Home / Markets / Industries / Retail
Monday, September 15, 2008
Stocks In Focus For Tuesday
MarketWatch
MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO -- Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Tuesday's session are Goldman Sachs, Best Buy, Adobe Systems, and AIG.
Goldman Sachs (GS) is projected to report third-quarter earnings of $1.71 a share, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Best Buy Co. (BBY) is likely to post earnings of 56 cents a share in the second quarter, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.
Adobe Systems is forecast to post earnings of 44 cents a share in the third quarter, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.
Kroger Co. (KR) is expected to post earnings of 41 cents a share in the second quarter, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.
CBRL Group (CBRL) is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings of 92 cents a share, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research are estimating Darden Restaurants (DRI) to report first-quarter earnings of 63 cents a share.
Investors will keep a close eye on AIG (AIG) shares amid reports that the insurer is seeking a bridge loan from the Federal Reserve. AIG shares fell over 60% to $4.76 in Monday's session. See full story
After Monday's closing bell, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) said it would cut 24,600 jobs as part of its acquisition of Electronic Data Systems. The job cuts amount to about 7.5% of the combined company's total workforce. H-P also said it would take a one-time charge of $1.7 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter related to integrating EDS' operations, and that it expects the restructuring to result in annual cost savings of $1.8 billion. See full story
Watch list
Influential insurance industry rating agency A.M. Best downgraded American International Group (AIG) because of a "rapid deterioration" in the insurer's financial strength and flexibility. "AIG's lack of liquidity at the holding company level and management's need to secure funding options are not representative of financial stability and not reflective of AIG's current ratings," A.M. Best said in a statement. The financial strength rating of AIG's domestic life and retirement services subsidiaries was cut to A (Excellent) from A+ (Superior). The issuer credit rating of that unit was downgraded to a from aa, the agency said. AIG's domestic property and casualty subsidiaries suffered similar downgrades from A.M. Best.
J.M. Smucker Co. (SJM) will pay a special one-time dividend of $5 in connection with its buyout of Folgers. The dividend will be paid on Oct. 31 to shareholders of record at the close of business Sept. 30. The deal is expected to add to J.M. Smucker's earnings and will close in the fourth quarter.
Standard & Poor's will remove Lehman Brothers (LEH) from the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Tuesday following the company's filing for bankruptcy. Lehman will be replaced by Harris Corp. (HRS) on the index.
Fitch Ratings revised its review of Merrill Lynch & Co.'s (MER) ratings to evolving from negative following the $50 billion acquisition offer from Bank of America (BAC) . Fitch has an A+ long-term issuer default rating and long-term senior debt rating on Merrill.
Pall Corp. (PLL) reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $69.9 million, or 57 cents a share, compared with $16.7 million, or 13 cents a share, a year ago. For the quarter ended July 31, Pall said sales rose almost 12% to $723.2 million. The company forecast fiscal 2009 earnings in the range $2.15 to $2.30 a share, excluding charges.
Fitch Ratings downgraded the ratings of Synovus Financial Corp. (SNV) and its subsidiary banks because of prolonged credit stress at the company. Among the downgrades, Fitch cut Synovus' long-term issuer default rating to A- from A, and its subordinated debt rating to BBB+ from A-. The outlook remains negative.
Standard & Poor's downgraded the ratings of Washington Mutual Inc. (WM) and Washington Mutual Bank because of increased market turmoil. S&P cut the counterparty credit rating on Washington Mutual Inc. to BB-/B from BBB-/A-3, and the rating on Washington Mutual Bank to BBB-/A-3 from BBB/A-2. The outlook is negative. "Increasing market turmoil and the related impact from managing its concentrated mortgage franchise in this troubled housing and credit cycle led to the downgrade of WaMu," said Victoria Wagner, an S&P credit analyst, in a statement.
Copyright © 2008 MarketWatch, Inc.
FOX Translator
No data currently available.
No data currently available.
Most folks judge the health of a business by the revenue that comes in through sales. But not all revenue is equal. Companies can grow their sales by buying other companies, which means you don't get a clear view of how the real sales trends are moving.
So, many analysts, particularly those who look at retail, try to gauge what¿s known as "organic" growth, by looking at same-store sales. These are sales only at outlets open more than a year, so the metric can exclude any sales jump that comes from opening new locations. Retailers release same-store sales (which are frequently called "comps" since they're a true comparison from the previous period) every month.
Retail, incidentally, isn't the only industry to look at same-store sales. Hospital companies, also use the metric, to gauge how existing hospitals are performing compared to ones they just built or acquired.






