Barron’s
Pittsburgh-based Alcoa is “probably the world’s best pure-play aluminium producer”, but on nine times 2022 earnings the shares lost more than a fifth in 2022 owing to falling metals prices. That could change: lightweight and recyclable, aluminium has a key role to play in decarbonisation and a China-led boost to commodity prices could occur in 2023 ($46).
Shares in Google’s parent fell by 39% in 2022 amid a weaker outlook for advertising revenue, but the sell-off looks overdone. On 18 times 2023 projected earnings the shares are reasonably priced for a peerless technology champion. affluent customer base gives it the “highest-quality loan portfolio” among the big US lenders even as recession looms. Trading for less than nine times projected 2023 earnings, the shares yield 2.8% and appear “inexpensive”. Household “cable-cutting” pushed shares in telecoms conglomerate down almost a third in 2023, but its internet broadband operation boasts 32 million customers and pricing power. Investors dislike a tangled corporate structure that ties together internet service provision with media operations (it owns NBCUniversal and Sky), but even accounting for that “conglomerate discount” the shares still look reasonably priced ($35.35). is the “best managed” of the US carriers and enjoys “leading positions” at many top airports. On just six times 2023 earnings “it have slid over the last five years. But the group is a “dividend aristocrat”, having raised payouts for 45 straight years and the shares currently yield 3.5%. Cost-cutting measures raise the prospect of capital appreciation too.
