AYI posts
FeedPosted Jan 10th 2009 4:10PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Wal-Mart (WMT), Intel (INTC), Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY), Chevron Corp (CVX), Sears Holdings (SHLD), Family Dollar Stores (FDO)
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:
For more earnings highlights, see Time Warner, Satyam, Google, KB Home, Mosaic and others
Upcoming earnings releases include Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY), Linear Technologies (NASDAQ: LLTC) , Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX), Genentech (NYSE: DNA), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE: MI), Sealy (NYSE: ZZ), Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI).
Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.
Posted Jan 6th 2009 6:20PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports
On Tuesday, lighting equipment maker Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI) reported that its fiscal first-quarter profit dropped 38% due to lower demand for its products. On the other hand, food and animal safety company Neogen Corp. (NASDAQ: NEOG) said that its second-quarter profit rose 20%, boosted by acquisitions.
For the quarter that ended Nov. 30, Acuity Brands earned $19.4 million, or 48 cents per share, which was 33.3% lower than in the same quarter of the previous year. Excluding a pretax charge related to the consolidation of facilities, the company posted an adjusted operating profit of $55.8 million, or 82 cents per share. Sales fell 11% to $452.0 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a profit of 76 cents per share on $461.3 million in revenue.
Acuity said the rapid decline in demand for lighting products and a dramatic jump in material and component costs during the quarter were unprecedented. The Atlanta-based company said it expects the second quarter to be challenging due to the turbulent economic environment, and for demand from its core markets to be lower for fiscal 2009.
Acuity's share price fell 26 cents, or 0.7% Tuesday, and are 16.5% lower than a year ago.
Continue reading Acuity Brands and Neogen top earnings estimates
Posted Jan 4th 2009 12:30PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY), Family Dollar Stores (FDO), KB HOME (KBH)
After the turn of the calendar page, quarterly reporting resumes this week. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting to see strong earnings growth from fertilizer producer Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS), biotech giant Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), and Neogen Corp. (NASDAQ: NEOG), which produces food safety and animal health products. Mosaic's estimated earnings per share of $1.43 for the fiscal second quarter would be 41.9% higher than a year ago, and its revenue estimate of $3.0 billion is 36.7% higher. Monsanto's $0.59 per share projection for the fiscal first quarter is 22.0% higher and sales of $2.4 billion are up 14.9%. And Neogen's second-quarter $0.25 per share would be 12.0% higher, while its sales of $32.3 million are up 18.6%. All three have tended to beat expectations in recent quarters, and all three have buy recommendations from a consensus of analysts. Mosaic and Monsanto have recently announced dividends, and their share prices have fallen 62.3% and 39.0%, respectively, from a year ago. The share price of Neogen, which recently announced share buybacks, is only 0.8% lower.
Other companies expected to post modest earnings gains when they report this week include education company Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL), WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ: WDFC), and wine and spirits maker Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ).
Continue reading The week in preview: Family Dollar, Bed Bath & Beyond, KB Home, and others
Posted Apr 12th 2008 5:40PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Dell (DELL), General Electric (GE), Target Corp. (TGT), Advanced Micro Dev (AMD), Alcoa Inc (AA), , duPont(E.I.)deNemours (DD), United Parcel'B' (UPS), Genentech Inc (DNA), , Rite Aid Corp (RAD)
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:
Continue reading Earnings highlights: GE, Alcoa, Circuit City, UPS, Dell, DuPont, AMD and others
Posted Apr 9th 2008 10:48AM by Larry Schutts (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Technical Analysis, Stocks to Buy
Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) designs
and produces indoor and outdoor lighting equipment for commercial, institutional, industrial, infrastructure and residential applications. Products are sold under such brand names as Lithonia Lighting, Holophane, Gotham, Carandini and American Electric Lighting to retail home improvement centers, electric utilities, municipalities, lighting showrooms and contractors. The firm employs approximately 7,000 associates and has operations in North America, Europe and Asia.
The company pleased investors last week, when it reported Q2 EPS of 82 cents and revenues of $482.6 million. Analysts had been expecting 68 cents and $470.2 million. Management attributed success to new products, more favorable pricing and improved productivity.
Continue reading Acuity Brands (AYI): Share price cycles in bullish 'flag'
Posted Jan 12th 2008 2:40PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Alcoa Inc (AA), American Express (AXP), Tiffany and Co (TIF), Family Dollar Stores (FDO), KB HOME (KBH), duPont(E.I.)deNemours (DD)
Continue reading Earnings highlights: Alcoa, KB Home, Capital One, Family Dollar, and others
Posted Jan 8th 2008 7:26PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Family Dollar Stores (FDO)
Other companies reporting quarterly results on Tuesday included the following:
Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ): Third-quarter profit rose 11 percent, lifted by strong liquor sales, a growth in North American wine business, and acquisition of Svedka vodka. Profit for the quarter ended November 30 rose to $119.6 million, or 55 cents a share, from $107.8 million, or 45 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected 55 cents per share on revenue of $1.04 billion. However, Constellation lowered its full-year profit outlook, in part due to costs from its recent acquisition of Fortune Brands Inc.
Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI): Fiscal 2008 first-quarter earnings fell 7 percent, as a restructuring charge offset higher pricing and increased sales. The company earned $31.1 million, or 72 cents per share, compared with $33.6 million, or 77 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Analysts had expected profit of 82 cents per share on revenue of $500.6 million, according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Revenue increased 7% to $508.9 million, from $477.6 million a year ago. The special charge was related to planned actions to streamline operations as a result of the spin-off of Zep Inc.
Continue reading Additional Tuesday earnings reports
Posted Oct 30th 2007 10:50AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, General Motors (GM), Verizon Communications (VZ)
MOST NOTEWORTHY: General Motors, Acuity Brands, Post Properties, Manpower and IMAX Corp were today's noteworthy upgrades:
- UBS upgraded General Motors (NYSE: GM) to Buy from Sell citing a potential $3B in cost savings from the "transformational contract" with the UAW.
- Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird based on valuation and management's ability to execute.
- Post Properties (NYSE: PPS) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Merrill Lynch following its Q3 report and guidance.
- Citigroup upgraded shares of Manpower (NYSE: MAN) to Buy from Hold as they like the company's business model and balance sheet.
- Soleil upgraded shares of IMAX Corporation (NASDAQ: IMAX) to Buy from hold with digital IMAX set to launch in Q208, to reflect the attractive economics of the company's new joint venture model.
OTHER UPGRADES:
- Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.
- JMP Securities upgraded Actuate Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTU) to Outperform from Market Perform.
- Citigroup upgraded FormFactor (FORM) to Buy from Hold and added shares to their Global Tech Conviction List.
- CIBC upgraded Northgate Minerals Corporation (NYSE: NXG) to Sector Performer from Sector Underperformer.
Posted Jul 24th 2007 10:52AM by Kevin Shult (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Good news, Stocks to Buy
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lee Enterprises (LEE), The Pep Boys (PBY), Cumulus Media (CMLS), VeraSun Energy (VSE) and Acuity Brands (AYI) were today's more noteworthy upgrades:
- Wachovia upgraded Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation.
- RBC Capital raised Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY) to Sector Perform from Underperform citing upside potential from its real estate monetization strategy.
- Cumulus Media (NASDAQ: CMLS) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup based on the proposed buyout offer.
- VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Soleil based on the acquisition of three 110mgy ethanol projects from ASAlliance.
- Gabelli upgraded Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) to Hold from Sell following the company's announcement that it will pursue a tax-free spin-off of its specialty products business...
OTHER UPGRADES:
- Lehman raised Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) to Equal Weight from Underweight.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).Posted Jul 24th 2007 7:20AM by Kevin Kelly (RSS feed)
Filed under: Deals, Good news, Competitive strategy
The lighting equipment company
Acuity (NYSE:
AYI) yesterday announced that it plans to spin-off its specialty products unit directly to shareholders later this year. According to
the press report, Acuity is pursuing this spin-off to allow each company to operate separately, create company-specific compensation plans, and so on. The company stands to save $6 million just from a simpler corporate structure. I tend to believe that breaking up unrelated businesses makes sense because each business will be more efficiently valued if it stands as a separate entity.
If you haven't yet read my post about the opportunity in spin-off investments, check it out
here. Spin-offs are undoubtedly one of the most interesting and lucrative investment fields in today's world due to "structural undervaluation." But the spin-off opportunity is becoming more and more obvious in recent times thanks to receiving front-page headlines in newspapers. All that being said, I think Acuity will probably trade up into the spin-off as investors try to position themselves to ride the spin-off trade.
On a slightly unrelated note, I saw
You Can be a Stock Market Genius in the bargain books section of Border's today -- that was the best $4 value investment I've ever seen.
Posted Jul 18th 2007 11:02AM by Kevin Shult (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Good news, Dell (DELL), SanDisk Corp (SNDK)
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), Dell (DELL), Warner Music Group (WMG), KeyCorp (KEY) and SanDisk Corp (SNDK) were today's noteworthy upgrades:
- HSBC upgraded shares of Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect the company's new drug pipeline investments.
- ThinkEquity raised Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) to buy from Sell based on expectations for a better-than-expected July quarter due to strong consumer business demand.
- Pali Research upgraded Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) to Neutral from Sell on valuation with the stock down 40% year-to-date.
- Merrill upgraded KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) to Neutral from Sell following better-than-expected Q2 results.
- JP Morgan upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Overweight from Neutral citing increased demand for NAND applications and supply constraints...
OTHER UPGRADES:
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).