Nick Cummings
Person
Nick Cummings is a guest on Stock Take who discusses the metrics companies want investors to focus on and the reporting practices that affect investors.
What Nick Cummings has said on podcasts
30 statements
Gross profit is a relatively clean measure of business performance.
“gross profit is one of the cleanest metrics”
Open the episode · Stock Take: Misleading MetricsListen at 6:21
WiseTech emphasizes adjusted EBITDA more than net profit.
“WiseTech is a company that loves chatting about its adjusted EBITDA number. And less so about its net profits.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: Misleading MetricsListen at 21:14
The gap between companies’ presentations and statutory accounts is unusually wide.
“The gap between their presentation and their actual statutory accounts, I don't think has ever been wider.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: Misleading MetricsListen at 24:30
ReadyTech was unprofitable despite emphasizing adjusted EBITDA.
“when you open the statutory accounts, yeah, they actually were unprofitable.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: Misleading MetricsListen at 25:01
Equal EV/EBITDA multiples are inappropriate for companies with different leverage.
“If a company is levered 10 times versus one that's net cash, then an EV to EBITDA multiple of the same does not make any sense.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: Misleading MetricsListen at 28:48
Dicker Data’s improved earnings base is sustainable going forward.
“I think this is actually sustainable from here.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Results of the SeasonListen at 14:15
Dicker Data can provide extended software sales and support for vendors.
“Dicker actually can play that role as a distributor to be sort of that extended support and sales person for those companies.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Results of the SeasonListen at 16:53
Dicker Data receives benefits from recurring software revenue.
“They do get a benefit from that recurring revenue.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Results of the SeasonListen at 20:28
Dicker Data’s share price could rise excessively but currently looks expensive.
“there's a situation where the share price could get silly. But having said that, it's looking a little expensive.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Results of the SeasonListen at 23:23
Dicker Data shareholders may consider taking profits.
“maybe it's time if you do own some to take some profits.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Results of the SeasonListen at 23:35
Investors with a five-year horizon should consider owning Eagers Automotive.
“if you want to own this business for 5 years, I think go for it because it's kind of incredible.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Results of the SeasonListen at 34:28
AUB expects mid- to high-single-digit EPS growth next year.
“they've sort of, um, indicated or guided to being able to do about mid-single or high single-digit revenue— sorry, EPS growth next year as well.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Results of the SeasonListen at 38:46
AUB Group appears significantly undervalued relative to private-market insurance brokers.
“on that basis, AUB still looks incredibly cheap.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Results of the SeasonListen at 40:01
AUB Group may eventually attract a takeover approach at its current valuation.
“if AUB sort of remains around these prices for too long, that eventually someone might come along and have a look at it.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Results of the SeasonListen at 40:32
AUB Group’s insurance-broker acquisitions generate genuine synergies.
“there are genuine synergies”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Results of the SeasonListen at 41:51
Insurance broking is a resilient industry with relatively stable growth and client retention.
“it is— it's a pretty, you know, sturdy industry as well.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Results of the SeasonListen at 42:24
Telstra’s changing business segments make its profit history difficult to analyze.
“there's this constant shuffle of segments, which makes it difficult to create a time series of profits”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 2:18
Telstra’s segment changes reflect genuine internal business reorganization.
“I think that does reflect sort of genuine internal changes going on in the business”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 3:00
Telstra’s omission of negative revenue information warrants selling the stock.
“for me, that is a sell by itself”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 4:41
Telstra’s cash-earnings metric presents its performance too favorably.
“these cash earnings, they really flatter the business”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 6:00
Statutory earnings better represent Telstra’s profit, while cash earnings matter for dividends.
“statutory earnings are the true representation of Telstra if you're looking at profit, and cash earnings are really important if you're looking at dividends”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 7:12
Telstra’s 10-times EV/EBITDA valuation is high for an established low-growth telco.
“10 times EV to EBITDA is a big number”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 9:42
Telstra’s debt-funded billion-dollar buyback is an inappropriate capital-allocation decision.
“to take another billion dollars out to do the buyback, which is completely funded by debt, mind you. It's just not the right move”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 10:11
Telstra is one of the world’s best mobile operators.
“this is a globally fantastic mobile business, one of the best mobile operators I've ever seen”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 12:23
Private, unrecorded management meetings produce more candid information.
“I actually like calls and AGMs that are behind closed doors that are unrecorded”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 23:05
Passive investing and technology have made investment outperformance more difficult.
“It is getting so hard to outperform. Partly because of all this passive money, but also because technology has taken away a lot of the inefficiencies that used to exist.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 25:01
Psychological factors now provide the main investment edge.
“The edge now is completely psychological”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 25:55
Finding incorrect consensus views on widely followed stocks can create investment opportunities.
“The edge is when everyone's looking at a stock, there's a tendency for opinions to herd. And if you can find a herded opinion that's incorrect, that is what I'm looking for now.”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 26:11
Time arbitrage is becoming increasingly important for investors.
“that advantage is getting more and more important”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 28:10
Fearlessness about failure is the most important investing attribute.
“being unafraid of failure is, I think, the single most important part of this game”
Open the episode · Stock Take: The Rant EditionListen at 30:32
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
4 episodes featuring Nick Cummings
Stock Take
Management metrics can hide the real cost of growth
Investors can misread a business when adjusted measures obscure amortization, depreciation, debt, and the capital required to sustain operations.
Sep 17, 2026 · 30 min
Stock Take
Four results test the value of quality and growth
The panel shows how investors can distinguish genuine operating improvement and durable economics from optimism already reflected in a share price.
Sep 3, 2026 · 45 min
Stock Take
Telstra and SEEK expose the cost of opaque reporting
The discussion argues that weak disclosure can distort investor judgment, while patience and psychological resilience increasingly define the remaining edge.
Aug 20, 2026 · 33 min
Stock Take
Eight stocks face defining tests this reporting season
The episode identifies the operational milestones, competitive threats and valuation questions that could reshape eight investment cases.
Aug 6, 2026 · 41 min