I am happy to see the brief discussion on the value of sharing/evaluating/discussing portfolios. It’s fascinating to see different approaches, and how there is more than one way to be successful. I find it to be immensely valuable in looking at my own results. Most of the companies that I’ve invested in continue to do well, with the exception of Abiomed (ABMD). I made the decision to sell it earlier this week. I’m slowly becoming more confident in my ability to digest information and understand different sources from which the information comes from. It amazes me the ability at which this community can discover, explore, and summarize all the pertinent information that’s out there. I’m so thankful to be able to glean from the wonderful contributions that our members make, and it’s my goal to be able to pay it forward at some point.
Observations:
I’ve owned Netflix since 2007, and since following this board 4 years ago – this is the first time that NFLX hasn’t landed in my top 10 for YTD return. Thanks to the excellent advice provided by this community, I have whittled down my holding of Netflix, and it’s time to decrease it further. I’m satisfied with my other holdings, and I must say that I’m having a tough time in determining where to allocate my cash.
I’m considering ROKU. I’m a frequent visitor of LinkedIn, and any companies that I’m interested in – I follow them on LinkedIn. This is how ROKU describes themselves to the public:
Roku pioneered streaming for the TV, and we aspire to power every TV in the world. Roku has nearly 21 million monthly active accounts as of the end of Q1 2018. We developed a streaming platform that delivers a best-in-class user experience. At the heart of the Roku platform is our proprietary operating system, the Roku OS, which we built from the ground up. We believe that all television will be streamed, and that all TVs and set-top-boxes will be powered by software-based operating systems that provide a dramatically better user experience than has existed historically for the TV. We generate revenue from enabling content consumption, promotion, and advertising on the platform; licensing to TV OEMs and service TV operators; and selling Roku® streaming players in retail. Roku employs top talent with advertising, AI, billing, data science, machine learning, media, mobile, marketing, TV and software expertise. The company is headquartered in Los Gatos, CA and was founded by Anthony Wood, inventor of the DVR. We have R&D offices in Silicon Valley; Austin; Cambridge, England; and Tilst, Denmark; along with media and advertising teams, and operations in New York; Los Angeles; and Shanghai.
Their lead investor is News Corporation, and other investors include: Viacom, Sky, Menlo Ventures, Hearst Ventures, Good Technology, Globespan Capital Partners, Fox Networks Group, and Fidelity.
I believe that ROKU is positioning itself as a key player in the transformation to digital transmission. Revenue grew 51% year over year in Q1 driven by a 79% increase in platform revenue. I want to go back and read (again) what others have written.
2019 Results
YTD
January 18.0%
February 27.4%
March 34.0%
April 38.1%
May 36.3%
May Portfolio and Results (top 10):
Return
SHOP 98.6%
OKTA 77.5%
ZS 75.4%
PAYC 73.2%
TTD 71.3%
MDB 67.5%
TWLO 47.8%
AYX 46.1%
TEAM 41.5%
MA 33.3%
% of Portfolio (top 10)
NFLX 12.4%
CASH ($$) 11.2%
MDB 10.2%
TWLO 8.7%
OKTA 7.6%
AYX 7.5%
ZS 7.4%
TTD 6.3%
PAYC 3.8%
SHOP 3.7%
78.8% of the total portfolio
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The give and take of this community, the discussions, the questions, the different viewpoints is invaluable. Thanks to all of you, and I hope June treats you well.
~TracyK
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