Dear Fellow Trader:
Michael Lenz is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX). He joined the company more than 15 years ago, starting as the Vice President of Finance at FedEx Office. He moved up over the years, using the knowledge he gained from his time at Duke University undergrad and the school’s MBA program (for the record, I was rejected by BOTH!).
Now, as a member of the executive team, he makes a lot of money.
How much?
In the fiscal year of 2023, he made $5,906,136 in total compensation.
Of that, he only had about $864,167 in salary (only, but that’s less than 20%).
He received a bonus of $1,885,125.
He got another $1,499,884 in stock options.
Then he got another $970,190 in stock.
Oh, and there was $686,770 in “other types of compensation,” according to the company proxy statements.
That’s a lot of money compared to say the package handler job that just posted in Punta Gorda, Florida, for $31,000 per year.
But Lenz isn’t done getting paid.
You see, he did something on Dec. 28, 2023, that should draw your attention.
He isn’t content to make a measly mid-seven figures.
Check this out…
FedEx Fun
In September, FedEx announced layoffs at its IT division in Memphis. It let go of 280 workers in Texas in August. These are the tough decisions that the CFO needs to make — determining where to cut costs when demand is falling.
In December, the company’s stock fell 11% on the day it reported earnings. That was its largest one-day decline since September 2022. Not only did the company see lower quarterly sales and profits than consensus expectations, but it also slashed its financial outlook for 2024 due to “volatile macroeconomic conditions.”
A lot of people believe FedEx earnings are a bellwether for the economy. But we know they are not necessarily for the market — given that the Federal Reserve continues to pump incredible amounts of liquidity support into the system while the government just keeps borrowing.
This is what FedEx’s stock chart looks like over the last month.
As you can see, shares collapsed from the $285 level down to $245.
That’s a pretty big decline… right?
And a lot of retail investors headed for the exits in a frenzy.
But one person was buying the stock with his own money.
Our good friend and Duke University Alum, Michael Lenz.
Form 4
Lenz wants to make more money from his time and energy at FedEx.
So, he took some of that cash compensation that he has, and he put down $252,020 of his own money and bought FedEx stock. He bought 100 shares at $252.02 on Dec. 28.
That’s a sizable bet from a CFO. Especially when a lot of executives have avoided the stock over the last year. As you can see in the chart below, there are more red lines in the last year than there are blue ones. That means in the last year, there has been more selling than buying.
There has been $48.62 million in insider selling at FedEx in the last 12 months, compared to about $800,000 in buying. So, it’s fair to say that a lot of executives found their stocks to be too expensive to purchase. But Lenz — the man who looks at the balance sheet all day — is plopping down cash…
Enough cash to afford another Duke degree if he wants — or maybe gift one to a wannabe grad… ahem.
Over at Executive Payouts Unlimited, we pay close attention to these purchases. They provide us a way to actively trade the stock without having to plop down $250K on it like the CFO. We can trade for as little as $250 per trade on FedEx, and we’ll likely do so later this week if the market cooperates.
For now, the Fed minutes await, and profit taking is picking up. Be cautious but active.
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Just Go Here for the Full Rundown
The performances displayed here are historical examples based on scanner signals for the time period shown. The profits and performance shown are not based on any sort of typicality as there are no published alerts associated. We make no future earnings claims, and you may lose money.
