Thursday, September 5, 2013

Seeking Alpha: Titan Machinery - Is This Roll-Up Rolling Over?

I've had my doubts about Titan Machinery (TITN) for a while now, as I've seen more than a few debt-funded equipment dealership roll-up stories in the past, and they often don't end well. To that end, the last year and two years have been pretty dicey for buy-and-hold investors, as concerns about the health of the agricultural equipment market and the potential for a rebound in construction equipment demand weigh on sentiment.

As it stands today, I have very mixed feelings about this business. I do have some concerns about the health of the ag equipment sector in the coming years, and I have real doubts about Titan's ability to leverage CNH Global (CNH) construction equipment into a viable construction equipment dealership business. On the other hand, it seems harsh to say that the company creates no value at all, and it trades only about 5% above tangible book value. I'd rather play a bullish (or bullish relative to consensus) call on agriculture and/or construction through names like Deere (DE), Caterpillar (CAT), Kubota (KUBTY.PK), or Komatsu (KMTUY.PK), but Titan's underperformance makes it hard to be loudly bearish on the name.

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Titan Machinery - Is This Roll-Up Rolling Over?

1 comment:

Equities Research said...

Stephen , it was nice to find you on Seeking Alpha today. I'll bookmark your blog. Here is a blog post I did last night on TITAN

http://newsgrade.blogspot.com/2013/09/titans-guidance-cant-be-trusted.html