Image: BestBuy

Market Valuation:  $19 Billion 
 
Ironbound Buy-Side Valuation:  $15 Billion
 
Ironbound Assessment:  Minnesota based Best Buy Co., Inc., founded in 1966, is an American multinational consumer electronic retail chain.  Over the last 5 years the company has delivered over 10% return-on-assets, and over the last 10 years averaged 11% operating income as a percentage of assets.  As a result, our upside valuation is on the higher end at $25 Billion, equivalent to 10-times the average operating income reported over the most recent three years.  We like Best Buy because it reports a mission driven triple-bottom-linebusiness model in their 10K SEC filings.  In addition, the company boasts a clear north-star purpose: to enrich lives through technology.  Moreover, the company is determined to lead with a positive impact on society and the environment.  In 2022, Best Buy reported a 2030 goal to reduce carbon emissions by 75% and become carbon neutral by 2040.  Their environmental initiatives also include a 25% reduction in water consumption by 2025 with waste reductions from single-use-plastics as well as a transition to more sustainable alternatives.  As part of their long-term growth strategy, Best Buy has been making inroads into health technology to expand their health and fitness related products and services.  These stakeholder growth strategies should help revenues double to $100 Billion over the coming decade.

Image: Macy's NYC Flagship Store

Market Valuation:  $6 Billion 
 
Ironbound Buy-Side Valuation:  $10 Billion
 
Ironbound Assessment:  Manhattan NY based Macy’s Inc., founded in 1858, is an American omnichannel higher-end retailer with almost 800 locations.  Our upside valuation is $17 Billion, equivalent to either 4-times the operating income or the fiscal 2021 value of all assets.  We like Macy’s and believe the secret behind the company’s 165 years of success is rooted in their team culture, which levels-up colleagues with education and career growth.  Furthermore, there is a strong emphasis in the 10K SEC filings on workplace values of acceptance, respect, integrity, and giving back.  Looking ahead, Macy’s is making a major post-Covid Polaris growth strategy – designed to better attract Millennials.  The Polaris strategy involves modernizing existing technologies to combine the instore and digital experiences with more branded products that better appeal to the new and younger demographic.  

​Market Valuation:  $215 Billion 
 
Ironbound Buy-Side Valuation:  $205 Billion
 
Ironbound Assessment:  Seattle Washington based Costco, founded in 1983, is an American multinational corporation that operates membership-only retail warehouses and e-commerce websites.  Our upside valuation is $300 Billion or 1.5-times the $200 Billion in average sales reported between 2020 and 2022.  We believe Costco’s true competitive advantage is rooted in their code of ethics: management must “Take Care of Our Employees” so that employees reciprocate and “Take Care of Our Members.” Combining this simple rule with their effective strategy of only selling high-quality merchandise at the lowest possible price, has made Costco the most productive in the retail industry.  Their superb and efficient service has created some of the most loyal customers, churning year-over-year double-digit sales growth.  As a result, Costco is forecasted to reach $1 Trillion in sales by their 50th birthday in 2033.  

 
Market Valuation:  $14 Billion 
 
Ironbound Buy-Side Valuation:  $22 Billion
 
Ironbound Assessment:  Ireland based Horizon Therapeutics Public Limited Company, founded in 2005, is a leading high-growth biotech company focused on innovative medicines for rare autoimmune severe inflammatory diseases.  Our upside buyout valuation is $22 Billion or 20-times the average sales reportedbetween 2019-2021 and continued double digit sales growth for the foreseeable future.  At this valuation, roughly 70% of the acquisition value is Goodwill for the rights to develop and produce TEPEZZA®, their blockbuster thyroid eye disease (TED) medicine.  TED is about four-times more prevalent in women than men, affecting roughly 24,000 women in the United States.  TEPEZZA® promises a phenomenal growth opportunity; upon FDA approval in 2020 initial sales jumped over 100% from $820 Billion to over $1.6 Billion and accounted for over half of sales in 2021.  The $28.3 Billion acquisition by Amgen will further expand thier portfolio of breakaway potential drugs and immediately increase future sales projections by an additional 10% annually – pushing its own $140 Billion valuation even higher.

Image: Amazon

​Market Valuation:  $1 Trillion 
 
Ironbound Buy-Side Valuation:  $800 Billion
 
Ironbound Assessment:  Seattle based Amzon.com Inc., founded in 1994, is an American multinational e-commerce technology company.  Our upside valuation is $3 Trillion or 10-times the $300 Billion in average sales between 2019 and 2021.  We like Amazon and believe the secret to the stock’s success is clearly defined in the first line of their 10K SEC filings: “We seek to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.” Followed immediately by their four guiding principles: “customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking.” Companies with that level of focus guarantee stakeholders’ long-term success.  Unlike comparable e-commerce retailers, Amazon Web Services (AWS) generates the biggest untapped blue ocean opportunity. In 2021 e-commerce reported 47% of sales, $222 Billion, all the while AWS accounted for over half of the consolidated $33 Billion in profits from only $62 Billion in AWS sales.  Overall revenue is forecasted to more than triple and surpass $1 trillion within the next five years.  

Image: Google

​Market Valuation:  $1.2 Trillion 
 
Ironbound Buy-Side Valuation:  $700 Billion
 
Ironbound Assessment:  California based Alphabet Inc., parent company of Google founded in 1998, is an American multinational technology company.  In 2021 the company reported $257 Billion in sales and $76 Billion in profits.  Our upside valuation is $2 Trillion based on the average of $200 Billion in sales over the past three years and growth continuing to exceed 10% annually.   This is a reasonable expectation considering Google is at the heart of the digital economy, which continues to grow as the world rapidly shifts further online.  Much of this accelerated growth can be attributed to aligning stakeholders’ together.  In 2007, Google was the first major company to be carbon neutral in their operations, by 2020 they were the first major company to be carbon neutral for its entire history.  Their 2030 goal is to be the first major company that runs on carbon free energy in perpetuity, and help other organizations follow in their footsteps.  The biggest hurdle holding back the stock price is the 51.4% voting control by the two co-founders.  The limited control prevents a sovereign wealth fund or group from acquiring the company.  The current market valuation is trading at 21-times the average operating income, much higher than 14-times multiple favorable for a value driven buyer. 

Image: Snapchat

​Market Valuation:  $16 Billion 
 
Ironbound Buy-Side Valuation:  $40 Billion
 
Ironbound Assessment:  California based Snap Inc., founded in 2011, is an American camera and social media company.  Our upside valuation potential is $40 Billion based on double digit sales growth.  In 2021, Snap reported having over 300 million Daily-Active-Users (DAU) and generated over $4 Billion in advertising sales.  With sales increasing and operating expenses on the decline, the company should cross $10 Billion in revenue and turn profitable within the next few years.  We like Snap because it is uniquely positioned around the next biggest consumer demographics of Millennials and Gen Z.  In addition, the 2021 Annual 10-K filing discloses numerous holistic value laden initiatives such as: employee value by paying a minimum living wage for all employees globally, customer value with a Privacy Policy statement that can easily be understood in “plain language”, and society value by becoming historically carbon neutral from founding in 2011 through to 2020.  All of which we like.  Unfortunately, the cofounders’ 99% control over voting shares, severely limits a possible takeover – holding the stock price down.  On the other hand, the limited control prevents a sovereign wealth fund or group from acquiring the company for $40 Billion, or 10-times 2021 sales.  At this price, the buyer(s) would acquire $7 Billion in assets and pay about 7¢ per DAU per day for 5 years, a discount to the 10¢ Twitter comparable acquisition, in Goodwill. 

Image: Seagen

​Market Valuation:  $25 Billion 
 
Ironbound Buy-Side Valuation:  $23 Billion
 
Ironbound Assessment:  Seattle based Seagen Inc, founded in 1997, is a leading American biotechnology company that develops and commercializes targeted cancer therapies.  Our buyout valuation fairly prices the company between $15 to $32 Billion, or approximately 10-to 20-times sales.  The lofty valuation is 90% Goodwill for the rights to develop and produce TUKYSA® - a lifesaving treatment for metastatic HER-2 positive breast cancers.  TUKYSA® promises a phenomenal growth opportunity; upon FDA approval in 2020 initial sales started at $120 million and skyrocketed the following year to $334 million.  Merck shareholders are extremely optimistic outbidding by 25 percent our highest estimated valuation range.  The $40 Billion acquisition would strategically entrench Merck further into the oncology space alongside their blockbuster Keytruda®.  Indeed, Merck has greater scale capabilities to commercialize the acquisition and achieve a profitable return on investment faster than Seagen could on their own.  

Image: Meta

​Market Valuation:  $250 Billion 
 
Ironbound Buy-Side Valuation:  $440 Billion
 
Ironbound Assessment:  California based Meta Inc., formerly named Facebook founded in 2004, is a multinational Social Media conglomerate focused on technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses.  Meta wants all their products to share a vision of bringing the metaverse to life.  Our upside valuation is $1 Trillion based on $100 Billion in sales for 2021 and continued sales growth exceeding 10% over the next few years.  This is a reasonable expectation considering the company reported in 2021, Daily-active-users (DAU) just shy of 2 billion, nearly a third of the world’s population.  The company has a strong societal mission, giving people the power to build communities and bring the world closer together, which will help the company continue to attract and retain top talent.  Severely depressing the potential upside is the founder’s voting control, currently used to direct over $10 Billion a year to finance the buildout of a highly uncertain Metaverse.  On the other hand, the limited control is helping prevent a sovereign wealth fund or group from acquiring the company for $440 Billion, or 13-times the average operating income between 2021 and 2019.  At this price, the buyer(s) would acquire $100 Billion in assets and pay about 10¢ per DAU per day for 5 years, comparable to the Twitter acquisition, in Goodwill. 

​Market Valuation:  $700 Million 
 
Ironbound Buy-Side Valuation:  $99 Million
 
Ironbound Assessment:  New Jersey Based Bed Bath & Beyond, founded in 1971, is an American retailer that sells an assortment of merchandise in the Home, Baby, Beauty & Wellness markets.  Our buyout valuation is $1.5 Billion that would account for the cash balance, property, and some additional goodwill.  Unfortunately, the company faces major headwinds to profitability despite generating nearly $10 Billion in sales from numerous high quality retail locations and digital on-demand transformation strategies.  Several problems at the Company can be rooted in a culture steeped in financial mismanagement.   At the end of 2021, the company reported having only $440 million in cash on the balance sheet, of which most could be wiped-out to cover $320 million in current merchandise credits and gift card liabilities.  The company faces shareholder lawsuits for false or misleading financial statements and also lawsuits for unjust enrichment using corporate assets to repurchase shares.  Certain executive officers were awarded stock options with strike prices of $6, while employees were offered strikes ranging from $17 to $32.  With a book value of only $175 million, our position is to stay away from this company until the stock drops below $1 per share to profit from a short squeeze.