Log In

WPO: The Irrational Bid Scenario Now Comes Into Play and Catalysts Are Limited, Closing Out Our Short Idea With a...

August 6th, 2013

This is something we obviously did not see coming, but based on the action in WPO shares over the past 6-months perhaps someone else did.  In retrospect, we should have given greater attention to...

READ MORE >

WPO: The Song Remains the Same, Lowering Estimates to Reflect Weakening Prospects for Kaplan

August 3rd, 2012

In many respects, WPO’s 2Q12 earnings results represent a complete validation of our short thesis on the stock.  At a time when it appears most bulls on the stock own it based on some theoretical breakup value, two...

READ MORE >

WPO: 10-K High (and Low) Lights; 2012 Could Be As Good As It Gets for Quite Some Time, Revised Estimates

March 2nd, 2012

Admittedly, WPO’s 4Q11 results beat our estimates by a wide margin.  Normally this type of EPS upside would yield a more meaningful reaction in any given company’s stock price – that did not happen.  WPO...

READ MORE >

WPO: Steady As She Goes…. In Decline

November 4th, 2011

In many respects, WPO’s 3Q11 earnings results represent a complete validation of our short thesis on WPO shares.  At a time when it appears most bulls on the stock own it based on some theoretical breakup value, two unalienable truths remain clear: 1) WPO management has no...

READ MORE >

WPO: Time Is On Our Side – Thoughts from WPO’s 2011 Shareholder Day

September 13th, 2011

On Friday, WPO management hosted its bi-annual shareholder day.  If ever we had any doubts about our long term secular short case for WPO shares, they were all but removed following a series of management presentations.  Based on the tenor and...

READ MORE >

WPO: The Long Retrenchment At Kaplan Begins, Assessing WPO’s Earnings Power Going Forward

February 24th, 2011

Approximately 18-months ago, we scribed a letter to Warren Buffet, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway about his sizeable ownership stake in the Washington Post Company. It might have been an audacious endeavor on our part...

READ MORE >

WPO: FL Judge Rules on Motion to Dismiss in 1 of 3 Qui Tams, Tail Risk Continues to Grow

December 22nd, 2010

For several months now, we have been waiting for an update on the status of three separate qui tam actions outstanding against Kaplan Higher Education in the United States District Court Southern District of Florida.  ...

READ MORE >

WPO: More Than One Qui Tam Will Go Forward, "Tail Risk" Continues to Grow

November 10th, 2010

Approximately two and a half months ago, we published a report that argued that the tail risk associated with owning WPO shares continued to increase.  Today we received further evidence that "tail risk" continues to grow for the company.Filing...

READ MORE >

WPO: 3Q10 Revenue and EPS Upside Should Be Overshadowed By Rapid Deterioration in Key Operating Metrics

November 5th, 2010

Admittedly, WPO's headline earnings results for 3Q10 appear to be compelling. The company reported total revenues of $1.189 billion and adjusted EPS from continuing operations of $11.40.  This compares to our...

READ MORE >

WPO: See You at the Crossroads, 17 Questions Heading into 3Q10 Earnings

November 3rd, 2010

On Friday, November 5th, WPO will report 3Q10 earnings.  WPO is at a significant crossroads.  Fundamental demand for the company's primary growth vehicle over the past five years has changed abruptly at a time when secular headwinds facing WPO's...

READ MORE >

WPO: Barron's Strikes Again, A More Realistic SOTP Analysis, Tail Risk Growing Rapidly

August 23rd, 2010

Barron's columnist Andrew Bary published a follow up piece this weekend to his initial write-up on WPO in which he argued that the stock could be worth as much as $900/share.  You can read the original article here.  Mr. Bary's...

READ MORE >

WPO: 1Q10 Results Do Little To Change Our Short Thesis, Our Revised Estimates

May 10th, 2010

WPO reported 1Q10 results on 5/7.  Overall, the results did little to alter our short thesis on the stock.  The company beat our estimates on the topline but fell short of our EPS forecast due to lower than expected profitability at the...

READ MORE >

Dear Mr. Buffet: About the Washington Post Company….

March 10th, 2010

This report was originally published on September 15th, 2009.Please note, the following is a letter PAA Research recently sent to Warren Buffet, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire  Hathaway, Inc.. We thought our readers might find the analysis of Washington Post and...

READ MORE >

Current Ideas

EXPI

SELL/SHORT

$4

HUSQ.B

SELL

$50

UFPI

SELL/SHORT

$45

TREX

SHORT

$18

PRDO

SELL/SHORT

$5

STRA

SELL/SHORT

$42

CWH

LONG

$75

OSTK

LONG

$128

CM

SELL/SHORT

$50

RY

SELL/SHORT

$50

ARC

LONG

$5.50

AYI

SHORT

$50

BIG

SHORT

$28

WWE

LONG

$65

XOXO

LONG

$37

RLGY

PAIR TRADE

$10

RDFN

PAIR TRADE

$30

BCO

LONG

$35

ING.PA

SHORT

$35

TRUP

SELL/SHORT

$10

CTC

SHORT

$101

ATGE

SHORT

$15

HCG.TO

SHORT

$0

RON.TO

SHORT

$9

ESI

SHORT

$0

BGG

PAIR - LONG BGG/SHORT TTC

25%

TTC

PAIR - LONG BGG/SHORT TTC

25%

Z

SHORT

$14.00

NA.TO

SHORT

$22

ZU

SHORT

$15

TRLA

SHORT

$20

MCRS

SHORT

$31

APOL

SHORT

$35

OPEN

SHORT

$30

KNL

PAIR - LONG KNL/SHORT MLHR

25%

CSGP

SHORT

$100

GCA

LONG

$8

IPSU

LONG

$20

MLHR

SHORT

$22

LOOP

PAIR - LONG CSGP/SHORT LOOP

40%

THQI

LONG

$35

WPO

SHORT

$275

COCO

SHORT

$0

HNI

SIG

RGR