104 episodes

On Behind The Idea, Seeking Alpha editors Mike Taylor and Daniel Shvartsman take a closer look at an investment idea published on Seeking Alpha to see what makes for compelling investing analysis. We look at what’s happening with the underlying company, what the author’s case is, how well s/he made that case, and what we can learn from this investment story. We also bring on the authors, top investors, and industry analysts or experts to explore the case further. We hope the breakdowns and discussions are is both timely and evergreen, educational and entertaining for investors.

Behind The Idea Seeking Alpha

    • Business
    • 4.3 • 3 Ratings

On Behind The Idea, Seeking Alpha editors Mike Taylor and Daniel Shvartsman take a closer look at an investment idea published on Seeking Alpha to see what makes for compelling investing analysis. We look at what’s happening with the underlying company, what the author’s case is, how well s/he made that case, and what we can learn from this investment story. We also bring on the authors, top investors, and industry analysts or experts to explore the case further. We hope the breakdowns and discussions are is both timely and evergreen, educational and entertaining for investors.

    Behind The Idea #100: The Alphies 2.0

    Behind The Idea #100: The Alphies 2.0

    We couldn't wait to get to our year-end review on Behind the Idea, so we're sharing it before your Thanksgiving week travel. It's our 100th episode, and the last episode of our Gone till November special series, a more introspective quartet of episodes. We also discuss on the podcast one other reason why we've released this early.
    Topics Covered

    3:00 minute mark - The Alphies - categories

    4:15 - Favorite guest

    12:15 - Favorite story

    27:00 - Most interesting idea

    35:16 - Most surprising stock performance

    41:15 - Least surprising stock performance

    46:30 - Best performers

    49:15 - Listener awards


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    • 1 hr 1 min
    Behind The Idea #99: Why I'm A Bad Investor

    Behind The Idea #99: Why I'm A Bad Investor

    Over the last two weeks, Mike and Daniel have pitched respective long ideas. This week, we looked backward at mistakes we've made in our investing careers. The theory goes that your investing mistakes also amount to your investing tuition, and that true wisdom is learning from others' mistakes, rather than your own. I can only hope there's something for you as listeners to learn from our mistakes, as broken down on today's podcast.
    The investments in question date to 2016 and 2017. Mike went long on Gilead Sciences (GILD) based on their scientific prowess and low multiple, and even as his thesis sailed on him with Gilead's acquisition of Kite Biopharma, he couldn't find the exit door. Daniel went long Uniti Group (UNIT), even having concerns about its failure to cover its dividend and what the huge yield portended, let alone the binary risk that was introduced into the stock. We hope there are lessons to be learned from our mistakes.
    Topics Covered

    4:00 - Mike's bad choice - Gilead Sciences (GILD)

    6:00 - What was compelling about GILD?

    10:45 - At the time of purchase, did you have any concerns?

    14:30 - How did the investment play out?

    18:30 - When did you realize it wasn't working?

    25:00 - What are the lessons learned?

    28:00 - Daniel's bad choice - Uniti Group (UNIT)

    29:30 - What was your thesis?

    38:00 - Specific downside concerns

    41:00 - When did you realize it wasn't going well?

    55:30 - What lessons did you learn?


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    • 1 hr
    Behind The Idea #98: Varian's Moat May Be Worth The Price

    Behind The Idea #98: Varian's Moat May Be Worth The Price

    We continue our special November series. Mike shares his long thesis for Varian Medical Systems, an industry leader in oncology treatment devices that has a lot of attractive business aspects, though it's valuation is also challenging. Daniel tries to probe the thesis for any gaps, but the moat here seems quite strong.
    Topics Covered

    5:00 minute mark - Introduction to Varian Medical Systems and the business case

    12:40 - How much does it matter that there are two revenue lines in the income statement? Oncology vs. Proton and Product vs. Service

    19:30 - Any reason to think they are transforming more to a service business? 

    24:30 - Market and customer relationship strategy... moat around business.

    31:00 - Is a throughput based model something to be concerned about?

    36:00 - Valuation

    53:30 - The under the radar aspect of VAR.


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    • 57 min
    Behind The Idea #97: Stitch Fix As A Growth Fit

    Behind The Idea #97: Stitch Fix As A Growth Fit

    We kick off a special November series where we stop breaking down other people's ideas and try to dissect our own. Daniel shares his long idea on Stitch Fix, a fast-growing e-commerce clothing company that also will have to face a lot of competitors and skeptics as it tries to scale to profitability. Mike plays devil's advocate to interrogate the thesis.
    Topics Covered

    3:30 minute mark - SFIX thesis

    6:00 - What do you like about SFIX?

    11:00 - Actual experience with Stitch Fix

    20:00 - Business model

    25:00 - Growth prospects of retail clothing market SFIX is operation in

    31:00 - Where does SFIX fit in the market of fragmenting consumer preferences?

    34:30 - How does SFIX handle inventory management?

    37:00 - Is SFIX's customized really a big advantage over other retailers?

    46:00 - How much choice do consumers really have?

    52:00 - Valuation discussion


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    • 1 hr 2 min
    Behind The Idea #96: Teladoc And The Modern Growth Story

    Behind The Idea #96: Teladoc And The Modern Growth Story

    There are three sorts of stories we've gravitated towards in the past 95 episodes of Behind the Idea:

    Value traps and/or value plays, the sorts of junk we might invest in. Examples: Cars.com (CARS), AT&T (T), Dell (DELL), Kelloggs (K) from the short side.

    Growth stories that break our value-oriented brains. Examples: Amazon (AMZN), Shopify (SHOP), Crowdstrike (CRWD), Lyft (LYFT), PagerDuty (PD) from the short side.

    Battleground stories or news stories. Examples: Boeing (BA), PG&E (PCG), Chipotle (CMG), Trupanion (TRUP).


    This week we cover Teladoc (TDOC), which falls squarely in categories 2 and 3. The company is a fast grower on the top line, but it's yet to crack break even profitability metrics. We've published many short ideas on the company on Seeking Alpha, but we recently published a PRO+ top idea by Value Alpha that takes the long side. As with many of these stories, there are both exciting things going on and questions raised that deserve a closer look.
    We break down the long case, and then we raise our questions. Beyond assessing the Teladoc story itself, we also get into what we look for in growth stories like this, and what it means to invest in an execution based story.
    Topics Covered
    3:00 - Assessing the long case

    8:15 - Market leadership and the total addressable market story

    13:45 - Teladoc's revenue model and Value Alpha's valuation model.

    19:00 - Pricing vs. valuation rears its head

    22:00 - Teladoc's industry position and is it a real moat?

    27:45 - Valuation arbitrage and the messiness in the story

    31:00 - What about the short case?

    36:30 - The significance of the 'execution-based' story

    40:00 - The reliance on acquisitions and the trends in visit fees.


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    • 46 min
    Behind The Idea #95: Smoking Out The Altria Bull Case W/Atlas Research

    Behind The Idea #95: Smoking Out The Altria Bull Case W/Atlas Research

    On this week’s Behind the Idea, we jump right into the long case for a beloved dividend company and notorious corporate name, Altria, ticker symbol MO. We speak with Atlas Research about his bull case for Altria as a stock that will beat the S&P 500. There are the recent concerns around vaping, the break-up of the Philip Morris merger, and the ESG angles and squeamishness around owning a cigarette stock. Depending on your predilection, that’s either a recipe to stay away or the very reason to buy. Atlas is on the long side and makes the case as we grill him on this week’s Behind the Idea.
    Topics Covered2:45 minute mark – reviewing the past few years for MO and the bull case8:15 – The obvious value story, but is it…too obvious?11:45 – Looming liabilities for Juul?15:15 – Looking at the Phillip Morris merger18:15 – The ESG angle21:45 – Addiction driven models24:15 -The MSA’s legacy28:15 – What role does cannabis play for Altria?34:15 – The economics and regulatory outlook for vaping38:15 – Summing up the investment case40:45 – The classic sin stock story 
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    • 44 min

Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5
3 Ratings

3 Ratings

Dworld8888 ,

Worth the time

Nothing annoys me more than wasting time, I am therefore quick to cut a podcast short and move on; however, was not the case with this podcast.. worth your time to listen!!!

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