👉 CarMax Repurchased $200M of Company Stock

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👉 Week in Review — Too Long; Didn’t Read:

Key Earnings Announcements:

• Kroger reaffirmed their key priorities for 2025

• Darden Restaurants is aiming for a +10-15% annual return to shareholders via EPS growth and dividends

• CarMax repurchased $200M worth of company stock

Investor Events & Global Affairs:

• The US dropped bombs on Iran’s nuclear sites

• Tesla officially launches robotaxis in Austin, TX on June 28

• 16 billion passwords were leaked last week

• The US Senate passed the GENIUS bill (stablecoin regulation)

Major Economic Events:

• The Fed refuses to cut interest rates

• Retail sales slumped in May

Happy Sunday.

Before we get started, we wanted to offer a warm welcome to the +996 new subscribers who joined us this week!

In case you’re new around here, I’m Austin Hankwitz — I’ve been publishing earnings analysis on publicly-traded companies for over half a decade. My podcast, Rich Habits, has hit #1 on Spotify’s Business Podcast chart four times since it’s inception only two years ago.

At the start of 2023, I began my journey of building a $2M Dividend Growth Portfolio from scratch. This twice-weekly newsletter is how I keep you all updated on my progress.

For me, early retirement means $2M invested. For you, it might mean something else. Regardless of your early-retirement number — I hope these weekly synopses of my portfolio progress + what’s been happening in the markets helps you on your own journey.

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👉 Portfolio Updates (YTD Performance):

This year has proven it’s more important than ever to have exposure to “growth” in your portfolio. The “Long Risky” subsection of my stock portfolio (growth-focused) is up +26.9% year-to-date, with names like Oscar Health, Crowdstrike, Cloudflare, and Tempus AI all up above +30% this year. Cloudflare is really experiencing an awesome run, up +52% in my portfolio this year.

With that being said, it’s important to always be benchmarking the portfolio’s total performance against the S&P 500 — which is only up +1.6% YTD. The “Dividend Growth” subsection is essentially flat, while the “Long Technology” subsection is down -5.4%. Despite this, the portfolio’s YTD total return is decisively above the S&P 500’s, sitting at +6.4% — thanks to my growth subsection!

My NEOS funds continue to trend in the right direction, with the goal to get these to $100K in value by the end of the year — resulting in ~$1,650 in monthly income.

Bitcoin remains flat for the year, and Ethereum is in the red.

👉 Key Earnings Announcements:

Kroger reaffirmed their key priorities for 2025, Darden Restaurants is aiming for a +10-15% annual return to shareholders via EPS growth and dividends, and CarMax repurchased $200M worth of company stock.

• Kroger (KR)

Key Metrics

Revenue: $45.1 billion, compared to $45.3 billion last year

Operating Income: $1.3 billion, flat YoY

Profits: $866.0 million, compared to $947.0 million last year

Earnings Release Callout

“Kroger delivered solid first quarter results, with strong sales led by pharmacy, eCommerce and fresh. We made good progress in streamlining our priorities, enhancing customer focus, and running great stores to improve the shopping experience. Our commitment to driving growth in our core business and moving with speed positions us well for the future. We are confident in our ability to build on our momentum, deliver value for customers, invest in associates and generate attractive returns for shareholders.”

My Takeaway

• Darden Restaurants (DRI)

Key Metrics

Revenue: $3.3 billion, an increase of +11% YoY

Operating Income: $382.8 million, compared to $395.4 million last year

Profits: $303.8 million, compared to $308.1 million last year

Earnings Release Callout

“We had a strong quarter with same-restaurant sales and earnings growth that exceeded our expectations. Our adherence to our winning strategy, anchored in our four competitive advantages and being brilliant with the basics, led to a successful year. Our strategy remains the right one for the company, and we will continue to execute it to drive growth and long-term shareholder value."

My Takeaway

• CarMax (KMX)

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