Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via Getty Images Valvoline Inc. ( VVV ) reported the company’s fiscal Q2 results from the January-March period on the 7 th of May. The car service center operator’s current store network's momentum has remained good, while the first full quarter with Breeze Autocare showed the acquisition's value well. Ambitious store investments, a stable outlook despite the Iran confli...
Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via Getty Images Valvoline Inc. ( VVV ) reported the company’s fiscal Q2 results from the January-March period on the 7 th of May. The car service center operator’s current store network's momentum has remained good, while the first full quarter with Breeze Autocare showed the acquisition's value well. Ambitious store investments, a stable outlook despite the Iran conflict, and an undervaluation continue to make Valvoline an attractive investment. I maintained a Buy rating in my previous August 2025 article on the stock, titled “ Valvoline Q3: Growth Story Remains On Track, Breeze Acquisition Stalls.” The stock has since lost -7% of its value; meanwhile, the S&P 500 has returned 15%. My Rating History on VVV (Seeking Alpha) Valvoline Q2 Review: Growth Momentum Remains Good With Breeze Autocare Valvoline’s Q2 results came with greater importance than usual reports. The company finalized its acquisition of 162 locations from Breeze Autocare in December, and the report was Valvoline’s first full quarter with the acquired stores included. Total locations jumped from 2180 at the end of FY2025 to 2409 by the end of Q2. Growth has been weighed towards company-operated stores, as 50% of stores are now company-operated compared to 46% a year ago . Revenues reflected the addition of acquired locations, but also good underlying organic momentum. Valvoline reported a topline of $503.8, reflecting 25.0% year-on-year growth. On top of acquired stores and continued heavy investments in Valvoline’s company-operated and franchise openings, same-store sales improved by 8.2%. VVV Q2'FY26 Investor Presentation The topline beat Wall Street’s consensus by $8.7 million; meanwhile, the $0.41 adjusted EPS beat by $0.07. I believe that Valvoline's same-store sales growth figure is highly impressive, as store momentum even accelerated from the past couple of years. High same-store sales are critical in driving earnings for Valvoline, especially in company-operated s...
Meta Platforms (NasdaqGS:META) is laying off 8,000 employees as part of an expanded cost control effort. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is linking the cuts directly to record AI infrastructure spending and heavier investment in data centers. Resources are being redirected from employee compensation toward AI hardware and related capital expenditure. The move is contributing to wider pressure on tech employme...
Meta Platforms (NasdaqGS:META) is laying off 8,000 employees as part of an expanded cost control effort. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is linking the cuts directly to record AI infrastructure spending and heavier investment in data centers. Resources are being redirected from employee compensation toward AI hardware and related capital expenditure. The move is contributing to wider pressure on tech employment as peers reassess workforce and AI budgets. For you as an investor, this puts a spotlight on...
thisnight/E+ via Getty Images This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Davis Selected Advisers’ 13F portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on their regulatory 13F Form filed on 05/07/2026. Please visit our Tracking Christopher Davis’ Davis Selected Advisers 13F Portfolio series to get an idea of their investment philosophy and our previous upda...
thisnight/E+ via Getty Images This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Davis Selected Advisers’ 13F portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on their regulatory 13F Form filed on 05/07/2026. Please visit our Tracking Christopher Davis’ Davis Selected Advisers 13F Portfolio series to get an idea of their investment philosophy and our previous update for the fund’s moves during Q4 2025. This quarter, Davis Selected Advisers’ 13F portfolio value decreased from $22.25B to $21.78B. The number of holdings increased from 108 to 112. 34 of them are fairly large, and they are the focus of this article. The top three holdings are at ~18% while the top five are close to ~28% of the 13F assets: Capital One Financial, Coterra Energy, US Bancorp, Alphabet, and Viatris. Note: Davis Selected Advisors manage several mutual funds and ETFs ( DUSA ) ( DINT ) ( DWLD ) ( DFNL ). The flagship mutual fund is the Davis New York Venture Fund ( NYVTX ) with ~$7B in assets. Since its 1969 inception, the fund has generated significant alpha: 11.67% annualized over 57 years compared to 10.61% annualized for the S&P 500 index. Also, they advise the Clipper Fund ( CFIMX ), which was incepted in 1984. New Stakes: LyondellBasell Industries ( LYB ): LYB is ~2% of the portfolio position purchased this quarter at prices between ~$43 and ~$84. The stock currently trades at $71.76. Stake Increases: Coterra Energy ( CTRA ): CTRA is a large (top three) ~6% of the portfolio stake established during Q2 2025 at prices between ~$22.50 and ~$29. The next quarter saw the position doubled at prices between ~$23 and ~$26. The last quarter saw another two-thirds stake increase at prices between ~$22 and ~$28. There was a ~14% further increase this quarter at prices between ~$24.50 and ~$37. The stock currently trades at $32.56. U.S. Bancorp ( USB ) : USB's position is 5.31% of the portfolio stake. A very small position was first purchased in 2010. A substantial ~9...
Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) estimates that demand for nuclear power is growing so rapidly that uranium supply will be outstripped in the 2030s. According to the company, 72 new reactors are under construction, while older reactors are being restarted or having their lifespans extended. The nuclear boom is real as the world leans into a clean baseload power source. Cameco and fellow industry service provide...
Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) estimates that demand for nuclear power is growing so rapidly that uranium supply will be outstripped in the 2030s. According to the company, 72 new reactors are under construction, while older reactors are being restarted or having their lifespans extended. The nuclear boom is real as the world leans into a clean baseload power source. Cameco and fellow industry service provider Brookfield Renewable (NYSE: BEP) are good choices for more conservative investors looking to get into the nuclear power sector. More aggressive types may prefer NuScale (NYSE: SMR) or Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) . Here's why. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Earnings Call Insights: Telephone and Data Systems (TDS) Q1 2026 Management View "I want to take a moment to address... the proposal TDS submitted to the Board of Directors of Array to acquire the remaining shares of Array not currently owned by TDS in an all-stock transaction" (Chairman, President & CEO Walter C.D. Carlson). "Each Array common share not owned by TDS would be exchanged for 0.86 of...
Earnings Call Insights: Telephone and Data Systems (TDS) Q1 2026 Management View "I want to take a moment to address... the proposal TDS submitted to the Board of Directors of Array to acquire the remaining shares of Array not currently owned by TDS in an all-stock transaction" (Chairman, President & CEO Walter C.D. Carlson). "Each Array common share not owned by TDS would be exchanged for 0.86 of a TDS common share," and the exchange ratio assumes Array dividends of "$10.40 per share" prior to closing, with Array distributing "approximately $900 million in net proceeds" (Chairman, President & CEO Carlson). "TDS does not intend to sell or otherwise transfer its interest in Array and will not entertain any third-party offers for Array or its assets in lieu of this proposal" (Chairman, President & CEO Carlson). Carlson also said the company "expect[s] the remaining announced T-Mobile and Verizon spectrum sales to close in the second or third quarter, subject to regulatory approval and other customary conditions." "In mid-April, we announced an agreement to acquire Granite State Communications" (EVP, CFO, Treasurer & Non-Independent Director Vicki Villacrez). Villacrez said Granite is "fully fibered with over 11,000 service addresses" and TDS "expect[s] the transaction to close in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approval," while also noting, "we were not in the market during the quarter" for buybacks and ended Q1 with "$520 million authorization for TDS share buybacks available." "We delivered 40,000 marketable fiber service addresses in the first quarter" (President, CEO & Director Kenneth Dixon), calling it "the highest first quarter total in our company's history" and "nearly 3x our delivery in the first quarter of 2025." Dixon added, "We ended the quarter with approximately 11,000 fiber net adds, up 32% year-over-year," and said, "we have now completed the billing conversion in our cable markets" and "introduced a new field force platform." "Since early De...
Earnings Call Insights: Sylvamo (SLVM) Q1 2026 Management View “Today, I’d like to begin with a few important macro developments…which have led us to change our operating strategy to achieve our plans this year,” said CEO John Sims, pointing to tariff changes and stating, “This change benefits Sylvamo,” adding that the company “began to bring product into the U.S. from our Brazilian operations whi...
Earnings Call Insights: Sylvamo (SLVM) Q1 2026 Management View “Today, I’d like to begin with a few important macro developments…which have led us to change our operating strategy to achieve our plans this year,” said CEO John Sims, pointing to tariff changes and stating, “This change benefits Sylvamo,” adding that the company “began to bring product into the U.S. from our Brazilian operations while ramping down imports from our European operations.” (CEO, President & Director John Sims) Sims also flagged cost inflation from geopolitics, saying, “The Middle East conflict has resulted in higher energy, logistics and input costs,” and added, “Across our regions, we are looking to reduce costs and taking commercial actions to help offset these impacts.” (CEO, President & Director Sims) On execution and balance sheet actions, Sims said, “We had a difficult first quarter operationally…reliability issues, particularly in Europe and Brazil, negatively impacted us by almost $9 million relative to the fourth quarter,” and noted, “Yesterday, we completed the refinancing of our 2027 debt to extend our maturity profile.” (CEO, President & Director Sims) “We earned an adjusted EBITDA of $29 million with a margin of 4%,” Sims said, adding, “Adjusted operating earnings were negative $0.53 per share,” while also emphasizing seasonality, “Our free cash flow is heavily weighted to the second half of the year.” (CEO, President & Director Sims) CFO Don Devlin detailed the quarter’s drivers: “In the first quarter, we earned $29 million of adjusted EBITDA compared to $125 million in the prior quarter,” and added, “Input and transportation costs were unfavorable by $18 million…highly impacted by a onetime charge of $10 million from International Paper’s Riverdale mill.” (Senior VP & CFO Donald Devlin) Outlook “Assuming that tariffs remain at the current levels, we now estimate total full year impact to be around $65 million negative, which is $20 million improvement from our prior estimat...