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Updated: 09-Jul-25 15:54 ET
Cirrus Logic (CRUS) added to VALUE rankings; investors awaiting JunQ report in late July
Cirrus Logic (CRUS) is a new addition to our VALUE rankings this week. Cirrus Logic is a fabless supplier of chips. Its largest customer by far is Apple (AAPL), which represented 89% of FY25 sales (up from 87% in FY24 and 83% in FY23), so there is a high correlation between the two companies. The company is employing a 3-point strategy: it's committed to maintaining its leadership position in smartphone audio; increasing its content in smartphones; and it wants to expand into adjacent areas. In particular, it's excited about its emerging laptop business and camera controllers. On May 6, CRUS reported a huge EPS beat for Q4 (Mar), its eighth consecutive beat of at least $0.23. Revenue grew 14.2% yr/yr to $424.5 mln, which was above the high end of guidance. The guidance was probably even more important to investors as CRUS expects Q1 (Jun) revs of $330-390 mln. Looking back at FY25, most notably, CRUS began shipping two new-generation products in its flagship smartphone audio business, a boosted amplifier and a smart codec. CRUS said the boosted amplifier significantly improves system performance and efficiency. A key goal for CRUS has been to target new applications and new markets outside of smartphones. CRUS remains excited about its burgeoning laptop business. CRUS reported low tens of millions of dollars of revenue in laptops in FY25. In FY26, CRUS expects to double FY25 revenue in the laptop space as it sees more designs coming to market. Finally, the stock has been mostly trading sideways since November 2024 ahead of its Q1 report in late July. It seems investors do not have a lot of conviction either way right now. As always, a stop loss limit in the 15-20% is a good idea.
- Additions: CRUS, EEFT, NRDS, TH, WFRD
- Deletions: CALM, FLEX, FTI, HIMX, INGR
Value Leaders is Briefing.com's proprietary system designed for value investors who want to avoid "value traps." Our weekly rankings are derived from a proprietary quantitative system that combines multiple value factors with above-average 6-month Relative Strength. There are no growth, profitability, or market cap requirements.
As an overview, traditional valuation-based investing strategies generally incorporate just fundamental metrics: low absolute or relative P/E ratios, high dividend yields, etc. These strategies can accurately isolate those stocks that are "cheap" according to the metric in question, but they do not take into account perhaps the most important factor for real-world value investing: do institutions see value in these stocks, and are they willing to accumulate them? The Value Leaders system is designed to isolate inexpensive stocks undergoing accumulation -- and thus avoid value traps -- by combining traditional fundamental valuation metrics with one technical metric that suggests sustained institutional money flows: 6-month Relative Strength.
In practice, the types of names you'll typically see on our value rankings are turnaround stories that market participants are betting will succeed, cyclical companies near the trough in their cycle, and/or companies that are about to benefit from more favorable commodity prices (to name a few scenarios). All Value Leaders content is published under the custom ticker "VALUE", which makes it simple to search for commentary or set up alerts. If you have any questions or feedback regarding Value Leaders, please write to: rreid@briefing.com.
The following table contains a list of stocks that we believe should be particularly attractive to value investors who want to avoid "value traps." Value Leaders components are derived from a quantitative screen and ranking system that is designed to uncover companies that possess a combination of low valuations across a variety of metrics and healthy 6-month Relative Strength. There are no growth or market cap criteria applied to this list. Note: FCF Yield is calculated based on Enterprise Value (EV), not market cap. Also Note: Both cash per share calculations include Cash + Short Term Investments; Net Cash backs out long term debt.
*** If you would like to copy and paste the Value Leaders components into your chart watchlist or spreadsheet, click here to pull up an unformatted ticker list.
| Value Leaders: July 9, 2025 | |||||||||||||
| Mkt Cap | RS | Value | EV/ | EV/ | FCF | Cash/ | Net Cash/ | LT Debt | |||||
| Rank | Name | Ticker | Price | Sector | (mln) | Rank | Rank | EBITDA | Sales | Yield | Share | Share | to Equity |
| 1 | Hello Group | MOMO | $8.57 | Packaged Software | $1,411 | 86 | 99 | 3.1 | 0.4 | 11.5% | $7.00 | $4.72 | 1% |
| 2 | Visteon | VC | $108.20 | Auto Parts: OEM | $2,843 | 90 | 98 | 6.1 | 0.7 | 10.8% | $23.93 | $7.60 | 31% |
| 3 | Synchrony Financial | SYF | $70.15 | Finance/Rental/Leasing | $26,375 | 82 | 98 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 40.6% | $55.54 | $11.86 | 107% |
| 4 | Nexxen | NEXN | $10.05 | Packaged Software | $645 | 54 | 98 | 4.7 | 1.4 | 24.3% | $2.60 | $2.06 | 4% |
| 5 | Hudson Tech | HDSN | $8.35 | Wholesale Distributors | $362 | 90 | 97 | 10.9 | 1.3 | 35.2% | $1.78 | $1.64 | 2% |
| 6 | Korn Ferry | KFY | $74.13 | Personnel Services | $3,832 | 68 | 97 | 7.5 | 1.2 | 6.5% | $19.87 | $8.99 | 28% |
| 7 | Janus Henderson | JHG | $40.94 | Investment Managers | $6,337 | 61 | 97 | 6.9 | 2.0 | 8.5% | $14.12 | $11.56 | 8% |
| 8 | Raymond James | RJF | $159.07 | Investment Managers | $31,792 | 60 | 97 | 7.2 | 1.5 | 7.1% | $64.32 | $44.13 | 28% |
| 9 | NetScout Systems | NTCT | $23.80 | Packaged Software | $1,708 | 59 | 97 | 8.3 | 1.5 | 16.9% | $6.69 | $6.10 | 2% |
| 10 | Perdoceo Education | PRDO | $29.83 | Other Consumer Services | $1,984 | 57 | 97 | 7.0 | 2.0 | 9.2% | $9.15 | $8.09 | 6% |
| 11 | Cricut | CRCT | $5.91 | Wholesale Distributors | $1,275 | 52 | 97 | 8.6 | 1.3 | 13.0% | $1.67 | $1.60 | 2% |
| 12 | Nu Skin | NUS | $9.29 | Household/Personal Care | $458 | 90 | 96 | 4.7 | 0.3 | 9.9% | $4.24 | $(1.73) | 37% |
| 13 | Fluor | FLR | $51.65 | Engineering & Construction | $8,436 | 86 | 96 | 13.9 | 0.4 | 7.2% | $14.86 | $8.43 | 30% |
| 14 | Penguin Solutions | PENG | $22.86 | Semiconductors | $1,118 | 84 | 96 | 8.5 | 0.8 | 13.3% | $13.84 | $0.23 | 120% |
| 15 | Healthcare Services | HCSG | $14.54 | Commercial Services | $1,071 | 82 | 96 | 13.9 | 0.5 | 8.4% | $1.95 | $1.84 | 2% |
| 16 | World Kinect | WKC | $29.07 | Wholesale Distributors | $1,670 | 58 | 96 | 4.9 | 0.1 | 8.6% | $8.04 | $(7.44) | 41% |
| 17 | Tri Pointe Homes | TPH | $34.02 | Homebuilding | $2,955 | 56 | 96 | 5.6 | 0.7 | 15.5% | $8.83 | $(2.69) | 30% |
| 18 | NerdWallet | NRDS | $11.39 | Packaged Software | $841 | 51 | 96 | 11.0 | 1.0 | 7.3% | $1.21 | $1.05 | 1% |
| 19 | Indivior PLC | INDV | $15.16 | Pharmaceuticals: Major | $1,893 | 92 | 95 | 6.2 | 1.6 | 7.1% | $2.98 | $0.02 | #N/A |
| 20 | Sanmina | SANM | $103.61 | Electronic Equipment | $5,466 | 88 | 95 | 11.1 | 0.7 | 5.0% | $12.37 | $5.77 | 15% |
| 21 | Axcelis Tech | ACLS | $74.33 | Industrial Machinery | $2,384 | 86 | 95 | 9.4 | 2.0 | 6.6% | $18.16 | $15.92 | 6% |
| 22 | Blue Bird | BLBD | $45.47 | Motor Vehicles | $1,427 | 84 | 95 | 9.4 | 1.0 | 6.3% | $3.98 | $1.15 | 46% |
| 23 | Euronet Worldwide | EEFT | $106.47 | Commercial Services | $4,619 | 52 | 95 | 7.5 | 1.2 | 12.1% | $45.52 | $(5.30) | 154% |
| 24 | Weatherford | WFRD | $56.81 | Oilfield Services/Equipment | $4,146 | 51 | 95 | 4.0 | 0.9 | 8.7% | $12.67 | $(11.29) | 125% |
| 25 | Signet Jewelers | SIG | $81.34 | Specialty Stores | $3,290 | 90 | 94 | 6.3 | 0.6 | 8.3% | $6.19 | $(21.48) | 50% |
| 26 | GigaCloud Tech | GCT | $20.47 | Wholesale Distributors | $776 | 82 | 94 | 7.2 | 0.8 | 14.4% | $7.16 | $(4.59) | 92% |
| 27 | PulteGroup | PHM | $113.00 | Homebuilding | $21,823 | 64 | 94 | 5.9 | 1.3 | 5.7% | $6.26 | $(4.41) | 14% |
| 28 | Thor Industries | THO | $92.96 | Recreational Products | $4,892 | 62 | 94 | 9.1 | 0.6 | 7.9% | $9.51 | $(11.58) | 25% |
| 29 | Calavo Growers | CVGW | $26.45 | Agricultural Commodities | $481 | 59 | 94 | 13.3 | 0.6 | 4.5% | $3.39 | $2.00 | 10% |
| 30 | Angi | ANGI | $16.50 | Internet Software/Services | $780 | 55 | 94 | 7.8 | 0.8 | 9.0% | $7.66 | $(2.19) | 47% |
| 31 | Oil States | OIS | $5.66 | Oilfield Services/Equipment | $356 | 79 | 93 | 6.9 | 0.6 | 6.8% | $1.11 | $(1.36) | 21% |
| 32 | BorgWarner | BWA | $35.31 | Trucks/Construction | $7,739 | 77 | 93 | 5.2 | 0.7 | 8.4% | $7.83 | $(10.70) | 69% |
| 33 | Atkore | ATKR | $75.80 | Electrical Products | $2,536 | 70 | 93 | 5.5 | 1.1 | 8.9% | $9.70 | $(17.92) | 65% |
| 34 | Commercial Metals | CMC | $52.40 | Steel | $5,816 | 68 | 93 | 7.8 | 0.8 | 4.7% | $7.86 | $(3.97) | 32% |
| 35 | OneSpan | OSPN | $17.91 | IT Services | $690 | 62 | 93 | 10.0 | 2.5 | 7.7% | $2.70 | $2.47 | 3% |
| 36 | Target Hospitality | TH | $8.02 | Hotels/Resorts/Cruiselines | $767 | 62 | 93 | 5.1 | 2.3 | 8.2% | $0.35 | $(0.20) | 11% |
| 37 | Arrow Electronics | ARW | $133.06 | Electronics Distributors | $6,847 | 81 | 92 | 9.4 | 0.3 | 10.4% | $4.40 | $(49.58) | 39% |
| 38 | Valero Energy | VLO | $148.83 | Oil Refining/Marketing | $46,564 | 78 | 92 | 10.9 | 0.4 | 6.2% | $14.84 | $(19.73) | 44% |
| 39 | PubMatic | PUBM | $13.52 | Internet Software/Services | $609 | 76 | 92 | 11.8 | 1.8 | 5.1% | $2.98 | $2.04 | 14% |
| 40 | Stifel Financial | SF | $108.65 | Investment Managers | $11,038 | 67 | 92 | 10.6 | 1.9 | 7.3% | $24.89 | $4.96 | 30% |
| 41 | PHINIA Inc. | PHIN | $47.45 | Auto Parts: OEM | $1,876 | 56 | 92 | 5.7 | 0.8 | 7.0% | $8.99 | $(16.14) | 65% |
| 42 | Fresh Del Monte | FDP | $33.06 | Agricultural Commodities | $1,582 | 51 | 92 | 7.9 | 0.5 | 5.6% | $0.71 | $(7.68) | 18% |
| 43 | Tidewater | TDW | $51.64 | Marine Shipping | $2,564 | 76 | 91 | 5.2 | 2.1 | 9.8% | $6.72 | $(5.59) | 50% |
| 44 | IAC Inc. | IAC | $39.54 | Internet Software/Services | $3,110 | 65 | 91 | 9.6 | 1.0 | 6.7% | $14.12 | $(3.66) | 30% |
| 45 | Federated Hermes | FHI | $45.75 | Investment Managers | $3,600 | 75 | 90 | 7.3 | 2.2 | 4.4% | $6.99 | $1.07 | 41% |
| 46 | Avnet | AVT | $56.17 | Electronics Distributors | $4,718 | 71 | 90 | 9.2 | 0.3 | 8.6% | $2.17 | $(30.43) | 54% |
| 47 | Mueller Industries | MLI | $84.62 | Metal Fabrication | $9,212 | 66 | 90 | 9.9 | 2.1 | 4.9% | $7.83 | $7.54 | 1% |
| 48 | California Resources | CRC | $47.69 | Integrated Oil | $4,226 | 63 | 90 | 3.9 | 1.5 | 6.4% | $2.35 | $(9.67) | 27% |
| 49 | Cirrus Logic | CRUS | $104.39 | Semiconductors | $5,523 | 51 | 90 | 11.0 | 2.7 | 8.3% | $10.97 | $8.32 | 6% |
| 50 | Adient plc | ADNT | $22.40 | Auto Parts: OEM | $1,862 | 94 | 89 | 5.3 | 0.3 | 5.7% | $8.98 | $(22.38) | 154% |
Data source: FactSet
- Lead Analyst: Robert Reid, Senior Equity Analyst, Briefing.com
Value Leaders content can be found on the Stock Ideas page, located within the Investing & Trading menu. On Live In Play, all of the Value Leaders content is published using the "VALUE" ticker. Comments or suggestions? Please send them to rreid@briefing.com.
