Hold Smart Sand

When I initially recommended hydraulic fracturing sand producer Smart Sand Inc (NASDAQ: SND), there were a couple of obvious risk factors ahead. Q1 earnings would soon be reported, which would be the first full quarter of earnings as a publicly traded company. Those in fact posted and were better than expected in almost all categories. The stock popped up 10% on the news.

Next up was the OPEC meeting, which had the potential to cut off U.S. oil producers at the knees if the group decided to abandon the production cuts decided upon at last November’s meeting. Instead, they did as I expected and extended the cuts. This should be good news for U.S. oil producers, but oil prices dipped on the news as some producers were expecting that the cuts would be deepened. I am not sure why they expected this, as OPEC telegraphed its intentions ahead of the meeting. But this will allow U.S. oil producers to continue to expand production at current prices. It also puts a firmer floor under oil prices and increases the likelihood that the fracking sand market will continue to grow.

But the gist of all of this is that despite the mostly positive news, Smart Sand shares have traded down. Today, the price reached the stop I had set for the company. It’s been an incredibly frustrating experience with this one, as neither other analysts I have spoken with, nor I can identify a fundamental reason for the decline. Everyone I speak with in the oil industry says they are using ever increasing volumes of sand, and sand prices are rising. In fact, if you look at the ratings on the company from the brokerage houses, you will see that Smart Sand has an average Outperform rating and a median target of $18.13 — about 92% above its current value.

Given that I strongly feel that the current drop is irrational given the fundamentals, I am going to continue to recommend it. If there were some piece of significant news that I thought dampened the outlook, I would sell. The action here reminds me of SolarEdge Technologies (NYSE: SEDG), which was another company with a solid outlook that traded down last year in the face of a soft overall solar sector. I held it through a steep decline, and thus far in 2017, it is the top performer in the portfolio with a year-to-date return of 52%.

I firmly believe that’s going to be the case with Smart Sand; that this is going to be a short (but painful at the moment) decline that will reverse in coming months. I will continue to hold Smart Sand in my portfolio, and while I won’t add to my position (yet) I feel like selling at this point would be getting out near a bottom.

Smart Sand remains a Buy up to $16 a share. If you were not stopped out of your position, continue to hold unless there is a fundamental shift in the company’s outlook (which you will hear from me).

Stock Talk

James P

James P

just a “Thx!” for this update, Robert. much appreciated.

Robert Rapier

Robert Rapier

This one has been frustrating, and I am down like everyone else. I have searched for some fundamental flaw that I have overlooked, but I just can’t find it. And its balance sheet is stronger than its competitors. So I am hanging in there.

Martin V

Martin Vetter

Robert, thanks for the analysis and the update.

Robert Rapier

Robert Rapier

It’s still early, but so far this is looking like the right call. It has bounced back above $10 and is up 12% since the lows of yesterday morning. I think once the market settles down over the OPEC decision and realizes that this is pretty good news, we will see Smart Sand start to dig out of this hole.

Fo

Fo

SND closed at $8.21 today.

Robert, I couldn’t find any news that I thought indicated a changed investment thesis. Would you say that this name is now 10/8 (ten eighths) as good a buy as it was six days ago when you last weighed in?

I’m new to most Investment Daily services–and, hence, to this stock recomendation–since I recently expanded to Wealth Society membership.

I am thinking this could be a nice “Dogs of the Rapier Dow” play. Any thoughts?

Fo

Fo

I’m in.

Robert Rapier

Robert Rapier

This has been one of the most frustrating investments I have ever owned. I have yet to find any bad news about the company that would warrant a decline. It has declined in sympathy with oil, but the very reason oil prices are declining is that everyone is worried that the U.S. is going to produce too much oil. How do they do that? By using more and more sand.

I think this is an irrational reaction to high crude oil inventories, but you know what they say about irrational markets and solvency. I am still holding it. As I said, it reminds me of the action in SolarEdge, which I added last year, watched go through a steep decline, and now it’s the #1 portfolio performer in 2017 with a YTD gain of 51%.

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