Which Shareholder Confidence metrics have had the biggest change since YE 4Q 2024
NIKE, Inc.
Increase: Commitment to Own the Name in the Year Ahead, Strategy, CEO, Momentum of Investor Confidence, Senior Management
Decrease: Price Appreciation Potential, Balance Sheet
“Nike’s CEO, Elliott Hill’s approach and everything he said on the call are the right things to do in the long term for the health of the business. However, in the short term there is going to be more pain than people are expecting. There is more investment they need to do whether that’s in R&D, clearing out of products, brand ambassadors and getting back to the roots of what made Nike good.”
“Because of the change in strategy, there could be headwinds for Nike in the short term. However, in the long term, there is potential for improvement.”
“Nike is moving positively on the strategy. It depends on the execution at this point.”
Aritzia Inc
Increase: Strategy, CEO
Decrease: Short-Term Growth, Momentum of Investor Confidence, Price Appreciation Potential
“The store openings that Aritzia has been pushing out are highly accretive when it comes to ROIC.”
“The wind is now behind Aritzia’s back and it’s no wonder because Jennifer Wong is doing good work. Right now, they are getting the benefit of the doubt, but if they ever trip up, you know it’s gone.”
“The market is lukewarm for Aritzia, and there is still a lot of uncertainty. The company is super interesting idiosyncratically, but there are so many market factors that contribute to the returns on the stock. It’s too much of a hot potato for me to really commit to it in this environment.”
Unilever NV
SPECIAL INTEREST: Given recent management changes, below are some typical verbatim comments on new CEO, Fernando Fernandez, during his tenure as CFO.
“Unilever’s CFO will now be the CEO, and this move is widely regarded as positive. Replacing the CEO with someone entirely new would seem quite dramatic and suggest things weren’t working as they should have. However, with this new CEO, it seems they’re aiming to get things moving faster.”
“I am impressed with Unilever’s CFO, Fernando Fernandez.”
“Unilever’s CFO, Fernando Fernandez, is well-regarded. He is seen as one of the key architects of the change that is happening in the company. He is an operational guy rather than a finance guy.”
“Unilever’s previous CFO, Graeme Pitkethly, was quite solid. However, he was painted with the same brush as everyone else when the strategy wasn’t working. I get the feeling that the market likes the new CFO, Fernando Fernandez, a lot more.”
