Year: 87.50 %
• Sales Growth in Last Quarter: 4.60 %
• Sales Growth in Last Year: 130.38 %

Additionally, I copy a part of China International Business Magazine's Article on July 11, 2008, entitled "Search Wars" :

Google’s share of the Chinese search market pales into insignificance compared to its local arch-nemesis Baidu. Google holds a mere 25% of the search market in China; Baidu, by contrast, controls more than 60%.

Foreign observers are fascinated by Baidu’s consistent ability to outperform the clear global market leader. At the 17th International World Wide Web Conference, WWW2008, in Beijing earlier this year, Baidu vs. Google was a common topic of conversation. Most speakers and delegates praised Baidu for its clever manipulation of the local market. But some warned that, in the long run, Google’s sheer size and international scope may give it a slender advantage.

ADVANTAGE BAIDU

Business practices, rather than the quality of its search results, have contributed to Baidu’s dominance in China.

One of Baidu’s strategies, according to Paul Denlinger, principal of the strategic investment advisory firm China Business Strategy, has been to educate small businesses about keyword search. “Baidu has built up a network in China,” Denlinger said. “It’s basically built around educating Chinese small businesses about search and monetizing it up front, whereas Google is [simply] moving Silicon Valley culture to China.”

By developing and promoting advertising products such as targeted keyword ads and paid search results among Chinese businesses, Baidu has grown its advertising business quickly, with first quarter 2008 revenues reaching RMB 574.4 million (USD 83 million), more than double the same period last year. Over 99.5% of these revenues are derived from online marketing, and profits also increased almost 100% year-on-year.

Related Posts :

Be More Cautious on Shorting Baidu(BIDU)

Please Note!

This is generally never true. Before buying or selling any asset you should do your own research and reach your own conclusion. See my Disclaimer on the bottom for more information.

You are welcome to republish this article, or any portion thereof.
Please, cite the actual/original source. I would be grateful if you could link back.

Buy Altria(MO) Because Recession Never Stops Smokers to Smoke

According to ClusterStock, A Citi's Analyst is worried that cigarette sales volume in the US will be weak. His 43c EPS forecast assumes modest price increases in 2Q. (Consensus is 45c). If the 2-for-1 promotions returned to their 4Q07 level and the survey is right on the price increase, his estimate may be 3-4c too low. Furthermore, any positive sign on pricing would support our investment thesis that MO will be able to grow EPS despite volume declines, through pricing, cost saves and buybacks.

Tobacco companies remain to grow revenues and widen margins since they can increase prices faster than volumes fall. In Italy (PMI's largest mkt) prices (ex tax) have risen at 5% CAGR in the last 4 years, while volumes have fallen 2%. With sales up and costs down, profit increases. In the UK, Marlboro retails at $11, and retail prices are still rising at 4% a year, in-line with wages, so affordability is constant. This implies US prices have plenty of room to increase.

Altria(MO) will report its Q3 Earning on July 31, before market open. Currently, the MO's Chart is forming a falling wedge pattern that is indicated that the stock price is ready to bounce back. Here is:



Please Note!

This is generally never true. Before buying or selling any asset you should do your own research and reach your own conclusion. See my Disclaimer on the bottom for more information.

You are welcome to republish this article, or any portion thereof.
Please, cite the actual/original source. I would be grateful if you could link back.