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Symantec Well Poised on Growth Initiatives; Time to Hold?

On May 17, 2016, we issued an updated research report on Symantec CorporationSYMC . Symantec provides a broad range of content security and information backup solutions to individuals and enterprises. Moreover, the company’s mobile and cloud security products are

Does Analog Devices’ Soft Q3 Guidance Prove Apple’s iPhone 7 Cut?

Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) iPhone 7 expectations might have dug into guidance provided Wednesday by Analog Devices ( ADI ), as the 3D Touch supplier topped Q2 expectations but guided to current-quarter sales that would dip 5% year over year. In early trading on the stock market today , Analog Devices shares were up a fraction, near 55.50. Fellow Apple suppliers Broadcom ( AVGO ), NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ), Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) and Qorvo ( QRVO ) were up all by close to 2% or more. For its fiscal Q2 ended April 30, Analog Devices reported $779 million in sales and 64 cents earnings per share ex items, down a respective 5% and 12% vs. the year-earlier quarter. It was the first quarter in nine that Analog Devices’ sales have fallen and the second period of declining EPS. But both metrics beat the consensus of 29 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for $777.6 million and 62 cents, as well as Analog Devices’ own guidance issued three months ago. Consumer sales toppled 27% year over year, leading a 3% fall in communications sales, Analog Devices said. Industrial and automotive sales — Analog Devices’ bread-and-butter segments — fell 1% apiece. For fiscal Q3, Analog Devices CEO Vincent Roche sees a return to consumer market growth and mid- to high-single-digit growth in the company’s business-to-business segments. But the high point of ADI’s Q3 sales and EPS guidance lagged Wall Street consensus. Analog Devices guided to $800 million to $840 million in sales and 66-74 cents, down a respective 5% and 9% vs. the year-earlier quarter, missing analysts’ model for $846.6 million and 75 cents. On average, Analog Devices’ Q3 sales have grown 13.5% year over year, trailing 20% growth in Q4. But recent reports indicate Apple might have cut its component orders for the iPhone 7, expected to be released in September.

Best And Worst Q2’16: Telecom Services ETFs, Mutual Funds And Key Holdings

The Telecom Services sector ranks eighth out of the ten sectors as detailed in our Q2’16 Sector Ratings for ETFs and Mutual Funds report. Last quarter , the Telecom Services sector ranked eighth as well. It gets our Dangerous rating, which is based on aggregation of ratings of six ETFs and 15 mutual funds in the Telecom Services sector. See a recap of our Q1’16 Sector Ratings here . Figure 1 ranks from best to worst the five Telecom Services ETFs that meet our liquidity standards and Figure 2 shows the five best and worst rated Telecom Services mutual funds. Not all Telecom Services sector ETFs and mutual funds are created the same. The number of holdings varies widely (from 24 to 59). This variation creates drastically different investment implications and, therefore, ratings. Investors should not buy any Telecom Services ETFs or mutual funds because none get an Attractive-or-better rating. If you must have exposure to this sector, you should buy a basket of Attractive-or-better rated stocks and avoid paying undeserved fund fees. Active management has a long history of not paying off. Figure 1: ETFs with the Best & Worst Ratings – Top 5 Click to enlarge Sources: New Constructs, LLC and company filings Figure 2: Mutual Funds with the Best & Worst Ratings – Top 5 Click to enlarge * Best mutual funds exclude funds with TNAs less than $100 million for inadequate liquidity. Sources: New Constructs, LLC and company filings Five funds are excluded from Figure 2 because their total net assets are below $100 million and do not meet our liquidity minimums. State Street SPDR S&P Telecom ETF (NYSEARCA: XTL ) is the top-rated Telecom Services ETF and Fidelity Select Wireless Portfolio (MUTF: FWRLX ) is the top-rated Telecom Services mutual fund. Both earn a Neutral rating. iShares Global Telecom ETF (NYSEARCA: IXP ) is the worst rated Telecom Services ETF and Fidelity Advisor Telecommunications Fund (MUTF: FTUAX ) is the worst rated Telecom Services mutual fund. IXP earns a Dangerous rating and FTUAX earns a Very Dangerous rating. 45 stocks of the 3000+ we cover are classified as Telecom Services stocks, but due to style drift, Telecom Services ETFs and mutual funds hold 59 stocks. Atlantic Tele-Network (NASDAQ: ATNI ) is one of our favorite stocks held by Telecom Services ETFs and mutual funds and earns an Attractive rating. Over the past five years, Atlantic Tele-Network has grown after-tax profit ( NOPAT ) by 13% compounded annually. The company has improved its return on invested capital ( ROIC ) from 5% in 2010 to 10% in 2015 while NOPAT margins have increased from 5% to 17% over the same time period. This impressive fundamental growth could help explain why ATNI is up over 90% over the past five years. However, shares remain undervalued. At its current price of $73/share, ATNI has a price-to-economic book value ( PEBV ) ratio of 1.1. This ratio means that the market expects ATNI’s to grow its NOPAT by only 10% over its remaining life. If Atlantic Tele-Network can grow NOPAT by just 10% compounded annually for the next five years , the stock is worth $98/share today – a 36% upside. CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL ) is one of our least favorite stocks held by FTUAX and earns a Dangerous rating. CenturyLink was placed in the Danger Zone in February 2015 . CTL at one point was down over 40% since the Danger Zone was published, but has since rebounded and has become significantly overvalued again. Over the past decade, CenturyLink’s economic earnings have declined from -$152 million to -$1.2 billion. In fact, the company has never generated positive economic earnings in any year of our model, which dates back to 1998. The company’s ROIC peaked in 2009 at 7% and has since fallen to a bottom-quintile 4%. Despite the deterioration of CenturyLink’s business, the stock is priced for impressive profit growth. To justify its current price of $33/share, CTL must grow NOPAT by 8% compounded annually for the next 11 years . Given the decline in CTL’s operations, this expectation seems overly optimistic. Figures 3 and 4 show the rating landscape of all Telecom Services ETFs and mutual funds. Figure 3: Separating the Best ETFs From the Worst ETFs Click to enlarge Sources: New Constructs, LLC and company filings Figure 4: Separating the Best Mutual Funds From the Worst Mutual Funds Click to enlarge Sources: New Constructs, LLC and company filings D isclosure: David Trainer and Kyle Guske II receive no compensation to write about any specific stock, sector or theme. Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.