Good morning Voornaam,
Highlights in this edition of Ghost Mail:
- Metair has appointed a new CEO
- Northam Platinum increased production significantly
- Microsoft is worth more than Apple
- Recap the most interesting recent JSE news in Ghost Wrap, brought to you by Mazars
Local company news:
In Ghost Bites this morning, you'll find only two major stories.
The first relates to Metair, which could well be the unluckiest company on the JSE. A new CEO has been appointed. Hopefully, this will bring some stability to the company and perhaps a change in fortunes.
The second is Northam Platinum's production update, reflecting substantial year-on-year growth in the six months to December. Purchases from third parties more than doubled!
Get all the details you need on these stories in Ghost Bites at this link>>>
For a really useful recap on recent JSE news, you need just a few minutes of your time to listen to the Ghost Wrap podcast. Brought to you by Mazars, the first episode of 2024 covers Merafe, Pick n Pay, Frontier Transport and PGM duo Tharisa and Northam Platinum. Check it out here>>>
International company news:
Make sure you've checked out Dominique Olivier's excellent piece on the safety culture at Boeing (or lack thereof).
It's worth noting that we recently covered Boeing in Magic Markets Premium, a subscriber-only research platform that brings deep analysis on global companies at a price that retail investors can afford. For just R99/month, there's a huge library of content to enjoy and a new report every week. It really is the best investment you can make - an investment in your knowledge!
If you've followed international investing news over the past year, you'll know that the "Magnificent Seven" have been all the rage. This is effectively the evolution of FAANG, taking into account two more companies and allowing for the fact that Facebook and Google changed their listed names to Meta and Alphabet respectively!
Of course, the big miss in FAANG was the lack of an "M" in the acronym - mainly because many didn't see the ongoing growth in Microsoft. When a company is so huge, it's risky to assume that growth can carry on at a high rate. Despite this, investors make that assumption with Apple.
If you look at Apple over the past decade, you'll find that a vast component of the share price growth was due to valuation multiple expansion rather than earnings growth. Don't get me wrong, earnings have moved higher, but the share price story has been because investors are willing to pay far more per dollar than a decade ago.
Now, over the next decade, which horse do you back to grow earnings rather than rely on further multiple expansion?
For me, Microsoft is the answer. A headline about Microsoft surpassing Apple as the world's most valuable company last week didn't shock me. Microsoft's business is magnificent.
Yesterday I joked about "in Jamie Dimon we trust" when it comes to US banks. In tech, I believe even more strongly in Satya Nadella and the strategy at Microsoft. In fact, if I could pick just one company to hold forever, it would be that one.
For more international company news, the Magic Markets podcast is a wonderful way to keep expanding your knowledge. In the latest episode brought to you by data and automation specialists B2IT, we covered two brands that might have been a feature of your festive shopping lists: Pandora and Swatch. Although they arguably have similar models at first blush (jewellery / watches direct to consumers), the share price charts couldn't be more different over the past year. To find out why, listen to the show here>>>
