24/7 Wall St. » HELE

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (PM, SNDK, BIDU, AMZN, ALU, ELY, CLWR, DECK, WY, TRP, GT, PG, NWL, MRK, HELE, F, COV, CVX, MDRX, EXPE, WDC)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:05:47 +0000

Markets opened higher this morning following a lower-than-expected GDP growth estimate of 2.2%. That was weaker, but not awful (our coverage here). The consumer sentiment survey rose a couple of ticks in April, but Americans still believe the future will better than the present (our coverage here). The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.25% at 78.725. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.07% at 682.08, with commodities mostly higher on the slightly weaker dollar. WTI crude oil closed up 0.4% at $104.93/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -0.23% at $119.64/barrel. Gold settled up 0.3% today, at $1,664.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 24 points to 13,228.24 (0.18%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 19 points (0.61%) to 3,069.20, and the S&P 500 rose 0.24% or more than 3 points to 1,403.37.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $94 at Argus; SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) raised to ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) maintained as ‘neutral’ but target price cut at Credit Suisse; Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/ML, Nomura, and Goldman Sachs; and Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) maintained as ‘underperform’ and estimates cut at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Amazon.com is up 15.6% at $226.64; Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) is down -14.9% at $5.94 (our coverage here); Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is down -2.7% at $1.43; Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK) is down -25.5% at $51.78 after posting a new 52-week low of $51.03 (our coverage here); Weyerhaeuser Corp. (NYSE: WY) is down -0.3% at $20.81 (more coverage here); TransCanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP) is up 0.5% at $44.01; The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) is down -5.1% at $11.32; Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) is down -4% at $64.18 (our coverage here); Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE: NWL) is up 3.6% at $18.61; Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) is down -0.2% at $38.38; Helen of Troy Ltd. (NASDAQ: HELE) is up 4.4% at $35.33; Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is down -2.1% at $11.62 (our coverage here); and Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) is up 0.5% at $55.32.

Be sure to look at our list of next week’s big earnings.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) is up 0.2% at $106.44. The supermajor oil company reported earnings in line, but production was down. More coverage here.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) is down -36% at $10.25 after posting a new 52-week low of $9.00. The healthcare services provider fired its chairman, and the list of woes goes on. More coverage here.

Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is up 24.4% at $40.59. The Internet travel company posted better-than-expected quarterly results. More coverage here.

Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) is down -14.2% at $37.83. The disk drive maker had solid earnings, but worries abound about next quarter. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Monday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Personal income and spending
9:45 a.m. – Chicago PMI
10:30 a.m. – Dallas Fed manufacturing survey
11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month bill auctions
3:00 p.m. – Farm Prices

Have a great weekend!

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ALU, AMZN, BIDU, CLWR, COV, CVX, DECK, ELY, EXPE, F, GT, HELE, MDRX, MRK, NWL, PG, PM, SNDK, TRP, WDC, WY

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (BRCM, NFLX, NOK, GOOG, VMW, STZ, MON, WOR, HELE, DNDN, ACOM, ZUMZ, OSH, BKS, AEO)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:05:34 +0000

US markets opened lower today and finally managed modest gains by mid-afternoon. News from Europe on the reluctance of banks to lend, coupled with an higher-than-expected yield on a French bond issue were not outweighed by encouraging employment news in the US. The ISM services index came in lower than expected, and mid-morning reports on US energy inventories sent natural gas and WTI crude oil prices lower. WTI crude is down about -1.4% at $101.73/barrel and Brent crude is down about -1% at $112.65/barrel. Gold is up more than 0.5% at $1,621.80.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 3 points to 12,415.70 (-0.02%), the NASDAQ rose more than 21 points (0.81%) to 2,669.86, and the S&P 500 rose 0.29% or nearly 4 points to 1,281.05.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) maintained ‘buy’ with a $46 target price at Argus; Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) maintained ‘underperform’ and estimates cut at Needham; Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) cut to ‘hold’ at Benchmark; and VMWare Inc. (NYSE: VMW) started as ‘buy’ at Sterne Agee.

Earnings reports of note since markets closed yesterday include: Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) is down about -3.5% at $19.72; Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) is up more than 5.5% at $76.70; Worthington Industries Inc. (NYSE: WOR) is down -0.6% at $17.55; and Helen of Troy Ltd. (NASDAQ: HELE) is up more than 4% at $32.73.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is up nearly 40% at $10.61. The biotech company reported a sales jump of 25% for its prostate cancer drug. The company is one of our top biotech picks for 2012.

Ancestry.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOM) is up more than 21% at $27.69. The internet genealogy provider reported a 22% rise in subscribers and forecast sales growth for 2012 of more than 14%.

Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) is up nearly 17% at $30.74 after posting a new 52-week high earlier of $30.94. The sports apparel company reported a 10% same-store sales gain and raised guidance this morning. See our coverage here.

Orchard Supply Hardware Stores (NYSE: OSH) is down nearly -25% at $16.70. The home improvement store held its IPO on Monday and today provided a weak outlook for 2012.

Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is down more than -17% at $11.25. The bookstore chain said today that it is considering spinning off its Nook e-reader unit as a strategic option. Our coverage is available here.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is down more than -10% at $13.61. The clothing retailer slashed its fourth-quarter profit guidance by nearly a quarter.

Stay tuned for Friday. Federal Reserve Governors Elizabeth Duke and Sarah Bloom Raskin are speaking, as are Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and New York Fed President William Dudley. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Employment reports, including non-farm payrolls
3:00 p.m. – US Treasury STRIPS

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ACOM, AEO, BKS, BRCM, DNDN, GOOG, HELE, MON, NFLX, NOK, OSH, STZ, VMW, WOR, ZUMZ

Top Earnings Previews For The Week Ahead (ATVI, HL, LDK, RAX, SLW, TSN, CSIQ, DF, HELE, JASO, MCP, STEC, DIS, WEN, MT, CSCO, M, SYMC, TEVA, TM, JWN, NVDA, SPWRA, URBN)

Administrator — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:35:59 +0000

Earnings season is slowing down as we have over 80% of the S&P 500 companies having reported earnings for the first quarter of 2011. We do still have key companies reporting earnings and we wanted to highlight these with detailed previews. You will notice at the end that many solar companies are reporting earnings as well.

Our key earnings previews are in the following: Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI); Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL); LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK); Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX); Silver Wheaton Corporation (NYSE: SLW); Tyson Food, Inc. (NYSE: TSN); Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ); Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF); Helen of Troy Corporation (NASDAQ: HELE); JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO); Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP); STEC Inc. (NASDAQ: STEC); The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS); Wendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc. (NYSE: WEN); ArcelorMittal SA (NYSE: MT); Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO); Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M); Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC); Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA); Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM); Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN); NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA); SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA); and Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN).

We have provided more detailed previews on the major stocks and the sector-moving stocks and just added in color on the rest. Included on all are price action and Thomson Reuters estimates.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) follows EA and expectations will be high now that EA performed well this last week. It reports on Monday after the Close of trading. Thomson Reuters has estimates of -$0.36 EPS and $515.06 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.15 EPS and $925.93 million in revenues. With shares at $21.78 late Friday the 52-week range is $14.06 to $22.17 and that $22.17 high was hit on Friday.

Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) will be key to watch after its big drop this last week. It is due to report Monday morning. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.13 EPS and $118.57 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.14 EPS and $124.43 million in revenues.

LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) reports Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.85 EPS and $783.87 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.70 EPS and $801.64 million in revenues. Shares were at $10.34 late Friday against a 52-week range of $4.97 to $15.10.

Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) reports Monday and Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.12 EPS and $226.26 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.13 EPS and $238.62 million in revenues. This will be one more high-flying cloud play on deck and with shares close to $43 late Friday its 52-week range is $15.15 to $46.49. With a super-high earnings multiple and a very strong performance, we think it has to beat estimates and raise guidance. If not, look out below. Also the company has said it wants to remain independent.

Silver Wheaton Corporation (NYSE: SLW) reports Monday and it has been very volatile with silver this last week. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.42 EPS and $199.23 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.51 EPS and $233.93 million in revenues. Shares were close to $36.00 late on Friday and the 52-week range is $17.00 to $47.60.

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) reports Monday and Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.43 EPS and $7.52 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.47 EPS and $8.05 billion in revenues. With flooding this last week and a tornado swarm the prior week, investors will want to know more on its outlook. SHares were around $19.00 late Friday and the 52-week range is $14.59 to $20.12.

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) reports Tuesday. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.41 EPS and $423.49 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.39 EPS and $437.31 million in revenues. Shares were at $9.75 late Friday against a 52-week range of $8.99 to $17.63.

Filed under: Calendar, Earnings, The Week Tagged: ATVI, CSCO, CSIQ, DF, DIS, HELE, HL, JASO, JWN, LDK, M, MCP, MT, NVDA, RAX, SLW, SPWRA, STEC, SYMC, TEVA, TM, TSN, URBN, WEN

Helen of Troy Makes Value Screen With Kaz Buyout (HELE, PG, HON)

Administrator — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:08:45 +0000

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ: HELE) is an unknown stock to many investors, but that appears to be changing after what most investors would skim over as news too small to matter. A merger announcement with it being the acquirer appears to be enough that this gets the stock on the map for those making value screens and those looking for value in consumer products. The personal care and consumer products company announced a definitive merger agreement to acquire the business of Kaz, Inc., for $260 million in cash. It sounds like nothing on the surface. When you look under the surface here, this just put Helen of Troy on the map as it is scoring some significant brands here. This deal further adds The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG), ties in with Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), and adds to a large brand portfolio.

While the deal is subject to certain closing working capital and other adjustments as well as regulatory approval, the target date for closure is December 31, 2010. How many companies rally when they are the acquiring company of a private company? The one issue that may prevent Helen of Troy from coming up in stock screens for value, despite its small market capitalization, is that it has not paid dividends.

Kaz is a Massachusetts-based health care and home environment consumer solutions company. Here is why this gets Helen of Troy on the map. It markets its products to leading retailers under a variety of brand names:

Vicks® and Braun® under license from The Procter & Gamble Company;
Honeywell® under license from Honeywell;
and Stinger®, Softheat® and Kaz®, owned by Kaz, Inc.

The company’s product categories listed in its release include “vaporizers, humidifiers, digital, infrared and non-invasive thermometers, blood pressure monitors, hot/cold health care therapy, air purifiers, seasonal humidifiers, heaters, fans, and dehumidifiers, and lawn and garden products.”

Sales for the next twelve months ending December 31, 2011 are expected to exceed $400 million. The release also shows that the combined companies will have annual net sales of more than $1.1 billion in fiscal 2012. So why does this deal matter so much? Currently, the few estimates that exist from Thomson Reuters are projected at $717.26 million for fiscal FEB-2011 and $749.24 million for FEB-2012. This now throws the company far enough $1 billion in annual consumer product sales. That in turn should bring on more analyst coverage and more interest as the company will grow so much from this.

We do want to warn that there are only a handful of estimates, and that creates less of a consensus than consensus of widely followed companies. Going past the sale, the earnings multiple here is very low at close to 10-times earnings. For FEB-2011, the estimate is $2.74 EPS. That consensus is $2.96 for FEB-2012. If you average those two out for a forward earnings multiple, the $2.85 generates a forward earnings multiple of less than 10-times forward earnings. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Helen of Troy’s earnings per share in fiscal year ending February 29, 2012. In short, the ‘consensus estimate’ is even lower than reality.

Helen of Troy noted that it will finance the deal through its working capital and through debt financing committed by Bank of America. There is something else to consider for 2011 and beyond. Those forward multiples are after an 18% gain on the day. Shares are up 18.3% at $27.85 against a 52-week range of $20.98 to $28.98. Wedbush just downgraded Helen of Troy to an “Underperform” rating on December 3. Whoops!

This was already a small cap value stock for most investment screens. Now it is that much more on the map.

JON C. OGG

Here is what Helen of Troy showws as its current product portfolio:

Filed under: Consumer Goods, Mergers and Buy Outs, Value Investing Tagged: HELE

Top Anlayst Upgrades (CAH, CENT, CHS, GPS, HELE, PFG, STEC, TJX)

247wallst — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:33:53 +0000

These are some of the top pre-market analyst comments and analyst upgrades from Wall Street early this Tuesday morning:

Cardinal Health (CAH) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
Central Garden (CENT) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
Chico’s FAS (CHS) Raised to Equal Weight at Barclays.
Gap Inc. (GPS) Raised to Equal Weight at Barclays.
Helen of Troy (HELE) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
Principal Financial (PFG) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
STEC (STEC) Raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
TJX Cos. (TJX) Raised to Overweight at Barclays; Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: CAH, CENT, CHS, GPS, HELE, PFG, STEC, TJX

The 52-Week Low Club (HELE)(ISRG)(VAR)

247wallst — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:04:50 +0000

Helen of Troy (HELE) Bad quarter. Sells off to $`12.01 from 52-week high of $24.70.

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) Weak sales numbers. Drops to $99.75 from 52-week low of $357.98.

Varian (VAR) Healthcare equipment companies get hurt on spending drop expectations. Falls to $30.04 from 52-week high of $65.84.

Douglas A. McIntyre

–

Posted in HI/LOW Tagged: HELE, ISRG, VAR

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (CENT, HELE, INTC, LBY, MET, MNST, POZN, PRU)

247wallst — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:48:22 +0000

These are some of the top analyst downgrades we are seeing early this Monday morning:

Central Garden & Pet (CENT) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Helen of Troy (HELE) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Intel (INTC) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Libbey (LBY) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
MetLife (MET) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Monster Worldwide (MNST) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Pozen (POZN) Cut to Hold at Citigroup, Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Prudential Financial (PRU) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg
October 20, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: CENT, HELE, INTC, LBY, MET, MNST, POZN, PRU

Pre-Market Stock News (May 11, 2007)

247wallst — Fri, 11 May 2007 06:59:59 +0000

(AAPL) Apple’s talks about the Beatles are reportedly close to being settled.
(ALL) Allstate is going to stop selling homeowners insurance policies in California.
(ALU) Alcatel-Lucent earnings came out, forecasts 10% revenue gains; shares trading up 1.5% in overseas trading.
(AMGN) Amgen trading down another 3% pre-market after 4 downgrades after negative FDA news yesterday.
(BMY) Bristol-Myers Squibb settled the DOJ Plavix investigation.
(BOT) CBOT may now be considering the ICE bid over the CME bid according to WSJ.
(BRLC) Syntax-Brillian fell 15% after missing earnings and issuing even more shares in offering.
(CRXX) CombinatoRx noted positively in Business Week.
(DNDN) Dendreon trading down 5% after conference call.
(FL) Foot Locker shares fell almost 10% on an earnings warning.
(HELE) Helen of Troy $0.30 EPS vs $0.27e.
(JOBS) 51job traded up 7% after beating expectations.
(MOVI) Movie Gallery -$0.47 EPS vs -$0.53e.
(NVDA) NVIDIA trading up 5% after beating earnings and strong guidance.
(NWS) News Corp could reach $30.00 if it buys Down Jones according to Business Week.
(STI) Sun Trust Banks saw enough call option buying activity yesterday that it is being considered potentially as takeover speculation.
(THQI) THQ Interactive fell 4% after outlook disappointed the bulls.
(WCRX) Warner Chilcott $0.23 EPS vs $0.18e.
(WDC) Western Digital is likely to see its multiple expand according to Barron’s.
(WEN) Wendy’s largest holder is trying harder to get the company to sell itself.

Jon C. Ogg
May 11, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.