Bad news comes in pairs. After a new Markit report�put manufacturing growth at a six-month low, a new Institute for Supply Management (ISM) report tells a similar tale.
Based on surveys of purchasing managers, the ISM's April Purchasing Managers Index clocked in at 50.7%, 0.6 percentage point below March's numbers.
Source: Author, data from ISM�
Although this marks the fifth straight month �of overall expansion, and the 47th�consecutive month of economic growth, the ever-important manufacturing rate fell for the second month in a row, to reach a new 2013 low. Analysts had expected a 51% reading for April.
New orders and production components crept up 0.9 points and 1.3 points, respectively, but a whopping four percentage point decrease in employment, to 50.2, stymied any April growth prospects.
At the industry level, "furniture & related products" reported the largest growth, followed by "printing & related support activities," and "electrical equipment, appliances, & components." Three of the 18 industries ("wood products," "food, beverage, & tobacco products," and "chemical products") reported contraction for April.
5 Best Tech Stocks To Watch For 2015: Symrise AG (SY1)
Symrise AG is a Germany-based fragrances and flavors manufacturer. The Company diversifies its activities into two business divisions: Flavor & Nutrition and Scent & Care. The Flavor & Nutrition business division produces flavors in liquid, powder, granulated and paste form, providing individual flavors as well as complete solutions which, apart from aroma, can contain additional functional raw materials, colorants or microencapsulated components. The products are divided into the beverages, savory, sweet and consumer health groups. The Scent & Care business division is divided into Fragrances, Oral Care, Life Essentials and Aroma Molecules. The Fragrances products are divided into the Fine Fragrances, Personal Care and Household groups. The Life Essentials are used in the cosmetic ingredients market, and include Botanicals and Cosmetic Ingredients, among others. The Aroma Molecules are used in the aroma chemicals market, and include Sensates (Menthols), among others. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Inyoung Hwang]
Symrise AG (SY1) jumped 5.7 percent to 32.95 euros. The fourth-largest maker of flavors and fragrances pledged to remain one of the most profitable companies in its industry amid higher demand for aroma molecules and fragrances. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, will be about 20 percent of sales in 2013 and will stay in the range of 19 percent to 22 percent in coming years, the company said today.
Hot Chemical Stocks To Own Right Now: BioAmber Inc (BIOA)
BioAmber Inc. (BioAmber), incorporated on October 15, 2008, is a chemical company. The Company manufactures its bio-succinic acid in a facility using a commercial scale 350,000 liter fermenter in Pomacle, France. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company produced 487,000 pounds, or 221 metric tons, of bio-succinic acid at this facility. Succinic acid is used to manufacture a range of products used every day, including plastics, food additives and personal care products, and can also be used as a building block for a range of derivative chemicals. The Company produces and sells bio-succinic acid using its process for petroleum-derived succinic acid. It also has additional bio-based products under development with partners including bio-succinic acid derivatives, such as BDO, and applications of bio-succinic acid, such as plasticizers, polyurethanes and de-icing solutions. During 2011, the Company created a wholly owned subsidiary, BioAmber International, S.a.r.l.
The Company develops bio-succinic acid for a range of markets, such as personal care products and food additives, plasticizers, polyurethanes, resins and coatings. The applications for bio-succinic acid include plasticizers, polyurethanes, personal care products, de-icing solutions, resins and coatings, food additives, lubricants and other products. Plasticizers are organic esters that are primarily used to make flexible polyvinyl chloride. Adipic acid is used in polyester polyols, which are used to make polyurethanes. Polyurethanes are used in, among other things, soles for footwear, molded foams for automotive applications, such as car seats and arm rests, and non-foam applications such as coatings, adhesives and sealants. Other applications of bio-succinic acid that are developed and tested by potential customers, which include anti-freeze solutions, solvents, water treatment chemicals and effervescence agents such laundry tablets and bath salts.
The Company competes with Gadiv Petrochemical Industries ! Ltd., Mitsubishi Chemical, DSM, Anqing Hexing Chemical Co Ltd, Anhui Sunsing Chemicals Co., Ltd., Genomatica, Inc., Myriant Corporation and Roquette Freres S.A.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Markus Aarnio]
BioAmber (BIOA) is a sustainable chemicals company. Its proprietary technology platform combines industrial biotechnology and chemical catalysis to convert renewable feedstock into chemicals for use in a wide variety of everyday products including plastics, resins, food additives and personal care products.
- [By Maxx Chatsko]
He believes several companies have set the bar precipitously low to start the year despite targeted developments expected to occur before the start of 2014. Watch the following video for his thoughts on potential positive surprises awaiting investors in�Amyris� (NASDAQ: AMRS ) ,�BioAmber� (NYSE: BIOA ) ,�Codexis� (NASDAQ: CDXS ) , and�Solazyme� (NASDAQ: SZYM ) .
Hot Chemical Stocks To Own Right Now: KMG Chemicals Inc (KMG)
KMG Chemicals, Inc., incorporated on July 30, 1992, manufactures, formulates and globally distributes specialty chemicals. The Company has acquired and operates businesses selling electronic chemicals and industrial wood treating chemicals. The Company operates in two segments: electronic chemicals and wood treating chemicals. The Company's electronic chemicals segment provides wet process chemicals to the semiconductor industry, primarily to clean and etch silicon wafers in the production of semiconductors. The Company supplies wet process chemicals to the semiconductor industry in the United States and Europe. Its wood treating chemicals, pentachlorophenol (penta), and creosote, are sold to industrial customers who use these preservatives primarily to extend the useful life of utility poles and railroad crossties. The Company is the supplier of penta in North America, and supplier of creosote in the United States to wood treaters who do not produce their own creosote. On March 1, 2012, the Company discontinued its animal health business. In June 2013, the Company announced that it completed the acquisition of the Ultra Pure Chemicals subsidiaries of OM Group Inc located in the United States, England and Singapore.
Electronic Chemicals
The Company's electronic chemicals business sells wet process chemicals primarily to the semiconductor industry. These chemicals are used to clean and etch silicon wafers in the production of semiconductors. The Company's products include sulfuric, phosphoric, nitric and hydrofluoric acids, ammonium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, isopropyl alcohol and various blends of chemicals. The Company's products are sold in bulk and in containers, including bottles, drums and totes. This process is accomplished at the Company's Pueblo, Colorado, Hollister, California and Milan, Italy facilities, although the Company contracts with General Chemical to produce certain products for the Company at its facility. As of July 31, 2012, the Company's electronic ! chemicals business accounted for 58.5% of its net sales.
Wood Treating Chemicals
The Company supplies penta and creosote to industrial customers who use these products to extend the useful life of wood, primarily utility poles and railroad crossties. The Company's penta products include penta blocks, solutions and hydrochloric acid, a byproduct of penta production. Penta is used primarily to treat utility poles, protecting them from insect damage and decay. The Company manufactures solid penta blocks at its facility in Matamoros, Mexico. The Company sells solid penta to its customers, or make it into a liquid solution of penta concentrate at its Matamoros, Mexico and Tuscaloosa, Alabama facilities. The Company sells penta products primarily in the southeastern and northwestern United States and in Canada. The hydrochloric acid the Company produces as a byproduct of penta production is sold in Mexico for use in the steel and oils well service industries. Creosote is a wood preservative used to treat utility poles and railroad crossties. Creosote is produced by the distillation of coal tar, a by-product of the transformation of coal into coke. The Company sells creosote to wood treaters throughout the United States. As of July 31, 2012, the Company's wood treating chemicals constituted about 41.4% of the Company's net sales.
The Company competes with Honeywell, Kanto Corporation, Avantor, BASF and the OM Group.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
KMG Chemicals (NYSE: KMG) is projected to report its Q4 earnings.
JB Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.84 per share on revenue of $1.59 billion.
- [By Monica Gerson]
KMG Chemicals (NYSE: KMG) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.27 per share on revenue of $79.00 million.
Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO) is projected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.40 per share on revenue of $348.85 million.
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on KMG Chemicals (NYSE: KMG ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Hot Chemical Stocks To Own Right Now: Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (APD)
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, equipment, and services worldwide. The company?s Merchant Gases segment sells atmospheric gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, including hydrogen and helium; and medical and specialty gases for the metal, glass, chemical processing, food processing, healthcare, steel, general manufacturing, and petroleum and natural gas industries. This segment also offers respiratory therapies, home medical equipment, and infusion services primarily in Europe. Its Tonnage Gases segment provides hydrogen, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, oxygen, and syngas to the energy production and refining, chemical, and metallurgical industries; and produces dinitrotoluene used in the manufacture of a precursor of polyurethane foam. The company?s Electronics and Performance Materials segment offers nitrogen trifluoride, silane, arsine, phosphine, white ammonia, silicon tetra fluoride, carbon tetrafluoride, hexafluoromethane, critical etch gases, and tungsten hexafluoride; and tonnage gases, specialty chemicals, and services and equipment for the manufacture of silicon and compound semiconductors, thin film transistor liquid crystal displays, and photovoltaic devices. This segment also provides performance materials for a range of products, including coatings, inks, adhesives, civil engineering, personal care, institutional and industrial cleaning, mining, oil refining, and polyurethanes. Its Equipment and Energy segment designs and manufactures cryogenic equipment for air separation, hydrocarbon recovery and purification, natural gas liquefaction, and helium distribution; and offers plant design, engineering, procurement, and construction management services for the chemical and petrochemical manufacturing, oil and gas recovery and processing, and steel and primary metals processing industries. The company was founded in 1940 and is based in All entown, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Marshall Hargrave]
After returning only 12.4% net of fees in 2012, compared with the S&P 500's 16%, Ackman and Pershing are back with a vengeance, starting his newest activist campaign in Air Products (NYSE: APD). Ackman's multi-billion-dollar investment puts Pershing's ownership of Air Products at 9.8%. Ackman had hoped to funnel even more capital into the company, but the Air Products implemented a poison pill with a 10% threshold.
- [By GuruFocus] l Gates sold out his holdings in Air Products & Chemicals Inc. His sale prices were between $102.58 and $113.66, with an estimated average price of $108.95.
Sold Out: Toyota Motor Corp (TM)
Bill Gates sold out his holdings in Toyota Motor Corp. His sale prices were between $118.61 and $131.65, with an estimated average price of $125.74.
Sold Out: Diamond Foods, Inc. (DMND)
Bill Gates sold out his holdings in Diamond Foods, Inc.. His sale prices were between $20.78 and $26.05, with an estimated average price of $23.92.
Here is the complete portfolio of Bill Gates.�
Also check out: Bill Gates Undervalued Stocks Bill Gates Top Growth Companies Bill Gates High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Bill Gates keeps buying
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More GuruFocus Links Latest Guru Picks Value Strategies Warren Buffett Portfolio Ben Graham Net-Net Real Time Picks Buffett-Munger Screener Aggregated Portfolio Undervalued Predictable ETFs, Options Low P/S Companies Insider Trend - [By Ben Levisohn]
Air Products & Chemicals’ (APD) gain is Rockwood Holdings’ (ROC) loss after Air Products hired away Rockwood’s CEO Seifi Ghasemi to run the chemical company.
REUTERSOppenheimer’s Edward Yang and Luis Amadeo explain why poaching Ghasemi from�Rockwood is good news for Air Products & Chemicals:
Mr. Ghasemi led Rockwood Holdings through its divestiture of seven “non-strategic” businesses (Advanced Ceramics, Clay Additives, TiO2 and four other) for a total enterprise value of ~$3.9B. While his experience in industrial gases was the key consideration, his hiring could signal that Air Products & Chemicals may be open to divestitures, which have been anticipated by activist investors.
Although�Air Products & Chemicals has not expressed intentions to divest any of its businesses, investors have periodically questioned whether or not�Air Products & Chemicals should sell its volatile Electronics business (~17% of sales), which is more cyclical than its core industrial gases business.
As a reminder, Air Products & Chemicals was in the low $90s when activist Bill Ackman told investors in July 2013 that he had taken a major position in a large-cap, investment-grade US corporation. Since then Air Products & Chemicals has closed its valuation gap with Praxair (PX), although restructuring has been limited so far.
The one problem: Air Products & Chemicals valuation. “[Air Products & Chemicals] has generally been at a discount to [Praxair] in the last five years due to its mix and more volatile performance, but closed the gap last year on activist involvement and potential restructuring,” Yang and Amadeo note.�Air Products & Chemicals trades at 21 times 2015 earnings, in line with Airgas’s (ARG) P/E ratio of 21.5 but well above Praxair’s 18.5 times.
Shares of Air Products & Chemicals have jumped 6.8% to $129.97 at 12:03 p.m. tod
- [By Chuck Saletta]
Make hay while the sun shines
For instance, the biggest gainer in the IPIG portfolio this past week was Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE: APD ) . The company reported so-so earnings but nevertheless leaped skyward after adopting a poison pill on rumors that it may be a target of activist investor Bill Ackman. While the gain is nice, the drivers are dubious, and it suggests a healthy dose of skepticism is warranted.
Hot Chemical Stocks To Own Right Now: Koppers Holdings Inc (KOP)
Koppers Holdings Inc. (Koppers), incorporated on November 12, 2004,is a global provider of carbon compounds and commercial wood treatment products and services. The Company's products are used in a variety of niche applications in a diverse range of end-markets, including the aluminum, railroad, specialty chemical, utility, concrete and steel industries. The Company serves its customers through a global manufacturing and distribution networks, with manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Australia, China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark. The Company operates in two business segments: Carbon Materials & Chemicals and railroads & Utility Products.
The Company's operations are, to a substantial extent, vertically integrated. Through the Company's Carbon Materials & Chemicals business, the Company processes coal tar into a variety of products, including carbon pitch, creosote, naphthalene and phthalic anhydride, which are intermediate materials necessary in the production of aluminum, the pressure treatment of wood, the production of high-strength concrete, and the production of plasticizers and specialty chemicals, respectively. Through the Company's Railroad & Utility Products business, the Company believes that the Company is thesupplier of railroad crossties to the North American railroads.
Carbon Materials & Chemicals
Carbon pitch, naphthalene, and creosote are produced through the distillation of coal tar, a by-product generated through the processing of coal into coke for use in steel and iron manufacturing. Coal tar distillation involves the conversion of coal tar into a variety of intermediate chemical products in processes beginning with distillation. During the distillation process, heat and vacuum are utilized to separate coal tar into three primary components: carbon pitch (approximately 50%), chemical oils (approximately 20%) and creosote (approximately 30%).
The Company's Carbon Materials & Chemicals business! (CM&C) manufactures principal products, including carbon pitch, a critical raw material used in the production of aluminum and steel; naphthalene, used for the production of phthalic anhydride and as a surfactant in the production of concrete; phthalic anhydride, used in the production of plasticizers, polyester resins and alkyd paints, and creosote and carbon black feedstock, used in the treatment of wood or as a feedstock in the production of carbon black. The Company also uses naphthalene as a feedstock in the manufacture of phthalic anhydride. The primary markets for phthalic anhydride are in the production of plasticizers, unsaturated polyester resins and alkyd resins. The Company is a producer of carbon pitch for the aluminum industry.
Creosote is used as a commercial wood treatment chemical to preserve railroad crossties and lumber, utility poles and piling. The majority of the Company's domestically produced creosote is sold to its Railroad & Utility Products business. In Australia, China and Europe, creosote is sold primarily into the carbon black market for use as a feedstock in the production of carbon black. In Europe and China creosote is also sold to wood treaters. The Company's wood treating plants in the United States purchase substantially all of their creosote from the Company's tar distillation plants.
Other products include the sale of refined tars, benzole and specialty chemicals. The Company's CM&C business manufactures its primary products and sells them directly to the Company's global customer base under long-term contracts or through purchase orders negotiated by its regional sales personnel and coordinated through its global marketing group in the United States. The Company's nine coal tar distillation facilities including joint ventures and four carbon materials terminals give the Company the ability to offer customers multiple sourcing and a consistent supply of products.
Railroad & Utility Products
The Company's Railroad ! & Utility! Products business (R&UP) sells treated and untreated wood products, rail joint bars and services primarily to the railroad and public utility markets in the United States and Australia. The Company also produces concrete crossties, a complementary product to its wood treatment business, through a joint venture in the United States.
Railroad products include procuring and treating items such as crossties, switch ties and various types of lumber used for railroad bridges and crossings. Railroad products also include manufacturing and selling rail joint bars, which are steel bars used to join rails together for railroads. Utility products include transmission and distribution poles for electric and telephone utilities and piling used in industrial foundations, beach housing, docks and piers. The R&UP business operates 13 wood treating plants, one rail joint bar manufacturing facility, one co-generation facility and 13 pole distribution yards located throughout the United States and Australia. The Company's network of plants is strategically located near timber supplies to enable the Company to access raw materials and service customers effectively. In addition, the Company's crosstie treating plants are typically adjacent to its railroad customers' track lines, and its pole distribution yards are typically located near its utility customers.
In the United States, hardwood lumber is procured by the Company from hundreds of small sawmills throughout the northeastern, midwestern and southern areas of the country. The crossties are shipped via rail car or trucked directly to one of the Company's crosstie treating plants, all of which are on line with a railroad. The crossties are either air-stacked for a period of six to twelve months or artificially dried by a process called boultonizing. Once dried, the crossties are pressure treated with creosote, a product of the Company's CM&C business.
The Company's R&UP business' customer base is the North American Class I railroa! d market,! which buys approximately 80% of all crossties produced in the United States and Canada. The Company also has relationships with many of the approximately 550 short-line and regional rail lines. This also forms the customer base for the Company's rail joint bar products. The railroad crosstie market is a mature market with approximately 23 million replacement crossties (both wood and non-wood) purchased during 2012. The Company supplies all seven of the North American Class I railroads and have contracts with six of them. The Company treats poles with a variety of preservatives, including pentachlorophenol, copper chrome arsenates and creosotes .In the United States the market for utility pole products is characterized by a number of small producers selling into a price-sensitive industry. The utility pole market is fragmented domestically, with over 200 investor-owned electric and telephone utilities and 2,900 smaller municipal utilities and rural electric associations.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jeremy Bowman]
What: Shares of Koppers Holdings (NYSE: KOP ) were looking rusty today, falling as much as 12% after the company cut its outlook for the current quarter.
Hot Chemical Stocks To Own Right Now: Trinseo S.A. (TSE)
Trinseo S.A. (Trinseo), incorporated on June 3, 2010, is a materials company engaged in the manufacture and marketing of specialty and customized emulsion polymers and plastics. The Company develops products for global, diversified end markets, including coated paper and packaging board, carpet and artificial turf backing, automotive applications, including tires, food service packaging, appliances, consumer electronics and construction applications, among others. The Company operates under two principal business units: Emulsion Polymers business unit, which includes an Synthetic Rubber (SB) Latex segment and a SB segment, and Plastics business unit, which includes Styrenics segment and an Engineered Polymers segment. Trinseo�� major products include styrene-butadiene latex (SB latex), styrene-acrylate latex (SA latex), solution styrene-butadiene rubber (SSBR), lithium polybutadiene rubber (Li-PBR), emulsion styrene-butadiene rubber (ESBR), nickel polybutadiene rubber (Ni-PBR), polystyrene, expandable polystyrene (EPS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN), ignition resistant polystyrene, polycarbonate resins (PC), compounds and blends, and polypropylene compounds.
Synthetic Rubber (SB) Latex Segment
The Company produce SB latex primarily for coated paper used in advertising and magazines, packaging board coatings, carpet and artificial turf backings, as well as a number of performance latex applications. It operates in various countries, such as North America, Europe and Asia.
Synthetic Rubber Segment
The Company is a producer of styrene-butadiene and polybutadiene-based rubber products. The Company has synthetic rubber technology and product portfolios, which focuses on specialty products, such as SSBR and Li-PBR, while also producing core products, such as ESBR and Ni-PBR. Its Synthetic Rubber products are extensively used in tires, with additional applications, including polymer modification and technical rubbe! r goods.
Styrenics Segment
The Company�� Styrenics segment includes polystyrene, ABS, SAN, and EPS products, as well as its internal production and sourcing of styrene monomer, a raw material common in SB latex, synthetic rubber and styrenics products. It is a producer of polystyrene and mass ABS (mABS). Trinseo focuses its marketing efforts on applications, such as appliances and consumer electronics. The Styrenics segment also serves the packaging and construction end-use markets.
Engineered Polymers Segment
The Company is a producer of engineered polymers. Its products are used in automotive, consumer electronics, and construction and sheet end markets. Trinseo focuses on differentiated products, which it produces in its compounds and blends manufacturing facilities located across Europe, Asia, North America and Brazil. Its Engineered Polymers segment also compounds and blends its polycarbonate resins and mABS plastics into differentiated products within these sectors.
The Company competes with BASF, Nippon Zeon, LG Chemicals and Bayer.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Vanina Egea]
Gary Dickerson is following a similar acquisitions strategy to the one it had used at Varian Semiconductor in 2012. The company is currently on the process (presumably closed by second mid-term of 2014) of merging with Tokyo Electron Device Ltd. (TSE) (11% of the market share), one of the three big names in the industry. This will create a new company worth $29 billion. Combined with the 14% market share of Applied Materials, this new company would capture the biggest slice of the market share, and the broad product portfolio of both companies ensures the coverage of many segments of the market. The new company would use Tokyo Electron's material supplies to improve its costs.
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