24/7 Wall St. » JOSB

100 Best Small Companies in America

Brian Zajac — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:22:08 +0000

For the first time, 24/7 Wall St. presents the 100 Best Small Companies in America. To be considered, companies had to be publicly traded with more than $5 million and less than $1 billion in revenue. 24/7 Wall St.’s inaugural 100 Best Small Companies in America is comprised of America’s best publicly traded companies marked by outsized revenue, growth and innovation. Data for the analysis was provided by S&P Capital IQ.

Read the 100 Best Small Companies in America

The initial list based on the universe of public corporations with less than $1 billion in revenue. These companies are among the best for their size because they have increased revenue over the period covered by our analysis. Their relatively small sizes and robust sales expansion rates also makes it likely many will continue to grow even further, if the record of public company expansion is any example. Past growth does not mean all of these firms will prosper, but most on this list have been consistently profitable, which adds to the chances of future progress.

Small companies, our research shows, usually have one or two specialized divisions and are focused on one core market. For instance, Steve Madden, True Religion and rue 21 have all carved out a niche segment in the apparel and footwear market. Their lack of diversity could be a drawback because the companies rely completely on one set of products, but it can also mean that management can be laser focused on a single opportunity.

Another industry which is well represented on this list is niche healthcare. Once again, most of the firms in this sector which made the list are in only one business. Mesa Labs makes manufacturing quality control products for medical devices. It is a narrow market, and there is no guarantee that a large device manufacturer might not attack the same sector. Bio-Reference Laboratories provides testing services. Cantel Medical provides infection prevention and control devices. This infection prevention business appears to be a relatively small one, but the overall medical industry in the US is expanding at such a rapid rate and regulations are changing so quickly that some of these companies will prosper because of these changes. Given the state of American healthcare costs, not many people would be surprised to see healthcare firms on a list of fast growing companies

These corporations are also often willing to take calculated risks, in some case, as they strive to expand their bases. Retailers are a good example. Steve Madden, one of our companies, was started in 1990 with $1,100. The company has consistently added lines of apparel since then to increase revenue

Another reason to create this list is that 24/7 Wall St. recognizes that smaller companies continue to be a backbone of job growth. Corporations that are highly successful are roadmaps for the sort of industries, managements, and products and services which have done well recently. As recent access to capital has improved compared with access during the recession, well targeted and well run smaller businesses stand a much better chance of doing extremely well because they can tap pools of funding. Methodology: We ranked these companies largely based on their growth rates as well as on how they have performed financially in the recent past. The pace of these growth rates allowed us to make a final selection and rank the companies when growth was combined with eight other categories. The 100 companies on our list had a median 20% sales growth and 30% earnings per share growth over the last 12 months. Similarly, the median stock price return for the latest year for this group was 16%, which is double the return of the S&P 500 index over the same time.

While stock market performance is one of our ranking criteria, we did not remove companies for poor performance because smaller companies tend to have greater price swings than the overall market. We should point out that this is not an investment list for value seekers. Maintaining these lofty growth rates is not an easy task.

S&P Capital IQ provided us with corporate information, financial data and rankings based on a series of metrics. We started with a universe of 1,200 publicly traded, small companies, which we defined as having between $5 million and $1 billion in revenue over the last 12 months. To narrow this group down, we required that sales growth, earnings per share growth and return on equity to be greater than zero for both the latest 12 months and over the companies’ last five fiscal years. We also excluded companies whose stock price is lower than $5.This brought the size of the list to 164

The criteria we used to allow us to winnow the list to 100 companies based on a few items which included stock price. We then assigned a rank based on all of the above growth metrics and stock price returns over one and five years. For companies whose shares were not traded for five years, we used annualized figures from their first trade date. From these category rankings, each company was given an overall score that was used to produce the list.

Brian Zajac

The financial data below is from the latest available reporting period and price change is as of March 21, 2012.

Rank	Company	Sales	Sales Growth	EPS Growth	Price Change	Quotes
1	Bridgepoint Education Inc	$933m	31%	41%	36%	(NYSE: BPI)
2	SolarWinds Inc	$198m	30%	38%	73%	(NYSE: SWI)
3	Sturm Ruger & Co Inc.	$329m	29%	43%	100%	(NYSE: RGR)
4	Steven Madden Ltd	$987m	50%	26%	50%	(NASDAQ: SHOO)
5	Accretive Health Inc	$826m	36%	107%	-4%	(NYSE: AH)
6	IPG Photonics Corp	$474m	59%	113%	1%	(NASDAQ: IPGP)
7	Buffalo Wild Wings Inc	$784m	28%	30%	68%	(NASDAQ: BWLD)
8	Grand Canyon Education Inc	$427m	11%	47%	20%	(NASDAQ: LOPE)
9	LSB Industries Inc	$805m	32%	170%	5%	(NYSE: LXU)
10	Winmark Corp	$51m	25%	36%	48%	(NASDAQ: WINA)
11	Vera Bradley Inc	$461m	26%	25%	-19%	(NASDAQ: VRA)
12	Gordmans Stores Inc	$558m	7%	57%	20%	(NASDAQ: GMAN)
13	Wright Express Corp	$553m	42%	52%	27%	(NYSE: WXS)
14	rue21 Inc	$760m	20%	28%	-2%	(NASDAQ: RUE)
15	American Public Education Inc	$260m	31%	40%	-4%	(NASDAQ: APEI)
16	FleetCor Technologies Inc	$520m	20%	28%	18%	(NYSE: FLT)
17	Quality Systems Inc	$418m	25%	40%	8%	(NASDAQ: QSII)
18	Boston Beer Co Inc. (The)	$513m	11%	37%	15%	(NYSE: SAM)
19	IEC Electronics Corp	$139m	29%	25%	-37%	(AMEX: IEC)
20	Ebix Inc	$169m	28%	16%	-20%	(NASDAQ: EBIX)
21	America’s Car-Mart Inc	$378m	15%	28%	88%	(NASDAQ: CRMT)
22	Vitamin Shoppe Inc	$857m	14%	48%	33%	(NYSE: VSI)
23	Middleby Corp (The)	$856m	19%	30%	18%	(NASDAQ: MIDD)
24	Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc	$952m	16%	17%	17%	(NASDAQ: JOSB)
25	Mesa Laboratories Inc	$37m	29%	42%	62%	(NASDAQ: MLAB)

Filed under: Special Report Tagged: AH, APEI, BPI, BWLD, CMAN, CRMT, EBIX, FLT, INFA, IPGP, JOSB, LOPE, LXU, MIDD, MLAB, QSII, RGR, RUE, SAM, SHOO, SWI, VRA, WINA, WXS

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (DTV, KMI, VZ, WTW, NVDA, CBK, SNX, FDO, JOSB, MOS, RHT, SN, BBY, SHAW, CMC, AMLN, VRML)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:04:46 +0000

Markets opened nearly flat this morning but took a dive early and have muddled along the rest of the day in negative territory. This morning’s report on falling durable goods orders got things off on the wrong foot (our coverage here). The US crude oil commercial inventory grew by a larger-than-expected amount, pushing crude prices down significantly (our coverage here). The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.12% at 79.140. Commodities were mostly lower on the stronger dollar. WTI crude oil closed down about -1.9% at $105.41/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -1.09% at $124.17/barrel. Gold settled down -1.6% today, at $1,657.90/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 72 points to 13,126.06 (-0.54%), the NASDAQ fell more than 15 points (-0.49%) to 3,104.96, and the S&P 500 fell -0.49% or nearly 7 points to 1,405.54.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including DirecTV Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup and reiterated as ‘buy’ at Canaccord Genuity; Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) started as ‘equal weight’ at Morgan Stanley; Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) cut to ‘sector perform’ at RBC; Weight Watchers International Inc. (NYSE: WTW) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; and Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) raised to ‘market perform’ at JMP Securities.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Christopher & Banks Corp. (NYSE: CBK) is down -13% at $2.05 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.85 earlier today; Synnex Corp. (NYSE: SNX) is down -13% at $37.94 (more coverage here); Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) is up 0.6% at $58.58 (more coverage here); and Jos. A. Banks Clothiers Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) is down -8.7% at $49.77 (more coverage here). After markets close today the Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS), Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT), and Sanchez Energy Corp. (NYSE: SN) will report earnings. Before the markets open in the morning, we’ll get earnings from Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) and Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SHAW).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Commercial Metals Corp. (NYSE: CMC) is up 0.49%. The steel and metal fabricator posted better-than-expected earnings this morning. More coverage here.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN) is up more than 53%. The drug maker rejected a takeover bid. More coverage here.

Vermillion Inc. (NASDAQ: VRML) is up 19%. The drug maker received a patent approval today. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, and Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker are giving speeches. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – New unemployment benefits claims
8:30 a.m. – Corporate profits
10:30 a.m. – EIA natural gas storage report
11:00 a.m. – Kansas City Fed manufacturing index

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Analyst Calls, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AMLN, BBY, CBK, CMC, DTV, FDO, JOSB, KMI, MOS, NVDA, RHT, SHAW, SN, SNX, VRML, VZ, WTW

Short Sellers Call Victory Over Jos. A. Bank Earnings (JOSB)

Administrator — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:58:04 +0000

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) has been a controversial stock for years and years. The mens apparel retailer has been targeted by short sellers for years and years as many investors believe that their margins cannot hold up through time based upon the endless sales specials they run over and over. If today’s earnings reaction is any indicator, some clouds may be forming.

The company discussed a drop in customer visits along with unfavorable weather trends hurting sales for the current quarter. The company also discussed declines in both comparable store sales and direct marketing sales for the first eight weeks of the quarter. Sales of outerwear and cold weather merchandise were soft due to a winter season that was one of the warmest on record.

If you just looked at the numbers, the company seemed to do well as income for 2011 rose to $97.5 million, or $3.49 in earnings per share from a previous year’s earnings of $85.8 million, or $3.08 per share. Its sales were even up 14% to $979.9 million. The report was in-line with earnings estimates but a tad soft on sales.

NASDAQ lists the short interest as of March 15 settlement as being 4.02 million shares. This is over 11.5 days worth of average trading volume. The short interest has come down over the last year and the peak was over 5.5 million shares last summer.

Shares are down almost 8% at $50.15 and the 52-week trading range is $40.46 to $57.14. The consensus analyst target from Thomson Reuters is currently listed as $59.00 per share.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Apparel, Earnings, Earnings Warning, Retail, Short Interest Tagged: JOSB

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (HD, GMCR, NFLX, STP, RIG, CPN, AEO, JOSB, SDRL, ARO, KKD, ZOLT, AATI, PCX, AVL, JASO, SFLY)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:07:58 +0000

Strong reports from the Chicago purchasing managers index and pending home sales juiced the equity markets this morning, and the gains held up throughout the day. Part of the bounce is due to a lowering of China’s capital reserves requirements on its banks and to a weaker dollar. Crude oil prices rose nearly 2% this morning, but the EIA report of a large inventory increase sent prices back down by mid-morning. WTI crude is trading at $100.27/barrel, after posting a high this morning of $101.75/barrel. Gold is up sharply, at $1,745.30, a rise of nearly 2%. The three major indexes have all been trading more than 3% higher for virtually the whole day.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 489 points to 12,044.55 (4.23%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 105 points (4.17%) to 2,620.34, and the S&P 500 rose 4.33% or nearly 52 points to 1,246.94.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $46 price target at Argus. Other ratings actions included Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $94 price target at Canaccord Genuity; Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) cut to ‘underperform’ at Wedbush; Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) reiterated as ‘hold’ at Argus; Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; and Calpine Corp. (NYSE: CPN) cut to ‘hold’ at Jefferies. See our story on Transocean’s stock offering and proposed debt offering.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is up 3.3%, at $13.87; The Fresh Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) is up 5.7%, at $38.73; Jos. A. Banks Clothiers, Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) is down -6%, at $48.09; and SeaDrill Ltd. (NYSE: SDRL) is up 6.3%, at $34.82. After markets close today, Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE: ARO) and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) will report earnings.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Zoltec Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZOLT) is up 41.5%, at $8.11. The advanced materials maker reported better-than-expected earnings after markets closed yesterday.

Advanced Analogics Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AATI) is up 32.5%, at $5.75. The power management chip maker is being acquired by Skyworks Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS) for $258.6 million, or about $6.05/share.

Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE: PCX) is up 18.7%, at $10.30. This coal miner, like virtually all its competitors, is down about -40% for the past 12 months. There’s no news to justify today’s price jump, but the company’s thermal coal does sell well in cold weather.

Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX: AVL) is up 20.3%, at $3.26. The rare earths miner made this big move on no news, but competitor Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) did a deal with two Japanese companies to manufacture very powerful magnets in Japan for use in wind turbines and other high-tech products.

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is up 16.6%, at $1.80. The solar PV maker is among several Chinese solar companies moving up today, no doubt as these are considered the most likely to survive a shakeout in the solar manufacturing sector.

Shutterfly, Inc. (NASDAQ: SFLY) is down -12%, at $27.02, after posting a new 52-week low of $26.93 earlier today. The social media company is facing intense competition for its on-line photo products.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Here’s a list of other noteworthy events scheduled for tomorrow(all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – New unemployment claims
9:45 a.m. – Bloomberg consumer comfort index
10:00 a.m – Industrial Supply Management manufacturing index
10:30 a.m. – EIA natural gas weekly report
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet
4:30 p.m. – Money supply report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AATI, AEO, ARO, AVL, CPN, GMCR, HD, JASO, JOSB, KKD, NFLX, PCX, RIG, SDRL, SFLY, STP, ZOLT

24/7 Wall St. Preview – Week of November 28 – December 2 (ZOLT, TIF, ARO, AEO, BKS, JOSB, LULU, ZUMZ, BIG)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:01:36 +0000

With one holiday down and another on deck, the coming week offers something of a breather. Most quarterly earnings are out already, but there are several due next week that could be interesting. The following companies are among those reporting earnings next week: Zoltek Companies Inc. (NASDAQ: ZOLT), Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF), Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: ARO), American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO), Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS), Jos. A. Banks Clothiers Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU), Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ), and Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG).

Tuesday

Zoltek Companies Inc. (NASDAQ: ZOLT) makes the lightweight carbon fiber composites used in a variety of high-tech products including wind turbine blades. The company has posted four straight quarterly EPS losses and this quarter is not expected to reverse that trend. Zoltek is expected to post an EPS loss of -$0.02 on revenue of $44.5 million for its third quarter ended in September.

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is expected to ride the wave of better earnings at luxury retailers. The consensus estimate is for EPS of $0.61 on revenue of $802.1 million, compared with EPS of $0.46 on revenue of $681.7 million in the same period a year ago.

Wednesday

Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: ARO) is a mall-based retailer of teen clothing. The consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.28 on revenue of $576.4 million. A year ago the company posted EPS of $0.67 on revenue of $602.8 million. The company posted an EPS loss of -$0.02 in its July quarter this year.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is another clothing retailer with offerings aimed at a wider range of ages than is Aeropostale. The consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.27 on $781 million in revenue. In the same period last year, American Eagle posted EPS of $0.29 on $751.5 million in revenue.

Thursday

Jos. A. Banks Clothiers Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) is a men’s clothing store with more than 500 outlets in 42 states. The consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.51 on $196 million in revenue. A year ago, Banks posted EPS of $0.45 on $173.3 million in revenue.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) makes athletic apparel for men, women, and children and operates about 148 stores in the US, Canada, and Australia. The consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.25 on $235.9 million in revenue. In the same period last year, the company posted EPS of $0.18 on revenue of $175.8 million.

Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) offers athletic apparel and other sporting goods to teens and young adults at more than 430 stores in the US and Canada. The consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.42 on $153.1 million in revenue. Last year the company posted EPS of $0.40 on revenue of $135.9 million.

Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) has been integrating its acquisition of the assets of the failed Borders chain and recently introduced a new version of its Nook e-reader to compete with the new Kindles from Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN). The consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.02 on $1.98 billion in revenue. Last year in the same period the company posted an EPS loss of -$0.13 on revenue of $1.91 billion. B&N has missed EPS estimates for the last four quarters.

Friday

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) operates more than 1,500 closeout stores in the US and Canada. The consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.09 on $1.13 billion in revenue. A year ago the company posted earnings of $0.23 on $1.06 billion in revenue.

Other Happenings Next Week

On Monday we get the new home sales report from the federal government.

Tuesday sees the release of the latest Case-Schiller housing price index, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence index, the State Street Investor Confidence index, and speeches from two Federal Reserve Bank presidents, Janet Yellen and Narayana Kocherlakota.

On Wednesday the Mortgage Bankers Association reports purchase applications, the Challenger Job-cut report, the ADP employment report, the Chicago purchasing manager’s index (PMI), and the release of the Fed’s Beige Book.

Thursday’s reports include chain store sales, motor vehicle sales, the Industrial Supply Managment (ISM) manufacturing index, and a report on construction spending.

Friday closes out the week with the report from the Census Bureau and the Department of Labor on the employment situation.

Have a great weekend!

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Earnings, Industry, Luxury, Retail Tagged: AEO, ARO, BIG, BKS, JOSB, LULU, TIF, ZOLT, ZUMZ

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AGNC, NLY, CAB, CP, CIM, EDMC, FDX, FSLR, GS, HTS, IVR, JOSB, LQDT, MDR, ODFL, RIMM, SKS, TD, UPS)

Administrator — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:26:33 +0000

These are some of this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.

American Capital Agency Corp. (NASDAQ: AGNC) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Cabela’s, Inc. (NYSE: CAB) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE: CP) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Education Management Corporation (NASDAQ: EDMC) Raised to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Reiterated Buy with $140 target at Argus.
Goldman Sachs Group. Inc. (NYSE: GS) Maintained Outperform but cut estimates by Credit Suisse.
Hatteras Financial Corp (NYSE: HTS) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. (NYSE: IVR) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Jos. A Bank Clothiers Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) Called the value stock of the day at Zacks.
Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: LQDT) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
McDermott International (NYSE: MDR) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ: ODFL) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Maintained Neutral but raised target to $37 from $25 at BofA/ML.
Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) Maintained Buy with $14 target at Argus.
Toronto Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AGNC, CAB, CIM, CP, EDMC, FDX, FSLR, GS, HTS, IVR, JOSB, LQDT, MDR, NLY, ODFL, RIMM, SKS, TD, UPS

Top Earnings Previews For This Week (BKS, JRJC, DG, DRYS, TFM, ZLC, CIEN, FNSR, HRB, JOSB, CPB, TEA)

Administrator — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:27:00 +0000

We have many earnings still dribbling out this week. While none may move the whole market, some may move their underlying sectors. We have tracked earnings estimates, added in price data, and also added in some color on each if applicable. A few of the key earnings below include Barnes and Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS), Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG), Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR), H & R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB), and Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB).

Be advised that many earnings estimates have not been updated in days and some of these estimates may have already changed.

Tuesday, August 30

Barnes and Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) has very few estimates but the company is now under a shadow since it lost Liberty as a bidder even if it got an investment from it. Shares are trading around $ 11.40; the 52-week trading range is $8.45 to $21.06.

China Finance Online Co Ltd. (NASDAQ: JRJC) has too few estimates to count but we are going to watch because the financial information provider is under the China cloud. Shares are trading around $2.84; the 52-week trading range is $2.35 to $8.59.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) has estimates of $0.47 EPS and $3.54 billion in revenues. Shares are trading around $33.50 and the 52-week trading range is $26.64 to $35.09. We love this one long-term, but always keep in mind that private equity sellers are an overhang any time the price rises too much.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) has estimates of $0.22 EPS; shares are around $3.08 and the year’s range is $2.19 to $6.44. Shares were up double-digits on Monday as it announced the exchange offer of shares by Ocean Rig UDW.

Wednesday, August 31

Fresh Market Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) has estimates of $0.20 EPS and $273.9 million in revenues. Shares are trading around $34.95, the 52-week trading range is $30.86 to $46.85.

Zale Corp. (NYSE: ZLC) has to be looked at after Tiffany beat so well last week. It has estimates of -$1.53 EPS and $336.65 million in revenues. Shares are trading around $4.75, the 52-week trading range is $1.50 to $6.90.

Thursday, September 1

Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) has been a poor performer in the tech selling and it should be assumed that its outlook will be weak if its peers are any indication. The communications equipment maker has estimates of -$0.21 EPS and $443.3 million in revenues. Shares are trading around $12.10 and the 52-week trading range is $10.33 to $29.24.

Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR) has also been battered with tech stocks. It has estimates of $0.21 EPS and $228.3 million. Shares are trading around $18.08, and the 52-week trading range is $12.26 to $46.09.

H & R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) has estimates of -$0.39 EPS and $275.1 million in revenues. Shares are trading around $14.95 and the 52-week trading range is $10.13 to $18.00.

Jos A Bank Clothiers Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) is very thinly covered but it almost always has a large short interest. The clothier has estimates of $0.67 EPS and $209.7 million in revenues. Shares are trading around $45.99 and the 52-week trading range is $36.41 to $57.14.

Friday, September 2

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) has estimates of $0.37 EPS EPS and $1.57 billion in revenues. Shares are trading around $31.70, the 52-week trading range is $29.69 to $37.59.

Teavana Holdings Inc. (NYSE: TEA) is one that we do not have the research quiet period wrapped up yet but the company will give its first earnings report. At $23.90, the recent post-IPO range is $20.28 to $29.35.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Calendar, Earnings, The Week Tagged: BKS, CIEN, CPB, DG, DRYS, FNSR, HRB, JOSB, JRJC, TEA, TFM, ZLC

Top Active Trader Alert Stocks (JOSB, OREX, TVIT)

247wallst — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:51:37 +0000

Active traders and day traders have many stocks to choose from this Wednesday morning. We are tracking news and moves in shares of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers (NASDAQ: JOSB), Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OREX), and Televent GIT, S.A. (NASDAQ: TVIT).

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers (NASDAQ: JOSB) is down roughly 12.5% premarket to $49.90, relative to a 52-week range of $35.01-$57.14. The company’s Q1 profit was down from market estimates.

Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OREX) is up nearly 15% before market open to $3.25, relative to a 52-week range of $2.47-$11.15.

Televent GIT, S.A. (NASDAQ: TVIT) is up more than 15% premarket to $39.73, relative to a 52-week range of $16.57-$34.53. Schneider Electric has offered to buy the company for approximately $40 per share.

Filed under: Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: JOSB, OREX, TVIT

JoS. A. Bank: War of Shorts & Bulls Intensifies (JOSB)

Administrator — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:26:39 +0000

JoS. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) is perhaps the most controversial of all retail apparel companies for investors. Many have been against it after endless promotions and concerns over margins, yet the company has managed through time to hold its own. For retail and apparel investors there may be no larger cult stock. Last night’s earnings report is only going to add more fuel to the fire of the war between the JOSB bulls and bears.

The men’s clothing retailer said third quarter net income rose more than 7% to $12.6 million; also gaining by more than 7% was a $0.45 EPS report. Total sales rose 7.4% in the quarter $173.3 million. The problem is that Thomson Reuters expected $0.50 EPS and $177.89 million in revenues.

The company did note that its comparable store sales rose 3.0% and direct marketing sales rose 14.9%. A year ago’s net sales were $161.309 million and gross profits were $100.8 million; for the last quarter the $173.268 million in sales came with gross profit of $110.839 million.

Where the problem was pointed was below-plan sales in August when weather was hot, with September and October each improving. The company noted that the sales were even stronger in November and early December. As far as a loose guidance ahead, “Right now, to date, the fourth quarter has started out strong. November suit sales and total sales were up substantially compared to last year and were ahead of our plans. Our fourth quarter results last year were very strong. Therefore we remain cautious, but our merchandising and marketing plans are in place for the most important selling period of the quarter and the year and we have confidence in those plans.”

The company noted that the results showed record earnings growth in 36 of the past 37 quarters on a year-over-year basis, including 18 quarters in a row. That is not helping out this morning. Shares closed at $45.04 yesterday, but Jos. A. Bank is indicated to open down about 7% to under $42.00. Its 52-week trading range is $25.79 to $47.36 and its market cap as of yesterday was $1.24 billion.

To illustrate just how much of a battleground situation exists between bulls and bears, the short interest as of mid-November was 3.722 million shares against an average daily volume of about 350,000 shares. That is more than 10 days to cover. That short interest is very high but still under the 2010 peak of 4,768,583 recorded in mid-September.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Apparel, Cult Stock, Earnings, Retail Tagged: JOSB

JoS. A. Bank Expanding Further (JOSB)

247wallst — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:50:47 +0000

JoS. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) is one of the more unique clothing and apparel stocks out there. The company has managed to grow revenues in recent years, and despite the economy it is expected to grow revenues for each of the next two years if the analysts are correct in their projections. But this is a short sellers battleground stock and may have created more interest today now that it announced an expansion to its growth plans.

It seems that real estate opportunities are plentiful now that so much new construction has been put up and now there are so many more vacancies. The company plans to open 30 to 40 new stores during fiscal 2010, which is an increase over the 10 to 15 new stores it plans to open in fiscal year 2009. It has opened over 350 of its 467 stores in the past ten years and the company’s longer-term target is to open at least 130 additional stores as part of its lplan to operate 600 stores.

Thomson Reuters has estimates pegged at $752.25 million for this year (Jan-2010) and $797.1 million for next year (Jan-2011). Revenues were $695.9 million in 2008 (Jan-2009) and $604.01 million the year before.

Jos. A. Bank also has plenty of capital. It had $111.98 million in cash at its last balance sheet report date in May. But this stock is also no stranger to short sellers as a controversial stock. At the end of July, JOSB had a short interest of 5.026 million shares, which comes to 10.9-days to cover. That is not the highest short interest listed but that was the highest days-to-cover ratio at 10.95 days since the March 31 reading.

And certainly you have seen the company’s commercials…. JoS. A. Bank ‘sales’ are advertised almost every single day, regardless of the economy, and regardless of whether it is a holiday. This expansion will probably bring even more sales announcements.

After a 4.5% gain today to $40.87, this is still about 20% short of its 52-week highs over $50.00 and the market cap is almost $750 million.

Jon C. Ogg
August 25, 2009

Posted in Apparel, Retail Tagged: JOSB