Willis Lease Finance Corp: Warming Up or Cooling Off? (WLFC)

Willis Lease Finance Corp: Warming Up or Cooling Off?

By Motley Fool Staff | More Articles
January 18, 2010 | Comments (2)

Together, we are all trying to build our fortune by finding well-run companies at bargain-basement prices. But it takes work -- scouring company earnings reports, scrutinizing key data, and assessing the competition.

Because of that, we've created a screen based on the massive data aggregated from the more than 140,000 investors competing on our Motley Fool CAPS platform. Each quarter, we check in on select companies after they file a 10-Q and track community sentiment -- so you can see how your company is doing.

Here's the community sentiment on Willis Lease Finance Corp (Nasdaq: WLFC ) both this quarter and last (for comparison), as well as opinions on some related companies.

Metric	Willis Lease Finance Corp (Nasdaq: WLFC )	Lawson Products, Inc. (Nasdaq: LAWS )	TAL International Group, Inc. (NYSE: TAL )	DXP Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: DXPE )
This Quarter (1/15/2010):
Price:	$14.39	$16.52	$14.88	$13.43
% of Members Rating Outperform	86%	41%	91%	94%
% of All-Star Members Rating Outperform	88%	33%	100%	95%
CAPS Rating (out of 5)
Last Quarter (10/17/2009):
Price:	$11.75	$19.94	$14.59	$11.70
% of Members Rating Outperform	88%	41%	93%	94%
% of All-Star Members Rating Outperform	83%	44%	100%	96%
CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Source: Motley Fool CAPS. Dates given are the posting dates of Willis Lease Finance Corp's most recent quarterly and/or annual reports to the SEC's website. Percentages are calculated from the number of members rating each company.

A change in the community's approval (signified by four- and five-star ratings) or disapproval (one- and two-star ratings) could indicate that further research is in order. To help make your research easier …

Share any thoughts you have about Willis Lease Finance Corp -- or any of the other companies mentioned -- in the comments box below.
Head over to the completely free CAPS service -- a one-stop research shop -- and read what your fellow investors are saying about your stocks.

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As this was built out of a screen, no individual person selected the stocks in this article, so there is no author to disclose an interest in them. Since this article was automatically generated by identifying the stocks loved both by the CAPS community and by buyers in today's market, it is possible that Motley Fool personnel (and even The Motley Fool itself, through our Million Dollar Portfolio, Hidden Gems, Motley Fool Pro, and Ready Made Millionaire services) have positions in these stocks. We thought you'd like to know that. Learn more about The Motley Fool's disclosure policy.

Comments from our Foolish Readers

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Report this Comment On January 27, 2010, at 11:40 AM, jtpower wrote:

Willis Lease Finance Corp (WLFC) has indeed performed quite well over the past few years but there are specific reasons for this performance and benefits that WLFC has enjoyed may soon reverse. First of all almost 100% of the WLFC is indexed on LIBOR which has been at historic lows for the past few years. As rates rise WLFC's cost of debt will have a commensurate increase. Second, the capex spend at WLFC is all debt financed. WLFC does not generate free cash flow and as such must debt finance all growth. Recent plans to repurchase stock will dramatically reduce future growth. Third, WLFC's SG&A load is approximately double that of other leasing companies. The CEO's recent decision to relocate to the United Kingdom with the relocation of the company's corporate jet will dramatically increase future SG&A, even beyond current levels. Lastly, WLFC may well face asset impairment tests that will call into question the valuation of specific assets, specifically the A340 aircraft that WLFC has on lease to Emirates. It is estimated that the investment that WLFC has in their A340 JV may engender a $10M write-down that will greatly impact future earnings.
WLFC has had a good run up but arguably poised for a correction. Having the CEO relocate to the United Kingdom with the entire staff remaining in California is not only peculiar but somewhat reckless given the impending issues the company faces.
Report this Comment On January 31, 2010, at 9:22 PM, CONSULTAV wrote:

jtpower,
What is your source that the CEO (Charlie Willis) is relocating to the UK along with the corporate jet?

updated 2 hours ago Sponsored by:
	DOW	12,454.83	-74.92	-0.60%
	S&P 500	1,317.82	-2.86	-0.22%
	NASD	2,837.53	-1.85	-0.07%

WLFC	$12.75		+0.00	+0.00%
Willis Lease Finan…		CAPS Rating:

7

Willis Lease Finance Corp: Warming Up or Cooling Off?

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Report this Comment On January 27, 2010, at 11:40 AM, jtpower wrote:

Report this Comment On January 31, 2010, at 9:22 PM, CONSULTAV wrote:

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