Why I Really Like AMRK stock

[JadeDragon]

Don’t know if I will buy the stock but while looking at it I was amazed at how many brands and companies Amark holds in the precious metal space. Many of what I assumed were competitors in the dealer space are actually all Amark companies.

[Recyclersteve]

Does anyone have access to the IBD (Investor’s Business Daily) composite rating for this stock? I used to have free access at work back in the day when I was in the biz. Many of my old friends are still working from home, so they don’t have access either. Anyone out there with an IBD Composite rating?

[Recyclersteve]

Don’t know if I will buy the stock but while looking at it I was amazed at how many brands and companies Amark holds in the precious metal space. Many of what I assumed were competitors in the dealer space are actually all Amark companies.

J.M. Bullion was recently bought. Also, AMRK owns SilverTowne, the late Leon Hendrickson company out of Winchester, IN.
They also have Goldline and ProvidentMetals.

A-Mark has offices in the Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas, Winchester, IN, and even Vienna, Austria. They’ve been in business since 1965, and have deals to distribute coins for sovereign mints around the world including the following:

Australia
Austria
Canada
China
Mexico
South Africa
United Kingdom

[Recyclersteve]

I want to add a few more thoughts on A-Mark for those who think it might have gotten a little boring...

The low price today was $49.85, which was exactly (to the penny) the same low price from May 19th when the stock was just beginning to move to new higher ground after the earnings announcement. That COULD MEAN there is a big buyer willing to support the stock at that level. There is no way to know for sure. Remember, this is, to put it crudely, a high stakes poker game. People play games all the time, as my many years in the biz taught me.

Example: If I really wanted to, I could place an order to buy 10,000 shares and then instantly change it to only 100 shares. Some casual observers might actually assume I just bought 9,900 of the 10,000 shares right away, which would be totally wrong.

Another example: Let’s say someone is looking at the stock and has the ability to see the “book” of buyers/sellers right now, assuming the market is open. They might see a buyer for 100 shares at $50 and a seller for 5,000 shares at $50.10. This would imply selling pressure, since there are 5,000 shares being offered at the lowest price available and only 100 being bought. That might look bad. In fact, there are those (including short sellers and hedge funds) who would WANT it to look bad. But, picture this. The brokerage firm presenting the order to sell 5,000 shares at $50.10 has another much better and larger client who wants to buy, say, 30,000 shares at any price from $49.99 to $50.25. Furthermore, that whale (very large client) might give a special handling department at the broker up to 60 days to work the order.

There are many types of hidden (non-displayable) types of orders including Immediate or Cancel, Fill or Kill, Discretion, etc. Even a basic market order isn’t displayed until AFTER the order is filled. Then you could see it in the time and sales.

My point is to avoid getting cocky about thinking you really understand how a stock trades. It isn’t nearly as easy as people think!

All that said, I have noticed something very positive about AMRK trading. The number of shares traded is SHARPLY HIGHER than it was before the earnings announcement. You can verify this yourself by going into Yahoo! Finance and clicking on Historical Data. Since the earnings announcement, the stock regularly trades over 100,000 shares a day. Up until just a few days prior to the announcement, it would mostly trade less than 50,000 shares a day and sometimes even less than 30,000.

Also this isn’t the type of stock that people would typically daytrade. Those stocks often trade 5-10 million shares a day or more- AMRK’s average volume is 151,000 shares a day per Yahoo!

So the good news is that this stock appears to be one that is being discovered. That part is GREAT in my opinion and could lead to the possibility that options (puts and calls) could become available on the stock on down the road.

Don’t forget this. With all I’ve said about AMRK (I know there has been a lot), perhaps the biggest thing is this- the PRICE/EARNINGS RATIO IS STILL ONLY 3. For a true value investor that is absolutely incredible. With even an average P/E of, say, 15-20, that implies that this could be a $250 stock- or even more!

I fully agree that watching the stock move back and forth between $49ish and $57ish is like watching paint dry. This isn’t a company that frequently releases news. Therefore, I wouldn’t expect the next substantial move up to be until mid-August, in the few days just before the next earnings announcement.

[Cu Penny Hoarder]

When the market tanks, PM stocks usually go with it... it happens almost every time.

Just buy physical instead. In your hands, and no counterparty risks.

[Recyclersteve]

There is a new article on AMRK on the Seeking Alpha website. It was written July 23rd and is titled “A-Mark Precious Metals: An Interesting Hedge Against The Volatility Ahead.” Read the comments below the article as well. There is some very interesting info contained there.

[stas3000]

There is a new article on AMRK on the Seeking Alpha website. It was written July 23rd and is titled “A-Mark Precious Metals: An Interesting Hedge Against The Volatility Ahead.” Read the comments below the article as well. There is some very interesting info contained there.

Thanks for the tip - good article and interesting comments. The chem PhD student that wrote it appears to be quite knowledgeable when it comes to PM's, financial analysis and the stock market. Impressive.

[Recyclersteve]

Earnings alert!

Earnings for AMRK are expected to be announced the week of 9/8/21, and we've got a holiday between now and then. I expect the earnings to be very solid, but that doesn't mean the stock will go up or stay up. Once this stock is discovered by more people with deep pockets I still think it will go up very sharply. Until then, don't buy it all at once. If the news seems great and the stock is up 10-20%, have a definite plan on hand in case it goes down after that.

This stock takes patience, which caught me a bit off guard after last quarter's earnings announcement. Fundamentally, there are plenty of positives. The company is profitable, has a TINY P/E ratio (which some people would absolutely drool over if we could just find the right people), has a very small short interest (2.91% as of 8/13/21- so there are very few people who think it is overvalued), etc. It is a hedge against inflation. You don't have to worry about this PM investment being stolen from you unlike physical coins/bars sitting in a vault at home. The company has bought a few other companies recently (like SilverTowne of Winchester, IN). Insiders own a bunch of stock and it has paid a couple special one-time dividends in the past year or so. So insiders have shareholders interests at heart. Also is was added to the Russell 2000 small cap index last year, which meant that institutional companies were required to buy the stock (those that own all members of the R2K).

When this finally does catch fire, look out! I just don't know if that will be when they have their earnings announcement or a few years down the road. If I could appear on CNBC and talk to the world about this, I would. Frankly, I'd love to see someone else do it though.

[stas3000]

AMRK stock has been trading in a pretty narrow range after it broke out beyond $40. So I expect it to continue to be range-bound, $45-55 until the earnings release. And then it may really jump up. Should be able to hold $50-60 you'd think.

Anybody know what 2018 to 2019? Revenue dropped dramatically. Was it from divesting a business or all volume driven? I couldn't see any major changes to the Balance Sheet... may need to dig into its annual reports. UPDATE: Yep, looks like mostly on volume.

[Recyclersteve]

Zack’s mentioned they expect AMRK earnings to be tomorrow the 9th. I believe it would be shortly after market close. I have open orders to buy more shares on a pullback or possibly sell if I get my desired higher price.

AMRK also announced just last week that they bought increased stakes in Sunshine Minting and Pinehurst Coin Exchange. They already fully own SilverTowne, Goldline, Provident Metals and J.M. Bullion.

A lot of people don’t realize they also provide lending and storage facilities to investors in precious metals.

With offices in places like L.A., Las Vegas and Vienna, Austria, I imagine they have some VERY WEALTHY clientele.

[Recyclersteve]

AMRK announced earnings in after hours tonight and the news was good and the stock is up nicely- all that after having a very solid day with more than DOUBLE average trading volume

On top of that, they announced a special $2/share one-time dividend to shareholders as of 9/20. To qualify for the special dividend, you should buy no later than Thursday the 16th, so the trade can settle in time.

I still honestly think this stock has a long ways to go. Congrats to those who stuck with it!

[stas3000]

Yeah, very nicely done. The quarter was solid, the company continues to grow as I expected. Like many other publicly traded companies this one regularly low-balls its guidance so not surprised they continue to outperform. Here is the press release of the Q4 and FY results:
https://ir.amark.com/news-events/press- ... uarter-and

A few random thoughts:
- A-Mark continues to aggressively make strategic acquisitions; I wonder at what point it will start impacting competition in this very fragmented market and make things harder for small PM/coin buyers?
- In my opinion, Gross Profit in this business is far more important than sales which fluctuate with volume, prices and mix and much more so than in other industries due to the nature of the PM prices, GSR, etc
- I don't think that Wall Street will really buy into A-Mark's story any time soon due to the fact that its business is so low margin; this is a growth company but Wall Street prefers companies this size to have fat margins and this is just a totally different business/space

Thank you, Recyclersteve, for shedding light on this interesting company.

[Recyclersteve]

For those who own AMRK, they just paid a $2/share cash dividend today. I just saw it hit my account!

[AdamsSamoa]

Found a little present from AMARK in my brokerage account this morning...

[Changechecker]

Well done Recyclersteve. You did your homework on this one. Wish I had been able to enter when you first shared. Congratulations

[Recyclersteve]

I think there is still a lot more room for growth on this one. Just don't buy it near an all-time high price and be prepared to buy in stages.

Last year when they paid a special $1.50 cash dividend, they then paid another one just a couple months or so later. Will they do the same this year? Not a clue, but there is an virtual annual meeting coming up. I wouldn't be surprised if they made some kind of announcement around that time.

Keep in mind that execs own a lot of this stock. Their interests are aligned with shareholders.

I checked the holdings as announced in the annual report and found an exec/officer of the company who has several groups of stock options. Each has an exercise date and an expiration date. The exercise date is when you can first cash in your stock and often make a big profit. Lots of execs with many companies have done so in the past on the very day they become exercisable, and I don't blame them. We all have expenses.

What was unusual here is that I added up the amount of options which are exercisable right this minute and it came out to a profit of something like $16 million if he cashed out right now. Because he hasn't, that tells me he is likely expecting the stock to go higher and perhaps much higher. So he's putting his money where his mouth is. I like that a lot!

All that said, September and the first half or so of October are often the weakest times of the year for the stock market. So, if you wake up and find the Dow down 1,000+ points in a single day, don't be shocked after the big run-up we've had.

[Cu Penny Hoarder]

We're in a bull (albeit FAKE) market. There have been constant infusions of cash from the federal reserve. ALL stocks have been going up since this thread was first posted. Let's see how this stock does when the market turns downward.

[Recyclersteve]

We're in a bull (albeit FAKE) market. There have been constant infusions of cash from the federal reserve. ALL stocks have been going up since this thread was first posted. Let's see how this stock does when the market turns downward.

Dig a bit deeper. There are always stocks that go down, even in a roaring bull market.

Also, the gains in especially the NASDAQ have been largely due to gains in a few large tech stocks (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Tesla).

If we have a sharp pullback in the market, I’d expect A-Mark to go down short-term, just like gold and silver did at the start of the pandemic. But March, 2020 was an outstanding time to buy silver and gold. When lots of items are going down sharply, there is indiscriminate selling as there are always those who are using margin to inflate their returns. Margin is like your best friend in a bull market, but more like your worst enemy in a bear market.

That can affect virtually any stock, even potentially A-Mark.

Just for the heck of it, I thought I’d go back to the first posting on this thread (after market close on March 17, 2021) to see indeed how A-Mark has done vs. the three major indices, the Dow Industrials (DIA), the S&P 500 (SPY) and the tech heavy NASDAQ (QQQ). All prices are from Yahoo! Finance. The “now” prices are closing prices from 10/1/21 (F), so this is roughly 6-1/2 months of gains that we are looking at.

Here we go:

DIA was $327.37- now $343.18- up 4.8%
SPY was $393.41- now $434.24- up 10.4%
QQQ was $320.77- now $360.18- up 12.3%

These are solid 6-month returns. And finally- here is A-Mark…

AMRK was $35.69- now $62.92- up 76.3%

When you take these actual numbers and look at them, it is hard to conclude anything other than this- AMRK has outperformed all three major market indices by an absolutely HUGE amount since March 17.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

[Recyclersteve]

AMRK had earnings today. It should be fairly quiet in after hours as this isn’t a stock that attracts attention from CNBC and Bloomberg.

Tomorrow could be interesting. I still have shares and am looking to both buy more and sell if it goes up high enough. I don’t want to advertise my prices, as you are then able to jump ahead of me by a penny.

Go back to the beginning of this thread. You should see PLENTY of comments to get a feel for what I think about this stock.

[Recyclersteve]

Just an update on AMRK. It hasn't done well in the month since earnings. I was looking back on a chart of the price history on finviz.com. In mid-May the stock had a big run in just a couple weeks, going from $38ish to $55ish. It then took about 3 1/2 months for the stock to digest that move before it could make another move higher.

On September 9th the stock closed at $50.34, having been as low as $47.73 earlier that same day. The very next day it opened at $56.10 and traded over 500k shares, which is HUGE for AMRK. This was the beginning of a move that took it to $80.93 on November 4th. So about a 60% move up in two months.

Now the stock appears to be digesting that big move before getting ready for another move up.

I fully suspect that there could be some insider selling between now and the end of the year. Why? I think there are LOTS of people who feel that taxes next year will be higher (and perhaps much higher) than they are now. You could always counter with the argument that the stock is so much lower than it was a month ago that many may not want to sell at this level. I agree. But if you have expenses (a home renovation, for instance) that are coming due sometime in the next few months you might want to sell now while you know what you will be receiving. Also, an accountant can likely do a much better job ballparking your net gains after taxes this year than for next year.

All that said, I continue to buy shares as the stock goes lower. I added a modest number of shares at $59.90 on Friday, December 3rd. The chart shows pretty solid support at the $52.50ish level so I'd consider adding more around that level. I don't see anything really wrong with this stock right now. Even the greatest stocks in the world need to digest big moves up from time to time. So I'm not worried. If something significant happened (fraud, bankruptcy, a significant unexplained theft loss, etc.), then I'd reconsider my position.

For anyone reading this who doesn't have a position in the stock, this could be a very interesting time to consider taking an initial position. PLEASE don't expect to be able to buy a stock just once and always make a profit. If you do that, you are relying too much on luck. I am not comfortable taking that level of risk.

Consider the situation: It is an EXTREMELY profitable company (P/E of just 4 when average is, say, 15-20- the lower the better). Insiders own lots of shares which shows their interests are aligned with those of shareholders. They have paid several special dividends to shareholders in the past year plus. Less than 2% of the stock has been sold short- in other words only a very small percent of people are betting on the stock going down. If you expect that COVID or military attacks by China (on Taiwan) and/or Russia (on Ukraine) could cause issues, this could be a stock that has an initial sharp selloff followed shortly thereafter by a big rally. There are of course NO GUARANTEES, but I am still comfortable saying this could be a $200-300 stock in, say, 6-24 months.

Finviz chart for AMRK:

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=AMRK&ty=c&ta=1&p=d

[Sanford02]

any updates on this? I see there was a split recently.

[Recyclersteve]

The summer doldrums for the market often end sometime between late September and late October, so I’d be poised to buy soon for the winter and spring when markets often go up. I still have a modest position in AMRK and still like the stock. But it appears buyers will have to be more patient now than 1-2 years ago.

[Recyclersteve]

I STILL like AMRK. It was $40.93 on 2/2 and on Thursday it closed at $29.53. P/E is only 4. Insiders own a lot of stock and short sellers aren’t betting heavily against it. Furthermore, it pays a dividend and has options available for trade. Please read my disclaimer below.

[Cu Penny Hoarder]

I STILL like AMRK. It was $40.93 on 2/2 and on Thursday it closed at $29.53. P/E is only 4. Insiders own a lot of stock and short sellers aren’t betting heavily against it. Furthermore, it pays a dividend and has options available for trade. Please read my disclaimer below.

Fundamentals don't matter when everything else is going down.

You could get yourself in serious trouble here recommending stocks on a public forum. When is the last time you took a Series 7 exam?

[Recyclersteve]

I STILL like AMRK. It was $40.93 on 2/2 and on Thursday it closed at $29.53. P/E is only 4. Insiders own a lot of stock and short sellers aren’t betting heavily against it. Furthermore, it pays a dividend and has options available for trade. Please read my disclaimer below.

Fundamentals don't matter when everything else is going down.

You could get yourself in serious trouble here recommending stocks on a public forum. When is the last time you took a Series 7 exam?

You said “Fundamentals don’t matter when everything else is going down.” What timeframe are you talking about? There are plenty of stocks up very nicely since the first of the year, even after this week being not so good.

If you think everything is going down, why not sell short and profit from a decline in price?

Please read my disclaimer carefully. I don’t think ANY stock is appropriate for everyone. That would be akin to saying gambling is appropriate for everyone. I don’t claim to have a valid Series 7 as I’ve been out of the biz since 2017. But I also had my Series 63, 9 & 10. There are plenty of people without my background who make plenty of bold statements about things like Bitcoin and precious and base metals, both on this site and all over the internet.

I don’t expect to please everyone and appreciate your concern. I still believe in freedom of speech. If on the internet in the United States we have to always look over our shoulder every time we talk, then things have gotten really sad. Maybe we just need to agree to disagree, as my dad used to say.