Alert: Corning To Buy Company I’ve Recommended

Note: I just sent versions of the following message to both Value Investing Journey and Press On Research subscribers.

Thanks for being a loyal email subscriber.

While working at the investment newsletter from September 2014 to February 2015 I recommended three companies to subscribers.

I wrote in my 2014 and 2015 Value Investing Journey and Press On Research Portfolio Reviews that while I couldn’t reveal the research or the names of those companies.  I may write new research reports about them at some point in Press On Research.

While doing research on them to write-up in Press On Research one of them ended up agreeing to a buyout offer from Corning (GLW).

Alliance Fiber Optic (AFOP) agreed to the buyout price of $18.50 per share.  A 22% premium to what I recommended the company at.

I can’t release the full analysis article I wrote but in short my thesis on the company was that it was undervalued by 22% to 65%.  That it had some minor competitive advantages.  That there was a huge $140 billion trend in the companies industry that could explode its shares.  And it crushed bigger competitors in terms of profitability.

Just to name a few margins that were spectacular it produced a 19.3% FCF/Sales Margin.  Had an ROIC of 34%.  And had an unlevered return on net tangible equity of over 100%.  The only time I’ve found a company whose margin was above 100%.  And this means it’s one of the best run businesses on the planet.

And this still wasn’t all…

Insiders owned 14% of its shares.  It paid a 1.2% dividend.  And planned to buy back 6% of shares outstanding.

I loved this company.  And its profitable operations were some of the best I’ve come across when evaluating companies over most of the last decade.  Especially considering it was only a $250 million company.

The buyout price of $18.50 per share in cash from Corning is a low-ball offer though.

AFOP is worth between $20 and $25 per share with no growth expected.  And like I said above there’s a huge $140 billion trend in the companies industry that could explode its growth and share price further.

At this point I’m not sure if shareholders will fight or not but lawsuits have been filed by at least two different law firms saying AFOP insiders breached their fiduciary responsibility to shareholders by not seeking a higher price.

I agree the price AFOP agreed to is low.  But it’s not egregious so I’m not sure if these lawsuits will continue or if shareholders will get any money at some point.

Either way the subscribers of the investment newsletter I worked for will gain ~22% in 14 months owning this great company.

If you’d like to see my other exclusive company recommendations where my picks have crushed the market over the last four years you need to subscribe to Press On Research.

And remember as Value Investing Journey subscribers you get a 50% discount on a one year subscription.  Full year price for you as a subscriber is only $49 instead of $97.  And newsletters similar to mine sell for several thousand dollars at prominent investment newsletter companies.

Thank you for being a subscriber

Jason Rivera

Value Investing Journey

Press On Research

Author of How To Value Invest

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To find out all the great companies I’ve recommended you need to subscribe to Press On Research.

And if you’re a Value Investing Journey subscriber remember you also get a 50% discount on a one year Press On Research subscription.

Similar newsletters to Press On Research sell for several thousand dollars at a big newsletter company.

If you have further questions about Press On Research please go to the link in this sentence or email me at jasonrivera@valueinvestingjourney.com.