We have been reporting updates from Value Investing Congress live to you, since yesterday. Lloyd Khaner spoke early on the second day. You can read the minute by minute talk of the General Partner of Khaner Capital on our live blog. Khaner discussed his long strategy on Jamba, Inc. (NASDAQ:JMBA). His positive views on Jamba took the stock up around 6 percent today, from the previous close of 2.26 to 2.40, a +0.14 change. The notable competitors of Jamba, Inc. (NASDAQ:JMBA) are Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) and Evolution Fresh.
Khaner enlisted Jamba’s balance sheet as a major tailwind for the company. Jamba Juice has $29 million on its plate. He also thinks that the company is better than just a smoothie shop, the franchise of Jamba stores sells food and snacks as well, which makes it all the more lucrative. The AUV (Accumulation Unit Value) is close to $700,000 for small stores. Jamba also packages its products to make them buyer friendly, and the public generally likes what the store sells. Jamba’s products are also healthy which makes them more beneficial in the long run.
Jamba, Inc. (NASDAQ:JMBA) is also well positioned in terms of cost and expenditures, as the most expensive raw material used by the company is blueberries and strawberries, which still cost less than heavy products, like beef and chicken. The company has a new plan in place, which will open more units, increase footing in hospitals and schools, which includes replacing soda machines with Jamba’s own machines. Khaner estimates EPS at $.50, and a target price of $7 for 2015 for JMBA.
One of the few headwinds that could slow down JMBA, as seen byKhaner, was the poor management team. Jamba, Inc. (NASDAQ:JMBA) chose to grow too rapidly by using short term debt, back in 2007. However in his analysis, the new CEO, James White, is a welcome change, his strategy is based on improving profits by managing sales. White also hired new members and made changes to the working units.
Stay tuned for more live updates and stock swings, as they happen.
