Archive for April, 2011
(BBY) Best Buy Changes Overall Retail Focus
As per Business Journal Report, Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) intends to employ a strategy of concentrating more on its smaller mobile stores, online sales and expansion in China with less and less reliance on big-box stores. The company targets cost saves of $70 million to $80 million...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AA) Alcoa Sells $1.25 Billion Notes
Alcoa Inc. (AA), the largest U.S. aluminum producer, has planned to raise capital by issuing public notes of $1.25 billion. The company expects net proceeds of more than $1.24 billion from the sale of these 5.40% notes due April 15, 2021. The transaction is expected to close...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(KR) Consumer Price Index – Core Inflation Running 2.7% Annualized
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.5% in March, matching its rise in February, and after 0.4% increases in both January and December. While that sounds bad, year over year it is up just 2.7%. Beneath the Headline Numbers Looking a little bit deeper, the problem is mostly...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JBLU) JetBlue Airways Reports March Traffic Rise
The discounted U.S. airline JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) reported a 7.1% year-over-year traffic increase in March 2011. Airline traffic is measured in billions of revenue passenger miles, which implies one mile flown by one passenger. On a year-over-year basis, capacity...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DAL) Delta Air Lines 2011 First Quarter Earnings Preview
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), the second largest U.S. airline, is slated to release its first quarter 2011 earnings on April 18. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first quarter is 46 cents, representing a substantial decline of 101.98% from the year-ago level. Delta...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SCHW) Charles Schwab First Quarter 2011 Earnings Beat by a Penny
Charles Schwab Corporation’s (SCHW) first quarter 2011 earnings came in at 20 cents per share, a penny ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 19 cents. This also compares favorably with the year-ago quarter’s earnings of 11 cents. Charles Schwab’s net income for the reported...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MRO) Marathon Oil Corporation Finds Oil in Iraq
Leading integrated oil and gas company Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO) announced the discovery of oil at the Atrush-1 in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Marathon acquired a 20% stake in the block, through its subsidiary Marathon Petroleum KDV B.V. in October, 2010, making its...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ABT) Abbott Labs First Quarter 2011 Earnings Preview
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) is all set to announce its first quarter 2011 results on April 20, 2011 before the opening bell. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first quarter of 2011 is $0.90, representing a year-over-year increase of 11.1%. Abbott Labs has surpassed earnings...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HRS) Harris’ Winning Spree Continues – Analyst Blog
A leading supplier of communications equipment and services, Harris Corp. (HRS) recently won a two-year follow-on contract worth $15 million from the U.S. Air Force. As per the agreement, Harris will supply 135 Warhead Replacement Tactical Telemetry Modules (WRTTMs) to the Air...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JCP) J.C. Penney Company – Bull of the Day
J.C. Penney’s (JCP) well diversified supplier base, compelling merchandise, marketing campaigns, technological initiatives as well as effective cost and inventory management should drive sales and improve margin trends over the long term. The company delivered better-than-expected...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RE) Everest Re Group – Bear of the Day
We are downgrading our recommendation on the shares of Everest Re Group (RE) as we believe that its top line growth will remain somewhat restricted due to the expected decline in the casualty line as a result of tough market conditions. Additionally, the potential for future...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(IT) International Business Machines Completes TRIRIGA Acquisition
Information technology (IT) giant, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) announced that it has completed the acquisition of TRIRIGA, Inc. Las Vegas, Nevada-based TRIRIGA Inc. is a privately held company that provides real estate management software solutions. Financial...
18Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ISRG) Intuitive Surgical First Quarter 2011 Earnings Preview
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is slated to report its first-quarter 2011 results on Tuesday, April 19, 2011. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter is $2.49, representing an estimated 17.28% annualized growth. Fourth Quarter Recap Intuitive reported fourth quarter and...
17Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AIG) Stock Market News for April 15, 2011 – Market News
On the second day featuring a choppy session, markets posted marginal gains as investors chose to overlook disappointing jobless data in favor of upcoming earnings announcements. Markets lacked definite direction at the beginning of the earnings season and late-day activity was...
17Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BRCM) Company News for April 15, 2011 – Corporate Summary
• SUPERVALU INC (NYSE:SVU) reported Q4 EPS of $0.44, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.35 per share. Revenues for the quarter fell 5.4% year-over-year to $8.70 billion, missing consensus estimates of $8.751 billion • The Progressive Corp (NYSE:PGR) reported Q1...
17Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AFFX) Affymetrix Analyst Initiates Shares at Neutral
We initiate our coverage on genetic products maker Affymetrix (AFFX) with a Neutral recommendation. The company posted respectable results in fourth-quarter fiscal 2010 with earnings beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate while profit surged 42% year over year as lower costs more...
17Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(C) Citigroup 2011 Fourth Quarter Earnings Preview
Citigroup Inc. (C) is scheduled to report its first quarter 2011 results before the market opens on Monday, April 18. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter is 9 cents per share, representing a decline of about 34% over the year-ago quarter. For FY2011 and FY2012, the estimate...
17Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GOOG) Google First Quarter Earnings Hit by Higher Operating Expenses
Contrary to our expectations, Google Inc’s (GOOG) first-quarter earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate, as its revenue increase was not enough to offset the increase in operating expenses. We estimated lower opex, not anticipating the significant headcount increase during...
16Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GOOG) Google Quarterly Earnings Report Misses Forecasts
Search engine giant Google, Inc. (GOOG) reported first quarter 2011 earnings after the closing bell today. Google’s earnings of $7.04 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a dime, but revenues for the quarter came in at a healthy $6.54 billion — higher...
15Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DGX) Quest Diagnostics Expedites Celera Acquisition
Leading diagnostics player, Quest Diagnostics (DGX) took a step forward toward the proposed acquisition of Celera Corporation (CRA). The company recently announced that the waiting period under the HSR Act has expired, though some other conditions are yet to be met. The tender...
15Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(LLL) L-3 Communications Holdings First Quarter 2011 Earnings Preview
L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL) is scheduled to report its first quarter 2011 earnings results before market opens on April 21. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first quarter is earnings of $1.82 per share, down from $1.87 earned in the year-earlier quarter. For full...
15Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ALV) Autoliv Expands in Southern China
Autoliv Inc. (ALV) announced that it has started building an extension of its airbag and seatbelt assembly facility in Guangzhou in Southern China. The near $4 million extension will enhance the floor space of the facility by 70%. The Guangzhou plant began its operations three...
15Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PCLN) Priceline.com – Bull of the Day
Priceline.com (PCLN) is one of the leading online travel companies in the world. Priceline’s fourth quarter earnings beat the Zacks Consensus and management expects strong double-digit bookings growth in the next quarter, with international growing much faster than domestic. The...
15Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GNW) Genworth Financial – Bear of the Day
Genworth Financial’s (GNW) fourth-quarter operating loss lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate led by a substantially higher year-over-year loss at the U.S. Mortgage Insurance segment, which was partially offset by better results at Retirement & Protection and at International....
15Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PTY) Bond Investors Taking On More Risk – April 14, 2011 – AAII Investor Update
Inflation and speculation about what the Fed’s next move will be are prominent in headlines about the bond market, but there are also scattered reports that show an increased tolerance for risk among bond investors. One recent example is payment-in-kind toggle notes, or...
15Apr2011 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued(XOM) Refinery Runs Slow Even With Gushing Oil Storage
The U.S. Energy Department’s weekly inventory release showed a continued build-up in crude stockpiles with supplies at the key delivery hub of Cushing hitting a record high. However, on the bullish side, the agency’s report revealed that gasoline stocks dropped sharply,...
15Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CBI) Chicago Bridge & Iron Company Wins Engineering and Design Deal
Lummus Technology, a part of Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CBI), has been awarded a contract by Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries Inc. for the license and basic engineering design work of a propane dehydrogenation unit and a polypropylene plant. The two units have a design...
14Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(UNM) Unum Group Analyst Reiterates Shares at Neutral
Owing to unemployment and sluggish economic recovery that are expected to delay new business accrual and exert pressure on premium growth coupled with low interest rates that are expected to impact investment income and reserving practices, we reiterate out Neutral recommendation...
14Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PC) PC Computer Sales Drop in 2011 First Quarter
The overall Personal Computer (PC) market is witnessing a downward trend, as elucidated by a year-over-year decline of 1.1% in PC shipments to 84.3 million during the first quarter of 2011. Technology research firms, IDC and Gartner unanimously confirmed the fact that there was...
14Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WMT) U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Jumps
Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance jumped by 27,000 last week to 412,000. However, last week was revised up by 3,000, so one could see it as a 30,000 increase. This was much worse than the expected level of 385,000. The trend in initial claims is downward, although there...
14Apr2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued