24/7 Wall St. » LOW

Zynga’s 15% Stock Loss — Lemmings over the Cliff

247wallst — Tue, 22 May 2012 10:16:49 +0000

Zynga’s (NASDAQ: ZNGA) shares are down 15% over the past two days, a little more than those of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) after its initial public offering. There are several critical difference between the stocks, so that they should fall nearly in lockstep makes no sense.

The fall-off of Facebook shares can be traced to a number of things — whether or not they are legitimate. The first is that a some traders believe Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Facebook decided, at the last minute, to flood the market with stock to raise more money for the social network. There is a rumor that Morgan Stanley cut Facebook revenue forecasts right before the IPO. Major trading issues in the Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ) system, which delayed orders and rattled investors, might have been another cause. Two days before the IPO, General Motors (NYSE: GM) pulled its ads from Facebook. That seemed to be a bit of revenge, although no one can figure out why. And, perhaps most damaging, analysts attacked Facebook’s inability to make money on its mobile presence, which raised the question of its long-term viability as a growth company.

Zynga faced none of these problems. Its only trouble was being tethered to Facebook because it gets so much revenue from the social network. Facebook’s mobile strategy eventually could effect Zynga, but the balance of the long list of reasons Facebook shares declined really do not apply to the game firm. Zynga‘s shares may have fallen consistently since mid-April, but Wall St. had begun to warm to the company after its recent, better-than-expected earnings. Citigroup (NYSE: C) started coverage of the game firm with a “buy” and a $12 price target.

The Zynga share drop is no different from the reaction traders have when they sell Ford (NYSE: F) because of poor GM earnings, or drop Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) when McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) announces poor earnings. As often as not, two companies in a related sector have very different financial results, for good reasons most of the time. GM has strong sales in China; Ford does not. Yum!’s operations in the U.S. do poorly; America is a stronghold for McDonald’s. Pairings like Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT) or Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) and Home Depot (NYSE: HD) are often not pairs at all. If they really were parallel in almost every way, management skills would make no difference to results.

Zynga and Facebook may trade as a pair, but they are not one.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: IPOs Tagged: C, F, FB, featured, GM, HD, LOW, MCD, MS, NDAQ, TGT, WMT, YUM, ZNGA

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — May 21, 2012 ( AVP, PBR, SWY, BA, BBY, CPB, HAST, KKD, LOW, TECD, TUDO, AZO, GES, RL, WSM, TTWO, FB, CBE, ETN, WPRT)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:04:35 +0000

The three major US stock indexes opened higher this morning as what seems to be a declaration of love for Greece at the G8 summit meeting pushed down fears that the Greeks would leave the euro and throw all of the monetary union into chaos (our coverage here). There is also some reason to believe that China will take its foot off the brake and step on the accelerator to get its economy on a growth path again. The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.19% at 81.138. The GSCI commodity index is down fractionally at 629.50, with commodities mostly mixed today. WTI crude oil closed up -1.2% at $92.57/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 1.58% at $108.83/barrel. Natural gas fell sharply today, down -4.4% today at $2.62/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled down -0.2% today, at $1,588.70/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 134 points to 12,503.87 (1.09%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 68 points (2.46%) to 2,847.21, and the S&P 500 rose 1.60% or nearly 21 points to 1,316.00.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) cut to ‘sell’ at UBS; Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) raised to ‘buy’ at SocGen; Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) raised to ‘buy’ at Argus; and Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) cut to ‘hold’ at BB&T.

Earnings reports since markets closed on Friday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) is down -2.1% at $32.71; Hastings Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: HAST) is up 15.2% at $2.05; Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is up 12.3% at $6.75; Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is down -10.1% at $25.60 (more coverage here); Tech Data Corp. (NASDAQ: TECD) is up 0.7% at $47.78; and Tudou Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: TUDO) is up 11.3% at $33.37.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to get earnings reports from Autozone Inc. (NYSE: AZO), Best Buy, Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES), Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), Williams Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM), and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is down -11% at $34.03. Following Friday’s massively-hyped IPO and the CEO’s weekend wedding, a falling share price was probably inevitable. More coverage here.

Cooper Industries plc (NYSE: CBE) is up 25.2% at $69.96 after posting a new 52-week high this morning of $70.97. The company is being acquired by Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) for $11.8 billion. More coverage here.

Westport Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ: WPRT) is up 12% at $26.57. The natural gas engine maker has a deal with Volvo for a new truck engine.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales
10:00 a.m. – Richmond Fed manufacturing index
11:30 a.m. – 4-week bill auction
1:00 p.m. – 2-year note auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AVP, AZO, BA, BBY, CBE, CPB, ETN, FB, GES, HAST, KKD, LOW, PBR, RL, SWY, TECD, TTWO, TUDO, WPRT, WSM

Lowe’s Shares Hammered by Weak Guidance (LOW, HD)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:27:49 +0000

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) reported first fiscal quarter results this morning that were better than the consensus estimate, but full-year EPS guidance did not meet the prior estimate and the stock is getting punished for that.

The tale is similar to competitor that told by Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) last week. The first quarter of this year got a boost from the warmer weather, which moved some sales into the first quarter and saw sales soften toward the end. Lowe’s reported EPS of $0.43, a penny above the consensus estimate on revenue of $13.2 billion, which also beat the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion.

Where Lowe’s stumbled was in its full-year guidance for EPS of $1.73-$1.83, compared with a prior analysts’ estimate of $1.87. That lower estimate is due in part to a 52-week fiscal year compared with a 53-week year that ended in early February 2012. Lowe’s noted that the extra week added $514 million to revenues and $0.05 to EPS in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012.

Like Home Depot, Lowe’s is concerned about the overall US economy:

We continue to maintain a cautious view of the housing and macro demand environment, and are focused on what we can control.

The company plans to open 10 new stores in the 2013 fiscal year and to increase same-store sales by 1%-3%. Same-store sales in the first quarter rose by 2.6% worldwide and 2.7% in the US.

The cautious outlooks from Home Depot and Lowe’s stem from continuing low housing prices which could encourage more buyers than remodelers. A recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders indicates that remodeling projects are up, particularly for bathrooms and kitchens. A majority of those projects are not aimed at increasing a home’s resale value, but geared for upgraded amenities. For the home improvement stores, they have to wonder if these kinds of projects will continue to increase or if those sales, too, were front-loaded due to warm weather.

Lowe’s shares are down about -6% in pre-market trading this morning, at $26.76 in a 52-week range of $18.07-$32.29. Shares of Home Depot are also down about -1.6% at $46.31 in a 52-week range of $28.13-$52.88.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Earnings, Housing Tagged: HD, LOW

Home Depot Disappoints as Home Sales Rise

Paul Ausick — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:40:32 +0000

The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reported first quarter earnings this morning that were close to consensus estimates for both EPS and revenues, but just enough short to give investors pause. The home remodeling store posted EPS of $0.68 on revenue of $17.8 billion. The consensus estimates called for EPS of $0.65 on revenue of $17.93 billion. EPS included a one-time gain of $0.03, bringing the adjusted EPS down to inline with the estimate.

Much smaller competitors Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LL) topped both EPS and revenue estimates when it reported earnings a couple of weeks ago, as did Builders FirstSource Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDR). Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW) reports earnings next week, and consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.42 on revenue of $12.98 billion.

With both Lumber Liquidators and Builders FirstSource coming in handily better than expected, estimates for Home Depot rose by a penny in the last week and were actually up $0.05 over the past 90 days. That’s why the disappointment today — a low bar had been raised and Home Depot couldn’t quite clear it.

The home fix-it stores could be in for more competition from home sales, particularly new home sales if the economy continues to improve. Sales of bank-owned homes rose in February and March though the inventory of these homes has been in decline.

New home sales rose sharply in February, but dropped again in March. Home sales are about half what analysts expect in a healthy home-buying market. Home prices continue to slide slightly in many parts of the country, which encourages buyers able to find financing and cash buyers. If home buying picks up a bit during the summer, the home remodeling stores may feel the crunch again.

Home Depot also said that it expects sales to rise 4.6% for the full year, which calculates out to full-year sales of about $73.6 billion versus the current estimate of $74.11. The company raised its full-year EPS guidance from $2.79 to $2.90, which includes the $0.03 one-time benefit from the first quarter. The consensus estimate had called for $2.91, so the company is still lagging here.

Shares in Home Depot are trading down about -4.5% in the pre-market, at $47.66 in a 52-week range of $28.13-$52.88.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Earnings, Housing, Pre-Market Activity Tagged: BLDR, HD, LL, LOW

Fears of a New Housing Peak? (LEN, KBH, DHI, PHM, TOL, HD, LOW)

Administrator — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:17:51 +0000

The housing market is supposed to be doing better and the lack of a new recession is supposed to have helped to put in a floor under what had been consistently falling house prices. Even the sub-prime activity is supposedly getting a bit more interest. So why did homebuilder confidence take an unexpected dive in April?

The National Association of Home Builders reported that home builder confidence dropped to 25 from the prior month’s reading of 28 and that marked the first drop in seven months. Dow Jones was calling for a reading of 28 and Bloomberg was calling for a 1 point gain to 29 in April.

Here is where the problem is: the stronger interest from consumers has not matured into many more deals closing. Buyers are still having trouble closing on a mortgage and some buyers are opting out ahead of a deal closing. Investors also need to be aware that it takes a reading of 50 before the general consensus is that housing is considered favorable versus cautious and we are now going on six-years of the negative readings.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) is down 1.6% at $25.69; KB Home (NYSE: KBH) is down 1.3% at $7.95; DR Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) is down 1.2% at $14.66; and PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM) is down 1.3% at $8.43. Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) is today’s standout stock with a gain of 2.5% at $23.51.

There is another problem here with the reading in that all three components of the index were lower. Traffic was ratcheted down, as was current sales and future sales expectations. Today’s news does need to be segregated from the entire housing market. Builders are competing with existing home sales and with foreclosures or other distressed housing sales.

Mortgage rates are still close to record lows. That cannot last forever and at some point you would have to ask what happens to the affordability if the 30-year mortgage rates rose 100 or 150 basis points.

To prove that the housing market may be fragmented despite the drop in builder sentiment, take a look at the retail segment: The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) is up almost 1% at $51.45 and it hit a 52-week high of $51.80 today. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is up 0.7% at $31.90 and shares also hit a new year high as well.

Builders may be pessimistic, but they are competing with the existing home sales perhaps harder than ever now.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Economy, Housing Tagged: DHI, HD, KBH, LEN, LOW, PHM, TOL

New Homes Sales Wreck Housing Players (HD, LOW, ITB, XHB)

Administrator — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:27:22 +0000

The housing data keeps coming in with a mixed fan-fare. The new home sales in America for the month of February fell 1.6% to 313,000 versus a Dow Jones consensus target of 325,000. January was also revised slightly lower to 318,000 from 321,000. What is interesting is that the news comes at a time when so many market pundits are calling the bottom of housing. It is also interesting that the rates for mortgages were lower in February and the March data that is surfacing indicates that weekly activities in new mortgages and in refinance mortgages. Maybe housing is bottoming out, maybe not. The data is still mixed even if this is just one of several key components which comprise a full 360-degree review of the U.S. housing market.

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) shares are down 1.8% at $48.78; Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is now down 2.6% at $30.13. iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction ETF (NYSE: ITB) is now down 3.7% at $14.29 on more than 1 million shares; SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB) is down 2.8% at $20.74.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Consumer Goods, Corporate Governance, Economy, Housing, Retail Tagged: HD, ITB, LOW, XHB

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (TRV, LOW, MSI, PCS, MWW, BIG, GCO, BIOF, BAGL, YELP, SFLY, VRNG, PRTS, OSTK)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:18:09 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened lower this morning following some weak data on European unemployment. Buyers tried to come back but low volume so far has kept trading lower, and a last-minute rally seems to have gone nowhere. The dollar is stronger today, with the dollar index up 0.75% at 79.379. The stronger dollar is pushing some commodities down, with crude oil the hardest hit. WTI crude closed down -2% at $106.70/barrel and Brent crude is down -1.84% at $123.88/barrel. Gold settled down -0.7% at $1,709.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 3 points to12,977.57 (-0.02%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 13 points -0.43%) to 2,976.19, and the S&P 500 fell -0.32% or nearly 4.5 points to 1,369.63.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV) cut to ‘equal weight’ at Morgan Stanley; Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW) raised to ‘equal weight’ at Morgan Stanley; Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) maintained as ‘buy’ with $15 target price at Argus; and Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) cut to ‘neutral’ at UBS.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is down -4.2% at $42.61; Genesco Inc. (NYSE: GCO) is up 4.2% at $73.58 after posting a new 52-week high of $74.89 earlier today; Biofuel Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: BIOF) is up 5.5% at $0.76; and Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Inc. (NASDAQ: BAGL) is up 3.6% at $14.99.

Here’s our preview of next week’s earnings announcements.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) is up nearly 64% at $24.55 following its IPO at $15/share this morning. Move coverage here.

Shutterfly Inc. (NASDAQ: SFLY) is up 16% at $31.22. The social networking company has struck a deal with Eastman Kodak Co. (EKDKQ) to provide a stalking-horse bid for some of Kodak’s assets. More coverage here.

Vringo Inc. (AMEX: VRNG) is up more than 13% at $1.63. The social network app maker is probably getting a bump from the success of Yelp’s IPO.

U.S. Auto Parts Network Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTS) is down more than -19% at $4.00. The retail parts auto parts distributor missed consensus estimates last night.

Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK) is down more than -11% at $6.11 after posting a new 52-week low of $5.89 earlier this morning. The online discounter posted an unexpectedly quarterly loss this morning.

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

10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
10:00 a.m. – ISM non-manufacturing index
11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month Treasury bill auction

Have a great weekend!

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: BAGL, BIG, BIOF, GCO, LOW, MSI, MWW, OSTK, PCS, PRTS, SFLY, TRV, VRNG, Yelp

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALU, AWK, BLK, CMA, DPZ, KBH, LOW, PCS, MWW, MSI, RF, TAL, TCBI, TRV, UNM)

Administrator — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:31:04 +0000

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

Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) Cut to Neutral at Baird; named as Momentum stock of the day at Zacks.

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) Cut to Market Perform at Raymond James.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $46 at Argus.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) named as Bear of the Day with Underperform rating at Zacks.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) Maintained Buy with $15 target at Argus.

Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MSI) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) Raised to Outperform at Raymond James.

TAL International Group Inc. (NYSE: TAL) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

Texas Capital Bancshares (NASDAQ: TCBI) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Unum Group (NYSE: UNM) Raised to Outperform at RBC Capital.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ALU, AWK, BLK, CMA, DPZ, KBH, LOW, MSI, MWW, PCS, RF, TAL, TCBI, TRV, UNM

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (SHLD, IPG, DNKN, AEP, URI, AES, BCPC, CHTR, CTB, EP, LOW, KWK, RIG, VRX, ATPG, CQP, DNDN, IMI, MVIS)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:07:45 +0000

Stocks opened down this morning following on weakness in Europe following the G20’s refusal to provide additional funding to the IMF. But at the end of the first hour of trading, a good report on pending US home sales seemed to tip traders to the buy side. With about half an hour to go today, all major indexes are higher and the DJIA looks set to close above 13,000. Crude oil was lower today with WTI crude finished lower by -1.1% at $108.56/barrel, and Brent crude is trading down -1.06% at $124.14/barrel. Gold settled down -0.1% at $1,774.90/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 1.5 points to 12,981.51 (-0.01%), the NASDAQ rose more than 2 points (0.08%) to 2,966.16 and the S&P 500 rose 0.14% or nearly 2 points to 1,367.59.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Sears Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) maintained as ‘underperform’ at Credit Suisse; Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (NYSE: IPG) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank; Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) started as ‘buy’ at Citgroup; American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) raised to ‘buy’ at Jefferies; and United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) started as ‘buy’ at Citigroup.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: The AES Corp. (NYSE: AES) is down -0.51% at $13.73; Balchem Corp. (NASDAQ: BCPC) is down about -17% at $29.52 after posting a new 52-week low of $29.35 earlier; Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) is up 0.2% at $63.55 after posting a new 52-week high of $64.39 earlier this morning; Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: CTB) is up nearly 14% at $17.81; El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP) is up 1.8% at $27.65, a new 52-week high; Lowes Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is up 0.83% at $27.39; Quicksilver Resources Inc. (NYSE: KWK) is down -5.8% at $5.73; Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) is up 5.34% at $53.44; and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (NYSE: VRX) is up 5.6% at $50.62.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

ATP Oil & Gas Corp. (NASDAQ: ATPG) is up nearly 20% at $8.63. The independent oil & gas company reported a fourth successful well at its Telemark Hub project.

Cheniere Energy Partners L.P. (AMEX: CQP) is up about 14% at $23.80 after posting a new 52-week high of $24.21 earlier. The liquefied natural gas company announced an investment from Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX). More coverage here.

Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is down more than -20% at $11.83. The drug maker reported lower-than-expected revenues this morning. More coverage here.

Intermolecular Inc. (NASDAQ: IMI) is down more than -15% at $6.31 after posting a new 52-week low of $6.02. The semiconductor equipment and materials company’s stock is likely reacting to the bankruptcy filing by Japanese chipmaker Elpida.

Microvision Inc. (NASDAQ: MVIS) is down more than -16% at $3.28. The laser display company reported very poor earnings this morning.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Federal Reserve governor Elizabeth Duke and Cleveland Fed president Sandra Pianalto are giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Durable goods orders
9:00 a.m. – S&P Case-Shiller housing price index
10:00 a.m. – Conference Board consumer confidence index
10:00 a.m. – Richmond Fed manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – State Street investor confidence index
11:30 a.m. – 4-week Treasury bill auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AEP, AES, ATPG, BCPC, CHTR, CQP, CTB, DNDN, DNKN, EP, IMI, IPG, KWK, LOW, MVIS, RIG, SHLD, URI, VRX

Top 10 Earnings Previews For Early This Coming Week (CHTR, DNDN, LOW, PCLN, AZO, EP, FSLR, TECD, RIG, VSI)

Administrator — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:20:17 +0000

Earnings season is mostly behind us, but we do have some sector-moving earnings next week. For Monday, the top earnings are from Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR), Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN), Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW), and priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN). Tuesday’s top earnings for traders will be from the following: AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO), El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP), First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ: TECD), Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), and Vitamin Shoppe Inc. (NYSE: VSI).

We have compiled earnings estimates using Thomson Reuters consensus targets and have added color if applicable.

Monday, February 27

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) has estimates of -$0.32 EPS and $1.83 billion in revenue. Shares hit a new post-restructuring high on Friday and are up over 50% from the 52-week lows.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) has estimates of -$0.23 EPS and $119.8 million in revenue. Shares are back up around $15.00, still above the mean consensus target of $12.82 from analysts but still down less than half from its 52-week high and up over 100% from its 52-week low. This is all about the adoption of PROVENGE from doctors and it is expected to be getting back on track. Watch guidance closely. 2102 estimates are -$1.61 EPS on $392.6 million in sales.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) has estimates of $0.24 EPS and $11.34 billion in revenue. Home Depot already laid the path here with earnings. Shares are within 5% or so of a 52-week high after pulling back about $1.00 this last week after Home Depot’s earnings.

priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) has estimates of $5.05 EPS and $968.3 million in revenue. Next quarter estimates are $3.73 EPS and $1.02 billion in sales. This company is now entering the area of its business cycle that analysts are going to be expecting $1 billion in sales per quarter.

Tuesday, February 28

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) has estimates of $4.04 EPS and $1.78 billion in revenue. Another high-priced $300+ stock challenging all-time highs.

El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP) has estimates of $0.29 EPS and $1.35 billion in revenue.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) has estimates of $1.55 EPS and $782.22 million in revenue. For the following quarter the estimates are $0.77 EPS and $789.3 million in sales. For 2012, estimates are for earnings top drop on sales growth of 31% to $3.78 billion. Can you say ‘endless margin compression’ fast enough? Shares are down about 75% or more from the 52-week high.

Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ: TECD) has estimates of $1.66 EPS and $7.16 billion in revenue. All technology companies who ship out products to retail and wholesale channels will watching.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) has estimates of $0.21 EPS and $2.32 billion in revenue.

Vitamin Shoppe Inc. (NYSE: VSI) has estimates of $212.67 million in revenue. This one might not sound like much with a $1.26 billion value, but many downstream and upstream companies will be watching.

More previews will be coming for those reports coming Wednesday through Friday after the week gets underway.

As a reminder, some estimates and dates may change or may have already changed.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Calendar, Earnings, The Week Tagged: AZO, CHTR, DNDN, EP, FSLR, LOW, PCLN, RIG, TECD, VSI