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Business Finance

What is Free Cash Flow (FCF) – Definition and Example

Free cash flow (FCF) is a financial metric that measures a company’s ability to generate cash after accounting for capital expenditures. It is an important indicator of a company’s financial health and ability to pay dividends, make acquisitions, and invest in growth opportunities.

FCF is calculated by taking a company’s operating cash flow (OCF) and subtracting capital expenditures (CapEx). OCF is the cash generated from a company’s operations, while CapEx is the cash spent on investments in property, plant, and equipment (PPE).

For example, if a company has an OCF of $100 million and CapEx of $50 million, its FCF would be $50 million. This means the company has $50 million in cash left over after accounting for investments in PPE.

A positive FCF is considered to be a good sign, as it means a company is generating more cash than it’s using in its operations. It also indicates that a company has a strong financial position and is able to pay dividends, make acquisitions, and invest in growth opportunities. On the other hand, a negative FCF is considered to be a red flag, as it means a company is using more cash than it’s generating, and it may indicate financial difficulties.

It’s important to note that FCF is different from net income, which is a measure of a company’s profitability. Net income takes into account a variety of factors such as revenue, expenses, and taxes, while FCF only measures cash flow. Additionally, FCF can also be affected by a company’s accounting methods and may not always reflect the true cash position of the company.

In summary, Free Cash Flow (FCF) is a financial metric that measures a company’s ability to generate cash after accounting for capital expenditures. It is an important indicator of a company’s financial health and ability to pay dividends, make acquisitions, and invest in growth opportunities. Positive FCF is considered to be a good sign, while negative FCF is considered to be a red flag, it’s important to consider it along with other financial metrics and market conditions.

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Business Finance

Quick Snowflake Company Overview, Its Current Free Cash Flow (FCF) Position and Why It’s Important

Snowflake is a cloud-based data warehousing company that allows businesses to store, analyze, and share data in real-time. The company’s platform is built on top of the cloud infrastructure provided by Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Snowflake is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SNOW.

One important metric for evaluating a company’s financial health is free cash flow (FCF), which is the amount of cash a company generates after accounting for capital expenditures. FCF is important because it shows a company’s ability to generate cash and pay dividends or make acquisitions.

Snowflake has a positive free cash flow position, meaning that it generates more cash than it uses in its operations. In the most recent quarter, Snowflake reported a FCF of $56.6 million, up from $20.2 million in the same quarter last year. This represents a 180% year-over-year growth in FCF.

This strong FCF position has allowed Snowflake to invest in growth initiatives, including expanding its sales and marketing efforts and research and development. The company has also been able to return cash to shareholders through share buybacks.

Snowflake’s financial position has been supported by its subscription-based business model, which provides a steady stream of recurring revenue, and the growing demand for cloud-based data warehousing solutions. The company has also benefited from the shift to remote work and digital transformation as more companies turn to Snowflake’s cloud-based data warehousing solutions.

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Business

Quick Veeva Systems Company Overview, Its Current Free Cash Flow (FCF) Position and Why It’s Important

Veeva Systems is a cloud-based software company that specializes in providing solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The company’s product portfolio includes solutions for customer relationship management, clinical trial management, and regulatory compliance. Veeva is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol VEEV.

One important metric for evaluating a company’s financial health is free cash flow (FCF), which is the amount of cash a company generates after accounting for capital expenditures. FCF is important because it shows a company’s ability to generate cash and pay dividends or make acquisitions.

Veeva Systems has a strong free cash flow position. In the most recent quarter, Veeva reported a FCF of $284.5 million, up from $221.1 million in the same quarter last year. This represents a 28.5% year-over-year growth in FCF.

This strong FCF position has allowed Veeva to make strategic acquisitions and return cash to shareholders through share buybacks and dividend payments. The company has also been able to invest in research and development and expand its product offerings.

Veeva’s financial position has been supported by its subscription-based business model, which provides a steady stream of recurring revenue. The company has also benefited from the growing demand for cloud-based solutions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

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Business Tech

Zoho Has a Strong Product Portfolio – but No Plans to Go Public Just Yet

Zoho is a privately held software development company that offers a wide range of products for businesses of all sizes. The company was founded in 1996 in India, and it has since grown to become a major player in the software industry.

One of the most notable aspects of Zoho is its extensive product portfolio, which includes solutions for various business functions such as customer relationship management, accounting, human resources, and more. Some of their popular products are CRM, Mail, Office Suite, Creator, and Books.

Zoho CRM, for example, is a comprehensive CRM solution that helps businesses manage their sales, marketing, and customer support activities. Zoho Mail, on the other hand, is a web-based email service that offers a range of features such as calendar, contacts, and tasks.

In addition to its diverse product offering, Zoho is also known for its commitment to customer service and support. The company offers a wide range of resources, including documentation, tutorials, and webinars, to help customers make the most of its products.

Despite its success, Zoho has no plans to go public. According to the CEO, Sridhar Vembu, the company is focused on building a sustainable business model, rather than chasing short-term gains. He believes that going public would pressure the company to focus on meeting quarterly earnings targets, rather than long-term growth.

However, it’s worth noting that this doesn’t mean that Zoho will never go public. The company could change its mind in the future if it feels that going public would be in the best interest of its shareholders.

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Business

Quick Salesforce Company Overview, Its Current Free Cash Flow (FCF) Position and Why It’s Important

Salesforce is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software company that has experienced significant growth in recent years. The company has a diverse range of products, including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and more.

One important metric for evaluating a company’s financial health is free cash flow (FCF), which is the amount of cash a company generates after accounting for capital expenditures. FCF is important because it shows a company’s ability to generate cash and pay dividends or make acquisitions.

For Salesforce, the company’s FCF has been consistently positive in recent years, indicating a strong financial position. In the most recent quarter, Salesforce reported a FCF of $1.4 billion, up from $1.1 billion in the same quarter last year. This represents a 27% year-over-year growth in FCF.

This strong FCF position has allowed Salesforce to make strategic acquisitions, such as its $27.7 billion acquisition of Slack. The company also has a history of returning cash to shareholders through share buybacks and dividend payments.

In addition, Salesforce’s financial position has been supported by its subscription-based business model, which provides a steady stream of recurring revenue. The company has also benefited from the shift to remote work and digital transformation, as more companies turn to Salesforce’s cloud-based CRM solutions.

In summary, Salesforce’s strong free cash flow position has allowed the company to make strategic acquisitions and return cash to shareholders. The company’s subscription-based business model and the shift to remote work have also supported its financial position. This makes Salesforce an attractive option for investors looking for a company with a strong financial position.

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Business Tech

Private Investing vs Public Investing = Tale of Failed IPOs

I posted this on Twitter, but thought I would also share on here as it really showed the difference between private investing and public investing.

Some companies that have market caps less than the total money they have raised:

Bird ($120M mkt cap vs $1.2B raised)

Wish ($810M mkt cap vs $2.9B raised)

WeWork ($2.8B mkt cap vs $16.2B raised)

Lyft ($5.1B mkt cap vs $7.3B raised)

Categories
Business Music

Beggars Music Group Financials for 2021 – Revenues up 29.7% Year on Year

Beggars Music Group had a strong 2021 (as they have just released their numbers in a filing on UK Companies House).

Beggars Group generated GBP 79.98 million in 2021 – which was up 29.7% year on year.

This figure includes Beggars’ share of various joint venture businesses including XL Recordings, Matador and Rough Trade, in each of which Beggars owns 50%.

Beggars is a huge player in independent music market and it’s great to see that they are still growing strong and getting a strong slice of the market.

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Business

SWIFT Network Restrictions Could Cripple Russia in the Ukraine War

I came across this information about SWIFT network posted the other day. This could have a very big impact on the Russian and Ukraine war and instead of trying to put it in my own words I thought I would repost it.


Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western governments have dropped heavy sanctions on Russian banks, companies, and elites—including President Vladimir Putin himself.

But they’ve yet to move forward with what’s been called the “nuclear option”: banning Russia from using SWIFT.

What is SWIFT?

Belgium’s Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) runs a messaging service that facilitates transactions across 11,000+ financial institutions globally. Think of it as the “Gmail of global banking.”

Entities in every country except North Korea use SWIFT to shuffle trillions of dollars’ worth of funds across borders. And Russia is a SWIFT power user—as a major supplier of energy and other goods, it ranks sixth globally for payment messages sent on SWIFT. So if Russia were cut off from SWIFT, “the nation would essentially be severed from much of the global financial system,” the NYT wrote.

Thing is, not everyone’s prepared for that

While the UK and Ukraine are trying to boot Russia from the global group chat, the US and some EU nations are a little more hesitant. Here’s why:

  1. They’re not ready to go full James Franco in 127 Hours. Their citizens still use Russian energy to keep the lights on, so shutting down Russia’s Gmail account would essentially force financial communications onto a janky platform like 1990s-era AOL, resulting in a colossal headache for everyone involved.
  2. Another worry for the US is how blocking Russia from SWIFT would impact the dominance of the US dollar in the longer term. The US enjoys many benefits from the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency, and US officials are concerned that booting Russia from SWIFT would spur Moscow to join up with Beijing and develop alternative payment systems (on the blockchain, for instance) that undermine the dollar.

Of course, workarounds to SWIFT already exist, which is another reason why some sanctions experts say that blocking SWIFT access is an overrated tool for punishing Russia. You could do it, but you might be creating more problems for yourself in the process.

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Business Tech

Apple Will Allow iPhones to Accept Contactless Payments by NFC

Apple is reportedly going to allow iPhones to start accepting contactless payments. This is huge news!

It will dramatically affect any card company and how they collect their fees – as well as companies like Square and other POS services.

Apple has reporting been working on this service since 2020, when it purchased a Canadian startup called Mobeewave. Mobeewave’s technology only needs an app and the phone’s NFC to work.

I expect that Apple will roll out such a service as part of Apple Pay.

Game changer!

Categories
Business Video

Shareholders Need to Behave Like Owners – Warren Buffett

Very interesting question to Warren Buffett – in which he then provides a very interesting (yet simplistic) answer.

Shareholders need to act like owners – and in nearly all cases in America – this is forgotten. People forget that when they buy a stock in a business that they are becoming an owner in that business.

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Business Video

Masayoshi Son Talks Covid-19, Investments, and Bold Bets

Masayoshi Son is one of the best investors in the world and he is known for his very bold bets. Masayoshi Son has done so much and he always seems so humble as he is trying to also make the world a better place.

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Business Finance Tech

Didi Delisting from the NYSE and Moving to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Chinese ride-hail giant DiDi said it will delist from the New York Stock Exchange, following a Chinese government crackdown on foreign listings. (via Axios)

Didi is the Uber of China (and beyond) and it seems as though their progress might be hindered with growing geopolitical tensions between the US and China.

The delisting will occur soon and Didi will move trading across to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has been know to have lower general multiple than its US counterparts.

Categories
Finance

Mohnish Pabrai and his 6 Investing Rules

Mohnish Pabrai is often called the Indian Warren Buffett. Here is a video that outlines his 6 tips for investing returns of over 25% per year.

Categories
Business Stock Market Tech

Can I Buy Shares in Monday.com?

Yes.

Monday.com has just gone public and now anyone can buy shares in the productivity software giant.

Stock Ticket: MNDY

For analysis and information please take a look at Yahoo Finance.

Categories
Business

Simon Hu is Stepping Down as CEO of Ant Financial

Breaking: Simon Hu is stepping down as the CEO of Ant Financial.

Ant Financial have been under huge scrutiny by the Chinese Government since they announced that they were going to try to IPO.

The Ant Financial IPO was going to be one of the biggest IPOs of all time.

Categories
Finance Stock Market

GME and AMC are Killing Short Sellers and Its Great!

Wallstreetbets is a sub-reddit where they wanted to try to build a community to for the big short sellers out of certain stocks, but what they didn’t realise is that they can really kill these companies with the power of the retail investors.

Short Seller percentages of outstanding stock:

  • GME = 102% Short Sellers
  • AMC = 18% Short Sellers

Most companies tend to be below 2% in short sellers.

At the time of writing this GME is up to $337 per share (up 128% in one day) and AMC 19.35 per share (up 286% in one day).

The community seems to be using their retail power to try to force these short sellers out of the market and make them bankrupt.

Stick it to the man!

Categories
Finance

How to Pay Yourself as a Ltd Company – Directors Salary 2020/2021 – Dividends vs Salary UK – with Examples

This is a great video which very simply explains how to pay yourself from a limited company in the UK for 2020/2021.

Categories
Business Finance Stock Market

What is the Difference Between Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A and BRK.B Shares?

There is very little difference between Berkshire Hathaway’s BRK.A and BRK.B shares.

BRK.B shares were created because Warren Buffett noticed that the BRK.A shares were growing considerable high is cost per share and that these shares were less obtainable by the average retail investor and could only be purchased by either very wealth individuals, unit trusts or mutual funds.

Thus, Warren decided to create BRK.B shares to provide the average investor with the opportunity to purchase shares in Berkshire Hathaway without the huge cost associated with BRK.A.

There are other very small differences, but the above is the only one that really counts.