Stock Review: Fortinet (FTNT)
Stock Review: Fortinet (FTNT) We recently added Fortinet (FTNT) to our model stock portfolio*. FTNT is a leading cybersecurity company based in the U.S. with over 700,000 customers worldwide. In 2023, they generated $1.7 billion of free cash flow on revenues of $5.3 billion. FTNT is characteristic of the businesses that we like to own: They have an incredible…
Stock Review: VF Corporation
Stock Review: VF Corporation We’ve written in the past about our mindset of buying businesses as a way to ground and guide our investment philosophy. In that spirit, we’ve recently added a new business – VF Corporation (VFC) – to our model portfolio. VF Corp is an apparel company that owns outdoor and…
Stock Review: Booking Holdings
Stock Review: Booking Holdings Broad stock market indices have been under pressure through the first half of 2022. As the indices slide (see the chart below), we often look to our individual stock holdings for clarity and confidence in our long-term allocations to risk assets. Directly owning businesses with strong balance sheets and healthy free…
Stocks Don’t Always Go Up
On December 27, 1999, Microsoft closed the day at $59.56 per share (split-adjusted). When the dot-com bubble burst in the ensuing months, it ultimately took 17 years (until October of 2016) for Microsoft’s stock price to regain the high from 1999. At that fateful peak in 1999, shares in the enterprise software behemoth traded hands…
Stock Review: VMware
“There is no doubt that the cloud is one of the most significant platform shifts in the history of computing… However, as industry experience with the cloud matures — and we see a more complete picture of cloud lifecycle on a company’s economics — it’s becoming evident that while cloud clearly delivers on its promise early on…