PepsiCo Buys SodaStream

Note: I’ll occasionally pop up back on here to write stuff about the stocks that are in my mother’s portfolio (which I manage). Though I missed the latest round of earnings for all of those companies – a complete failure on my part – I do continue to keep abreast of what is happening to those companies. If you want to read the bulk of my writing these days, check out SportMuse.net (@SportMuseNet on Twitter), where I spend a lot of time writing about sports. I am also looking for freelance writing opportunities, so feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @GuruEbby if you have any available. Feel free to peruse the archives here to see what I’ve written before, or even some of my published stuff that I once got paid to write for the Motley Fool.

In news that took me by surprise, PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) announced plans to purchase SodaStream Internation (NASDAQ: SODA) for $3.2 billion. This was quite a substantial premium on the current market price of the stock – as evidenced in the chart below (that big jump at the far right is after the announcement) – but something that seems totally in character for out-going Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi.

Back in my earliest Motley Fool days, I wrote about my appreciation of SodaStream, primarily because of the affection that one of my friends had for the product (and stock). After submitting myself to a taste test, I was sold. I bought myself a SodaStream machine, which remains buried somewhere in my mother’s basement because it was taking up counter space when I went away to college, and even owned the stock for a while too. Continue reading “PepsiCo Buys SodaStream” →

Portfolio X-Ray: Telsa Motors

Note: Read this introduction to see what I am doing in this series.

About Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA), as its name suggests, is categorized as an auto manufacturer. Unlike Ford or General Motors, which focus primarily on cars with internal combustion engines (ICE), Tesla instead manufactures and sell cars with purely electronic powertrains and engines. These cars are pretty pricey, with the Model S checking in at no less than $49,900, but the cost savings from avoiding gasoline completely, as well as associated tax credits for buying the vehicle, can make it a little cheaper in the long run. It also generates income from licensing its powertrains to other vehicle manufacturers, most famously Toyota in its RAV4 EV.

As I have done with the other companies in this series, here is the description of the company from the company’s most recent 10-K: Continue reading “Portfolio X-Ray: Telsa Motors” →

Portfolio X-Ray: Starbucks

Note: Read this introduction to see what I am doing in this series.

About Starbucks
Yet another company in my portfolio that is kind of ubiquitous to most American consumers. Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) sells coffee and other things that go well with coffee, or in the words of the company itself:

“Starbucks is the premier roaster, marketer and retailer of specialty coffee in the world, operating in 60 countries. Formed in 1985…(w)e purchase and roast high-quality coffees that we sell, along with handcrafted coffee, tea and other beverages and a variety of fresh food items, through company-operated stores. We also sell a variety of coffee and tea products and license our trademarks through other channels such as licensed stores, grocery and national foodservice accounts. In addition to our flagship Starbucks brand, our portfolio also includes Tazo® Tea, Seattle’s Best Coffee®, Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew, Starbucks Refreshers™ beverages, Evolution Fresh™, La Boulange bakery brand and the Verismo™ System by Starbucks.” Continue reading “Portfolio X-Ray: Starbucks” →

Portfolio X-Ray: Amazon.com

Note: Read this introduction to see what I am doing in this series.

About Amazon.com
Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) is pretty well known, so I’m not going to go into much deyail about what they do. The company went online in 1995, primarily as a retailer of books. They managed to survive the dot-com bubble, a time when every company that had something to do with the internet, or technology in general, was experiencing sky high valuations. Amazon emerged relatively unscathed, and even benefited a bit from the failure of a lot of fly-by-night internet retailers, the most famous perhaps being Pets.com. As if led by the will of its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Amazon emerged triumphant, and gradually morphed into the mega-online retailer it is today, mostly by acquiring other successful online retailers like Zappos. Now Amazon is often viewed as a one-stop shop for most items, and truly changed the way that many retailers viewed the internet.

In it’s own words, Amazon keeps what it is and what it does simple:

Amazon.com opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. We seek to be Earth’s most customer-centric company for four primary customer sets: consumers, sellers, enterprises, and content creators. In addition, we provide services, such as advertising services and co-branded credit card agreements. Continue reading “Portfolio X-Ray: Amazon.com” →