Jim Cramer Blog

Liberty Media (NasdaqGS:LCAPA - News) has agreed to acquire the Atlanta Braves baseball team from Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - News), according to media reports. The company also agreed to exchange its stake in CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS - News) for a Green Bay, Wis., television station and $170 million in cash. In the tax-free transaction, Liberty will swap its 7.6 million CBS common shares for a newly created CBS subsidiary that holds the TV station, valued at $64 million, and the cash. The price at which Liberty will exchange its CBS shares will be based upon the average trading price of CBS Class B shares during a specified period prior to the closing.
Mastercard (NYSE:MA - News) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at J.P. Morgan.
Paxar Corp. (NYSE:PXR - News) reported fourth-quarter earnings of $9.5 million, or 23 cents a share, up from a loss of $800,000, or 2 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding certain items, the White Plains, N.Y., maker of retail identification products earned $12.6 million, or 30 cents a share, in the latest quarter. Sales rose in the latest three months to $230.8 million from $206.8 million in the same period a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial was for a profit of 29 cents a share in the December period. Looking ahead, Paxar said it expects earnings of $1.13 to $1.21 a share in 2007 on sales of between $925 million and $945 million. This view includes restructuring-related charges of between 11 to 15 cents a share. Excluding items, the company sees earnings of $1.24 to $1.36 a share for the year. Wall Street's current consensus estimate is for a profit of $1.33 a share in 2007.
Priceline.com Inc. (NasdaqGS:PCLN - News) reported profit more than doubled on stronger business in Europe. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the company said profit was $13.2 million, or 33 cents per share, compared to $3.8 million or 9 cents a share a year ago. Sales for the quarter rose 28% to $235.9 million.
ServiceMaster Co. (NYSE:SVM - News) said fourth-quarter earnings rose to $38.9 million, or 13 cents a share, from $27 million, or 9 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items, earnings for the quarter ending Dec. 31 would have been 11 cents a share. Revenue increased 7.1% to $770.7 million from last year's $719.6 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had been expecting earnings of 10 cents a share and revenue of $767.1 million, on average. The Downers Grove, Ill. lawn care and pest control company said it expects adjusted 2007 earnings of 67 to 68 cents a share, vs. analyst forecasts of 68 cents a share.
Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. (NasdaqGS:SNDA - News) said it swung to net income for the fourth-quarter of 240.3 million renminbi ($31 million), or RMB3.32 (42 cents) per American Depositary Share. During the same period in the prior year, the net loss was RMB538.9 million, or RMB7.58 per ADS.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NasdaqGS:TEVA - News) said fourth-quarter net income rose 51% as sales increased 63%, citing sales of new products as well as the addition of sales from Ivax. Profit reached $460 million, or 56 cents a share, from $305 million, or 45 cents, in the year-earlier period. The latest quarter's adjusted earnings, eliminating certain tax-related income and certain charges, were 53 cents. A survey of analysts by Thomson Financial produced a consensus estimate of 58 cents a share. Sales rose to $2.28 billion from $1.4 billion. Thomson's survey estimated $2.26 billion.
Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (NYSE:WYN - News) said fourth-quarter net income rose to $92 million, or 48 cents a share, from $91 million, or 45 cents a share. Net revenue rose to $970 million from $861 million. Analysts, on average, expected it to earn 40 cents a share on revenue of $912 million, according to Thomson Financial. For 2007, the hotel operator raised its profit forecast for the year to a range of $1.84 to $2.02 a share, excluding separation and related costs, as well as legacy matters. The prior forecast was a range of $1.77 to $1.95 a share. Revenue for the year is expected to come in at $4.11 billion to $4.26 billion. For the first quarter, Wyndham expects to earn 37 cents to 40 cents a share, excluding items. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect it to earn 38 cents a share in the first quarter and $1.87 a share for the year on revenue of $4.14 billion, on average