Posts for Ticker ‘BKS’

Barnes & Noble (BKS) Runs Out Of E-Readers: Amazon (AMZN) Stands Alone

Sony (NYSE:SNE) said it might not have its e-reader, the Daily Edition Reader, ready to ship before Christmas. It has given customers a range of dates for availability of its product that could be as early as December 18 or as late as January 8.

Now, Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) has come up short on the inventory of units for its device–the Nook. The book retailer said, “Preorders have exceeded our expectations.”

Barnes & Noble and Sony came into the e-reader market to challenge the extremely successful Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle which has established a large enough market to prove the devices are popular. Several research firms say that they expect e-reader sales to hit three million this holiday season. Amazon is the only competitor in the field which has effectively managed its inventory. That leaves Barnes & Noble and Sony with little more than the embarrassment of botched launches. Read More »

Next Week’s Top 10 Earnings on Deck (HPQ, TSN, CPB, LDK, TECD, BKS, BGP, JCG, DLTR, DE)

Earnings season has mostly wound down, but as always at least some major companies are reporting earnings.  Some are actually market-movers as well and it is a short week with earnings out only Monday and Tuesday, with a few on Wednesday.  On deck are Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN), Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB), LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), Tech Data Corp. (NASDAQ: TECD), Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP), J. Crew Group, Inc. (NYSE: JCG), Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR), and Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE).

We have included estimates from Thomson Reuters, relative data on peers and recent developments, and relative performance on each where it was applicable.
Read More »

24/7 Wall St. TV: Sony e-Reader To Ship Late Adding To Company Woes

The management at Sony (NYSE:SNE) looks more and more like “The Gang That Couldn’t Shot Straight.” Its TV screen business is losing money. Most months, sales of the PS3 fall behind those of the Microsoft (NYSE:MSFT) Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.

Sony appears to have a promising new product in its Daily Edition Reader, the company’s e-reader offering. The device puts it into competition with market leader Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and its popular Kindle, but Sony still have the consumer electronics brand power to give it a reasonable change to be a force in the e-book industry.

It would be nice if Sony could get its product out for the holidays. Read More »

Media Digest 11/18/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters:   Thain regrets nothing he did at Merrill Lynch and during its merger with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).

Reuters:   Trump put his support to the bondholders of his casino business.

FT:   A Chinese court ruled against Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in an intellectual property case. Read More »

Today’s Best Market Rumors (10/21/2009) (TWX)(AAPL)(BKS)

newspaperUpdated throughout the day.

Updated at 1.11 PM EST:  Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) will sell First Republic for $1 billion.  (The Deal)

Updated 1.05 PM EST:  Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) may be teaming up with record labels to launch a music service  (Reuters)

Updated 1.00 PM EST: Credit Suisse says Orbitz (NYSE:OWW) may be a takeover target  (Barron’s)

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) knew about Merrill Lynch losses as early as November.  (Bloomberg)

The new Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) e-reader will run the Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android OS   (Ars Technica).

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will soon release Mac OS X 10.6.2 (MacRumors)

Congressional officials want to talk to three banking officials in Massachusetts before continuing to pursue their investigation of the Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) buy-out of Merrill Lynch  (The Boston Globe)

Small online financial sites may soon be more valuable than Fortune Magazine (NYSE:TWX)  (The Deal)

The housing market may have bottomed (CNBC)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The 100 Hardest Working Brands In The World

hersheyThere are a number of ways to rank brand values. One of the most important is the level at which a brand contributes to the market value of a public company.

24/7 Wall St. asked Corebrand, the brand research and consulting firm, to look at the top 100 brands based their contribution to market capitalizaton. Using this method, the hardest working brand was Hershey (NYSE:HSY), followed  by Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG)

Corebrand described the process briefly to 24/7 Wall. St.

24/7 Wall St.: Corebard often refers to the brands on this list as the”hardest working brands”. How did you come to that description?

Corebrand: There are a lot of people measuring and examining the “strongest brands” or the “most valuable brands”.  Our opinion is that examining one without the other is somewhat meaningless.  How “strong” a brand is nice to know but not very relevant unless you understand how that strength benefits business.  Similarly, “value” is little more than a measure of corporate size unless you understand the drivers of that value and how to influence it. By examining the strength of the brand and it’s contribution to total market value, we can help companies and their leadership manage that strength and value over time.

24/7 Wall St.: Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having a brand value be a very large percentage of market cap in the present and as an indication of a company’s future performance?

Corebrand: The brand will need to be in balance with the rest of the company’s assets.  A company should strive to have it’s brand strong enough to fend off competitors or changing market conditions but not so strong that it becomes overly dependent on the brand as a single driver of value.  If a company can achieve and maintain its appropriate maximum strength without becoming over-dependent, it will see greater returns in bull markets and retain greater value in bear markets.

The list: Read More »

Media Digest (10/20/2009) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) beat earnings forecasts.

Reuters:   The IRS is probing some homebuyers’ tax credit gains.

Reuters:   The US is ready to bring more insider trading cases.

Reuters:   More US companies are cutting bonuses. Read More »

Wal-Mart (WMT) Joins E-Book Wars

WMTThe competition in the e-reader and e-book industries gets more brutal by the day. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is the e-reader leader because of the success of its Kindle. Other companies including Sony (NYSE:SNE) have come out with products of their own and price cuts have already begun, presumably as a tactic to gain market share.

The e-book business is also becoming much more competitive. The largest book retailer in the country, Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS), has increased its presence in the sector in which Amazon is the clear leader. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has announced that it will launch an online bookstore.

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), which has one of the most visited e-commerce sites in the US, has launched a new program to sharply increase it market share in the e-book business. Read More »

Google (GOOG) Looks For Amazon’s (AMZN) Weakness

nokToo many companies want to compete with Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) relatively successful Kindle unit, although investors are concerned that the devices, priced at $249, will never have mass market appeal.

Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) is in the process of launching an e-reader to help it sell electronic content. The chain needs something to offset falling store sales. Read More »

Media Digest (10/9/2009) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Chinese investors are holding a large amount of gold.

Reuters:   Bernanke sees tighter policies as the economy improves.

Reuters:   The Congressional Oversight Panel says that the US plan to help homeowners with mortgages is not enough.

Reuters:   The FDIC questioned a review of Citigroup (NYSE:C) management. Read More »

The Rise Of The Kindle And The Fall Of Literacy

TVJeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon (NYSE:AMZN), is being praised as the man who has invented the next big and important electronic device. That category includes the Sony (NYSE:SNE) PS2, the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPod, and the Nintendo Wii. The iPod has sold 200 million units worldwide. That, in the nomenclature of the electronics industry, makes it a once in a generation success, a truly mass market product. Read More »

Amazon (AMZN) Kindle And Sony (SNE) E-Readers Wildly Overpriced

nokThe e-reader market which has been the subject of so much media attention may be going through a growth spurt now, but that is not likely to last. Sony (SNE) and Amazon (AMZN) may find that their sales of products like the Kindle will fall apart as the holidays approach.

Research from Forrester says that the average price that consumers are willing to pay for e-readers is only $91. The average price at which most consumers would walk away from buying as e-reader altogether is $151. The price of a standard Kindle 6″ wireless reader is $299. Read More »

Media Digest 8/11/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The Congressional Oversight Panel said the Treasury should do more to get toxic assets off bank balance sheets.

Reuters:   A federal judge still refuses to sign off on an SEC deal with Bank of America (BAC) and the SEC to settle charges regarding Merrill Lynch bonus payments.

Reuters:   Rio Tinto (RTP) says that there is no evidence against its employees detained in China. Read More »

Sony (SNE), Always Late And Always A Loser, Gets Into E-Reader Market

TVSony (SNE) has had one hit product in the thirty years since it launched the Walkman. That product was the PlayStation 2. Microsoft (MSFT) and Nintendo bull-dozed Sony out of its position as the leader in game consoles and the PS3 has never come close to matching the success of its predecessor.

Sony today announced that it would enter the e-reader business, a part of the consumer electronics industry that is dominated by the Amazon (AMZN) Kindle which was originally released in early November of last year. Sony has given itself the chance to be tardy to a market dominated by the largest online retail outlet in the world, a website that was founded as a place to sell books online. Read More »

Amazon (AMZN) Kindle Rival Gets AT&T (T) Help

TVAmazon’s (AMZN) Kindle e-book reader has access to the Internet through the Sprint (S) network. The e-commerce firm’s rival, Barnes & Noble (BKS), has done the Kindle one better. It will connect to the Web using the AT&T (T) network, which by most accounts is superior to Sprint’s.

According to the AP, “AT&T’s network is compatible with overseas carriers, which means that the Plastic Logic reader could work internationally, unlike the Kindle.” Read More »

Media Digest 7/21/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Microsoft (MSFT) is putting more R&D in India.

Reuters:   CIT (CIT) confirmed that it rasied $3 billion.

Reuters:   Bernanke said Fed can control inflation.

Reuters:   California lawmakers agreed to a state budget.

Reuters:   Small business  groups are  seeking help to keep companies afloat.

Reuters:    TI (TXN) profits and outlook beat expectations. Read More »

Media Digest 7/14/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Riots in China show the nation is in flux.

Reuters:   The US is considering mortgage aid for the unemployed.

Reuters:   The June budget gap was $94 billion.

Reuters:   Rattner stepped down from the auto task force.

Reuters:   The spy probe of Rio Tinto (RTP) workers in China grew.

Reuters:   A new consumer agency won’t cause bank fee hikes. Read More »

Media Digest 6/19/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Investors are putting money into emerging markets except Eastern Europe.

Reuters:   Stanford will go to court for a $8 billion fraud allegation.

Reuters:   RIM’s (RIMM) outlook disappointed.

Reuters:   CEOs at bailed out companies used corporate jets for private trips.

Reuters:   Congress may not accept all of Obama’s financial reforms. Read More »

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (BKS, BCO, K, NAV, OCR, SONS, TKC)

Money_stack_picThese are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades we have seen early this Friday morning:

  • Barnes & Noble (BKS) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Brink’s (BCO) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  • Kellogg (K) Raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Navistar (NAV) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
  • Omnicare (OCR) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
  • Sonus Networks (SONS) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • Turkcell (TKC) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Jon C. Ogg
January 16, 2009

Media Digest 1/9/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

EmpireAccording to Reuters, the world is waiting on US jobs data to measure recession.

Reuters reports that a Congressional panel is upping criticism of the Treasury.

Reuters reports that corporate fraud scandals can happen anywhere.

Reuters reports that Moody’s warned on Honda (HMC).

Reuters reports that Yahoo (YHOO) is close to naming a new CEO.

Read More »