EarningsDisappointments posts
FeedPosted Mar 2nd 2009 9:00AM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Bad news
In the infamous words of Rod Roddy,
HSBC Holdings (NYSE:
HBC) come on down! You're next on the Earnings are Falling (or The Price is Wrong if you like).
The banking firm announced this morning that its 2008 profit fell some 70%, which is prompting the firm to halt most of its U.S. consumer lending business. HSBC's net profit fell to $5.73 billion from $19.13 billion a year ago. In North America, HSBC took a goodwill charge of $10.6 billion stemming from the restructure of the region. Taking this charge out of the equation, HSBC's profit dropped 18% to $19.9 billion. Experts had expected a pretax profit of roughly $20 billion.
Continue reading HSBC announces earnings and U.S. closings; more pain to come
Posted Feb 26th 2009 10:30AM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports
Yesterday, struggling jewelry retailer
Zale Corp. (NYSE:
ZLC) announced the closure of 115 stores in a drastic cost-reduction plan. The company also announced that revenue dropped nearly 18% in the second quarter.
The stores designated for closure will lock their doors for good when their leases mature. The closing stores are poor sales performers. In addition, ZLC announced that it will cut its capital spending by 65%, along with 245 jobs already cut this month. Furthermore, the jeweler plans to reduce its debt by roughly $40 million from the end of the second quarter through July (which is the end of ZLC's fiscal year). ZLC noted that the addition of Canadian and Puerto Rican assets give the company flexibility and sufficient liquidity.
Continue reading Zales (ZLC) announces store closings
Posted Feb 25th 2009 10:15AM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major movement, Earnings reports, Office Depot (ODP)
Rough day for office supply retailer
Office Depot (NYSE:
ODP) yesterday. The firm saw its shares fall slightly more than 13% after reporting a fourth-quarter loss of $5.64 per share. A year ago, ODP raked in a profit of seven cents per share, a stark turnaround thanks to the current economy. These results included charges of $4.54 per share and 37 cents per share, all of which stemmed from costs to close certain facilities, cut jobs and write-down assets. Adjusting the results for these changes, ODP lost 73 cents per share - still much larger than the six-cent loss expected by the Street.
Quarterly sales slumped 15% to $3.27 billion from last year's sales of $3.87 billion. Breaking the sales down a bit, the sultan of staples saw its sales in North America fall 17% - with international sales slipping 15%.
Continue reading Office Depot (ODP) slumps after reporting loss; it's not going to rally soon
Posted Feb 18th 2009 3:40PM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Bad news, Magazines
I'm guessing that sin isn't in, as far as this recession is concerned.
Playboy Enterprises (NYSE:
PLA) posted a larger fourth-quarter loss thanks to $157.2 million in restructuring costs and other one-time costs. In addition, weaker-than-expected revenue cut into the quarterly performance. PLA's net loss checked in at a sizable $4.37 per share, far larger than the loss of three cents per share a year ago. This most-recent loss rounds out a year when PLA posted a loss in each quarter. PLA's revenue fell to $69.8 million from $85.9 million a year ago, and it fell well short of the expected revenue of $73.7 million.
Continue reading Playboy reports fourth-quarter earnings
Posted Jun 28th 2007 11:00AM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Bad news, Industry, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, KB HOME (KBH), Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Housing
Another homebuilder is feeling the pain today as
KB Home (NYSE:
KBH) becomes the
latest homebuilder to disappoint this morning. The stock has managed to bounce back to around break even 30 minutes into the trading session after starting sharply in the red. At one point, shares traded down as low as $39.75 but have bounced back to $40.42 down $0.01.
The company announced this morning that in its second quarter it lost $174.2 million, or $2.26 a share. Wall Street had been expecting the company to show a 7 cent per share profit, and analysts polled by Thomson Financial had estimates ranging from a loss of $1.46 a share to a $0.46 per share profit.
The company blamed its poor quarter on three ongoing market conditions:
- Current oversupply of new and resale housing inventory
- A difficult situation compounded by aggressive competition
- Continued weak demand
Continue reading Another homebuilder feels the pain, this time it's KB Home
Yesterday, solar firm 
Semiconductor 
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Corrections, seasonality and Santa Claus
