Batteries

Then, on April 3rd, I tackled the battery segment with Energizer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ENR), EnerSys Inc. (NYSE: ENS) and Greatbatch Inc. (NYSE: GB).

My conclusion was that "ENR seems to be grounded and diversified enough and have good people at the helm so that at the very least it would be a solid company to hold. Greatbatch, on the other hand, seems more risky despite offering the most growth potential. ENS has been solid but not overly exciting since its 2004 IPO, yet institutions seem to like it and perhaps it is poised for a breakout."

Since then, ENR is up 15.6%, GB 15% and ENS is down 0.4%.

• Energizer was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight by Prudential. Energizer also recently reported a 33% jump in second-quarter net income to$66.6 million, or $1.14 a share, from $50 million, or 78 cents a share in the year-ago period. Excluding a charge, net income was $1.19 a share. Sales rose to $730.9 million. This beat analysts estimates of 85 cents EPS and revenue of $673.3 million.
• Greatbatch also reported earnings of $0.32 per share and a 33.5% revenue growth to $76.9 million, beating the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.30 EPS on revenue of $71.1 million. Guidance for the year was also favorable.

Women's Apparel

Then came my least favorite of the bunch, Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) and Jones Apparel Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY).

Jones Apparel
• On April 12th I wondered if JNY brand was too mature, saying "it is hard to see positive prospects at the moment." Since then, despite some rumors of a spinoff of JNY's Barney's New York chain that lifted the stock a little, the stock is down 5.4%.
• Jones reported a first-quarter net income rise to $47.8 million, or 44 cents a share. Excluding charges, the company said it earned 50 cents a share, compared to 66 cents a share a year earlier. Net sales rose to $1.23 billion from $1.2 billion. The company missed analysts expectations of 60 cents EPS on revenue of $1.22 billion, according to Thomson Financial. Full year guidance given was much lower than expectations.
• More on JNY here.

Liz Claiborne
• On April 16th I took a look at LIZ. Never happy with either JNY or LIZ, I stated that "If I had to buy one of the two, JNY or LIZ, I'd go with LIZ. While the company might be slightly more risky at the moment due to its restructuring plan, it is this plan that also gives hope."
• Since then, LIZ is down 20% after it completely bombed its first quarter results, reporting a net income decline of 65% to $16.2 million, or 16 cents per share. Adjusted for a restructuring program, earnings were 22 cents per share, compared with the adjusted figure of 60 cents a year ago. Revenue fell nearly 2% to $1.15 billion, from $1.17 billion last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected net income of 60 cents per share on revenue of $1.25 billion. LIZ shares dropped over 18% in one day.
• LIZ was downgraded at UBS to Neutral from Buy and by other analysts, and Cramer really doesn't like LIZ and JNY now (video).

Correctional Facilities

Finally, last week I decided that if investors can stomach it, it's good to be in prisons and I examined Corrections Corporations of America (NYSE: CXW), The Geo Group, Inc. (NYSE: GEO) and Cornell Companies, Inc. (NYSE: CRN).

Since April 24th, CCA is up 4%, Geo up 5.8% and Cornell up 13.7%!

Geo announced Q2 results yesterday, beating analysts estimates with operating income surging 84%. The company announced a 2-for-1 stock split to take effect June 1st.

Overall most of my recommendations fared well. LIZ and JNY, which I didn't like, didn't do so great. The only surprise I found was with ENS, which I had expected to do much better. Fundamentally, nothing much has changed with these stocks, I still think solar stocks will do well, as will prisons. The battery segment looks a little more challenging, but opportunities are there. Women's apparel, on the other hand, is laden with problems from brand maturity and management to margins stagnation.