Business Breakdowns

Markus Hansen

PriceSmart extends the Price family’s Costco model across 61 stores in roughly 12 markets with no club-store competitors where it operates.Membership fees provide roughly 40% of operating earnings, with 90-91% renewals, 90%+ cash conversion, owned logistics, and controlled expansion supporting resilience.Colombia could reach about 25 stores and Chile is the teased next market, but macro dislocations and execution remain risks.

Matt Reustle × Todd Wenning

Games Workshop’s vertically integrated Warhammer ecosystem delivers 70% gross margins, EBITDA margins over 40%, and 90–95% licensing margins, supported by decades of lore, enthusiast-led stores, and growing network effects.The Henry Cavill-produced Amazon series could add “new nodes in the network” and shift mix toward higher-margin channels, while 2027’s Washington, D.C.Warhammer World offers another catalyst; pricing, succession, AI, tariffs, and irrelevance remain risks.

Zack Fuss × Krishna Mohanraj

Exor trades at a 50–60% discount to NAV, roughly €100 a share versus €180, with 70% of gross assets in four listed names.Ferrari drove essentially all recent NAV/share growth, prompting a February sale of about $3bn for buybacks and additional investments.The thesis is NAV/share compounding, not discount narrowing, with ex-Ferrari turnarounds and Ferrari’s EV transition as risks.

Matt Reustle × Daniel Wu

Mercado Libre is a $21B-revenue platform, compounding revenue at 55% since 2019.Take rate rose from 17% to 21% mainly through value-added services, while logistics monetization and ads at 2% of GMV remain potential levers.Credit is a key growth engine, but only 51% of Brazil’s card book is NIMAL-positive and NPLs have been around 28%.

Zack Fuss × Simeon McMillan

Nexstar reaches 68% of the US population through roughly 200 stations, 116 markets and LMAs around the FCC’s 39% cap.With $2B of 2024 adjusted EBITDA and 50-60% free-cash-flow conversion, reverse retransmission approaching 60% of distribution fees, cord cutting and weaker NFL leverage could make relaxed ownership limits a catalyst for another M&A cycle.

Chris Davies

Moncler’s rare blend of technical credibility and fashion has supported €3.1bn group revenue, EBIT margins around 30%, and mid-20s FCF margins through pandemic disruption.Scarcity, Genius collaborations, and a shift toward DTC underpin pricing power and Stone Island’s potential second act, while US and China expansion—and key-man and fashion-cycle risks—remain important catalysts and watchpoints.

Geoff Collette

Compass holds an 11–12% share of a $320B contract-catering market, with North American margins above 8% versus roughly 6% for the sector.Industry-leading 96% retention, Foodbuy’s $40B procurement volume, and negative working capital reinforce scale economics, while healthcare and education outsourcing and Europe’s US-playbook replay support sustained mid to high single-digit organic growth despite administrative-layer pressure on attendance.

Asif Jeevanjee

Compass holds 11-12% of a $320B food-service market, yet 96% retention requires roughly $1.5B in annual wins to tread water.Net new business adds 4% organic growth versus 2% pricing; Foodbuy’s $40B procurement flywheel supports North American margins above 8% versus 6% elsewhere.Healthcare and education outsourcing and European expansion offer catalysts, while administrative cuts could pressure cafeteria traffic.

Swetha Ramachandran

EssilorLuxottica combines a €26.5bn-revenue consumer-health business with the eyewear chain, while 550m lenses made last year highlight a multi-billion-person myopia runway.Yet 63-64% gross margins translate into 16% EBIT after selling costs, supporting moderate rather than monopolistic pricing power.FY26's 19-20% EBIT target may slip as growth investment, tariffs, and smart glasses—dependent on Meta AI and facing Apple—reshape the opportunity.

Bob Desmond

Trane’s operating-system rebuild paired cross-functional product growth teams with accountability for share and margins, and pilot categories grew 2–3× peers before company-wide rollout.D.R.Horton’s land-light shift moved optioned land from about 25% to 75%, turned $2.3 billion of 2013 net debt into $600 million more cash than debt, and lifted ROE from about 10% to 22%.