Simon Kold, Author of "On the Hunt for Great Companies" and Founder & Portfolio Manager at Kold Investments, joins the podcast to discuss what makes a great company based on his research and writing of his new book, "On the Hunt for Great Companies."

You can buy your copy of Simon's new book, "On the Hunt for Great Companies" here: https://www.amazon.com/Hunt-Great-Companies-Evaluating-Durability/dp/1394285744

Chapters:

[0:00] Introduction + Episode sponsor: Fintool

[2:30] Why Simon decided to write the book

[4:30] Authenticity of communication as an indicator of management passion / deviations from the norm

[12:53] Maximizing shareholder value (pretenders vs. reality) / Founder CEOs / Project IRRs vs. buybacks

[23:09] Value capture / over-earning vs. over-extraction

[33:47] Industries with staying power / longer-term predictability (example of Alcohol industry) / building competitive advantages ($COST example)

[44:42] Premise / value add of the book + final thoughts

Today's sponsor: Fintool

Fintool is ChatGPT for SEC Filings and earnings calls. Are you still doing keyword searches and going to the individual filing and using control F? That’s the old way of doing things before AI. With Fintool, you can ask any question and it’s going to automatically generate the best answer. So they may pull from a portion of an earnings call, or a 10k, whatever it may be and then answer your question. The best part- every portion of the answer is cited with the source document.

Now- if you’ve tried to do any of this in ChatGPT you may know that the answers are often wrong or hallucinations. The way Fintool is able to outperform ChatGPT is their focus on the SEC filings. If you’re an analyst or a portfolio manager at a hedge fund, check them out at https://fintool.com?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=yavb&utm_content=podcast280

See our legal disclaimer here: https://www.yetanothervalueblog.com/p/legal-and-disclaimer

Alex Morris, Author of "Buffett and Munger Unscripted" and Owner & Analyst at TSOH Investment Research, joins the podcast to discuss the 2024 Berkshire Annual Letter.

You can buy your copy of Alex's new book, "Buffett and Munger Unscripted" here: hhttps://amzn.to/4asUWNi

Chapters:

[0:00] Introduction + Episode sponsor: Fintool

[2:40] Alex's initial thoughts on Berkshire's 2024 annual letter

[4:23] Was there anything different for Alex reading the letter this year (having worked on the Buffett book and spending a lot more time studying him and Berkshire)

[6:52] Buffett's macro take on 2024

[9:59] Would it shock Alex if this is Buffett's last letter and/or he retires at the annual meeting

[14:10] Capital allocation - changing strategy on the horizon

[21:17] Discussion on $OXY

[24:43] Buffett addressing his mistakes

[31:08] Japanese investments

[37:22] Results in the insurance business

[39:27] Thoughts on Class A / Class B structure

Today's sponsor: Fintool

Fintool is ChatGPT for SEC Filings and earnings calls. Are you still doing keyword searches and going to the individual filing and using control F? That’s the old way of doing things before AI. With Fintool, you can ask any question and it’s going to automatically generate the best answer. So they may pull from a portion of an earnings call, or a 10k, whatever it may be and then answer your question. The best part- every portion of the answer is cited with the source document.

Now- if you’ve tried to do any of this in ChatGPT you may know that the answers are often wrong or hallucinations. The way Fintool is able to outperform ChatGPT is their focus on the SEC filings.

If you’re an analyst or a portfolio manager at a hedge fund, check them out at https://fintool.com?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=yavb&utm_content=podcast280

See our legal disclaimer here: https://www.yetanothervalueblog.com/p/legal-and-disclaimer

Welcome to the latest edition of Yet Another Value Podcast's Book Club. Once a month, Andrew and co-host, Byrne Hobart, will discuss their thoughts on the book, "Advanced Portfolio Management: A Quant's Guide for Fundamental Investors" by Giuseppe A. Paleologo.

See Byrne's writing at: https://www.thediff.co/

"Advanced Portfolio Management: A Quant's Guide for Fundamental Investors" on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Portfolio-Management-Fundamental-Investors/dp/1119789796

Chapters:

[0:00] Introduction + Episode sponsor: Fintool

[2:24] First thoughts and overall impressions of "Advanced Portfolio Management"

[5:54] Which pieces do you use to implement into your investing process that Byrne picked up from this book / how they implement "stop-losses"

[19:00] It's not enough to have great ideas / "it only takes one" vs. concentrated portfolio / making good calls over time

[29:17] Is there anything to buying things that are classified wrong in order to generate alpha?

[32:54] How much are these factor and pod-shop models gameable

[40:23] How much does Byrne think matching uncorrelated data is going to be taken over by AI vs. fundamental investors going forward

[48:25] Beating the bots / final thoughts

Today's sponsor: Fintool

Fintool is ChatGPT for SEC Filings and earnings calls. Are you still doing keyword searches and going to the individual filing and using control F? That’s the old way of doing things before AI. With Fintool, you can ask any question and it’s going to automatically generate the best answer. So they may pull from a portion of an earnings call, or a 10k, whatever it may be and then answer your question. The best part- every portion of the answer is cited with the source document.

Now- if you’ve tried to do any of this in ChatGPT you may know that the answers are often wrong or hallucinations. The way Fintool is able to outperform ChatGPT is their focus on the SEC filings. If you’re an analyst or a portfolio manager at a hedge fund, check them out at https://fintool.com?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=yavb&utm_content=podcast280

See our legal disclaimer here: https://www.yetanothervalueblog.com/p/legal-and-disclaimer

Welcome to the February 2025 edition of Andrew's Random Ramblings on the Yet Another Value Podcast. Once a month, Andrew will share thoughts on a few topics - this episode includes: Libra and Argentina, some things you've learned that changed your mind recently, lucky or unlucky stocks and doing hands-on research and personal experience.

Chapters:

[0:00] Introduction + Episode sponsor: Alphasense

[2:45] Libra and Argentina

[7:38] Changing your mind

[16:32] Lucky or unlucky stocks

[18:46] Hands-on research and personal experience

Today's sponsor: Alphasense

If you’re unfamiliar with AlphaSense, it’s a market intelligence platform with the world’s premier library of proprietary expert insight. For years now, I’ve used Tegus for their expert call transcript library, and with AlphaSense’s acquisition, the depth and breadth of market research content available has expanded significantly.

Why I chose AlphaSense?

Unparalleled expert insights—access 150,000+ proprietary expert transcripts, growing by 6,000 per month, covering 24,000+ public and private companies.

Comprehensive market intelligence—search 450M+ documents, including company filings, analyst research, expert interviews, and more, all connected for deeper analysis.

AI-powered research at scale—complete qualitative research 5-10x faster with advanced generative AI, delivering instant, high-confidence insights.

Start your free trial now at: https://www.alpha-sense.com/yavp/

Sahm Adrangi, Chief Investment Officer at Kerrisdale Capital, joins the podcast to share his thesis on ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACMR), develops, manufactures and sells semiconductor process equipment spanning cleaning, electroplating, stress-free polishing, vertical furnace processes, track, PECVD, and wafer- and panel-level packaging tools, enabling advanced and semi-critical semiconductor device manufacturing.

Kerrisdale Capital's $ACMR write-up: https://www.kerrisdalecap.com/investments/acm-research-acmr/

For more information about Kerrisdale Capital, please visit: https://www.kerrisdalecap.com/

Chapters:

[0:00] Introduction + Episode sponsor: Alphasense

[3:28] What is ACM Research and why are they so interesting to Sahm

[7:27] Chinese competitors

[10:24] What is Sahm seeing with $ACMR that the market is missing

[12:54] Discounts

[15:34] $ACMR business vs. politics/regulatory risks

[22:48] China risk / listing in Asian market / US-listed company with operations in China, CEO being US citizen

[29:54] Is there a lack of urgency from management? (Capital Allocation strategy)

[33:54] $ACMR valuation

[37:33] Technical sophistication of the cleaning tools

[41:19] How exposed to slow down in AI spending and business growth prospects

[48:10] $ACMR final thoughts

[50:39] What could go wrong / what could break $ACMR thesis for Sahm

Today's sponsor: Alphasense

If you’re unfamiliar with AlphaSense, it’s a market intelligence platform with the world’s premier library of proprietary expert insight. For years now, I’ve used Tegus for their expert call transcript library, and with AlphaSense’s acquisition, the depth and breadth of market research content available has expanded significantly.

Why I chose AlphaSense?

Unparalleled expert insights—access 150,000+ proprietary expert transcripts, growing by 6,000 per month, covering 24,000+ public and private companies.

Comprehensive market intelligence—search 450M+ documents, including company filings, analyst research, expert interviews, and more, all connected for deeper analysis.

AI-powered research at scale—complete qualitative research 5-10x faster with advanced generative AI, delivering instant, high-confidence insights.

Start your free trial now at: https://www.alpha-sense.com/yavp/

In today's episode of the Yet Another Value Podcast, Host, Andrew Walker, shares his thesis and presentation on Sage Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAGE), a biopharmaceutical company committed to pioneering solutions to deliver life-changing brain health medicines, so every person can thrive.

For more information and to subscribe to the Yet Another Value Substack, please visit: https://www.yetanothervalueblog.com/

Disclosure: long SAGE

Chapters:

[0:00] Episode sponsor: Alphasense

[3:21] Introduction - passive vs. active investing

[7:32] Overview of $SAGE and why its interesting to Andrew: passive owners in the company, shareholder engagement

[13:40] Biogen offer (rejected by Sage) - what happened

[17:34] Expert call with OBGYN (thank you, Alphasense!)

[21:38] Board needs to weigh opportunity cost of cash burn and options

[25:49] Shareholder engagement and IRWD cautionary tale / SAGE board and management compensation

[30:54] Biogen / Sage merger - why it makes sense and final thoughts

Today's sponsor: Alphasense

If you’re unfamiliar with AlphaSense, it’s a market intelligence platform with the world’s premier library of proprietary expert insight. For years now, I’ve used Tegus for their expert call transcript library, and with AlphaSense’s acquisition, the depth and breadth of market research content available has expanded significantly.

Why I chose AlphaSense?

Unparalleled expert insights—access 150,000+ proprietary expert transcripts, growing by 6,000 per month, covering 24,000+ public and private companies.

Comprehensive market intelligence—search 450M+ documents, including company filings, analyst research, expert interviews, and more, all connected for deeper analysis.AI-powered research at scale—complete qualitative research 5-10x faster with advanced generative AI, delivering instant, high-confidence insights.

Start your free trial now at: https://www.alpha-sense.com/yavp/

Shaul Rosten, Equity Analyst, Global Value at Redwheel, joins the podcast to share his thesis on Ayvens ($AYV.PA), a provider of full-service leasing, flexible subscription services, fleet management and multi-mobility solutions to large international corporates, SMEs, professionals and private individuals.

For more information about Redwheel, please visit: https://www.redwheel.com/uk/en/institutional/

Chapters:

[0:00] Introduction + Episode sponsor: Daloopa

[1:39] What is Ayvens and why are they so interesting to Shaul

[3:04] What is Shaul seeing with Ayvens that the market is missing

[5:46] How do they compete against capital Finco's / understanding the business, how they make money

[14:58] Red flags: what's going on with the "big merger" they did (LeasePlan)

[23:12] Electric vehicles

[28:02] Right to grow right now

[32:54] SocGen's 52% ownership

[38:29] Regulatory risks

[42:20] What could go wrong / what could break Ayvens thesis for Shaul

[46:14] Final thoughts: revisiting question - what does Shaul think the market is missing here, how'd they do during the GFC

[49:19] Financing business

Today's sponsor: Daloopa

Earnings season is hectic—there’s no way around it. But what if you could take back the time you spend on manual model updates? With Daloopa, you can.

Daloopa automates your audit and update process, instantly pulling accurate, fundamental data from filings and reports directly into your models. That means no more wasting hours on repetitive tasks. Instead, you can focus on analyzing trends, refining strategies, and staying ahead of the competition.

Stop letting manual work slow you down. Set up a free account today by visiting daloopa.com/YAV and see how Daloopa can transform your workflow.

Marc Chalfin, CIO, Founder & Portfolio Manager, and Jay Upadhyay, Senior Research Analyst, at Windward Management LP, join the podcast to share their thesis on Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN).

For more information about Windward Management LP, please visit:https://www.windwardmg.com/

Chapters:

[0:00] Introduction + Episode sponsor: Daloopa

[1:16] What is Groupon $GRPN and why is it so interesting right now to Marc and Jay

[3:24] $GRPN overhaul, why now is interesting and Windward's thesis

[11:49] $GRPN set up

[18:26] What is Marc and Jay seeing with $GRPN that the market is missing

[24:33] Inventory and Technology

[31:48] SumUp / BaseRate

[37:37] Final thoughts: web traffic, understanding the tailwinds

Today's sponsor: Daloopa

Earnings season is hectic—there’s no way around it. But what if you could take back the time you spend on manual model updates? With Daloopa, you can.

Daloopa automates your audit and update process, instantly pulling accurate, fundamental data from filings and reports directly into your models. That means no more wasting hours on repetitive tasks. Instead, you can focus on analyzing trends, refining strategies, and staying ahead of the competition.

Stop letting manual work slow you down. Set up a free account today by visitingdaloopa.com/YAV and see how Daloopa can transform your workflow.