Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), whose colleagues include Target (TGT) and Wal-Mart (WMT), reported another good quarter Wednesday after the market closed up shop. In fact, during the after-hours session, the stock went past the 52-week high of $45.14, an indicator that shareholders may have more gains to look forward to.

According to the press release, net income increased over 50% to 86 cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter. According to our earnings preview, the call was for 73 cents per diluted share.

Continue reading Bed Bath & Beyond Does It Again

Bed Bath & Beyond Does It Again originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Williams-Sonoma (WSM), a retailer of high-end merchandise whose concepts include Pottery Barn and West Elm, reported results for the fourth quarter earlier today. If you were trading this name ahead of the numbers, you made out, because the market gave this stock a nice bid on the news.

On an adjusted basis, net income came in at 86 cents per share; the company made 31 cents per share in the comparable period on the same basis. According to our preview, the bottom line beat estimates by twelve pennies. Total sales revenue increased 8%. Same-store sales jumped a very attractive 7.6%; the metric was down double-digits last time around.

Continue reading Williams-Sonoma Popular with Investors After Q4 Report

Williams-Sonoma Popular with Investors After Q4 Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) scored in its fiscal third quarter. Sales rose well over 10%. Same-store sales increased a very impressive 7.3%. The real star, however, was the net income number. Earnings per diluted share soared 71% higher to 58 cents.

Wow, huh? Bed Bath & Beyond's management really benefited from the improving times. You've also got to give some credit to good retail positioning. Analysts weren't counting on much more than 43 cents per share, according to Earnings.com. In addition, I found the nine-month statement of cash flows a pleasing document to read.

Continue reading Bed Bath & Beyond Surpasses Estimates, Delivers Good Comps in Q3

Bed Bath & Beyond Surpasses Estimates, Delivers Good Comps in Q3 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), a chain that competes with Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT), issued Q2 numbers on Wednesday after the conclusion of the regular trading session. Net sales increased over 3%, and earnings per diluted share expanded by 13% to 52 cents. The retailer beat expectations by four pennies, according to the earnings preview.

This is a good showing for the retailer. As we all know, the economy continues to show signs of improvement. At least, that's what the pundits and the headlines have been telling us. An earnings report like this from a retailer does offer some evidence that the worst is behind us.

Continue reading Bed Bath & Beyond beats in Q2; fundamentals and technicals improving

Bed Bath & Beyond beats in Q2; fundamentals and technicals improving originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bed Bath & Beyond on the move after earnings

Bed Bath & Beyond on the move after earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Oil jumps over 5% as traders take a positive stance on the economy

Oil jumps over 5% as traders take a positive stance on the economy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported earnings for the fourth quarter on Tuesday after the market closed its doors. In the after-hours session, the retailer's stock rallied mightily, rising over $3.50, or better than 14%. Let me tell you, that was impressive. As was the beat on the bottom line.

As I wrote in my preview piece, the market was looking for 44 cents per share. Bed Bath & Beyond did its job and delivered 55 cents per share. Net sales decreased by less than 1%. Granted, no one likes to see the top line contract even a little, but considering how bad retail has been, I actually find this to be a small victory. Unfortunately, the same-store sales weren't good. They dropped over 4%. Also, operating profit and cash from operations saw a decline.

Continue reading Bed Bath & Beyond goes beyond the call of duty in Q4

Bed Bath & Beyond goes beyond the call of duty in Q4 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The good news, though, is that Bed Bath & Beyond actually has a decent history in terms of beating Wall Street expectations. If that holds, then investors might be pleasantly surprised when Q4 numbers are issued. When I wrote about the retailer's last earnings release, I was pretty bearish. And I was very wrong. I questioned why the stock should be purchased. Well, the stock has been doing well as of late, and is up on the year-to-date frame as of this writing. A commenter named Rich set me straight and rightfully proposed that the liquidation of a competitor might have temporarily dampened things; once the competitor was gone, he said, Bed Bath & Beyond might prosper.

Continue reading Earnings preview: Will Bed Bath & Beyond beat this week?

Earnings preview: Will Bed Bath & Beyond beat this week? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Home-products retailer Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM), which runs such retail brands as Pottery Barn and West Elm in addition to its namesake chain, issued Q4 numbers on Tuesday. Well, they weren't spectacular. Surprised? No, I'm sure you weren't. I mean, when you sell stuff for homes, you've got to expect that you're going to see some weakness. And there's plenty of it here.

Revenues decreased almost 27% during the quarter, and earnings per share on an adjusted basis dropped over 70% to 31 cents. That beat estimates of 16 cents per share, according to Reuters' analysts, but forgive me if I don't jump up and down over that performance. And what about same-store sales? They were mighty bad. On an overall basis, they went down by over 22%.

Continue reading Williams-Sonoma beats expectations; its stock is strong but expensive

Williams-Sonoma beats expectations; its stock is strong but expensive originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bed Bath & Beyond

Here's why I'm puzzled. According to Melly Alazraki's summary, earnings per share declined 36% to $0.34 per share. That was a penny below what analysts were looking for. Okay, maybe the buying is due to the fact that the company only missed by a penny? After all, I myself was expecting much worse, and maybe the market was, too. But then I go to the press release and see that top-line sales were flat and same-store sells fell by 5.6%. Those comps are just terrible. And the cash-flow statement was nothing to write home about, either. You'd have to be pretty damn optimistic to buy Bed Bath & Beyond with the market indexes in the red and with all the miserable economic data that's out there haunting the halls of Wall Street, Main Street, and every other Street you can think of. Plus, with not-so-great news out from Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), I really have to wonder why anyone is stepping up today to purchase BBBY. (Michael Fowlkes does offer a different perspective in his earnings preview, so you may want to check that out.)

Maybe everyone else is right while I am wrong. Who knows. But the stock doesn't pay a dividend, the dire predictions on Christmas sales are coming true, and the Santa rally may officially be over. I don't know, I'd tend to be more bearish on this retailer's earnings data than bullish. It's possible some shorts are cashing out on the news, I suppose. One thing's for certain: I won't be getting into bed with this stock (and, yes, that was an awful pun).

Disclosure: I don't own any stock mentioned, but positions can change without notice.

Bed Bath & Beyond: Why would anyone buy this stock? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY) Q3 earnings preview

Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY) Q3 earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bull-put credit spread below the $25 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 4.2% return in just seven weeks as long as BBBY is above $25 at August expiration. Bed, Bath & Beyond would have to fall by more than 17% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

Continue reading Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBBY) rises as Q1 earnings beat estimates

Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBBY) rises as Q1 earnings beat estimates originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported Q1 earnings on Wednesday, and Trey Thoelcke highlighted the numbers in this earnings-recap piece. Shares rose substantially in the after-hours trading session yesterday, jumping over 8%, and as I reviewed various earnings reports last night, I found myself drawn to the retailer's stock performance. I haven't been a huge fan of Bed Bath & Beyond as of late, so I figured I should take a look at the earnings release to see if there's anything here that would change my opinion.

Unfortunately, there isn't. Sales may have grown 6%, and expectations may have been beaten by $0.03, but net income still dropped over 20% to $0.30 per diluted share. Cash flow from operations declined 44% to $65.8 million. And same-store sales were very anemic, rising only 0.8%.

I choose, in this case, to focus on those figures. I also consider the fact that Bed Bath & Beyond does not pay a dividend, and that we are in an awful economic environment, both from a consumer and stock-market standpoint. This is not the stock I'd want to face the recession with, and I don't necessarily find it to be a big value right now. When it comes to retail, I am more likely to look at Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT). I'd even consider a Home Depot (NYSE: HD) or a Lowe's (NYSE: LOW). All of these stocks pay dividends and have better brand equities and more attractive prospects. Bed Bath & Beyond certainly didn't deliver an earnings bomb, but I'm still not inclined to put money here.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

Bed Bath & Beyond doesn't make my investment list originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Lehman initiated the Retail Hardlines Sector with a Neutral. The firm initiated coverage of Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) with Overweight ratings and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) and Williams Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) with Equal Weight ratings.
  
• Oppenheimer initiated Aventine Renewable (NYSE: AVR), Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX) and VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) with Perform ratings. The firm is cautious on the industry due to higher feedstock costs.
  
• UBS initiated Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) and Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) with Buy ratings and an $11 target and $62 target, respectively. The firm views valuation as attractive.

• Morgan Stanley assumed coverage of International Flavors (NYSE: IFF) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Wachovia initiated CGI Group (NYSE: GIB) with a Market Perform rating.
  
• Leap Wireless (LEAP) was initiated at RBC Capital with a Sector Perform rating and $55 target.

Analyst initiations: U.S. retail hardlines, biofuels, IPG and OMC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• PDUFA date for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY)'s supplemental Biologics License Application for Orencia for the treatment of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.
• Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 5pm.

• Chattem Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTT) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 9:00am.
• FOMC to release minutes of the March 18th meeting at 2:00pm.
• Embraer-Empr Bras Aeronautica (ADR) (NYSE: ERJ) conference call to announce new midsize & midlight executive jet concepts at 6:00pm.

Continue reading Market highlights for next week: Alcoa to report earnings

Market highlights for next week: Alcoa to report earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan downgraded Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) to Underweight from Neutral citing recent sales commentary from competitors and the difficult macro environment.
  
• Oppenheimer cut DSW Inc (NYSE: DSW) to Perform from Outperform following the company's Q1 miss and lower than expected guidance, as they see little visibility in the coming quarters.
  
• Piper downgraded shares of Oplink Communications (NASDAQ: OPLK) to Sell from Neutral following the company's negative earnings preannouncement and lowered their target to $9.00 from $14.

• Tiffany (NYSE: TIF) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Merrill.
  
• Goldman cut National Semiconductor Corp (NYSE: NSM) to Sell from Neutral.
  
• Wellpoint (NYSE: WLP) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman.

Analyst downgrades: BBBY, DSW and OPLK originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bed Bath & Beyond earnings: not beyond reproach originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), a nationwide chain of retail stores, is expected to report EPS on January 3. BBBY January option implied volatility of 40 is above its 26-week average of 32 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risks.

Monsanto (NYSE: MON) will issue first quarter financial results on Jan. 3. MON closed at $114.47. MON January option implied volatility of 48 is above its 26-week average of 37 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Options update 12-26-07: Bed Bath & Beyond and Monsanto volatility up into EPS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Monday September 24

• Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) to report monthly sales at 4:30pm.
• PDUFA date for Anesiva Inc Com's (NASDAQ: ANSV) Zingo, a a fast-acting, local anesthetic.

Tuesday September 25

• Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 11am.

Wednesday September 26

• Bed, Bath and Beyond Inc (NASDAQ: BBBY) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 5pm.
• Paychex Inc (NASDAQ: PAYX) to report Q1 earnings after market close; conference call Thursday at 10:30am.

Thursday September 27

• Home Solutions of America Inc (NASDAQ: HSOA) to give business news update at 10am.
• Radian Group Inc (NYSE: RDN) to give update on the company's financial guarantee business at 11am.
• KB Home (NYSE: KBH) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 12pm.

Friday September 28

• Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc (NYSE: PRX) to hold Analyst Meeting at 8am.
• Celebrate Express Inc (NASDAQ: BDAY) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:30am.

Market highlights for next week: TGT to report monthly sales, BBBY to report Q2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bed Bath and Beyond tumbles after EPS warning originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Jun 2007 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.