Earlier this week, Unilver spun off its ice cream business as the Magnum Ice Cream Company, MICC, for all you home gamers, creating the first pure play ice cream stock that I can recall. Unilver announced this nearly two years ago, but to be honest, I really didn't pay a lot of attention to it. So, it took me by surprise when I came into work yesterday to see this multi-story tall banner of ice cream outside the New York Stock Exchange with free samples flowing ON THE FLOOR.KLONDIKE BARS for all. And still ...

Core Viewpoint - Unilever has spun off its ice cream business into the Magnum Ice Cream Company (MICC), creating a pure play ice cream stock, which is expected to perform well as an independent entity [1][20]. Company Overview - The Magnum Ice Cream Company is the largest player in the ice cream industry, owning four of the world's five largest ice cream brands: Walls, Magnum, Ben & Jerry's, and Cornetto [2][4]. - The company has a global market share of 21%, significantly higher than its closest competitor, which holds only 11% [4]. Recent Performance - Despite a 6.5% decline in volume in 2023 while under Unilever, the ice cream division has begun to recover post-spin-off, achieving a 1.1% organic volume growth and a 2.8% increase in organic sales [6][8]. - The company's gross margin has improved for the first time in years, indicating a positive trend [9]. Future Outlook - Magnum aims for organic sales growth in the range of 3% to 5% and plans to enhance profitability through modest price increases [10][11]. - The company has good data on the impact of weight loss drugs (GOP-1s) on the ice cream market, estimating a 0.5% hit to volume growth for every 12% market penetration of these drugs [12][13]. Valuation - Magnum's stock is currently trading at approximately $15, with earnings per share expected to be $1.26 this year, slightly decreasing to $1.23 next year due to initial investments as an independent entity [16][19]. - The stock is valued at 12 to 13 times earnings, which is significantly lower than peers like Hershey and Nestle, suggesting a potential investment opportunity [18][19].