Thursday, January 23, 2020

My analysis of Apple; Doug Kass on 'Apple as a metaphor for the market'; When to call off a wedding

By Whitney Tilson

1) Tech giant Apple (AAPL) is an insanely great, wildly profitable company. That said, its free cash flow (“FCF,” or operating cash flow minus capital expenditures) has declined by 16% over the past four years – from a peak of $70 billion in the year ending September 30, 2015 to $59 billion in the year […]
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Charlie Munger meeting three weeks from today; Kim Iskyan on Argentina; More on the 12 questions to ask before you marry someone

By Whitney Tilson

Wednesday, January 22, 2020
1) Charlie Munger’s Daily Journal annual meeting will take place three weeks from today on Wednesday, February 12 at The Center at Cathedral Plaza, 555 W. Temple St. in downtown Los Angeles. It starts at 10 a.m. with brief formalities, and then Munger will take questions from the 1,000-plus people in the audience for a […]

The DIVAS – the next FAANG stocks; My interview about Tesla; Warring anecdotes; Rivian R1T pickup truck; Ford Mustang Mach-E

By Whitney Tilson

Tuesday, January 21, 2020
1) Longtime readers know that I’m bullish on Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN), and Google’s parent company Alphabet (GOOGL). But I’m also realistic. While I think they’re good bets to double, it’ll likely take three to five years. The era of huge short-term gains from these stocks is almost certainly over. Thus, I’m always on the […]

Restaurant Brands; Stage Stores; Beware of stock promotions; Admit It: You Have a Box of Cords You'll Never, Ever Use Again

By Whitney Tilson

Friday, January 17, 2020
1) In yesterday’s e-mail, as part of our analysis of Burger King and Popeyes franchisee Carrols Restaurant Group (TAST), my friend Glenn Tongue noted that: Franchisors operate one of the best business models in the world: high return on invested capital (“ROIC”) and margin, low reinvestment needs, consistent predictable cash flows, etc. Franchisees, on the […]

Carrols Restaurant Group; General Magic documentary

By Whitney Tilson

Thursday, January 16, 2020
1) At the ICR Conference, I saw the presentation by Carrols Restaurant Group (TAST), which operates more than 1,000 Burger King and 58 Popeyes restaurants. I was really hoping to like it because a number of smart investors own it, and the stock is down by two-thirds in the past 16 months to a seven-year […]

Thoughts on various companies at the ICR Conference: Domino's Pizza, Five Below, United Natural Foods, At Home, Tilray, Goosehead Insurance, TGI Friday's, Luckin Coffee, IAA; Mike Wallace Is Here documentary

By Whitney Tilson

Wednesday, January 15, 2020
1) Yesterday, Empire Financial Research Senior Analyst Steve Culbertson and I spent a second day hearing the pitches and meeting the management teams of more than a dozen companies at the ICR Conference. Overall, it was slim pickings. We didn’t find any “pound the table” long ideas – which is, I suppose, what one should […]
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Whitney Tilson

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About Whitney Tilson

Prior to creating Empire Financial Research, Whitney Tilson founded and ran Kase Capital Management, which managed three value-oriented hedge funds and two mutual funds. Starting out of his bedroom with only $1 million, Tilson grew assets under management to nearly $200 million.

Tilson graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a bachelor's degree in government in 1989. After college, he helped Wendy Kopp launch Teach for America and then spent two years as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1994, where he graduated in the top 5% of his class and was named a Baker Scholar.

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