MS announced its acquisition of Solium Capital this morning (2/11/19), a stock plan administration platform with 3,000 stock plan clients and 1mn participants, for cash of $900mn. In our view, this deal reinforces the value of the stock plan business and the importance of operating at scale; in particular we see a positive readacross for ETFC, whose Corporate Services business is one of the leading players in the space. Despite mixed price reaction, early investor feedback has been positive for both MS and ETFC.
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1-10 out of 21With conference season kicking off this week, we wanted to share a few files that we thought might be helpful. The first is our Question Bank, which includes both company specific and general questions for all of the firms in our coverage presenting and/or participating in 1x1s. We also included some Guidance Tearsheets which compare our modeled forecasts to each piece of company guidance in an easy-to-read format. Please feel free to use us as a resource in case you need anything ahead of your meetings.
This week our WR Diversified Banks & Brokers Index was up +10bps, trailing the broader market (+160bps) but tracking largely in line with the S&P Fins. (+10bps). We saw meaningful dispersion in terms of share performance as the Retail Brokers and M&A firms were powered by strong 4Q results / favorable guidance, with LPLA (+7%) and EVR (+6%) clear standouts. The biggest laggards this week were the asset sensitive banks and capital markets firms, including BAC (-4%) and MS (-3%). While bank / broker shares took a breather this week, YTD performance has been strong, particularly at those firms which underperformed by a wider margin in 4Q18 but reported strong results including EVR (+26%), LPLA (+23%), and Citi (+22%), while mixed 4Q results have weighed on performance at JPM (+6%), WFC (+6%) and MS (+5%).
BAC announced this morning (01/30/19) that it is extending commission-free online stock and ETF trades to all Preferred Rewards program members beginning in 2Q19 (previously available to clients in higher tiers only). The announcement drove eBroker shares down -2% (vs. -50bps S&P Fins.) as investors feared this could drive SCHW or Fidelity to announce commission cuts in retaliation, or otherwise negatively impact market shares across the group. However, we would view this as an attractive buying opportunity as history suggests underperformance should be temporary, with little lasting impacts on market share. This is particularly true for ETFC, as post-earnings share underperformance has continued; we still view risk / reward as compelling as our analysis of high-ROE bank peers suggests ETFC should be trading near ~13.5-14x NTM P/E vs. ~11x currently (Ex. 4).
BAC announced this morning (1/30/19) that it is extending commission-free online stock and ETF trades to all Preferred Rewards program members beginning in 2Q19 (previously available to clients in higher tiers only). The announcement drove eBroker shares down -2% (vs. -50bps S&P Fins.) as investors feared this could drive SCHW or Fidelity to announce commission cuts in retaliation, or otherwise negatively impact market shares across the group. However, we would view this as an attractive buying opportunity as history suggests underperformance should be temporary, with little lasting impacts on market share. This is particularly true for ETFC, as post-earnings share underperformance has continued; we still view risk / reward as compelling as our analysis of high-ROE bank peers suggests ETFC should be trading near ~13.5-14x NTM P/E vs. ~11x currently (Ex. 4).
This week our WR Diversified Banks & Brokers Index was down modestly (-30bps), largely in line with the S&P Fins. (flat) and the broader market (-20bps). Share trends over the last week were quite bifurcated, with STT (+2%), AMTD (+2%), Citi (+1%), and BAC (+1%) the relative winners and ETFC (-6%), EVR (-2%), and MS (-2%) the laggards. That said, YTD performance remains quite strong, with our index outpacing the S&P 500 by ~700bps. Citi (+23%), BAC (+20%) and GS (+20%) have been clear winners so far, while LAZ (+5%), JPM (+6%), and MS (+8%) have been the relative laggards. As we approach the end of 4Q earnings season, we wanted to highlight some key debates on select stocks:
ETFC reported 4Q18 of $1.07, vs. our $1.05 and cons. of $1.03. Vs our est., beat was driven by lower comp (+$0.03), provision (+$0.03), and sharecount (+$0.01), offset by weaker NII (-$0.02) and higher non-comp (-$0.03). Bottom line: ETFC results were the weakest so far, as we expected earnings resiliency in a down equity market which did not show through (client cash levels lower than expected despite meaningful declines in margin balances). We expect shares to underperform tomorrow, with results also likely to drive renewed calls for strategic actions. But while we acknowledge 4Q was discouraging, we would also note that one quarter does not an investment thesis break. Recall there were two key components to our investment case: 1) Earnings resiliency; and 2) Operating margin expansion. While the first of these did not materialize, mgmt. reiterated op. margin guidance for 2019-20 even without rate help. In our view, this, coupled with encouraging NIM guidance (320bps for 2019) still supports modest upside to cons. With shares at ~12x our 2019E (and trading down -4.5% after-market), we are staying the course, though acknowledge that from here the thesis becomes more of a “show me” story. For eBroker comparative trends, please see page 2.
This week our WR Diversified Banks & Brokers Index was up +7%, slightly outpacing the S&P Fins. (+6%) but tracking well ahead of the broader market (+3%). The move higher was led by broad-based strength across the group, with GS (+14%), BAC (+13%), Citi (+11%), and BK (+10%) the clear winners following encouraging 4Q results / commentary. Relative laggards over the last week were WFC (+4%), JPM (+5%), and MS (+5%).
This week our WR Diversified Banks & Brokers Index was up +2.7%, slightly outpacing the broader market (+2.5%) and tracking ahead of the S&P Fins. (+1%). The move higher was led by the Regional Brokers (+7%), with the M&A Independents (+1%) and Universal Brokers (+1%) lagging the rest of the group.
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