FWIW, I really enjoyed your contributions to the forum in the past. Some very good analysis. Thank you.
You say that people are anchored to past high WHC prices ($11) and expect/hope it to get there again. Reading your posts, I can’t help but think you’re anchored to your old buy-in price of $1.50, not (overtly) realising that was a particular moment in time unlikely to be repeated: pandemic fears, coal doomsdaying, WHC in considerable debt versus earnings.
I don’t mean to rabbit out cliches, but the company really has transformed itself since 2020-2021. Due largely to external geopolitical forces they were fortunate to earn huge amounts of cash over the past couple of years. This has allowed them to:
- pay back debt - retire almost 20% of the shares on issue - return significant capital to shareholders - double their production without issuing any shares - accelerate their shift to met coal
When you look at that list above, you realise they really have pursued every possible avenue to realise shareholder returns. What more could they have done? It’s literally every option: balance sheet repair; buybacks; dividends; M&A.
The company is not what it was when you first bought it; the valuation shouldn’t be either.
WHC Price at posting:
$7.65 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)