the tickerspy.com Staff, on Thursday July 29, 2010, 4:52 pm EDT
Stocks fell in a topsy-turvy trading session. Earnings were rather mixed today. There were a number of solid reports, but disappointing reports from Kellogg (NYSE: K - News) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL - News) showed that consumer products companies are seeing slow volume growth and not a lot of pricing power. the big news, though, was Fed Governor James Bullard coming out and arguing that keeping interest rates low could lead to a Japanese-style deflation trap where "inflation and inflation expectations will instead fall, and that the economy will settle in the neighborhood of the unintended steady state." that obviously wouldn't be a great situation, but we believe stocks are already well pricing in a period of slow economic growth.
The Coffee Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR - News) with a 9% gain.
Stocks dipped on the day, with the Dow off -31 points to 10,467. the S&P fell -5 points to 1,102, while the Nasdaq dropped -13 points to 2,252. Oil rose $1.37 to $78.36 a barrel, while gold added $8.00 to 1,168.40.
On the economic front, the Labor Department said that new jobless claims fell by -11,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 457,000. Economists were expecting claims to remain steady at 464,000.
In earnings news, shares of Cerner (Nasdaq: CERN - News) moved up 3.0% after the company said its Q2 profit jumped 27% as a result of higher bookings and revenue. the healthcare IT provider also boosted its 2010 outlook. for the quarter, Cerner earned $55.5 million, or 65 cents a share, up from $43.7 million, or 52 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted EPS was 69 cents, topping estimates by a penny. Revenue climbed 13% to $456 million, while bookings grew 19% to $467.8 million. Looking forward, the company expects FY10 EPS of $2.85-$2.92, up from a previous view of $2.80-$2.90, on revenue of $1.83-$1.88 billion. Analysts were looking for FY10 EPS of $2.88 on revenue of $1.85 billion. for Q3, Cerner guided for EPS of 71-76 cents on revenue of $455-$480 million, bracketing expectations of 74 cents on revenue of $465.4 million.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters reported better-than-expected Q3 results due to rising sales of its Keurig coffee machines and associated K-Cups. the stock rose 9.4%. for the period ended June 26th, the coffee company earned $18.6 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with $14.1 million, or 12 cents per share, last year. Adjusted EPS came in at 19 cents. Revenue increased 64% to $311.5 million. the consensus was for EPS of 18 cents on revenue of $307.5 million. Net sales of K-Cups soared 90% to $197 million. for the full year, Green Mountain forecast EPS of 69-71 cents, in line with estimates of 69 cents. for FY11, the company anticipates EPS of $1.15-$1.20, above expectations of FY11 EPS of $1.00.
Shares of Akamai Technologies (Nasdaq: AKAM - News) sank -12.9% despite the online content streaming provider posting a 6% increase in its Q2 profit on higher demand for its technology. for the quarter, net income was $38.1 million, or 20 cents a share, up from $36 million, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier. Adjusted EPS was 34 cents, matching Wall Street's expectations. Revenue rose 20% to $245.3 million. Looking forward, the company guided for Q3 EPS of 32-34 cents on revenue of $242-$252 million. Analysts were expecting Q3 EPS of 34 cents on revenue of $247.1 million. A total of 20 pro investors counted the stock among their holdings at the start of Q2, while nearly 500 tickerspy members included the stock in their portfolios. Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT - News) announced that its quarterly net profit more than doubled, aided by a recovery in fertilizer demand. for Q2, the fertilizer company posted a profit of $472 million, or $1.55 per share, up from $186.2 million, or 61 cents per share, a year ago. Adjusted EPS was $1.38. Revenue spiked 68% to $1.44 billion. Analysts were looking for EPS of $1.21 on revenue of $1.4 billion. for the full year, Potash expects EPS of $5.00-$5.50, straddling the consensus of $5.30. Shares of the stock rose 5.2%. A total of 54 pro investors counted the stock among their holdings at the start of Q2, while 2,477 tickerspy members included the stock in their portfolios.
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