BloggingStocks

Earnings highlights: Wal-Mart, JCPenney, MBIA, Deere, Applied Materials and others

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-08-16T16:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Wal-Mart (WMT), Estee Lauder (EL), Penney (J.C.) (JCP), Applied Materials (AMAT), Deere and Co (DE), Newcastle Investment (NCT), MBIA Inc (MBI)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Albany Molecular Research Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRI) topped estimates and raised its full-year guidance.
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Q3 earnings and revenues tumbled but beat low expectations.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) fell short of Q3 earnings expectations due to rising materials costs.
Estee Lauder Cos. Inc. (NYSE: EL) posted strong Q4 results that led shares to a new 52-week high.
Fossil Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings and lifted its full-year forecast.
JCPenney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) Q2 profit slipped but still topped analysts' expectations.
LDK Solar Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) Q2 net income soared, easily beating analysts' estimates.
Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) rebounded from its tumble after its disappointing Q2 report.
MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) posted strong Q2 results despite downgrades of its financial ratings.
Newcastle Investments Corp. (NYSE: NCT) despite negative earnings, it announced a quarterly dividend.
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) posted dismal Q2 results and announced a share buyback program.
Sysco Corp. (NYSE: SYY) Q4 earnings topped expectaitons on demand for bulk food products.
TJX Cos. (NYSE: TJX) strong Q2 results fell short of expectations, as did the Q3 earnings forecast.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) topped Q2 estimates due to bargain seekers and international sales.

Also, Jim Cramer warns against bearishness on the financials and also suggests that the collapse of commodities will buoy earings.

For more highlights from this week, see: Abercrombie, Macy's, Kohl's, Sirius, UBS, Wachovia and others

Upcoming quarterly reports include Lowe's (NYSE: LOW), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Target (NYSE: TGT), La-Z-Boy (NYSE: LZB), Saks (NYSE: SKS), BJ's Wholesale (NYSE: BJ), Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD), Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), Gap (NYSE: GPS), Heinz (NYSE: HNZ), and Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Applied Materials' upside surprise

Todd Harrison — 2008-08-13T15:59:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Applied Materials (AMAT), Technology, NASDAQ

Minyanville Professor Sean Udall dares to share the kind of keen insight and actionable information you won't find in any prospectus. For more original thought, visit www.minyanville.com.

The earnings report from Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) was not solid but the stock sure is, which is what happens when the market starts looking at enterprise value beyond a quarterly EPS report. The stock has been cheap for some time with only the solar catalyst providing occasional lift. Contrary to other noteworthy opinions, I have not heard AMAT call a bottom or "trough" in the cycle for many a quarterly call. It has called for a reduction in the decline in certain product lines, while calling for strength in others. But as far as a broad cyclical "trough" this is the first I heard them utter that since 2005 -- and at that point the company was half right and half wrong.

Lam Research Corporation (Nasdaq: LRCX) had the best report I've seen in the sub-group. If the (SOX) keeps showing strength then I presume the group may be led by the high quality semi-caps possibly through the first quarter of 2009.

Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) report was also noteworthy as the shares have really been hammered of late. The company beat and raised revenue guidance by a touch. However, the thing that has kept me out of CREE for more than just an occasional trade is the lack of EPS traction it seems to have, even on higher revenues. And next quarter's guidance is more evidence of that. From time to time CREE can ramp, and when it does, it's usually a compelling move. So I mainly keep the name on the radar as a technical trading vehicle. If CREE were to back fill to the mid $19's I may add a partial.

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Applied Materials reports abysmal results -- not an interesting value play

Steven Mallas — 2008-08-13T09:09:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Microsoft (MSFT), International Business Machines (IBM), Applied Materials (AMAT)

Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), a technology company that provides solutions to industries involved with such things as semiconductors, flat panel displays and solar photovoltaic cells, and whose colleagues include KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) and LAM Research (NASDAQ: LRCX), reported earnings for the third quarter on Tuesday.

They weren't great. The top line decreased by 28%, coming in at $1.8 billion. Adjusted earnings per diluted share dropped well over 50% to 17 cents. Although these numbers are horrible, it should be noted that the company at least beat estimates of 14 cents per share.

Well, not to be a downer or anything, but Applied Materials is not the tech stock I want to be in right now. It is suffering through a dismal economic environment, and the growth rates just don't look good. Not only do you have these year-over-year declines, but you've also got sequential-quarter statistics showing a negative trend. Plus, new orders are down significantly, and the gross margin took a dive.

Is there any saving grace to the report? Yes. Cash flow from operations was essentially flat over the nine-month timeframe at almost $1.6 billion. Hey, flat is better than a decline, correct?

The stock didn't see a huge reaction in the after-hours session Tuesday. It went up a little over 1%. As the press release indicated, these results were in the ballpark of previous guidance.

The shares have been trading in something of a tight range, with the 52-week low being $16.13 and the 52-week high pegged at $22.10. It closed yesterday at $18.47.

As I aforementioned, I don't want to buy Applied Materials right now. I'd only take a look if it broke out of this narrow range and made a new high on heavy volume. I don't find this to be an interesting value situation, and if I want to find a tech company to add to my portfolio, I'd probably look at other businesses such as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) or IBM (NYSE: IBM).

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

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Before the bell: DE, LIZ, NVDA, AMAT, CVS, AAPL, TOL ...

Melly Alazraki — 2008-08-13T08:08:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Wal-Mart (WMT), Home Depot (HD), Market matters, Applied Materials (AMAT), Best Buy (BBY), CVS Corp (CVS), Toll Brothers (TOL), Economic data, Deere and Co (DE), Liz Claiborne (LIZ)

U.S. stock futures were mixed Wednesday ahead of retail sales, import price data and oil inventories reports. Analysts expect retail sales, to be reported at 8:30 a.m., rose 0.5% in July. Futures may find direction after the report. Meanwhile, oil futures rose ahead of the inventory report due out at 10:35 a.m., the dollar fell against some currencies and gold futures rose.
[Update: Following a decline in retail sales in July, futures turned lower.]

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) has just reported quarterly results and shares sank 6.1% in premarket trade. The world's largest maker of farm machinery, said earnings in the latest quarter rose 7% and revenue increased 17% as soaring crop prices boosted global demand for its agricultural equipment. The company, however, missed on earnings and gave forecast that was lower than estimations.

Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) reported a net loss this quarter but beat estimates on an adjusted basis. It also issued a downside guidance.

Earnings are still due from Macy's (NYSE: M), among others.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) shares rose 7.3% in premarket trading despite reporting a $121 million loss Tuesday. Investors liked that Nvidia announced a stock buyback of $1 billion and predicted margin improvement.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) also rose, up 1.2% in premarket trading after the largest maker of semiconductor-production machinery forecast better-than-estimated orders and CEO Mike Splinter said conditions will improve. Its fiscal third-quarter profit plunged 65%, but sales results beat estimates.

CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) said it's going to buy Longs Drug Stores (NYSE: LDG) for $2.9 billion, or $71.50 a share, a 32% premium over Longs' closing price on Tuesday. CVS shares are down 5.3%, LDG's up 29.5% in premarket trading.

Retail shares such as Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Home Depot (NYSE: HD) could be affected by retail number today.

Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY), the largest U.S. electronics retailer, will become the first independent retailer to sell Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iPhone 3G at its almost 1,000 U.S. stores beginning next month. The prices will be comparable to other places.
Also, a fire burned for more than three hours at Apple's headquarters before firefighters put it out.

Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) reported steep declines in revenues and contracts for the third quarter Wednesday. The homebuilder said its revenue fell 34% from the year-ago period.

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) could appoint former Viacom chief Frank Biondi and John Chapple, the former head of Nextel Partners, to its board by Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported, as per its agreement with Icahn. The company also unveiled a platform for location-based services, Fire Eagle, for use with mobile phone applications.

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Option Update: LDK Solar September call volatility at 35 into positive EPS & outlook

Paul Foster — 2008-08-12T09:24:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Applied Materials (AMAT), Options

LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) is recently trading at $40.25 in pre-open trading, above its close of $33.58. LDK reported Q2 revenue of $441.7 million, up 89.2% quarter-over-quarter. ThinkEquity says: "The shares of LDK offer significant upside, with its impending polysilicon production, which should lower the company's cost structure significantly." LDK August 35 straddle is priced at $3.95. LDK September call option implied volatility is at 74, puts are at 85; near its 26-week average according to Track Data. LDK puts are priced higher than calls because LDK is difficult to borrow.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) closed at $18.46 Monday. AMAT is scheduled to report Q3 EPS after the market close today. Kaufman Bros says: "We reiterate our Hold and $19 price target." AMAT August straddle 18 is priced at $1.10, September is at $1.90. AMAT September option implied volatility of 36 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional movement after EPS.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

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Trade idea for Applied Materials (AMAT) downgrade

Brent Archer — 2008-07-11T13:23:00+00:00

Filed under: Major movement, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Bad news, Industry, Applied Materials (AMAT), Options, Technical Analysis

Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) shares are falling today after an analyst at Citi downgraded the stock to "Hold" from "Buy" and cut their price target on the stock to $20 from $25, citing a decline in semiconductor orders from chip-makers. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on AMAT.

After hitting a one-year high of $23.00 in August, the stock hit a one-year low of $16.13 in January. This morning, AMAT opened at $17.32. So far today the stock has hit a low of $17.25 and a high of $18.06. As of 12:25, AMAT is trading at $17.654, down 70 cents (-3.8%). The chart for AMAT looks bullish but deteriorating, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an October bear-call credit spread above the $22 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 7.1% return in three months as long as AMAT is below $22 at October expiration. AMAT would have to rise by more than 24% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

AMAT hasn't been above $22 since last August and has shown resistance around $21 recently. This trade could be risky if the company's earnings (due out in mid-August) are a positive surprise, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by resistance AMAT might find at its 200 day moving average, which is currently around $19 and falling.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in AMAT.

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BusinessWeek looks at solar stocks

Eliza Popescu — 2008-06-24T15:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Forecasts, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Applied Materials (AMAT), Economic data, Oil

With the high fuel prices over the past year, solar stocks have been making some nice gains. But there are some signs that they may not be as safe as they appear. Investors' interest in solar companies increased due to soaring crude futures, but there are some factors to take into account before investing money into solar.

The current BusinessWeek looks at stocks such as First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR), SolarWorld and Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR), which have been facing increased volatility based on contract deal news or the lack thereof.

A major impact came in May, with speculation that Germany would lower subsidies given to companies and individuals who install alternative energy equipment. But the cut was not as deep as expected and stocks rebounded nicely.

Among some good potential investments, analysts at Morningstar and Kaufman Brothers suggest companies such as Akeena Solar (NASDAQ: AKNS), which installs residential solar panels in the U.S., and First Solar and Evergreen, which manufacture thin-film panels. Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) and MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR), which supply assembly materials to the solar panel outfits, are also put on the list as companies that could bring a lot of gains.

Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.

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Midyear investment guide, fat paychecks for oil CEOs & square milk at Wal-Mart - Today in Money 6/17

Allan Halprin — 2008-06-17T08:01:00+00:00

Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT), Ford Motor (F), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Money and Finance Today, Anheuser-Busch Cos (BUD), Applied Materials (AMAT), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Valero Energy (VLO), Broadcom Corp'A' (BRCM)

In the News:

· Warren Buffett Said to Back InBev's Bid for Anheuser-Busch

· Fed Not Likely to Raise Interest Rates at Next Week's Meeting

· Goldman Sachs Close to $7 Billion SIV Deal

· Midwest Floods Could Impact the Cost of Your Coke & Burger

· L.A, Philly & Other Cities Helping Residents Facing Foreclosure

· Ford to Idle SUV Plant for 2 Months as Sales Slump

· 'Soul Train' to Get New Life as Don Cornelius Sells Classic Franchise

· Broadcom Co-Founder Pleads Not Guilty to Drugging Cohort, Highing Prostitues & More

· Feds Believe Missing Hedge Fund Swindler on the Run

Midyear Investment Guide
It wasn't smooth sailing for stocks in the first half of 2008. Is it time to jump back in? SmartMoney sets out to find the most promising midyear investments. They zeroed in on the sectors that were hit hardest over the past 12 months. The result: stocks whose better days should be ahead of them. They include Valero Energy, Applied Materials, International Paper to name a few.
SmartMoney's Midyear Investment Guide - SmartMoney.com

Oil CEOs: High Prices, Fat Paychecks
Energy chief executives got raises last year much bigger than in other industries. Was it pay for performance-or pay for high oil prices?
Oil CEOs: High Prices, Fat Paychecks - BusinessWeek

Wal-Mart Pushes Square Milk
Get ready to pour your milk out of a square jug. Wal-Mart sustainability chief says the giant retailer is pushing harder than ever to go green. And so - like concentrated laundry detergent, environmentally-friendly cleaning products and compact fluorescent light bulbs, all of which are being pushed by Wal-Mart - square milk jugs are likely to find their way into tens of millions of American homes.
Square milk and mulch from old tires - FORTUNE

Has the Electric Car's Time Finally Come?
Backed by U.S. venture capital, Norwegian startup Think is betting its Ox concept vehicle can prove that the electric car's time has finally come.
The Electric Car Lives - BusinessWeek

Real-Life Families Who Cut Out Their Credit Cards
At one time Suzi and Terry Tolliver charged everything: gas, dinners, wedding expenses. And they had a $70,000 credit-card bill to show for it.They could handle the minimum payments, but the debt was weighing them down. Now that they've stopped using credit cards and gotten out from under their debt they're becoming parents for the first time, adopting twin boys from Vietnam. The adoption is expensive, $25,000, but they're paying for it in cash. See how they and 9 other families decided it was time to break their bad plastic habits. Here's how they did it.
They cut out their credit cards - The Tollivers (1) - CNNMoney.com

Best-Paid Bench Warmers
Which pro athletes do the least for the most? Here's a rundown of whose playing time and contributions don't jibe with their salary status within their league.
The Best-Paid Bench Warmers - Forbes.com

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Before the bell: WMT, AAPL, VZ, TM, AMAT, GE ...

Melly Alazraki — 2008-06-06T08:22:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Apple Inc (AAPL), General Electric (GE), Wal-Mart (WMT), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), AT and T (T), Applied Materials (AMAT), Research in Motion (RIMM), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Verizon Communications (VZ), Broadcom Corp'A' (BRCM)

Before the bell: Futures steady ahead of payroll report

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is holding its annual shareholder meeting Friday.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs will deliver his keynote speech Monday June 9 and may unveil then an iPhone that works with third-generation, or 3G, wireless networks, which are much faster than current AT&T (NYSE: T)'s network as Apple tries to lure business users from Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry users and reach more international customers. If the iPhone was at first positioned as a consumer phone, the business segment is too lucrative to avoid, not to mention that many overseas customers are used to 3G networks.

Verizon Wireless has agreed Thursday to buy Alltel Corp. for $5.9 billion, which would make it by far the largest cellular carrier in the U.S. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ). The deal comes just seven months after Alltel was taken private by TPG Capital and a unit of Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS). Together, they would have some 80 million subscribers, surpassing AT&T (NYSE: T)'s 71 million.

In quite an odd indictment, not often seen in white-collar investigations, federal prosecutors may have not only charged Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III in one of the largest stock-option backdating cases in U.S. history, but also with drugging his business associates, hiring prostitutes and maintaining a drug warehouse that grabbed headlines. Spiking drinks with ecstasy??? How bizarre is that? Defense attorney Gregory Craig said the only thing a defense attorney can say, that Nicholas was innocent and would prevail.

In deal news, chip equipment manufacturer ASM International (NASDAQ: ASMI) said it received an unsolicited offer of $400 million to $500 million for two of its business units from Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT). Shares of ASM up were higher Dutch trading.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)'s NBC-TV unit nearly sold out its inventory of ads for the coming fall season, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) "has developed a new fuel cell hybrid, a green car powered by hydrogen and electricity, that can travel more than twice the distance of its predecessor model without filling up, the automaker said Friday."

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Earnings highlights: Deere, Freddie Mac, Applied Materials, Barclay's and others

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-05-17T16:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Home Depot (HD), Penney (J.C.) (JCP), Applied Materials (AMAT), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Lowe's Cos (LOW), Kohl's Corp (KSS), Toll Brothers (TOL), Deere and Co (DE), Barclays plc ADS (BCS), MBIA Inc (MBI)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Q2 profits declined on a glut of flash memory chips.
Bally Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BYI) beat Q3 expectations and offered full-year guidance.
Barclay's (NYSE: BCS) reported a big Q1 loss on credit-related write-downs.
Constant Contact Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT) saw big increases in Q1 revenues and in its customer base.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Q2 profits rose on international demand, but results just missed estimates.
Fluor Corp.'s (NYSE: FLR) strong Q1 results are a signal for the energy sector, says Jim Cramer.
Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) Q1 loss widened on the housing slump, but not as much as forecast.
IndyMac Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: IMB) narrowed its loss but predicted it wouldn't see a profit in 2008.
LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) Q1 earnings topped forecasts and it raised its outlook.
MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) reported a larger-than-expected Q1 loss due to write-downs.
Mindray Medical International Ltd. (NYSE: MR) beat Q1 expectations and raised its full-year guidance.
Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) Q2 earnings were in line with analysts' expectations.
ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ONNN) beat Q1 expectations and raised its Q2 revenue forecast.
RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) beat Q1 estimates and announced share buybacks and a spin off.
Salary.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SLRY) missed Q1 forecasts, leading to analysts' downgrades.
Sykes Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: SYKE) beat Q1 estimates and raised its Q2 and full-year forecast.
Syniverse Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SVR) beat Q1 expectations on strength in "messaging and mobil data."
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) warned of lower Q2 profits and more "challenging times" ahead.
Website Pros Inc. (NASDAQ: WSPI) reported flat earnings despite soaring revenues and operating income.

Also, after AIG's (NYSE: AIG) dismal results, International Lease Finance Corp. wants to be spun off from its parent. Analysts see JC Penney Inc. (NYSE: JCP), Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS) and the rest of the retail sector rebounding in the latter half of the year. Jim Cramer ponders some suprising responses to so-so earnings reports, and looks ahead to Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) and Home Depot (NYSE: HD) as a sign for the housing sector.

Other upcoming results to watch for include Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB), Autozone (NYSE: AZO), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU), Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS), Target (NYSE: TGT), Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) The Gap (NYSE: GPS) and Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Little impact seen for Intel (INTC) from Chinese quake

Brent Archer — 2008-05-14T14:51:00+00:00

Filed under: Good news, Intel (INTC), China, Applied Materials (AMAT), Options, Technical Analysis

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) shares are trading higher today in light of a BusinessWeek article that downplayed the economic impact of the recent Chinese earthquake on companies with outposts in that part of China, a list which includes Intel. Not hurting INTC today is a weak earnings outlook from Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), which is often seen as a bellweather for technology companies. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on INTC.

After hitting a one-year high of $27.99 in December, the stock hit a one-year low of $18.05 in January. INTC opened this morning at $23.85. So far today the stock has hit a low of $23.76 and a high of $24.29. As of 12:15, INTC is trading at $24.16, up $0.40 (1.7%). The chart for INTC looks bullish and deteriorating slightly, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 Stars (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a July bull-put credit spread below the $21 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 6.7% return in just two months as long as INTC is above $21 at July expiration. Intel would have to fall by more than 13% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

Intel hasn't been below $21 by more than a few cents since March and has shown support around $22 recently. This trade could be risky if the company's earnings (due out in mid-July) disappoint, but even if that happens, that position could be protected by support the stock might find from its 50-day moving average, which is currently at $22 and rising.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in AMAT. He does control a bullish hedged position in INTC.

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Before the bell: M, DE, FRE, WFMI, ERTS, AMAT, PFE, BHP ...

Melly Alazraki — 2008-05-14T08:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Apple Inc (AAPL), Pfizer (PFE), Applied Materials (AMAT), Whole Foods Market (WFMI), Electronic Arts (ERTS), Deere and Co (DE), BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (BHP), Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP)

Before the bell: Futures lower ahead of CPI

Macy's (NYSE: M), which was forecast to report a loss of a penny a share in the first quarter, said the difficult retail environment hurt sales and it incurred costs from a restructuring. The loss came to $59 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with a profit of $36 million, or 8 cents a share, a year earlier. (As the numbers are quite fresh, it's possible they include one-time item not yet sorted out and not comparable to analyst expectations.)

John Deere (NYSE: DE) said its second-quarter profit rose 22%. Deere experienced increased demand for its farm equipment, as crop prices kept rising, posting an 18% increase in sales. Profit for the quarter jumped to $763.5 million, or $1.74 per share, a penny below analyst estimates. From premarket early action, it seems shares of DE might start much lower.

Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) also reported this morning, saying its first quarter loss widened to $151 million as the U.S. housing market worsened. Somehow, though, the results were not as poor as expected and FRE's loss of 66 cents a share beat estimates of a 92 cents a share loss. FRE's shares are up over 6% in premarket trading.

Still on earnings, last night Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) reported results. Shares of WFMI are plunging nearly 9% in premarket trading as the organic grocery chain reported a worse-than-forecast 13% profit fall.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) shares are also declining over 2.8% in premarket trading after the suitor of Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) reported a widening quarterly loss and a disappointing outlook.

Yes, and Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) also reported lower earnings and revenue after the close Tuesday. New orders fell in the period, AMAT said, but still managed to beat analysts estimates. Most important, though, is that the maker of equipment for chip said it sees the end of the downturn.

In deal news, speculations are mounting that Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) may bid for MediGene AG, the German developer of the Endotag cancer drug. MediGene shares shot up 16% on the rumor.

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) shares are rising in premarket trading also on bid speculation that China will take a stake in the world's largest miner. It's not clear yet how that will affect BHP's wish to takeover of Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP).

The Guardian reports that chief executive of Telefónica Europe, which its O2 has a "multi-year" exclusive deal to sell the iPhone in the UK and Ireland said Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s 3G version of the iPhone will be unveiled "in the coming weeks." Speculation is the reveal will be on June 9.

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Applied Materials and Whole Foods post Q2 profit declines

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-05-13T17:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Applied Materials (AMAT), Whole Foods Market (WFMI)

On Tuesday, microchip equipment maker Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) reported a drop in its fiscal second quarter earnings due in part to a glut of flash memory chips, and organic and natural food retailer Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) also said second quarter profits fell, due to integrating its Wild Oats acquisition.

Applied Materials posted earnings of $302.5 million, or 22 cents per share, for the quarter ended April 27, compared with a profit of $411.4 million or 29 cents per share in the same period a year ago. Its adjusted net income came to 24 cents per share, beating the average analyst forecast of 22 cents, according to Reuters estimates.

Second-quarter revenue fell to $2.15 billion from $2.53 billion in the previous year. Analysts on average had expected revenue of $2.13 billion.

Shares fell 1.3% after the news but rose 2.7% in after-hours trading to $20.40.

Whole Foods reported that sales surged 28% in the second quarter to $1.87 billion, from $1.4 billion in the previous year. But net income fell 13% to $40 million, or 29 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 13; the acquisition of rival Wild Oats cost it 6 cents per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had predicted a profit of 30 cents per share on revenue of $1.89 billion.

Shares of Whole Foods fell $2.94, or 8.7%, to $30.70 in after-hours trading.

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Market highlights for next week: Wal-Mart and Hewlett-Packard reporting

Eric Buscemi — 2008-05-09T16:17:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Conventions and conferences, Annual meetings, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Wal-Mart (WMT), XM Satellite Radio (XMSR), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Agilent Technologies (A), Applied Materials (AMAT), Toll Brothers (TOL), Economic data

Monday, May 12

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:00am.
W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE: GWW) to hold sales conference call at 8:00am.
XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) to report quarterly earnings; the conference call is at 10:00am for XM and at 4:30pm for Sirius.

Tuesday, May 13

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 7:30am.
Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL) to report preliminary Q2 results and outlook at 2pm.
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.

Wednesday, May 14

FCC Open Commission Meeting at 9:30am.
SEC Open Commission Meeting at 10:00am.
Macy's, Inc. (NYSE: M) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 10:30am.
Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.

Thursday, May 15

FERC Open Commission Meeting at 10:00am.
Hewlett Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 5:00pm.

Friday, May 16

PDUFA date for Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SLXP)'s Colazal for treating mild to moderate ulcerative colitis.
Landstar System (NASDAQ: LSTR) to give mid-quarter update conference call.

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What the charts of these 20 stocks are trying to tell you

Timothy Sykes — 2008-03-31T12:28:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), General Electric (GE), Wal-Mart (WMT), Intel (INTC), Ford Motor (F), Home Depot (HD), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Applied Materials (AMAT), Bank of America (BAC), Merrill Lynch (MER), Wachovia Corp (WB), Washington Mutual (WM), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Stocks to Buy, Stocks to Sell

Even in these uncertain times, there are stocks that have far better odds of outperforming than others. Yup, for a minute, just forget about all the different industries, economic guessing games, earnings-valuation time lags and the rest of the market randomness that makes stock picking so difficult and "market gurus" so ineffective. Focus instead on the incredibly telling stock charts of these companies:

Bullish Charts:

General Electric Co (NYSE: GE)
Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: GILD)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT)
Nabors Industries Ltd (NYSE: NBR)
Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD)

Bearish Charts:

Merrill Lynch & Co (NYSE: MER)
Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC)
Lehman Brothers Holdings (NYSE: LEH)
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI)
Ford Motor (NYSE: F)
Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC)
Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ: AMAT)
Wachovia Corp (NYSE: WB)
Washington Mutual Inc (NYSE: WM)

The bullish charts distinguish themselves by breaking above their recent price ranges. Stocks like Gilead Sciences, Nabors Industries and Wal-Mart Stores are enjoying multi-month breakouts.

While investors in stocks with bearish-looking charts like Merrill Lynch, Sirius Satellite Radio and Applied Materials have seen the downtrends, even with the recent bounces, hold firmly in place and now their pullbacks have also been steeper.

I know what you're thinking -- this is just short-term technical analysis mumbo jumbo. You prefer "investing in solid companies for the long haul." I have no problem with long-term investing -- okay, maybe a little -- but that doesn't mean you should ignore what these charts are telling us. After all, investors should care only about stock performance, not company quality!

Disclosure: I have no positions in any of these stocks--as I preach on my blog, I prefer trading more predictable smallcaps and microcaps.

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Executive pay disclosure rules lead to obfuscation

Zac Bissonnette — 2008-03-23T09:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Management, Applied Materials (AMAT)

The Wall Street Journal takes an amusing look at the results of SEC efforts to require more detailed and meaningful disclosure about executive pay. Referring to Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), the Journal reports that "this year, it expanded by 76% the word count of its proxy's compensation section. In all, the compensation section contains 16,245 words -- twice the length of the U.S. Constitution and its 27 Amendments -- along with 10 formulas, 10 tables and 155 percent signs."

The result is a document that's incredibly confusing, full of formulas like this one:

Weighted Score = (Performance Measure 1 x Weight as Percentage) + (Performance Measure 2 x Weight as Percentage).

But in a way, we shouldn't be surprised. Applied Materials has paid its executives millions in compensation, but its stock price is lower than it was in 2001!

The reason that such long pay disclosures are required is that there is no particularly reasonable way to explain why top executives were paid millions while shareholders lost money. To use the random walk analogy, it's like trying to ask a drunk staggering around in a field why he's walking in the path he's walking. He's drunk! It can't possibly make sense.

If a company needs 16,245 words to explain why it paid its executives the amount it paid them, they're most likely full of crap.

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Applied Materials (AMAT) lifted by LCD TV predictions

Brent Archer — 2008-03-10T13:06:00+00:00

Filed under: Good news, Industry, Applied Materials (AMAT), Circuit City Stores (CC), Options, Technical Analysis

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) shares are rising after the market has gotten some positive news for companies connected to LCD TVs. Circuit City (NYSE: CC) CEO Philip Schoonover predicted in an interview with the AP that 2008 will see high growth in TV sales as a result of the FCC's mandate that broadcasters switch to digital format in February 2009. This could be good news for AMAT, which makes equipment to fabricate thin film transistor LCDs for televisions. If you think that the company won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on AMAT.

After hitting a one-year high of $23.00 in August, the stock hit a one-year low of $16.13 in January. AMAT opened this morning at $20.28. So far today the stock has hit a low of $20.23 and a high of $20.45. As of 12:15, AMAT is trading at $20.35, up 26 cents (1.3%). The chart for AMAT looks bullish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a July bull-put credit spread below the $16 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. This particular trade will make an 11.1% return in just four and a half months as long as AMAT is above $16 at July expiration. Applied Materials would have to fall by more than 21% before we would start to lose money.

AMAT hasn't been below $16 at all in the past year and has shown support around $19 recently. This trade could be risky if the economic situation continues to worsen, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find at its 50-day moving average, which is around $18 and rising.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in AMAT or CC.

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Earnings highlights: GM, Comcast, UBS, Best Buy, Hasbro, Marriott, and others

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-02-16T09:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, General Motors (GM), Applied Materials (AMAT), Best Buy (BBY), Campbell Soup (CPB), Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), Chipotle Mexican Grill'A' (CMG), Hasbro Inc (HAS), Marriott Intl'A' (MAR), Jones Apparel Group (JNY)

Here are some highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) first-quarter profits fell due to market conditions.
Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) lowered its earnings forecast on declining sales.
Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) posted unexciting second-quarter results, but shares rose anyway.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) posted solid results but fell short of expecations.
Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) beat expectations and annouced it first dividend in a decade.
Denny's Corp. (NASDAQ: DENN) fourth-quarter results were dragged down by the sale of restaurants.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) posted a record loss and made a buyout offer to union employees.
Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS) post better-than-expected fourth-quarter results on popularity of the Transformers.
Jones Apparel Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY) narrowed its loss in the fourth quarter as restructuring continued.
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: LGF) missed earnings estimates despite strong revenue growth.
Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR) profit fell on losses from discontinued operations.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE: TAP) beat estimates as profits rose 75%.
PolyOne Corp. (NYSE: POL) beat expectations and raised its guidance.
Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE: SGP) beat expectations, excluding a charge for acquistion costs.
UBS (NYSE: UBS) posted a big loss on write-downs due to the subprime crisis.
VNUS Medical Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: VNUS) beat expectations on strength overseas.
World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) beat expectations despite weakness in its movie business.

Also, Jim Cramer defends his interest in GM after its record loss.

Upcoming results to watch for include Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX), Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI), MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM), JCPenney (NYSE: JCP), and Safeway (NYSE: SWY).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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