These are all red flags, but this right here is red flag number one. The Company is clearly stating the fact that they have a history of operating losses, and they may not achieve profitability in the future. Translation: They are not ,making money, and they are not sure if they (ever) will.
It is always a good sign for investors when a Company engages in stock repurchases and/or dividend increases. When management believes that its stock is undervalued, they often will initiate share repurchase programs, if possible.
Interesting bullet point here. Basically, the Company was not able to properly hedge its currency exposures, and took a hit of $31.5MM on its results. Also, the Company decreased its income tax expense by $24.4MM from reductions for "uncertain tax positions", which translates into a decrease in taxes. This would require further investigation to see if this is indeed a valid tax reduction, or is it management trying to manipulate the numbers?
Strong revenues increases posted for Q4 for 2014 here, increasing by 44% and 45%, respectively for Q4 and FY 2014. This indicates that the Company has the ability to increase its revenues, and has not saturated the market, yet.
The Company is notating here that large expenses are to be expected for Cap Ex and Equity Based Compensation for 2015, which is not good news for investors, considering that the Company just posted a net loss for the most recent FY. The Company needs to be able to cover expenses such as these, as they are normal operating items.
Strong numbers here for FY 2014. Revenues increased 41% year over year, Gross Margin improved by 8.3% points, and operating income increased 112% year over year, all strong indicators that the Company's operating performance has improved year over year, good news for investors.
It is never a good thing for a Company to have stagnant revenues, from an investors standpoint. Especially when the Company in question is one of the largest financial institutions in the world.
It is never a good thing, for an investor of a bank, to see lower provisions for credit losses (PLL). This line item is supposed to account for the fact that banks in general, never get 100% of their money back on all loans, so this provision is money set aside to cover these losses. If the Company is decreasing this amount, by over $100 MM, investors would want to see the improved credit quality. As an investor, I always want the bank to be conservative with this line item, not aggressive.
The Company is certainly generating revenues, however, please notice, it is still posting net losses for most recent time periods presented. Translation: Even though the Company earns money, it clearly is not enough to cover its costs, both operations and capital expenditures.
The Company is stating here, that they are operating in an emerging industry, one with no reliable historical data for market metrics, and therefore, the Company's opinion of the market opportunity is much larger than the $21.9 Billion (2018) predicted by Gartner.
The Company earns approximately $98k in revenue per leased vehicle in the U.S., as of Q3 14, a number that is impressively larger than that of other OEM's for standard vehicles.
Yes, one of the main reasons that Operating Income was poor for the quarter. That, and amortization of intangibles.
The Company stated the main reasons why operating income was poor for the most recent quarter was significant increases in both Share Based Compensation, and amortization of intangible assets. The Company reported $97 Million USD for the most recent quarter, and "was a significant increase" from the prior year. The bottom line here, without going in to all the accounting details, is that BABA overpaid for the acquisitions of UCWeb and AutoNavi, just based upon the fact of the increase in amortization of what is presumably the goodwill created from the acquisitions. Goodwill is created when a Company pays more money for an acquisition than the value of the target's assets. Hence, the difference between acquisition price and fair value of target's assets is equal to Goodwill.
It is clear that growth opportunities for the Company continue to be in the mobile space. Mobile DAU's increased 39% year over year, and Mobile MAU's increased 29% year over year. Both are strong growth numbers for user activity.
While the Company enjoys solid revenue growth of 114% year over year, they are still posting a net loss, of $175 Million for Q3 '14, which means the Company is having difficulties turning revenues into profits., as evidenced by the net loss.