24/7 Wall St. » PERY

Golf World Still Under Par (ELY, GOLF, ADGF, DKS, PERY)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:39:16 +0000

Golf equipment maker Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) reported first-quarter results this morning that missed expectations, but the worse news was that the company sharply lowered its guidance for the first half of 2012. Now that Adams Golf Inc. (NASDAQ: ADGF) has agreed to be acquired by adidas Group’s TaylorMade division, only Callaway and Golfsmith International Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: GOLF) remain as independent suppliers of premium golf equipment. The Titleist brand was sold to Korea-based FILA last year, and Callaway recently sold its Top-Flite brand to Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS). Earlier this year the company sold its Ben Hogan brand to Perry Ellis International Inc. (NASDAQ: PERY).

Callaway reported EPS of $0.18 versus a consensus estimate of $0.21 on revenue of $285.1 million compared with an estimate of $312.1 million. The company slashed its first half sales forecast from $610-$630 million to $560-$575 million, cut its estimate of gross margin by one point to 43%, and lowered its first half EPS estimate to $0.20-$0.25. That last figure means that second quarter EPS is expected to come in at less than half the first quarter amount.

Callaway stock is taking a beating today, down -15% at $5.93 in a 52-week range of $4.70-$7.29 on 4x average daily volume. Golfsmith, which is expected to post an EPS loss of -$0.13 when it reports first quarter results, is also down about -0.9% at $4.60 in a 52-week range of $2.44-$5.26. Golfsmith trades just under 6,200 shares/day and has a market cap of about $73 million. If Callaway were doing better, there could be an opportunity for more consolidation in the golf world.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Consumer Goods, Earnings Tagged: ADGF, DKS, ELY, GOLF, PERY

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (XOM, WDC, RAX, NLY, EMR, BBX, CAG, GME, IHS, LULU, PERY, SONC, NCTY, DG, DISCA, RGR, SWHC, BTFG, DMND)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:06:33 +0000

Markets opened sharply this morning and remained in negative territory all day. Purchasing managers’ indexes in the eurozone and in China came in lower than expected this morning, weighing European and Asian shares. The US dollar index rose slightly today, now up 0.10% at 79.733. Commodities were mixed on the dollar strength, with grains and sugar higher, and most other commodities lower. The US EIA weekly natural gas storage report showed a gain of 11 billion cubic feet in US inventories, sending natural gas prices tumbling nearly -4%. (our coverage here). WTI crude oil closed down -1.8% at $105.35/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -0.88% at $123.11/barrel. Gold settled down -0.5% today, at $1,642.50/ounce, a nine-week low.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 78 points to 13,046.14 (-0.60%), the NASDAQ fell 12 points (-0.39%) to 3,063,32, and the S&P 500 fell -0.72% or about 10 points to 1,392,79.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) raised to ‘neutral’ with a $92 target price at JPMorgan; Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) raised to ‘strong buy’ at Needham; Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) cut to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) cut to ‘underperform’ at Sterne Agee; and Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) raised to ‘buy’ at Nomura.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: BBX) is down -1.7% at $3.97; ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) is down -0.6% at $26.21; Gamestop Corp. (NYSE: GME) is down -6% at $23.17; IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS) is down -4.9% at $92.89; Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) is up 2.9% at $76.20 after posting a new 52-week high of $76.66 earlier today; Perry Ellis International Inc. (NASDAQ: PERY) is up 3% at $18.42; Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC) is down -6.8% at $7.50; and The9 Ltd. (NASDAQ: NCTY) is down -5% at $7.01.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) is up 3.33% at $46.24 after posting a new 52-week high of $46.95 earlier today. The discount retailer posted better than expected earnings results. More coverage here.

Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) is down -0.35% at $48.16. The cable network may take a big loss its investment in the Oprah Winfrey Network. More coverage here.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. (NYSE: RGR) is up 13.4% at $47.95 after posting a new 52-week high today of $48.24. Smith & Wesson Holdings Co. (NASDAQ: SWHC) is up nearly 14% at $7.84 after posting a new 52-week high of $8.00. The gunmakers are rising on Ruger’s announcement that it will not be accepting any new orders until May because it is fully booked. More coverage here.

Banc Trust Financial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: BTFG) is down more than -18% at $1.22. The bank holding company warned on earnings this morning. More coverage here.

Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) is down -8% at $23.59. The snack food maker is suspending its dividend. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Friday. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard are giving speeches. We have also noted the following event on the schedule (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. – New home sales

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: BBX, BTFG, CAG, DG, DISCA, DMND, EMR, GME, IHS, LULU, NCTY, NLY, PERY, RAX, RGR, SONC, SWHC, WDC, XOM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (MDRX, ANR, AMCX, AEO, BAC, CBRL, EMR, JNY, LDK, PERY, PCLN, R, HOT, SXC, VPRT)

Administrator — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:08:36 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) Reiterated Buy with $27 target at Argus.
Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ANR) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX) Started as Buy with $42 target at BofA/ML.
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Maintained Outperform with $14 target at Credit Suisse.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBRL) Cut to Neutral at SunTrust.
Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) Cut to Hold at Argus.
The Jones Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY) Raised to Buy with $14 target at BofA/ML.
LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) Cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.
Perry Ellis International (NASDAQ: PERY) Raised to Buy with $26 target at BofA/ML.
Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) Reiterated Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE: R) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) Maintained Outperform but cut target to $64 at Credit Suisse.
SunCoke Energy Inc. (NYSE: SXC) Started as Outperform with $19 target at Credit Suisse.
VistaPrint NV (NASDAQ: VPRT) Cut to Neutral as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AEO, AMCX, ANR, BAC, CBRL, EMR, HOT, JNY, LDK, MDRX, PCLN, PERY, R, SXC, VPRT

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AFL, CPB, ECL, ISIS, MGM, NE, NSC, PERY, TER, WDC)

247wallst — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:53:18 +0000

These are the ten top Wall Street analyst calls with upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have this Wednesday morning:

Aflac (AFL) Cut to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
Campbell Soup (CPB) Raised to Sector Perform at RBC.
Ecolab (ECL) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Isis Pharmaceuticals (ISIS) Started as Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.
MGM Mirage (MGM) Cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
Noble Corporation (NE) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Norfolk Southern (NSC) Cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
Perry Ellis (PERY) Cut to Neutral at SunTrust.
Teradyne (TER) Started as Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Western Digital (WDC) Cut to Neutral at Baird.

Jon C. Ogg
July 27, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AFL, CPB, ECL, ISIS, MGM, NE, NSC, PERY, TER, WDC

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AIV, BBBY, DVA, LEH, MCD, OPLK, PERY, HOT, TLAB, WLP)

247wallst — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:54:26 +0000

These are the top analyst calls we are looking at this Friday morning:

Apartment Investment (NYSE: AIV) Cut To Neutral From Buy at UBS.
Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) Cut To Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Davita (NYSE: DVA) Raised To Buy From Neutral at UBS.
Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) Raised To Buy From Hold at Citigroup.
McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) Started At Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Oplink Communications (NASDAQ: OPLK) Cut To Sell From Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Perry Ellis (NASDAQ: PERY) Started At Buy at SunTrust.
Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) Cut To Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia.
Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut To Neutral From Buy at UBS.
WellPoint (NYSE: WLP) Cut To Equal-weight From Overweight at Lehman.

Jon C. Ogg
March 28, 2008

Cramer’s Retail & Apparel Calls On The Fed (PVH, PERY, RL, DLTR, GPS, AEO)

247wallst — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:24:52 +0000

On tonight’s Mad Money on CNBC, Jim Cramer said he is adamant of a RATE CUT from the Federal Reserve and sticking his head out waiting for it. He still thinks the way to play this is by being in best of breed and solid retail stocks, particularly since this is FASHION WEEK. He has one play he thinks is a big buy, but there are also a couple retail stocks in fashion and apparel that you should avoid.

The one Cramer loves and thinks you should own right now is Phillips-Van Heusen (NYSE:PVH), which owns Calvin Klein. That isn’t the only brand and isn’t the only good brand. It licenses Kenneth Cole, DKNY, Joseph Abboud, and has IZOD, Bass, Geoffrey Beene. He thinks this may be immune from missing estimates and will grow from the outside of the US sales. It also has 725 outlet stores it sells through. PVH rose 1.5% to $56.00 after the Cramer call, but shares were down 1.9% in normal trading and closed at $55.18 in normal trading.

A call-in during the first ‘avoid segment’ was actually from an overstock retail specialist, and Crameragreed that there is major discounting and overstocking going on inapparel right now. Cramer still thinks the way to key off of goodretailers is by gaging the Fed ahead of rate cuts. In the call-insegment he was positive on Gap (NYSE:GPS), Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR),and American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO).

CRAMER’S AVOID LIST FOR NOW

Perry Ellis (NASDAQ:PERY) is a fairly unfashionable label that blew away earnings, but the quality of earnings was a beat because of cost cuts and they are a mid-tier fashion brand. This is also the most at risk if Cramer is wrong on the rate cuts, and he’s concerned about Perry Eliis’ future. It also gives no dividend and has no share buyback plan.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) is a best of breed clothier, and Citigroup just started it as a Buy this week. On August 8 the earnings miss punished the stock after an earnings warning. He said he gave the management the benefit of the doubt right before the retail stock slide happened. Tonight Jim Cramer is saying now that he cannot recommend this one now, and he said he’s sitting on the sidelines now. Blowing a quarter means you have to weigh the risk/reward a quarter later to make sure this isn’t a one time event.

Jon C. Ogg
September 5, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he produces the 24/7 Wall St. SPECIAL SITUATION INVESTING NEWSLETTER and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.