Jim Cramer Blog

Cramer started off by saying that it's important to buy stocks that will bounce back the hardest.
CBRL Group (CBRL): operator of the iconic Cracker Barrel restaurant chain. Cramer believes that the company is in a good position after revamping their menus and buying back a ton of stock. They had the biggest buyback in percentage of shares outstanding of any company at 54% over the past year. Cramer is crazy about the buyback.
He then took a couple of calls: One caller asked about Brinker International (EAT), which Cramer doesn't like at all. Another caller asked about Wendy's (WEN) and Cramer said don't even look at Wendy's. He suggested that he get in McDonald's (MCD) instead because it is best of breed.
Yesterday, Cramer discussed how Best Buy is leveraging their growth by expanding international. Tuesday he discussed Textron Inc. (TXT). He feels that its Cessna unit will have large worldwide demand in the upcoming years. Honeywell (HON), a company that has been very successful at forecasting the aircraft business, predicts record sales of business jets, Cessna's "bread and butter." Cramer said the rest of the world will soon surpass America in business jet sales, which makes Textron a solid business-jet play.
Before Cramer started the Lightning Round, he recommended that holders of Baidu.com (BIDU) and Focus Media (FMCN) take some profits off the table. The holders of these stocks should sell half their holdings.
In the next segment, Cramer talked about a defense stock that was booted from the NYSE, but will profit from the new defense budget. The stock is Navistar (NAVZ.PK). Cramer also likes Cummins (CMI) and PACCAR (PCAR) in this sector, but Navistar has a lower multiple.
Next, Cramer had John Dioniso, the CEO of AECOM (ACM) on the phone. Cramer has been recommending the stock, and the company has been delivering profits so far. In his opinion, Cramer thinks Aecom is "money in the bank."
Sudden Death:
Brookfield Asset Management (BAM): "Keep buying!"
Spartan Motors (SPAR): No, buy Navistar (NAVZ.PK) instead.

Labels: ACM, BIDU, CBRL, CMI, EAT, FMCN, HON, Jim Cramer, Mad Money, Mad MOney Recap, MCD, NAVZ.PK, PCAR, TXT, WEN

American Woodmark Corp.'s (NasdaqGS:AMWD - News) fiscal third quarter profit fell sharply on a big decline in new construction sales, the company said Tuesday. American Woodmark earned $3.8 million, or 24 cents a share - down from $6.1 million, or 37 cents in the year-ago period. The most recent figure includes a 7-cent a share hit for stock option expensing. Revenue came in at $161.2 million, a decline of 16%. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been for the company to earn 38 cents a share on revenue of $174 million. Looking ahead, the company said it expects sales of its core products to slip a total of 7% to 9% in the second half of its fiscal year.
BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NasdaqGM:BMRN - News) shares dropped after the Novato, Calif.-based company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $10.4 million, or 11 cents a share, vs. a net loss of $15 million or 20 cents a share, last year. Revenue rose to $22 million from $9.47 million. The company forecast a 2007 net loss of $20 million to $25 million. BioMarin also forecast 2007 sales of Naglazyme in a range of $74 million to $78 million and joint venture sales of Aldurazyme in a range of $115 million to $125 million. Separately, BioMarin announced results from its Phase IIa study of 6R-BH4 in patients with poorly controlled hypertension. The study showed there was no statistically significant or clinically meaningful effect of 6R-BH4 on any efficacy or safety parameter measured, relative to placebo.
Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW - News) said fourth-quarter earnings rose 46% to $15.4 million, or 75 cents a share, from $10.6 million, or 52 cents a share, a year earlier, helped by increased sales, its U.K. acquisition and an adjustment to its loyalty program. The St. Louis-based retailer of customized stuffed animals said revenue rose 21% to $143.3 million from $118 million in the year-ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected, on average, fourth-quarter earnings of 73 cents a share on revenue of $152.7 million. Build-A-Bear expects first-quarter earnings of 35 to 41 cents a share with revenue growth of 22%.
CBRL Group (NasdaqGS:CBRL - News) reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $102.5 million, or $2.88 a share, up from a year-ago profit of $30.8 million, or 61 cents a share. On a continuing operations basis, the Lebanon, Tenn., restaurant operator earned $20.5 million, or 60 cents a share, in the latest quarter. The company closed on the sale of its Logan's Roadhouse unit on Dec. 6. Total revenue rose 4% in the latest three months to $612.1 million from $586.7 million a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for a profit of 69 cents a share in the quarter. Looking ahead, CBRL said it expects fiscal 2007 revenue to increase 6.5% to 7.5% from the total from continuing operations for 2006. It anticipates full-year same-store sales will be up between 5% and 6%.
Goldcorp Inc., (NYSE:GG - News) agreed to sell its Peak mine in Australia and its Amapari mine in Brazil to GPJ Ventures Ltd. In a statement, Goldcorp said it will receive $200 million cash and $100 million of stock for the mines. The company expects to record charges totaling $170 million from the sales in 2007.
Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD - News) reported earnings of 46 cents a share for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 28, down from 60 cents in the year-earlier period. On an adjusted basis, the Atlanta home-improvement retailer and Dow Jones Industrial Average component earned 50 cents a share. Sales rose 4% to nearly $20.27 billion, but comparable-store sales fell 6.6%. Analysts were looking for earnings of 50 cents a share on revenue of $20.8 billion, according to estimates compiled by Thomson Financial.
JetBlue (NasdaqGS:JBLU - News) was downgraded to equal-weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley. The company also unveiled a "Customer of Bill of Rights" after experiencing a number of service problems in the wake of last week's snowstorm in the New York City area.
Kraft Foods' (NYSE:KFT - News) shares slipped after the company said a new strategy aimed at returning the company "to predictable and consistent growth" would take its toll on short-term profits. Restructuring and reinvestment costs tied to the program, along with a higher tax rate and the impact of divestitures, mean Kraft now expects to earn $1.50 to $1.75 a share for all of 2007, or $1.75 to $1.80 excluding restructuring charges. The current average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial is for the company to earn $1.92 a share this year. Further out, in 2008, the company said it expects revenue to grow 3% to 4% on an organic basis, and "by 2009, we'll hit our stride," said chief executive Irene Rosenfeld in a written release.
Power-One (NasdaqGM:PWER - News) said Chief Financial Officer Paul Ross plans to resign. The maker of power-conversion products named Jeffrey Kyle to succeed Ross.
United Natural Foods (NasdaqGS:UNFI - News) said net income rose to $11 million, or 25 cents a share, from $10.6 million, or 25 cents a share. Net sales rose to $668.5 million from $601.1 million. Analysts, on average, expected it to earn 30 cents a share on revenue of $683 million, according to Thomson Financial. The natural foods distributor said it is expanding its operations in the Pacific Northwest and is building a distribution center in Ridgefield, WA. The new facility will create approximately 100 jobs upon opening.
WCI Communities Inc. (NYSE:WCI - News) Chairman Don Ackerman said Carl Icahn's plans to run his own slate of candidates for the WCI Board "would be highly disruptive to our company and not in the best interests of all our shareholders."
Westlake Chemical Corp. (NYSE:WLK - News) said its fourth-quarter net profit slipped to $14.4 million, or 22 cents a share, from $73.6 million, or $1.13 a share, due to lower selling prices, reduced volumes and the unscheduled closure of one of its ethylene plants. Net sales for the quarter fell to $523.9 million from $636.4 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been expecting earnings of 35 cents a share on revenue of $548 million. Westlake said maintenance costs were significantly higher than expected due to the plant outage, but it was able to use the downtime to upgrade facilities, which should cut energy costs and increases capacity at the plant.
West Pharmaceutical Services Inc.'s (NYSE:WST - News) fourth-quarter earnings rose to $15 million, or 44 cents a share, from $12.5 million, or 38 cents, a year earlier, as increased sales offset rising costs. Earnings from continuing operations were 43 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, expected earnings of 43 cents a share. The Lionville, Pa., maker of closure systems and syringe components said net sales climbed to $231.9 million from $195.6 million in the year-earlier quarter. The company sees 2007 earnings of $2.20 to $2.35 a share on sales of $1 billion, saying that investments in capacity expansion will constrain bottom-line growth in the near term.
Winn-Dixie Stores (NasdaqGM:WINN - News) reported its results for the sixteen weeks ended Jan. 10, posting a profit of $286.8 million, compared to earnings of $237.5 million in the same period a year earlier. The latest results include a gain of $188.2 million related to the discharge of liabilities associated with the company's emergence from bankruptcy protection in November, and a gain of $144.8 million from the revaluation of its assets and liabilities as part of fresh-start reporting. The Jacksonville, Fla., supermarket operator didn't provide per share figures. Net sales for what the company termed its fiscal second quarter slipped to $2.23 billion from $2.25 billion last year. Winn-Dixie said its identical store sales fell 0.5% for the 16-week period. "We are pleased to have emerged from bankruptcy with virtually no debt and substantial borrowing capacity under our new Credit Facility," said Peter Lynch, the company's president, chairman and CEO. "We are confident we have the liquidity we need to fund both our current business operations and our planned capital expenditure program."
Published By MarketWatch

Labels: AMWD, BBW, BMRN, CBRL, GG, HD, JBLU, KFT, PWER, UNFI, WCI, WINN, WLK, WST