American Greetings Burns Its Cards On Earnings (AM)
Apparently being in the business of selling greetings cards for $5.00 per card is not quite as profitable as you might imagine. That is the case for American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM) just in time for Christmas. The company reported…
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Apparently being in the business of selling greetings cards for $5.00 per card is not quite as profitable as you might imagine. That is the case for American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM) just in time for Christmas.
The company reported earnings of $0.50 EPS on sales of $463.6 million. Thomson Reuters had estimates of $0.81 EPS and $439.4 million in sales. A previous target for 2012 was to get revenues up 3% but now the company noted that it feels confident that it can meet or beat those expectations.
American greetings noted higher costs and also has raised its cap-ex planes to $55 million to $70 million versus a prior 2012 projection of $45 million to $50 million. This is lowering cash flow projections to $90 million to $110 million from a prior target of $125 million to $145 million.
Let’s just say that the market is much less than receptive today. Shares are down 19.4% at $13.69 and that breaks the chart for a new 52-week low. The prior 52-week range was $15.20 to $24.84.
JON C. OGG
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.
