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 is the amount of value an investor earns from a security over a specific period, typically one year, when all distributions are reinvested. Total return is expressed as a percentage of the amount invested. For example, a total return of 20% means the security increased by 20% of its original value due to a price increase, distribution of dividends (if a stock), coupons (if a bond) or capital gains (if a fund). Total return is a strong measure of an investment’s overall performance.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the total return, or increase in value of % in the last 5 years of Staples, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (81.8%)
  • Looking at total return, or increase in value in of % in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (78.5%).

CAGR:

'Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is a business and investing specific term for the geometric progression ratio that provides a constant rate of return over the time period. CAGR is not an accounting term, but it is often used to describe some element of the business, for example revenue, units delivered, registered users, etc. CAGR dampens the effect of volatility of periodic returns that can render arithmetic means irrelevant. It is particularly useful to compare growth rates from various data sets of common domain such as revenue growth of companies in the same industry.'

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 (12.8%)
  • Compared with SPY (21.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of % is lower, 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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the historical 30 days volatility of % in the last 5 years of Staples, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.2%)
  • Compared with SPY (15.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of % is lower, thus better.

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (11.9%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside deviation of % of Staples is smaller, thus better.
  • Looking at downside deviation in of % in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (10.3%).

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio was developed by Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe, and is used to help investors understand the return of an investment compared to its risk. The ratio is the average return earned in excess of the risk-free rate per unit of volatility or total risk. Subtracting the risk-free rate from the mean return allows an investor to better isolate the profits associated with risk-taking activities. One intuition of this calculation is that a portfolio engaging in 'zero risk' investments, such as the purchase of U.S. Treasury bills (for which the expected return is the risk-free rate), has a Sharpe ratio of exactly zero. Generally, the greater the value of the Sharpe ratio, the more attractive the risk-adjusted return.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • 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 (0.6)
  • Looking at Sharpe Ratio in of in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.24).

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio improves upon the Sharpe ratio by isolating downside volatility from total volatility by dividing excess return by the downside deviation. The Sortino ratio is a variation of the Sharpe ratio that differentiates harmful volatility from total overall volatility by using the asset's standard deviation of negative asset returns, called downside deviation. The Sortino ratio takes the asset's return and subtracts the risk-free rate, and then divides that amount by the asset's downside deviation. The ratio was named after Frank A. Sortino.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The downside risk / excess return profile over 5 years of Staples is , which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.87) in the same period.
  • Looking at ratio of annual return and downside deviation in of in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.85).

Ulcer:

'Ulcer Index is a method for measuring investment risk that addresses the real concerns of investors, unlike the widely used standard deviation of return. UI is a measure of the depth and duration of drawdowns in prices from earlier highs. Using Ulcer Index instead of standard deviation can lead to very different conclusions about investment risk and risk-adjusted return, especially when evaluating strategies that seek to avoid major declines in portfolio value (market timing, dynamic asset allocation, hedge funds, etc.). The Ulcer Index was originally developed in 1987. Since then, it has been widely recognized and adopted by the investment community. According to Nelson Freeburg, editor of Formula Research, Ulcer Index is “perhaps the most fully realized statistical portrait of risk there is.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The Downside risk index over 5 years of Staples is , which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (8.46 ) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (3.36 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Downside risk index of is lower, thus better.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown measures the loss in any losing period during a fund’s investment record. It is defined as the percent retrenchment from a fund’s peak value to the fund’s valley value. The drawdown is in effect from the time the fund’s retrenchment begins until a new fund high is reached. The maximum drawdown encompasses both the period from the fund’s peak to the fund’s valley (length), and the time from the fund’s valley to a new fund high (recovery). It measures the largest percentage drawdown that has occurred in any fund’s data record.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of days of Staples is lower, thus worse.
  • During the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown is days, which is lower, thus worse than the value of -18.8 days from the benchmark.

MaxDuration:

'The Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. The Max Drawdown Duration is the worst (the maximum/longest) amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs) in days.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The maximum days under water over 5 years of Staples is days, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
  • Looking at maximum days below previous high 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 Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. 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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The average days below previous high over 5 years of Staples is days, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (118 days) in the same period.
  • Looking at average time in days below previous high water mark in of days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (17 days).

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.