Description

Staples, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates office products superstores. It operates in two segments, North American Delivery and North American Retail. The company offers a range of office supplies, business technology products, facility and breakroom supplies, computers and mobility products, and office furniture under the Staples, Quill, and other proprietary brands. It also provides print and marketing, as well as technology services. The company sells its office products and services directly to businesses and consumers through its Staples.com, Staples.ca, and Quill.com Websites; and retail stores, as well as Staples Business Advantage contracts. As of January 28, 2017, it operated approximately 1,583 retail stores in 46 states and the District of Columbia in the United States, and 10 provinces and 2 territories in Canada, as well as in Argentina, Australia, and Brazil; 78 distribution and fulfillment centers in 25 states in the United States and 7 provinces in Canada, as well as in China, Argentina, Brazil, Taiwan, and Australia. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Statistics (YTD)

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TotalReturn:

'Total return, when measuring performance, is the actual rate of return of an investment or a pool of investments over a given evaluation period. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends and distributions realized over a given period of time. Total return accounts for two categories of return: income including interest paid by fixed-income investments, distributions or dividends and capital appreciation, representing the change in the market price of an asset.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The total return, or increase in value over 5 years of Staples is %, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (81.3%) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the total return is %, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 94.3% from the benchmark.

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate isn't a true return rate, but rather a representational figure. It is essentially a number that describes the rate at which an investment would have grown if it had grown the same rate every year and the profits were reinvested at the end of each year. In reality, this sort of performance is unlikely. However, CAGR can be used to smooth returns so that they may be more easily understood when compared to alternative investments.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the annual performance (CAGR) of % in the last 5 years of Staples, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (12.7%)
  • Compared with SPY (25%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of % is smaller, thus worse.

Volatility:

'Volatility is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index. Volatility can either be measured by using the standard deviation or variance between returns from that same security or market index. Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security. In the securities markets, volatility is often associated with big swings in either direction. For example, when the stock market rises and falls more than one percent over a sustained period of time, it is called a 'volatile' market.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the 30 days standard deviation of % in the last 5 years of Staples, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.1%)
  • Looking at 30 days standard deviation in of % in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (15.2%).

DownVol:

'Risk measures typically quantify the downside risk, whereas the standard deviation (an example of a deviation risk measure) measures both the upside and downside risk. Specifically, downside risk in our definition is the semi-deviation, that is the standard deviation of all negative returns.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside deviation of % of Staples is lower, thus better.
  • Looking at downside deviation in of % in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (10.1%).

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio (also known as the Sharpe index, the Sharpe measure, and the reward-to-variability ratio) is a way to examine the performance of an investment by adjusting for its risk. The ratio measures the excess return (or risk premium) per unit of deviation in an investment asset or a trading strategy, typically referred to as risk, named after William F. Sharpe.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the Sharpe Ratio of in the last 5 years of Staples, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.59)
  • Compared with SPY (1.48) in the period of the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of is smaller, thus worse.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio measures the risk-adjusted return of an investment asset, portfolio, or strategy. It is a modification of the Sharpe ratio but penalizes only those returns falling below a user-specified target or required rate of return, while the Sharpe ratio penalizes both upside and downside volatility equally. Though both ratios measure an investment's risk-adjusted return, they do so in significantly different ways that will frequently lead to differing conclusions as to the true nature of the investment's return-generating efficiency. The Sortino ratio is used as a way to compare the risk-adjusted performance of programs with differing risk and return profiles. In general, risk-adjusted returns seek to normalize the risk across programs and then see which has the higher return unit per risk.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.86) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of of Staples is lower, thus worse.
  • Looking at downside risk / excess return profile in of in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (2.23).

Ulcer:

'The Ulcer Index is a technical indicator that measures downside risk, in terms of both the depth and duration of price declines. The index increases in value as the price moves farther away from a recent high and falls as the price rises to new highs. The indicator is usually calculated over a 14-day period, with the Ulcer Index showing the percentage drawdown a trader can expect from the high over that period. The greater the value of the Ulcer Index, the longer it takes for a stock to get back to the former high.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the Downside risk index of in the last 5 years of Staples, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.45 )
  • Compared with SPY (3.2 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of is smaller, thus better.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown is defined as the peak-to-trough decline of an investment during a specific period. It is usually quoted as a percentage of the peak value. The maximum drawdown can be calculated based on absolute returns, in order to identify strategies that suffer less during market downturns, such as low-volatility strategies. However, the maximum drawdown can also be calculated based on returns relative to a benchmark index, for identifying strategies that show steady outperformance over time.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The maximum reduction from previous high over 5 years of Staples is days, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of days is smaller, thus worse.

MaxDuration:

'The Maximum Drawdown Duration is an extension of the Maximum Drawdown. However, this metric does not explain the drawdown in dollars or percentages, rather in days, weeks, or months. It is the length of time the account was in the Max Drawdown. A Max Drawdown measures a retrenchment from when an equity curve reaches a new high. It’s the maximum an account lost during that retrenchment. This method is applied because a valley can’t be measured until a new high occurs. Once the new high is reached, the percentage change from the old high to the bottom of the largest trough is recorded.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The maximum days under water over 5 years of Staples is days, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
  • Looking at maximum days under water in of days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (87 days).

AveDuration:

'The Average Drawdown Duration is an extension of the Maximum Drawdown. However, this metric does not explain the drawdown in dollars or percentages, rather in days, weeks, or months. The Avg Drawdown Duration is the average amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs), or in other terms the average of time under water of all drawdowns. So in contrast to the Maximum duration it does not measure only one drawdown event but calculates the average of all.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The average time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of Staples is days, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (118 days) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the average days below previous high is days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 17 days from the benchmark.

Performance (YTD)

Historical returns have been extended using synthetic data.

Allocations ()

Allocations

Returns (%)

  • Note that yearly returns do not equal the sum of monthly returns due to compounding.
  • Performance results of Staples are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.