Interesting Conference Calls

[Saluki]

I'll be the first to admit that most conference calls are terrible.  A few are enjoyable though. 

 

SAFM:  Sanderson Farms.  Joe Sanderson is a good ole boy running a multi billion dollar chicken company and he knows chicken like the back of his hand. Occassionally an analyst will ask a stupid question and he doesn't suffer fools gladly.  Wind him up and watch him go when someone has the wrong idea about something like bird flu or antiobiotic free chicken. Even though it's been a few years since I owned the stock, I still dial in occasionally . 

 

WPG:  I'm not brave enough to buy this mall operator in 2nd and 3rd tier markets, but Lou Conforti talks like a truck driver from philly (cussing and inappropriate metaphors are very entertaining). 

 

Are there any you like listening to, whether you own the stock or not is irrelavent.

[Pondside47]

All the Sergio Marchionne calls were fantastic. Too bad his successors have lobster personality, at least when they are on conference call.

 

Mark Papa’s calls are great.

[dr.malone]

i just read the WPG one. pretty classic!

i usually read the JPM transcript to hear Dimon so i get an overview of the economy etc.

i'll also read the apollo transcript when leon black does it to get an overview of what private equity is seeing, etc.

i love the loews conf call to hear jimmy tisch talk. his comments Monday on DO are very interesting. that could be a multi-bagger from here.

and then of course, dr. malone used to do a liberty conf call here and there but i don't think hes done one in a long long time...

I'll also read the transcripts of third point re and greenlight re because dan loeb and david einhorn are on those calls.

[Gregmal]

CLF

 

Goncalves asked the operator if there was someone waiting in the question queue named Matthew Korn, "he calls himself an analyst and he works for Goldman Sachs." The operator replied that Matthew Korn was not waiting to ask a question, which prompted Goncalves to call out Korn. "If you're on the call it is still 10:42. Why don't you ask a freaking question? I'll be happy to answer." Once the Q&A portion concluded, Goncalves called out Korn once more, "Mathew Korn from Goldman Sachs, you can run but you can't hide. I will see you at the Goldman Sachs conference soon." Goncalves instructed Korn to "bring the guy from the commodities desk" with him. "It's going to be bad, but its going to be worse if you're by yourself," Goncalves concluded.

 

 

This is just one. The guy is a bull in a China shop.

[Broeb22]

I always tune in to POST conference calls.

 

While not as entertaining as the other excerpts in this thread, they tend to get more strategic questions from analysts than what happened this past quarter. Usually very interesting.

[Saluki]

CLF

 

I will see you at the Goldman Sachs conference soon." Goncalves instructed Korn to "bring the guy from the commodities desk" with him. "It's going to be bad, but its going to be worse if you're by yourself," Goncalves concluded.

 

 

This makes me want to go the conference and hang out with a chair and some popcorn. It makes Jeff Skilling calling someone an asshole on a conference call sound quaint.

 

 

[Pelagic]

The CLF calls really are great and it's not all Gonclaves' disdain for analysts, there are some capital allocation gems in there too. Personally I think every CEO of a resource company should listen to him, far too often companies just want to increase production for its own sake rather than looking at the alternatives available to them.

 

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4256779-cleveland-cliffs-inc-clf-ceo-lourenco-goncalves-q1-2019-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single

 

Remember, capital allocation is an exercise of optionality. At this point in time, the best IRR that I can get in this company is not building our second HBI plant, is buying back my stock. It's obvious that, if the market continues to deny value to our equity, the market in the stock exchange every day, I'm going to continue to buy back stock. And the domestic US market will starve for metallics.

 

Our second best use of capital right now would be paydown debt. And we proved that every quarter, it’s not just speech. Remember, we bought $124 million of stock in Q1, and we bought back $10 million of debt. So it's hard for me to tell you that buying back debt and buying back stock is at par, they're not. Buying back stock is a lot more rewarding for the company right now than buying back bonds.