Jim Cramer Blog

The Dow dropped 362 points and the Nasdaq fell 64 points Thursday, crushing the stock market. The Chairman & CEO of Merriman Curhan Ford & Co, Jonathan Merriman, joined the show to discuss stocks he feels have potential in the selloff. Merriman likes Smith & Wesson (SWHC) here and thinks it's a huge opportunity to buy the stock while it's low. Macke still likes video game stocks like Electronic Arts (ERTS) and Activision (ATVI). Adami recommends buying Aministaff (ASF). Finerman likes NYMEX (NMX) and Crocs (CROX). Merriman thinks she is very early to be buying CROX here. Najarian favors Manitowoc (MTW).
The founder and president of Seabreeze partner, Doug Kass, joined the show to give his take on the mortgage insurers. Kass thinks names like Ambac (ABK), PMI Group
(PMI) and MBIA (MBI) don't have enough capital to keep running. Kass also says his sources are telling him that Citigroup (C) will get rid of CEO Chuck Prince this weekend. Charlie Gasparino joined the show to discuss his take on the CEO turmoil at Citigroup and agrees with Kass and expects that Citigroup CEO, Chuck Prince, is about to get the axe.
Najarian feels that Bear Stearns (BSC) and Merrill Lynch (MER) would benefit the most from a management change. Finerman is long Goldman Sachs (GS) and short Merrill.
Word on the Street
Crude oil traded over $96 before selling off to close at $93. Adami was surprised that Exxon Mobil (XOM) didn't go lower on Thursday. He sees the valuation on Chevron (CVX) as compelling and there could be a buying opportunity in the stock. Tesoro (TSO) is another name to look at here.
Microsoft (MSFT) bucked the trend on Thursday and finished the day up. Macke still likes Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) plunged 17% after hours on a bearish earnings report.
Pops & Drops
Pops- Investment Technology Group (ITG) traded up 2%.
United Therapeutics (UTHR) popped 38% higher after study results showed its inhaled-high blood drug.
Drops- Sprint Nextel (S) fell 3% after profits fell 73% in the third quarter.
Manitowoc (MTW) fell 11% off of concerns for the crane maker's backlog.
Garmin (GRMN) fell 7% on concerns over a bidding war with TomTom for Tele Atlas.
Target (TGT) fell 5%.
Face2Face
Cathy asked if Google, Apple (AAPL) and Research In Motion (RIMM) trying to beat each other for the highest share price? Macke says Apple and Research In Motion have split. He advised Cathy not to believe the hype on stock splits just buy less shares.
Scot from Virginia asked if Adami liked Fluor (FLR). Adami still likes Fluor and he feels the story is still intact.
Another writer asked what Finerman is going to do with BEA Systems (BEAS) with the Oracle (ORCL) deal off. Finerman thinks by the end of the day we will see a deal with Oracle and BEA Systems.
John said he owns some Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS) and knows Najarian likes them as well based partially on their sales of names like Under Armour (UA), Nike (NKE) and Crocs. He asked if the recent sell-off based on Croc's numbers and does this change your bullish sentiment on the company? Najarian tells John that even though there are some concerns for Dicks Sporting Goods, right now he still likes the company.
Final Trade
Macke would buy Electronic Arts (ERTS) on a dip.
Adami favors Intel (INTC).
Finerman prefers Flowserve (FLS).
Najarian recommends buying Cypress Semiconductor (CY) for a solar play.

Labels: ABK, ASF, BSC, CNBC, CROX, Fast Money, Fast Money Recap, MBI, MTW, PMI, SWHC

Bullish Calls:
Woodward Governor (NasdaqGS: WGOV - News): 'That's in the bull market of aerospace. It's in the bull market of infrastructure.'Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - News)Sears Holdings (NasdaqGS: SHLD - News): 'Everybody's decided ... it's too hard ... am not giving up on Eddie Lampert. Let everyone else give up. I am not. I'm with him.'Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM - News): 'Long term, Toyota's the winner. ... In 2010, this company's going to own the world. Now, if you can't take the pain between now and 2010, by all means, go buy a mutual fund.'Macy's (NYSE: M - News): 'They've all given up on Macy's. ... Me? I don't know. Terry Lundgren's pretty good. .... I'd rather pull the trigger. I'd rather run toward what looks like a house of pleasure.'
Bearish calls:
Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW - News): 'This stock has just been hammered unfairly. ... We've got to wait till it settles, and it's not going to settle, because it's still in freefall.'Alcoa (NYSE: AA - News): 'It did not get the bid in the end ... it's trading only on fundamentals. On fundamentals, it's worth $35. ... I got too greedy on Alcoa.'
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: AA, CAT, Jim Cramer, Lightning Round, M, Mad Money, MTW, SHLD, TM, WGOV

Here are 7 options to watch for today. This list comes directly from the TradingMarkets Options Indicators page. The list is created using OptionVue options analysis software.
Most Underpriced Calls: These are the most under priced calls of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Explosion List finds groups of calls for individual equities that are under priced, this list finds the most under priced individual calls. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely under priced.
Advanced Magnetics Inc. Aug 65 (NasdaqGM:AMAG - News). AMAG's PowerRating is 6.
InterContinental Exchange, Inc. Aug 145 Calls (NYSE:ICE - News). ICE's PowerRating is 4.
Most Underpriced Puts: These are the most under priced puts of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Explosion List finds groups of puts for individual equities that are under priced, this list finds the most under priced individual puts. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely under priced.
Yum Brands! Aug 35 Puts (NYSE:YUM - News). YUM's PowerRating is 5.
Most Overpriced Calls: These are the most overpriced calls of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Implosion List finds groups of calls for individual equities that are overpriced, this list finds the most overpriced individual calls. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely overpriced.
Manitowac Co. Aug 80 Calls (NYSE:MTW - News). MTW's PowerRating is 5.
Most Overpriced Puts: These are the most overpriced puts of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Implosion List finds groups of puts for individual equities that are overpriced, this list finds the most overpriced individual puts. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely overpriced.
Hub Group Aug 40 Puts (NasdaqGS:HUBG - News). HUBG's PowerRating is 5.
Avid Technology Aug 40 Puts (NasdaqGS:AVID - News). AVID's PowerRating is 3.
Stocks with Abnormal Call Volume: These are stocks which showed unusual call option volume not easily explained by arbitrage operations. The appearance of a stock on the Call Volume Alerts list suggests a possible takeover, extraordinarily good earnings report, or other news which may favorably affect the stock.
None today
Stocks with Abnormal Put Volume: These are stocks which showed unusual put option volume not easily explained by arbitrage operations. The appearance of a stock on the Put Volume Alerts list suggests an extraordinarily negative earnings report, or other news which may negatively affect the stock.
None today
Abnormal Put/Call $ Volume: These stocks have the highest dollar put volume in relation to their call volume. These high ratios are indicative of extreme bearish sentiment in the underlying stock.
Corus Bankshares Inc. (NasdaqGS:CORS - News). CORS' PowerRating is 4.
PowerRatings are courtesy of TradingMarkets.com

Labels: AMAG, AVID, CORS, HUBG, ICE, MTW, stock options, YUM

Avoid Private Equity: Blackstone (NYSE: BX - News)
Cramer would not buy private equity firms and suggests staying away from the Apollo and KKR IPOs. A former hedge fund manager, Cramer says he knows a thing or two about private equity. He believes the stocks are too expensive and investors would be catching these names at the end of the trend. In addition, if a Democrat wins the White House, he or she will propose taxing "the heck out" of private equity and squeezing the firms dry. Cramer added there are "too many people with too much money trying to get a piece of the action." Finally, companies are taken public at the end of a cycle, and "coming public means they're selling, not buying," Cramer said.
That 80s Show: Apache (NYSE: APA - News)
This week, Cramer has been discussing his theory that once the $80 threshold is broken, a stock becomes "annointed," rises to $100 and eventually reaches $120. He added once a stock hits $100 it will only go down again if it splits. Apache is a name Cramer believes will provide support for this theory because "people will keep buying it." Oil is one of the sectors driving the market, and Apache's advantage over other oil companies is its ability to thrive in challenging areas because of its low production costs and to improve on cheap products it purchases from its rivals. Cramer adds APA is trading at only 1o times earnings; "This stock is mispriced!" Most of APA's oil reserves are in the U.S., and the company has raised its product guidance. "I would buy APA before it gets away from you," Cramer said.
Overcoming Soros: Bon-Ton (NasdaqGS: BONT - News), CVS (NYSE: CVS - News), Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD - News), Qualcomm (NasdaqGS: QCOM - News), Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN - News), Gen-Probe (NasdaqGS: GPRO - News)
Cramer says he doesn't want people to invest like George Soros, "I want to be better than Soros!" For instance, Soros owns BONT which Cramer thinks is alright for the long term, but "short term it really stinks." Although Cramer likes Soros pick CVS after its Caremark acquisition, he prefers RAD. He would also swap Soros' QCOM for his choice, TXN. However, Cramer agrees with Soros about buying GPRO because the stock is "instant growth" with 40% market share for blood screening tests and 58% market share for chlamydia and gonorrhea tests. The company is also making deals with industry leaders such as General Electric, 3M and Millipore.
Mad Mail: Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW - News), Costco (NasdaqGS: COST - News), Casey's (NasdaqGS: CASY - News), Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD - News), Cemex (NYSE: CX - News)
Cramer agreed with a viewer that MTW fits his $80-$100-$120 theory. Since COST is a gas station as well as a retailer, he considers it a viable alternative to CASY. Cramer added he isn't concerned about RAD after the Medicaid ruling, but would let the "good times roll." Being locked in by the housing cycle is not a bad thing for those who hold CX, he said, because the company is "growing like a weed."
Published by SeekingAlpha

Labels: APA, BONT, BX, CASY, COST, CVS, CX, GPRO, Jim Cramer, Mad Money, MTW, QCOM, RAD, TXN

Six Bulls: John Deere (NYSE: DE - News), Monsanto (NYSE: MON - News), Sociedad de Chemica (NYSE: SQM - News), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT - News), Terex (NYSE: TEX - News), Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW - News), Foster Wheeler (NasdaqGS: FWLT - News), McDermott International (NYSE: MDR - News), Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC - News), Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA - News), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL - News), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-A), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM - News), Freeport McMoran (NYSE: FCX - News), Lundin Mining (AMEX: LMC - News)
Cramer dedicated the program to discussing six bull markets and recommending stock picks for each sector.
Agriculture: Cramer commented on a "disturbing" editorial in the New York Times which called for an end to agricultural subsidies, but he is confident the policy will never be enacted. Cramer calls Deere "money in the bank" and notes that it sells at 16x earnings and has a 12% growth rate. While Monsanto, which trades at 35 x earings "will never be cheap," Cramer says its 24% growth rate is worth the price at $60, and he would buy it up to $70. The Chilean fertilizer company, SQM, is the world's largest supplier of lithium which goes into batteries and will be in shorter supply as "the greening movement reaches its nauseating zenith."
Machinery While he confesses amazement that CAT is stalled, Cramer says it is "preposterously cheap" trading at 13x earnings with 12% growth. He adds CAT has great international exposure, will benefit from the collapse of its Japanese competitors, and is a solid infrastructure play. While he also likes TEX and MTW, Cramer thinks CAT is still best-of-breed.
Infrastructure: Cramer calls this the "wildest" bull market which will benefit from oil prices and the need to create alernative power plants and petroleum infrastructure. Even though Foster Wheeler and McDermott International have had "tremendous runs" Cramer notes FWLT sells at just 17x next years earnings with 34% growth, and MDR has 14% growth and sells at 17x earnings. He adds these stocks do not get enough coverage on Wall Street, and would buy them. Cramer gives Jacob's Engineering and honorable mention, although is more expensive than the other two.
Aerospace:Boeing is up only 10% when the rest of the sector has risen 22%, and Cramer comments, "It's a laggard. It should be leading." Boeing sells at 20x earnings and has 18% growth. He thinks the company has a good future given the health of the sector, its international business, and some "amazingly-terrible problems at AirBus."
Oil and Gas: After a run for this sector, it was down on Tuesday; "People are just thinking it's over, because oil is down 2 bucks," said Cramer and he expressed confidence that the sector would bounce back. In spite of its "giant" buyback, "robust" outlook for oil and gas and its international exposure, Cramer notes HAL is down 12% from last year. Cramer likes Royal Dutch Shell with 10x earnings, 8% sales growth, and a yield at nearly 4%. While Exxon Mobil was down on Tuesday, it is still "a go-name for big institutions."
Minerals: Cramer says rumors of full copper inventories are "nonsense," because the Chinese need more copper. He likes copper play FCX and says its gold is a good hedge against inflation. He notes the company sells at only 9x earnings, but he predicts a 12x multiple. Cramer added the quarter was not good due to strikes and the cost of its Phelps Dodge deal, but predicts it will benefit from copper demand. He also likes Lundin which he thinks will go from $12 to $15 on the Tenke Mining deal in late June.
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: BA, CAT, DE, FCX, FWLT, HAL, JEC, Jim Cramer, LMC, Mad Money, MDR, MON, MTW, SQM, TEX, XOM

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - News) Terex (NYSE: TEX - News), Cummins (NYSE: CMI - News), Paccar (NasdaqGS: PCAR) and Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW - News)
Cramer declares it a “travesty of a mockery of a sham” that Caterpillar lingers at $63.16 while TEX, CMI, PCAR and MTW are up. On the other hand, he thinks the low price on his top stock of the quarter is a “sale on a best-of-breed stock” which is down 14% year over year. He believes the market is mistaken in grouping CAT with sluggish housing instead of with natural resources. Cramer would “ride” up Caterpillar, which should benefit from rising commodity prices and the end of the yen carry trade which will take the edge off the competition. With a $7.5 million buyback, Cramer thinks the company could bring up its own stock.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM: REGN), Nastech Pharmaceutical (NasdaqGM: NSTK)
Cramer told the story of REGN, which was sitting at $5 two years ago, hit $24 and has settked at $18. This gain was accomplished with revenue decline and without a “concrete” product. Cramer predicts NSTK will be the next REGN, and although it is considered a "a comedy of errors” and doesn’t have a new drug in the pipeline, NSTK has money in the bank and the advantage that biotech trades “on hope.” In addition, Cramer noted the company has an effective obesity and insulin drug and has the only “pure play” on autism. Cramer urged interested investors to do homework on NSTK and use limit orders when buying.
Related: H.S Ayoub reports on the phase one test of NSTK's insulin spray.
Game Plan for the coming week: National CineMedia (NasdaqGM: NCMI), Verizon (NYSE: VZ - News), AT&T (NYSE: T - News), Sprint (NYSE: S - News), and Qwest (NYSE: Q - News), AAR (NYSE: AIR - News), General Mills (NYSE: GIS - News), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - News)
On Monday, Cramer would buy NCMI, a “fast growing” company that makes cinema ads, and he notes NCMI has not moved since it went public. Concerning a $20 billion government phone contract reported in The Washington Post, Cramer believes Q is the most likely candidate, since T and VZ are too big and S is high because of takeover news. He suggested investors buy GS “hand over fist” on Monday because of its aggressive buyback plan, GIS ahead of its earnings on Thursday, and AIR before Wednesday.
CEO Interview: Peter van Stolk, Jones Soda's (NasdaqCM: JSDA)
When Cramer asked Peter van Stolk to account for Jone's great quarter, van Stolk credited his team’s hard work, strong sales and the introduction of the 12 ounce can; "I think the conversion to pure cane sugar is what's really taken it by the storm." Van Stolk said another advantage is “I can put [a photo] of your loved ones on a bottle of Jones Soda.” Competitors Coca-Cola and Pepsi lack the patent. Cramer thinks JSDA has more room to rise.

Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: AIR, CAT, CMI, GIS, GS, Jim Cramer, JSDA, Mad Money, MTW, NSTK, PCAR, Q, REGN, TEX, VZ

Bullish calls:
Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI - News): 'It's been $30, give or take a point, for so long now that I'm beginning to think that there isn't anything that could move the stock ... you should not get discouraged. ACI is buying the stock back ... it remains in bull mode. Buy, buy, buy! 'Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU - News): ' ... and I'm throwing in BTU, because the coal companies are just too darn cheap. And even if the Democrats take over the White House... 'Universal Stainless (NasdaqGM: USAP): 'I like it ... 'Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS - News): ' I also like RS, which always tends to lag and be a great second-day play...'Terex (NYSE: TEX - News): '... I caught a triple in TEX, and that's the horse that brought me here. I'm going right back to TEX. If you want industrial machinery, go to TEX.'Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW - News): ' I like it, but you know what? ... I like TEX and CAT more than MTW...'Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - News)Cisco (NasdaqGS: CSCO): ' It hugs $25. It didn't go lower during the nuclear selloff that we had last Tuesday... What does that tell you? It tells you to pull the trigger and go with Chambo!'Amgen (NasdaqGS: AMGN): 'I have been struggling over this AMGN. I know, I recommended it at $66... Aranesp is in trouble. That's their anemia drug. I can't get any visibility, but at 14x earnings, perhaps the worst is over... I think it's down enough that you have to at least put a little more in ... I want to stay with AMGN.'
Bearish calls:
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU - News): 'As long as that management team is in place, sell, sell, sell! From now on, I'm banning ALU from the Lightning Round.'Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX - News): ' You're going to be in an energy company that makes coal, I am going to refer you to... both ACI and BTU, which I like more than CNX.'TiVo (NasdaqGM: TIVO)Sonus Networks (NasdaqGS: SONS): ' Oh man, voice infrastructure. Look, I just think you're making life too hard, and I'm against that.'
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: ACI, ALU, BTU, CAT, CNX, CSCO, Jim Cramer, Lightning Round, Mad Money, MTW, RS, TEX, Tivo

DeclinersAcco Brands Corp. (NYSE:ABD - News) was downgraded to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse.
Allstate (NYSE:ALL - News) reported a 17% increase in fourth-quarter profit, but the insurer's results missed analyst estimates and the company said it will stop giving profit forecasts.
Calumet Specialty Products (NasdaqGM:CLMT - News) was downgraded to neutral from buy at Goldman Sachs.
Celestica (NYSE:CLS - News) shares fell after the company said its fourth-quarter net loss widened to $60.8 million, or 27 cents a share, from $28.2 million, or 12 cents a share, as costs of sales rose. The most recent quarter's results include a $30 million net charge related to an increase in inventory at a Mexico facility and a $59 million restructuring charge. Excluding amortization of intangible assets, among other items, the Canada-based provider of electronics manufacturing services posted per-share earnings of 3 cents vs. 13 cents in the prior year. Revenue rose 9% to $2.26 billion from $2.08 billion. The company sees an adjusted first-quarter per-share loss of 4 to 15 cents, on revenue of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion. The company was also downgraded to underperform from peer perform at Bear Stearns.
U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies fell, tracking steep losses in their home market after a senior legislator said the market may be overheated after a 130% gain in 2006. The comments by Cheng Siwei, vice-chairman of the standing committee of the National People's Congress, in an interview with the Financial Times, raised concerns the Chinese government may take official action to cool speculation after the market hit a record high last week. Chinese ADRs such as Guangshen Railway (NYSE:GSH - News), China Mobile (NYSE:CHL - News), Aluminum Corp. China (NYSE:ACH - News), China Life Insurance (NYSE:LFC - News) and Sinopec (NYSE:SNP - News) were all markedly lower.
Electronics For Imaging's (NasdaqGS:EFII - News) fourth-quarter earnings fell 38% to $7.08 million, or 12 cents a share, from $11.4 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier. On a non-GAAP basis, the Foster City, Calif., provider of digital controllers said earnings fell to $22.6 million, or 35 cents a share, from $23.1 million, or 36 cents a share. Revenue rose 5.8% to $153.9 million from $145.4 million in the year-ago period. The company expects to delay its Form 10-K filing for 2006 due to its ongoing stock-option grant investigation. The company sees first-quarter non-GAAP earnings of 25 to 27 cents a share on revenue of $140 million to $143 million.
Haemonetics' (NYSE:HAE - News) shares tumbled after the maker of automated blood processing systems provider forecast earnings of adjusted $2.05 to $2.17 per share for fiscal 2007 with revenue expected to rise between 7% and 9%. The company said this view reflect expectations for continued sales declines in its Japanese business.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NasdaqGS:JNPR - News) reported fourth-quarter revenue rose 4% to $595.8 million, from $575.5 during the same period one year ago. The sales figure slightly topped the estimates of Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who had forecast $593 million.
Key Tronic (NasdaqGM:KTCC - News) shares dropped after the Spokane, Wash., provider of electronic manufacturing services posted a second-quarter profit of $300,000, or 3 cents a share, down from a profit of $1 million, or 10 cents a share, last year. The latest results include a charge of $940,000 related to a customer unexpectedly declaring bankruptcy in December. Key Tronic also said that new customer programs weren't enough to offset reduced demand from certain existing customers in the latest quarter.
Manitowoc Co. (NYSE:MTW - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $43.9 million, or 69 cents a share, compared with $18.2 million, or 30 cents a share, in the same period last year, on strong revenues in the company's crane segment.
NutriSystem (NasdaqGS:NTRI - News) shares fell after the Horsham, Pa., provider of weight management and fitness products and services forecast first-quarter earnings of 82 to 86 cents a share on revenue of between $200 million and $210 million. Wall Street's current consensus estimate is for a profit of 94 cents a share in March period on revenue of $214 million.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM:REGN - News) was initiated with an average rating at Caris & Co.
Repros Therapeutics Inc. (NasdaqGM:RPRX - News) announced the pricing of its public offering of 2.61 million shares at $13.75 each. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 390,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any, the company said.
Saifun Semiconductor (NasdaqGS:SFUN - News) shares slumped after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $6.3 million, or 20 cents per share, down from a year-ago profit of $8.6 million, or 15 cents a share. Revenue at the Israeli chip company declined to $14 million in the quarter from $16.7 million a year ago.
SanDisk (NasdaqGS:SNDK - News) said it swung to a fourth-quarter loss from a year ago, hurt by acquisition-related charges, as sales surged amid increased demand for its NAND flash-memory storage chips used in consumer electronics.
Sepracor Inc. (NasdaqGS:SEPR - News) said fourth-quarter earnings rose to $99.1 million, or 85 cents a share, from $36.9 million, or 31 cents a share, a year earlier. The results include a 12 cents a share charge for stock-based compensation. Revenue increased to $357.2 million from last year's $311.1 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had been expecting earnings of 62 cents a share and revenue of $341.4 million, on average.
Selective Insurance Group (NasdaqGS:SIGI - News) was initiated with a market perform rating at Wachovia Securities, citing concerns about increasing competition.
Silicon Laboratories (NasdaqGS:SLAB - News) forecast revenue of $106 million to $111 million for the fiscal first quarter, below Wall Street's current consensus estimate for revenue of $113.5 million in the March period.
Tekelec (NasdaqGM:TKLC - News) was downgraded to hold at Jefferies & Co.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - News) reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.75 billion, or 44 cents a share, up from $1.3 billion, or 28 cents, earned in the same period during 2005. Earnings from continuing operations improved to 43 cents a share from 28 cents, the New York-based media giant's results showed. Backing out one-time items, Time Warner said it would have earned 22 cents a share for the latest quarter. Quarterly revenue reached $12.47 billion from the prior year's $11.52 billion. Analysts were looking for earnings of 22 cents a share on revenue of $12.46 billion, according to estimates compiled by Thomson First Call. The company also said it expects to wrap up a $20 billion stock-buyback program during the first half of 2007.
Tupperware Brands Corp. (NYSE:TUP - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $39.9 million, or 65 cents a share, up 28% from $31.2 million, or 51 cents a share, during the year-ago period. Earnings after adjustments were 74 cents a share.
Websense (NasdaqGS:WBSN - News) shares tumbled after the company said its fourth-quarter earnings fell 30%, due in part to the cost of starting distribution of its software through Ingram Micro Inc. in North America. The San Diego provider of employee Internet management software had fourth-quarter earnings of $7.78 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with $11.1 million, or 23 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding stock-based compensation expense, the company earned $11.4 million, or 25 cents a share, up 3% from a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 rose 18% to $47.3 million from $40.1 million a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, earnings of 25 cents a share on revenue of $48 million. Analyst earnings forecasts typically exclude unusual items. In addition, Websense said it expects first-quarter earnings of 9 to 11 cents a share and first-quarter non-GAAP earnings of 19 to 21 cents a share.
W Holding Co. (NYSE:WHI - News) shares fell after the company posted a profit of $17.9 million, or 5 cents a share, for the fourth quarter, down nearly 41% from last year's earnings of $30.2 million, or 12 cents a share. The holding company for Westernbank Puerto Rico attributed the latest results to increases in its current income tax provision, non-interest expenses, and its provision for loan losses.
YMI Biosciences (AMEX:YMI - News) shares plunged after the company said it's terminating a phase III trial of testmilifene, a proposed advanced breast cancer treatment. The company said the move follows a recommendation from the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board that the trial be stopped because interim analysis indicates "it is very unlikely significant differences in overall survival will be shown" between treatment arms as the data mature. A.G. Edwards downgraded the company to hold from buy following the news.
Published by Michael Baron at MarketWatch

Labels: ABD, ACH, ALL, CHL, CLMT, CLS, EFII, GSH, H. SNDK, HAE, JNPR, KTCC, LFC, MTW, NTRI, REGN, SNP

Acco Brands Corp. (NYSE:ABD - News) was downgraded to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse.
Align Technology (NasdaqGM:ALGN - News) was downgraded to market perform from outperform at Barrington Research, citing valuation.
Allergan Inc. (NYSE:AGN - News) reported fourth-quarter earnings of $136.8 million, or 89 cents a share, down from a year-ago profit of $140.1 million, or $1.03 a share. On an adjusted basis, excluding certain charges, the company earned $156.5 million, or $1.02 a share, in the latest quarter. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial was for a profit of $1.02 a share in the December period. Looking ahead, the Irvine, Calif., medical and healthcare products company said it expects adjusted earnings of $4.27 to $4.31 a share for fiscal 2007 on total product net sales of between $3.46 billion and $3.63 billion. For the first quarter, it sees adjusted earnings of 88 to 90 cents a share on total product net sales of between $830 million and $850 million. Wall Street's current consensus estimates are for earnings of $4.31 a share for the year and 98 cents a share for the March quarter.
Allstate (NYSE:ALL - News) reported a 17% increase in fourth-quarter profit, but the insurer's results missed analyst estimates and the company said it will stop giving profit forecasts.
Buckeye Technologies' (NYSE:BKI - News) said second-quarter net income more than doubled to $3.82 million, or 10 cents a share, from $1.85 million, or 5 cents a share, a year earlier, as the company cut costs. The Memphis cellulose and absorbent products company's sales dropped 1.9% to $184.7 million from $188.3 million. Costs of goods sold fell 4.2% to $155.7 million from $162.5 million. On average, analysts expected the company to post earnings of 11 cents a share and revenue of $199.5 million, according to Thomson Financial.
Calumet Specialty Products (NasdaqGM:CLMT - News) was downgraded to neutral from buy at Goldman Sachs.
Celestica (NYSE:CLS - News) shares fell after the company said its fourth-quarter net loss widened to $60.8 million, or 27 cents a share, from $28.2 million, or 12 cents a share, as costs of sales rose. The most recent quarter's results include a $30 million net charge related to an increase in inventory at a Mexico facility and a $59 million restructuring charge. Excluding amortization of intangible assets, among other items, the Canada-based provider of electronics manufacturing services posted per-share earnings of 3 cents vs. 13 cents in the prior year. Revenue rose 9% to $2.26 billion from $2.08 billion. The company sees an adjusted first-quarter per-share loss of 4 to 15 cents, on revenue of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion. The company was also downgraded to underperform from peer perform at Bear Stearns.
U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies fell, tracking steep losses in their home market after a senior legislator said the market may be overheated after a 130% gain in 2006. The comments by Cheng Siwei, vice-chairman of the standing committee of the National People's Congress, in an interview with the Financial Times, raised concerns the Chinese government may take official action to cool speculation after the market hit a record high last week. Chinese ADRs such as Guangshen Railway (NYSE:GSH - News), China Mobile (NYSE:CHL - News), Aluminum Corp. China (NYSE:ACH - News), China Life Insurance (NYSE:LFC - News) and Sinopec (NYSE:SNP - News) were all markedly lower.
Electronics For Imaging's (NasdaqGS:EFII - News) fourth-quarter earnings fell 38% to $7.08 million, or 12 cents a share, from $11.4 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier. On a non-GAAP basis, the Foster City, Calif., provider of digital controllers said earnings fell to $22.6 million, or 35 cents a share, from $23.1 million, or 36 cents a share. Revenue rose 5.8% to $153.9 million from $145.4 million in the year-ago period. The company expects to delay its Form 10-K filing for 2006 due to its ongoing stock-option grant investigation. The company sees first-quarter non-GAAP earnings of 25 to 27 cents a share on revenue of $140 million to $143 million.
Haemonetics' (NYSE:HAE - News) shares tumbled after the maker of automated blood processing systems provider forecast earnings of adjusted $2.05 to $2.17 per share for fiscal 2007 with revenue expected to rise between 7% and 9%. The company said this view reflect expectations for continued sales declines in its Japanese business.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NasdaqGS:JNPR - News) reported fourth-quarter revenue rose 4% to $595.8 million, from $575.5 during the same period one year ago. The sales figure slightly topped the estimates of Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who had forecast $593 million.
Key Tronic (NasdaqGM:KTCC - News) shares dropped after the Spokane, Wash., provider of electronic manufacturing services posted a second-quarter profit of $300,000, or 3 cents a share, down from a profit of $1 million, or 10 cents a share, last year. The latest results include a charge of $940,000 related to a customer unexpectedly declaring bankruptcy in December. Key Tronic also said that new customer programs weren't enough to offset reduced demand from certain existing customers in the latest quarter.
Manitowoc Co. (NYSE:MTW - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $43.9 million, or 69 cents a share, compared with $18.2 million, or 30 cents a share, in the same period last year, on strong revenues in the company's crane segment.
NutriSystem (NasdaqGS:NTRI - News) shares fell after the Horsham, Pa., provider of weight management and fitness products and services forecast first-quarter earnings of 82 to 86 cents a share on revenue of between $200 million and $210 million. Wall Street's current consensus estimate is for a profit of 94 cents a share in March period on revenue of $214 million.
Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG - News) said its fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations fell to $173 million, or 69 cents a share, from $227 million, or 92 cents, a year earlier. The average earnings estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial was 74 cents a share.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM:REGN - News) was initiated with an average rating at Caris & Co.
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