Spinoffs

One of the ways a company can try to unlock its own hidden value is by creating a separate company out of a corporate subsidiary. The parent company can either sell stock in the new company to the public, or spin it off—hand the stock out to its own investors.

Often, the parent company starts by selling a portion of the new company to the public, to establish a market and a following among investors. That way, by the time of the spin-off, stock in the new company may be liquid enough to be sold relatively easily, or retained with some confidence as a worthwhile investment.

In our experience, and in most academic studies of the subject, this helps the parent and its corporate spinoff. Both generally do better than comparable companies for at least several years after the spinoff takes place.

When a company carries out a spinoff, it sets up one of its subsidiaries or divisions as a separate company, then hands out shares in the new company to its own shareholders. It may hand out the shares as a special dividend, or give its shareholders an opportunity to swap shares of the parent company for the shares of the newly established spinoff.

Study after study has shown that after an initial adjustment period of a few months, stock spinoffs tend to outperform groups of comparable stocks for several years. (For that matter, the parent companies also tend to outperform comparable firms for several years after a spinoff.) The above-average performance of spinoffs makes sense for a couple of reasons.

First, company managers naturally prefer to acquire or expand their assets, not get rid of them. Getting rid of assets reduces a company’s total potential profit. The management of a parent company will only hand out a subsidiary to its own investors if it’s nearly certain that the subsidiary, and the parent, will be better off after the spinoff than before.

Second, spinoffs involve a lot of work and legal fees. Companies only have an incentive to do spinoffs under two sets of favourable conditions: When they feel it isn’t a good time to sell (which often means it’s a good time to buy); or, when they feel the assets they plan to spin off will be worth substantially more in the future, possibly within a few years.

Quite often, a big company will spin off a small subsidiary because it feels the subsidiary is a tiny gem, but that it’s too small to make an impact on the much larger financial statements and market capitalization of the parent.

At TSI Network we’ve had great success with a number of spun off stocks over the years. That’s especially true of the many spinoffs we have recommended that have gone up after they began trading, and have later attracted a takeover bid at a substantial premium over the market price.

Needless to say, things don’t always work out this well. Spinoffs and their parents do sometimes run into unforeseeable woes. But on the whole, in investing, spinoffs are the closest thing you can find to a sure thing.

See how you can make the most of these special investment opportunities by reading our special free report Spinoff Stock Investigator: All You Need to Know about Reaping the Rewards of Spinoffs.

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Spinoffs Library Archives

This IPO jumped 126.1% in 1 day

FATPIPE INC. $7.42 is a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol FATN; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 13.7 million; Market cap: $101.7 million; No dividends paid; Takeover Target Rating: Lowest; www.fatpipeinc.com) makes software that monitors and protects data traffic in local and cloud-based computer networks. It has over 3,000 clients, mainly… Read More

Keep our stock updates top of mind

AMENTUM HOLDINGS INC. $19 is a hold. The company (New York symbol AMTM; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 243.3 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.amentum.com) provides advanced engineering and technology solutions to the U.S. government, and its allied partners (90% of revenue), and… Read More

Five years of stellar gains

On April 3, 2020, aerospace and military equipment maker RTX Corp. (formerly called Raytheon Technologies, New York symbol RTX) spun off its Otis (elevators) and Carrier (heating and air conditioning equipment) businesses. For each UTX share they held, investors received 0.5 of a share in… Read More

Plan could double the stock price

PHILLIPS 66 $96 is a buy. The company (New York symbol PSX; Manufacturing Sector; Shares outstanding: 407.7 million; Market cap: $39.1 billion; Dividend yield: 4.7%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.phillips66.com) refines and transports oil and gas, operates gas stations, and owns 50% of a chemical firm (Chevron Corp. is… Read More

These two targets don’t inspire us

We keep an eye on activist investors as they tend to target struggling firms, such as Kenvue and El Pollo, that could boost shareholder value with asset sales and spinoffs. However, these two stocks offer limited appeal right now.
KENVUE INC. $23 is a hold. The company (New… Read More

Spinoff should spur a rebound

FEDEX CORP. $207 is a buy. The courier company (New York symbol FDX, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 240.9 million; Market cap: $49.9 billion; Dividend yield: 2.7%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.fedex.com) is down 25% since the start of 2025, partly due to fears that U.S. tariffs will hurt shipping… Read More

Strong brands will help them thrive

On August 3, 2021, the old L Brands holding company (old New York symbol LB) split into two separate firms: Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. Investors received one new share of Victoria’s Secret for every three shares of L Brands they held. L.. Read More

Tariffs could offset merger benefits

On July 5, 2024, cardboard maker Westrock merged with Dublin, Ireland-headquartered Smurfit Kappa. Westrock investors received one share of the new Smurfit Westrock and $5 in cash for each share they held.
Demand for its packaging products is cyclical, and a slowing global economy is largely… Read More

Spinoff Spotlight: Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $24 is a hold. The company (Toronto symbol MFI; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 123.8 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; Dividend yield: 4.0%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.mapleleaffoods.com) sells fresh and prepared meats under the Maple Leaf and Schneider labels. It also makes plant-based hamburgers, hot… Read More

Stick with the former parent for now

Diversified manufacturing firm 3M completed its plan to spin off its Health Care division as independent firm Solventum on April 1, 2024. Shareholders received one share of Solventum for every four 3M shares they held. 3M still owns 19.9% of Solventum, but plans to sell… Read More

Split should benefit both

WESTERN DIGITAL CORP. $45 is a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol WDC; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 347.8 million; Market cap: $15.7 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.westerndigital.com) completed the spinoff of its flash memory business as Sandisk Corp. (Nasdaq symbol SNDK) on February 24, 2025. Investors… Read More

Keep our stock updates top of mind

BEACON ROOFING SUPPLY INC. $122 is a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol BECN; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 61.6 million; Market cap: $7.5 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Highest; www.becn.com) distributes residential and non-residential roofing and building products to professional contractors, home builders, building owners, lumberyards, and retailers… Read More

Keep holding these two for now

On October 16, 2023, the old NCR Corp. (New York symbol NCR) split itself into two separate firms. Investors received one share of NCR Atleos (which makes ATMs) for every two NCR shares they held. The remaining firm changed its name to NCR Voyix.
The split… Read More

Falling consumer confidence adds risk

Restaurant franchisor FAT Brands recently set up its Twin Hospitality businesses as one separate, publicly traded company. Even following the spinoff, FAT Brands still has a huge holding company discount; however, we feel investors should avoid it as well as Twin Hospitality given reduced discretionary… Read More

Activist sees value in this stock

COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS CORP. $80 is a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol CTSH; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 494.6 million; Market cap: $39.6 billion; Dividend yield: 1.6%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.cognizant.com) provides solutions to complex software development and maintenance problems that companies face as they transition to a digitized… Read More

Tariff fight could hurt these takeovers

These two Canadian firms are under activist pressure to improve their operations, or put themselves up for sale. However, the Canadian government would probably block any takeover offer from a U.S.-based firm due to current tension over trade policy and tariffs.
INTERRENT REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST… Read More

Spinoff lifts this sleepy stock

Cooking equipment maker Middleby is good example of how an activist can unlock hidden value for shareholders.
The stock has moved mostly sideways over the past 10 years, but it jumped 15% in early 2025 after the company became the target of an activist investor. That… Read More

Spinoff Spotlight: South Bow Corp.

SOUTH BOW CORP. $37 is a hold. The company (Toronto symbol SOBO; Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 208.0 million; Market cap: $7.7 billion; Dividend yield: 7.7%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.southbow.com) took its current form on October 1, 2024, when TC Energy Corp. (Toronto symbol TRP) spun it off. Investors… Read More