24/7 Wall St. » JRCC

Stock Market Today: Big Winners & Losers for Wednesday

Paul Ausick — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:01:05 +0000

Here are the five biggest gaining stocks in today’s U.S. markets at closing:

Neutral Tandem Inc. (NASDAQ: IQNT) is up 52% at $4.53.

James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is up 29.1% at $2.13.

Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOV) is up 24.8% at $7.51.

Synacor Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNC) is up 22% at $3.55.

MedicNova Inc. (NASDAQ: MNOV) is up 21.6% at $3.83.

And here are the markets’ five biggest losing stocks today:

SemiLEDS Corp. (NASDAQ: LEDS) is down 20.8% at $1.60.

Regal Beloit Corp. (NYSE: RBC) is down 19.8% at $63.09.

Accelrys Inc. (NASDAQ: ACCL) is down 19% at $7.98.

Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ: KFRC) is down 17.3% at $12.51.

Cray Inc. (NASDAQ: CRAY) is down 17% at $17.56.

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ACCL, BCOV, CRAY, IQNT, JRCC, KFRC, LEDS, MNOV, RBC, SYNC

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — Wednesday: Markets Cannot Shake-off Low Open and Sink to Close

Paul Ausick — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:08:40 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning following a weaker-than-expected employment report from ADP and concern that Friday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will follow the ADP lead (more coverage here). In other U.S. data out today, the April ISM manufacturing index ready came in lower than expected and the March report on construction spending was substantially weaker than forecast (more coverage here). In Asia, China’s PMI was lower than expected and raised worries that the Asian growth is slowing down (more coverage here). Markets in China and Hong Kong were closed today for the May Day holiday. The FOMC announcement in mid-afternoon offered a slightly different view on how the Fed’s asset buying may proceed (more coverage here).

The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.28% today, now at 81.521. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.9% at 624.44. WTI crude oil closed down 2.6%, at $91.03 a barrel, following a massive increase in commercial inventories (more coverage here). Brent crude trades down 2.4% at $99.89 a barrel, as the spread between WTI and Brent now falls below $10 a barrel (more coverage here). Natural gas is down 0.4% today at about $4.32 per million BTUs. Gold settled down 1.8% today at $1,446.20 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 139 points to 14,700.95 (-0.94%), the NASDAQ about 30 points (-0.89%) to 3,299.13, and the S&P 500 fell -0.93% or nearly 15 points to 1,582.70.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) removed from “Conviction Buy” list and cut to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) raised to ‘buy’ at Nomura; Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) raised to ‘buy’ at Nomura; Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) added to “Conviction Buy” list at Goldman Sachs; and Oil States International Inc. (NYSE: OIS) cut to ‘underperform’ at BMO Capital Markets and cut to ‘market perform’ at Raymond James.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Affymetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFX) is down 8% at $3.35; Bankrate Inc. (NYSE: RATE) is up 14.7% at $15.46; Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) is down 3.2% at $5.54; Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPB) is down 4.6% at $53.44; Trulia Inc. (NYSE: TRLA) is up 13.1% at $32.86; Vanguard Health Systems Inc. (NYSE: VHS) is down 8.3% at $13.41; ADT Corp. (NYSE: ADT) is down 6.9% at $40.65; Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is down 2.1% at $19.14 (more coverage here); Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is up 1.2% at $41.81 (more coverage here); Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is up 4.4% at $77.38; James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is up 32.8% at $2.19; Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) is down 2.3% at $540.47; Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is down 2.1% at $59.68 (more coverage here); and Viacom Corp. (NASDAQ: VIAB) is up 3.2% at $66.01 after posting a new 52-week high of $69.00 earlier today.

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR), CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS), Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU), Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS), Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX), Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO), Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR), Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI), Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG), and Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is up 13.1% at $3.19. The chipmaker had no big news today, although it did introduce two new microprocessors and made some pricing changes that indicate that the company’s pricing may have stabilized.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is up 3.4% at $3.36 after posting a new 52-week (and 5-year) high of $3.39 earlier today. The satellite radio company posted a second consecutive high today, continuing to feast off yesterday’s earnings report.

Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) is down 2.8% at $45.67. The drug maker slid on its lackluster earnings results and took a slice out of its sales and earnings targets for the rest of the year.

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

7:30 a.m. – Challenger job-cut report
8:30 a.m. – International trade
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
8:30 a.m. – Productivity and costs
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ADM, ADT, AFFX, AMD, AMGN, ANR, BIIB, BRK-A, CAR, CBS, CHK, CI, CMCSA, FB, FCX, GG, HUM, IOS, JDSU, JRCC, LEAP, LVS, MA, MRK, MWW, PSX, RATE, SIRI, SPB, STX, TRLA, TSO, V, VHS, VIA-B

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — Tuesday: Markets Mixed at Open, Closes Slightly Higher

Paul Ausick — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:06:01 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened mixed this morning as investors weighed conflicting data from the U.S., Europe, and Asia. In Europe, retail sales declined more than expected in Germany, Italy’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 11.5%, and eurozone inflation moderated to 1.2%, below a forecast for inflation of 1.6%. In Asia, Japanese industrial production rose less than expected, retail unexpectedly fell, and unemployment came in below expectations. In the U.S., the S&P Case-Shiller housing price index rose more than expected (more coverage here), while the Chicago PMI came in well below expectations and chilled investors for a spell this morning (more coverage here). The latest U.S. consumer confidence index came in higher than expected, which put some heat back into the morning trading session (more coverage here).

The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.47% today, now at 81.762. The GSCI commodity index is up 1.2% at 629.99. WTI crude oil closed down 1.1%, at $93.46 a barrel, down 3.9% for the month of April. Brent crude trades down 1.6% at $102.19 a barrel. Natural gas is down 0.4% today at about $4.15 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 0.3% today at $1,472.10 an ounce, but lost 7.8% for the month, the largest drop in 16 months.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 20 points to 14,839.18 (0.14%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 22 points (0.66%) to 3,328.79, and the S&P 500 rose 0.24% or nearly 4 points to 1,597.45.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) initiated as ‘sector perform’ at RBC Capital Markets; Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) cut to ‘hold’ at KeyBanc; Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank (more coverage here); PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) cut to ‘neutral’ at J.P. Morgan; and SINA Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) raised to ‘buy’ at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Embraer SA (NYSE: ERJ) is up 6.7% at $34.94; Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX) is up 1.6% at $59.38; General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) is up 2.2% at $22.50 after posting a new 52-week high of $22.80 earlier today; Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) is up 2.7% at $39.78 (more coverage here); Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) is up 0.2% at $24.03 after posting a new 52-week high of $24.79 earlier today; Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) is down 5% at $32.27 after posting a new 52-week low of $31.33 earlier today; Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) is up fractionally at $14.86; 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) is up 7.3% at $38.39; Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is up 2.5% at $57.55 after posting a new 52-week high of $58.63 earlier today; Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (NYSE: BUD) is up 0.3% at $95.72; Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) is up 4.5% at $23.23 after posting a new 52-week high of $24.30 earlier today; BP plc (NYSE: BP) is up 2.3% at $43.61 (more coverage here); Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) is down 5.5% at $3.25; Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) is down 4.9% at $78.39; Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) is up 4.9% at $3.88; United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) is up 0.3% at $17.59; and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is down 2.5% at $40.17 (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Affymetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFX), Bankrate Inc. (NYSE: RATE), Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP), Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPB), Trulia Inc. (NASDAQ: TRLA), Vanguard Health Systems Inc. (NYSE: VHS), ADT Corp. (NYSE: ADT), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC), Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA), and Viacom Corp. (NASDAQ: VIAB).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is up 5.5% at $3.24 after posting a new 52-week high of $3.25 earlier today. The satellite radio company posted good numbers and made permanent the hire of interim CEO James Meyer.

Delcath Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: DCTH) is down 39.8% at $0.84. The pharmaceutical and medical device maker will have to repeat a clinical trial.

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) is down 16.6% at $13.52. The business equipment company had a 57% drop in profits and cut its dividend.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concludes a two-day meeting. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
8:58 a.m. – PMI manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – ISM manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – Construction spending
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
2:00 p.m. – FOMC meeting announcement

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ADT, AET, AFFX, AVP, BBY, BP, BUD, BWLD, CHK, CMCSA, DCTH, DDD, ESRX, GGP, HLF, HNR, HTZ, HUM, JRCC, LEAP, MA, MPC, NEM, ODP, P, PBI, PHM, RATE, RVBD, SINA, SIRI, SPB, TRLA, VHS, VIA-B, VLO, X

Earnings Surprise Brings Coal Sector Back into Focus

Paul Ausick — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:45:24 +0000

Shares of Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) rose as much as 3.2% this morning after the company posted first-quarter earnings that were considerably better than expected. Peabody’s earnings per share (EPS) loss of $0.05 was a third of the expected net loss of $0.15 per share. Revenues came in a bit low, at $1.75 billion compared with a consensus estimate of $1.78 billion.

As the first of the U.S. coal miners to report — and the largest — Peabody’s results offer an opportunity to look at Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR), Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI), CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX), James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC), Walter Energy Inc. (NYSE: WLT) and Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE: CLD). All these stocks are getting a boost today from Peabody’s results.

In its press release, Peabody noted a decline in Australian pricing in the quarter, but a rise in shipments. U.S. revenues were down 12% on a 6% drop in shipments. But Peabody expects a change going forward.

For the remainder of 2013, Peabody expects coal to recapture the “majority” of the demand it lost to natural gas in 2012. Rising U.S. prices for natural gas have returned coal to is low-cost status as a fuel for power generation. Demand from coal-fired plants rose 15% in March, while natural gas demand fell by 16%.

Given Peabody’s surprising results, a look at the other coal miners might provide some insight into the sector ahead of more earnings reports. Unlike Peabody, none of these firms has Australian operations to figure into the equation.

Alpha Natural Resources is expected to post an EPS loss of $0.59 on revenues of$1.32 billion. The company’s expected loss has narrowed from $0.67 three months ago, but given Peabody’s drop in shipments, Alpha’s revenue, projected to drop more than 30% year-over-year in the first quarter, could be weaker than expected. Alpha reports earnings on May 1.

The consensus first-quarter estimates for Arch Coal calls for an EPS loss of $0.34 on revenues of $912.03 million. The expected loss has widened from $0.30 in the past three months, and the revenue estimate is 12% lower than last year’s first quarter total. Arch reports earnings next week.

CONSOL Energy is expected to post first-quarter EPS of $0.18 on revenues of $1.25 billion. The EPS estimate has come down $0.02 in the past three months, and the estimated EPS is way down from $0.42 in the same period a year ago. CONSOL has been somewhat insulated from the harsh treatment for coal because the company also produces natural gas and some liquids. CONSOL reports results next week.

James River is expected to post an EPS loss of $1.63 on revenues of $192.64 million when it reports earnings on April 29. Revenues are expected to be nearly a third lower than a year ago and EPS is more than three times worse. Analysts expect little from James River this quarter, and it is very likely the company will deliver on those expectations.

Walter Energy is expected to post an EPS loss of $0.88 on revenues of $505.55 million when it reports on earnings on May 1. Expectations have fallen from an EPS loss of $0.48 just three months ago. In the first quarter a year ago, Walter Energy posted EPS of $0.65.

Cloud Peak reports earnings on April 30 and is expected to post EPS of $0.28 on revenues of $353.29 million. Revenues are expected to be down more than 5% year-over-year, and EPS expectations to have fallen from $0.37 just three months ago. Over the past 12 months, however, Cloud Peak is the only one of these companies to put up share price growth. Shares are up about 34%, compared to a drop of 70% at Walter, 64% at James River, 55% at Alpha, 49% at Arch, 27% at Peabody and about 5% at Consol.

Peabody’s shares are up 9% just before noon today, at $20.43 in a 52-week range of $18.56 to $31.97.

Alpha’s shares are up 5.3%, at $7.21 in a 52-week range of $5.28 to $17.30.

Arch’s shares are up 8.8%, at $4.95 in a 52-week range of $4.47 to $10.26.

CONSOL’s shares are up 4.4%, at $32.70 in a 52-week range of $26.41 to $37.39.

James River’s shares are up 6.8%, at $1.74 in a 52-week range of $1.46 to $5.89.

Walter Energy’s shares are up 2.2%, at $18.95 in a 52-week range of $18.21 to $69.41.

Cloud Peak’s shares are up 4.3%, at $18.95 in a 52-week range of $13.65 to $22.31.

Filed under: Commodities & Metals, Earnings Tagged: ACI, ANR, BTU, CLD, CNX, featured, JRCC, WLT

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 7, 2013: Markets Open Higher, Chop to Higher Close (SAP, CLH, ANGI, SD, BIG, ALJ, PETM, MTN, CIEN, DANG, JRCC, KR, SFD, FNSR, HRB, P, WDAY, ANN, FL, AMD, PBR, FB)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:05:58 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning and trickled lower most of the day as there was little news to follow generally good data from around the globe. In Japan, the central bank held interest rates and asset purchases at previous levels. In Europe, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank also left rates unchanged (more coverage here). French unemployment was higher than expected, as was France’s trade deficit. In the U.S., fourth quarter productivity was reported down and unit labor costs were higher. The new claims for jobless benefits fell, but the army of the unemployed grew (more coverage here). Tomorrow’s reports on non-farm payrolls and the U.S. unemployment rate are expected to show 171,00 more jobs and a drop in the unemployment rate from 7.9% to 7.8%

The U.S. dollar index fell 0.45% today, now at 82.089. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.7% at 641.74, with commodities prices mostly higher today. WTI crude oil closed up 1.3% today, at $91.56 a barrel. Brent crude trades up 0.4% at $111.10 a barrel. Natural gas is up 3.3% today at about $3.58 per million BTUs after a larger-than-expected drawdown on stocks (more coverage here). Gold settled up fractionally today at $1,575.10 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 33 points to 14,329.57 (0.23%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 10 points (0.30%) to 3,232.09, and the S&P 500 rose 0.18% or nearly 3 points to 1,544.28.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) raised to ‘overweight’ at HSBC; Clean Harbors Inc. (NYSE: CLH) raised to ‘outperform’ at Baird; Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) started as ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray; SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) cut to ‘underperform’ at BMO; and Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) raised to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank, cut to ‘hold’ at Canaccord Genuity, and cut to ‘underperform’ at Raymond James.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: Alon USA Energy Inc. (NYSE: ALJ) is down 4% at $19.00; PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) is down 6.6% at $62.17; Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) is up 7.4% at $60.87 after posting a new 52-week high of $61.83 earlier today; Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) is up 18.3% at $17.67; E Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NASDAQ: DANG) is down 5.7% at $3.94; James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is down 6.7% at $2.38; Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) is up 3.3% at $30.34 after posting a new 52-week high of $30.62 earlier today (more coverage here); and Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) is up 9.6% at $24.43 after posting a new 52-week high of $25.03 earlier today (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Finisar Corp. (NASDAQ: FNSR), H & R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB), Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P), Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY), Ann Inc. (NYSE: ANN), and Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL).

Some standouts among high-volume stocks today include:

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is up 4.1% at $2.53. This chipmaker had no news today, but the enthusiasm over the company’s inclusion in the coming PlayStation 4 continues.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE: PBR) is up 5.1% at $17.53. The Brazilian oil & gas firm pushed higher for the second day in a row following the announcement of its hike to diesel fuel prices.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is up 4.2% at $28.61. The social network company announced a new look for its news feed today, making room for more ads and pushing stock prices up.

Stay tuned for Friday. Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Employment: non-farm payroll, unemployment rate
10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ALJ, AMD, ANGI, ANN, BIG, CIEN, CLH, DANG, FB, FL, FNSR, HRB, JRCC, KR, MTN, P, PBR, PETM, SAP, SD, SFD, WDAY

Nine Early Bird Stocks on the Move (CIEN, DRYS, HIMX, JRCC, JDSU, WFR, OCLS, PETM, SCTY)

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:25:35 +0000

24/7 Wall St. is tracking many movers on high volume this morning. Some are earnings and others are on individual news. Shortly after 8:00 a.m., these are the nine stocks that active traders will be focused on for Thursday:

Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) is surging higher, with gains of 12% to $16.80 after upside was shown on earnings and guidance. More than 500,000 shares were recorded very early, so this is one to watch as average volume is 3.5 million shares per day.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) is down 6% at $1.86 after reporting a loss of $0.15 per share, versus -$0.11 per share expected, but sales looked to above plan.

Himax Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) is continuing its surge higher after seeing very large volume spikes this week. The stock already backed down off the highs to $3.80 as of yesterday, but now we have the stock up another 25% at $4.70 on strong premarket volume of more than 400,000 shares. The average volume is 960,000 shares but has been more active in recent days.

James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is down more than 11% at $2.25 on yet another quarterly and annual loss. It also showed more layoffs, even as it tried to talk up the coal market in 2013.

JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU) is up more than 5% at $14.95 this morning. As of 8:00 a.m. EST there was no obvious news, but perhaps it is riding Ciena’s wave.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) is up more than 4% at $5.45 on news that Goldman Sachs raised the rating to Buy on the solar and chip wafer turnaround stock.

Oculus Innovative Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: OCLS) is already considered a penny stock, but its shares are down a sharp 22% at $0.42 to a new 52-week low (prior low $0.50) on news that it is raising capital in a stock and securities sale of 7.5 million shares.

Petsmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) beat earnings yet again with 4.6% same-store sales gains in the quarter. Unfortunately, the pet supplies retailer signaled that the coming same-store sales would be in a 2% to 4% range. Shares are down 7.5% at $61.50 on the news.

Solarcity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) was supposed to be immune from the solar woes since it is the installer and manager of systems. Unfortunately it posted a loss on lighter-than-expected sales. Shares were down more than 10% last night but the stock is down almost 7% at $17.99 this morning.

Filed under: Active Trader, Earnings Tagged: CIEN, DRYS, featured, HIMX, JDSU, JRCC, OCLS, PETM, SCTY, WFR

Layoffs and Losses Continue in Coal Industry

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:30:16 +0000

It is no secret that the coal sector is in the doghouse. James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) announced its earnings this morning which was actually another loss for the quarter and for the year. The loss was $138.9 million, or $3.99 per share, for the year 2012 and a loss of $76.9 million, or $2.21 per share, for its fourth quarter, both of which are wider than the corresponding period of 2011.

While James River has tried to talk about 2012 being the toughest year and some stability forming, the long and short of the matter is that restructuring efforts are bringing more layoffs. If you look through this, you will also see that the layoffs in the coal sector go above and beyond this one company.

Charges also impacted that loss, coming from goodwill impairments, a gain from the repurchase of debt, and restructuring. James River said that the markets for domestic thermal coal and met coal were awful in 2012, but the company’s statement shows a belief that both markets are showing some marginal improvement as 2013 is underway with reduced production by the coal industry, slightly better weather and increased demand from Asia. The company closed and idled mines, reduced working hours, reviewed and changed the purchasing process for its expenses and has lowered its headcount and expenses. Here are the mines and units affected:

Idled five underground mines (Abner Branch, Mine 16, Mine 6A, Mine 31, Jellico).
Idled two preparation plants (BL1 Plant and Burke).
Idled one load out (Sunny Knot).
Reduced production at three surface mines (Frasure, Buckeye, Montgomery Creek).

The efforts taken have cut out its production capacity by 3 million tons. It also has had an impact on about 400 employees and contractors.

Layoffs are being felt elsewhere in the coal sector:

The Department of Labor recently awarded $5.2 million to help laid-off coal workers in Eastern Kentucky to find new jobs as more than 2,000 of these workers in that area have lost jobs since the start of 2012.
Another 90 workers were shown to be laid off at a mine in Virgina just in February.
Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) had 200 layoffs in Kentucky discussed in January.
Consol Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) said in December that it had laid off 147 workers as it idled a West Virginia plant.

These are just the recent layoffs, and the cuts affected many more workers earlier in 2012.

Filed under: Commodities, Commodities & Metals, Compensation, Infrastructure, Labor, Labor & Unions Tagged: ANR, CNX, JRCC

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 6, 2013: Markets Open Higher, Closed Mixed (JCP, ICE, BBY, QCOM, VVUS, GEVO, QIHU, SWHU, PAY, AEO, BIG, TFM, HOV, SPLS, STP, PETS, MTN, CIEN, DANG, JRCC, KR, SFD, MTG, PBR, BBRY)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 21:04:01 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning but struggled to maintain even a flat performance compared to yesterday’s close. Before the markets opened this morning, the Mortgage Bankers Association noted a 14.8% rise in applications (more coverage here) and the ADP employment report came in better than expected (more coverage here). In Asia, the deputy governor of the country’s central bank suggested that a new repurchase operation may be enacted to drain liquidity from the system. In Europe, preliminary results for the fourth quarter indicated that eurozone GDP contracted by 0.6%, as expected (more coverage here). The afternoon release of the Fed’s Beige Book did not move markets much, as most Fed districts continue to report “modest to moderate” growth.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.45% today, now at 82.461. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.9% at 645.94, with commodities prices mostly lower today. WTI crude oil closed down 0.4% today, at $90.43 a barrel following a larger than expected expansion of inventories (more coverage here). Brent crude trades down 0.6% at $110.99 a barrel. Natural gas is down 1.5% today at about $3.48 per million BTUs. Gold settled flat today at $1,574.90 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 43 points to 14,296.39 (0.30%), the NASDAQ fell about 2 points (-0.05%) to 3,222.37, and the S&P 500 rose 0.11% or nearly 2 points to 1,541.47.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup and cut to ‘perform’ at Oppenheimer; IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) raised to ‘outperform’ at KBW; Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Qualcomm Corp. (NASDAQ: QCOM) maintained as ‘buy’ but removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs; and Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) started as ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: Gevo Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) is up 7% at $1.99; Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE: QIHU) is down 7.8% at $32.09; Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) is up 5% at $9.71 (more coverage here); Verifone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) is up 7.9% at $20.77; American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is down 10.7% at $20.13; Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is up 6.1% at $35.96 (more coverage here); Fresh Market Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) is down 8.8% at $38.79 after posting a new 52-week low of $36.51 earlier today; Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) is down 3.9% at $5.86; Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) is down 8.7% at $12.13 (more coverage here); and Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is down 1.7% at $1.19 (more solar coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Alon USA Energy Inc. (NYSE: ALJ), PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM), Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN), Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN), E Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NASDAQ: DANG), James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC), Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), and Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) is up 3.6% at $5.53 after posting a new 52-week high of $6.19 earlier today. This marks the third consecutive day the insurance company continues to find favor with investors.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE: PBR) is up 14.8% at $16.63. The Brazilian oil & gas firm known as Petrobras was allowed to raise its price for diesel fuel by 5% today.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) is up 7.3% at $13.50. The mobile smartphone maker continues to get some love from analysts after its U.K. launch and a week ahead of its launch in the U.S.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Fed Governor Jerome Powell is giving a speech. Retail stores will be reporting February same-store sales throughout the day. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – Challenger job-cut report
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
8:30 a.m. – International trade
8:30 a.m. – Productivity and costs
10:00 a.m. – Quarterly services survey
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
3:00 p.m. – Consumer credit
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AEO, BBRY, BBY, BIG, CIEN, DANG, GEVO, HOV, ICE, JCP, JRCC, KR, MTG, MTN, PAY, PBR, PETS, QCOM, QIHU, SFD, SPLS, STP, SWHU, TFM, VVUS

Coal Stocks Rise on Alpha Natural Results (ANR, BTU, ACI, CNX, JRCC, WLT, CLD)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:00:29 +0000

Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) reported quarterly and full-year results this morning and managed to flop over a very low bar.

The adjusted earnings per share (EPS) loss for the quarter was just $0.19, compared with an estimate for a loss of $0.55. Revenues of $1.56 billion were slightly better than the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion.

Investors are taking hope from the company’s statement that it expects to benefit from an “eventual recovery” in the global market for metallurgical coal. And production costs are forecast to fall to an annual range of $71 to $75 per ton for eastern U.S. coal from an average of $75.84 a ton in the fourth quarter of 2012. In the fourth quarter of 2011, average costs were $81.21, but the company has closed several mines in the past year that contributed to the company’s falling costs.

When Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) reported earnings a couple of weeks ago, its poor showing dragged all the bigger coal stocks down. Same thing happened when Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) reported earnings a few days later. Consol Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX), James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC), Walter Energy Inc. (NYSE: WLT) and Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE: CLD) tagged along for the most part.

This morning, Alpha’s shares are up about 13.7% at $9.65 in a 52-week range of $5.28 to $21.19. Shares of Peabody are up 2.8%, Consol’s shares are up 1.6%, Arch Coal is up 4.1%, Walter Energy shares are up 2.2%, James River is up 6.8% and Cloud Peak is down 0.4%, probably because when the company reported earnings last night they did not quite live up to expectations.

Coal stocks are almost like solar stocks these days. Each reacts to good or bad news about a competitor in the same way they would react if the news was just about itself. If there is money to be made in the sector it is on volatility, not on holding for the long term. In any but the shortest term, coal’s place as a fuel for electricity generation in the United States is on a continual downtrend and should remain there over the long haul.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities & Metals, Earnings Tagged: ACI, ANR, BTU, CLD, CNX, featured, JRCC, WLT

Coal Miners Follow Arch Down the Shaft (ACI, BTU, CNX, ANR, JRCC, WLT, CLD)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:15:30 +0000

Shares of Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) have lost more than 9% this morning, following the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report. The coal mining firm reported an adjusted earnings per share (EPS) loss of $0.42, compared with a consensus estimate for a loss of $0.15 per share. Revenues also missed estimates, coming in at $968.2 million, compared with a consensus call for $997.64 million.

And when one coal miner coughs, they all catch a cold. Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) dragged the sector down last week when it reported quarterly results, and Arch’s results are having the same effect. Peabody’s shares are down about 2.5% today, Consol Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) is seeing its shares down about 0.3%, and Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) is down more than 2%. James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is up about 0.7%, while Walter Energy Inc. (NYSE: WLT) is down about 2.3% and Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE: CLD) is down fractionally.

Demand for Arch’s thermal coal has fallen off the table as mild weather and cheap natural gas continue to throttle demand. The company now expects volume shipments of about 141 million tons in 2013, down from 155 million tons in 2012. Production at Consol has dropped from 62 million tons in 2011 to an estimated 55.5 million to 57.5 million tons for 2013. That’s one reason Consol is putting more effort and investment into its natural gas assets.

Like Peabody, Arch said today that it is “seeing signs” of a possible recovery in the domestic coal market in the second half of 2013. Those signs will evaporate unless natural gas prices move closer to $4 per million BTUs. Today’s price is about $3.34 per million BTUs, and the outlook for the first half of 2013 does not indicate an average price above $4.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities & Metals, Earnings, Metals Tagged: ACI, ANR, BTU, CLD, CNX, featured, JRCC, WLT