A lot has been written about the slow pace of economic recovery in the U.S. with unemployment levels at close to historical highs at 9.4% (as of December 2010) set in contrast to the feverish growth of emerging markets. It then comes as no surprise that most of the big players in the beauty and personal care industry such as L'Oreal (LRLCY), Estee Lauder (EL), Revlon (REV), Avon (AVP), Procter & Gamble (PG), Unilever (UL), Colgate (CL) and Kimberly Clark (KMB) are increasing their presence in growing markets like China, India and Latin America.

Continue reading Investing in Beauty and Personal Care? Look for Cash!

Investing in Beauty and Personal Care? Look for Cash! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Hugo Chavez Racing Toward Economic Peril

Hugo Chavez Racing Toward Economic Peril originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

WD-40 (WDFC), whose related stocks include Church & Dwight (CHD) and Clorox (CLX), did a good job of courting earnings growth through efficiency. According to yesterday's post-market release, the consumer products concern saw its bottom line jump 22% to 56 cents per diluted share. According to Earnings.com, that was five pennies better than the expectations of Wall Street's smart guys.

Unfortunately, sales growth was not in the cards. The top line experienced a decrease of 7%. Furthermore, according to Reuters, revenues came in softer than projections. It would have been really nice to see at least a little increase in sales, or perhaps an in-line performance, to go along with the improved bottom line. Wasn't meant to be.

Continue reading WD-40 Tops Q1 Estimates, but Needs Better Sales Growth

WD-40 Tops Q1 Estimates, but Needs Better Sales Growth originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Procter & Gamble (PG), whose related companies include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Kimberly-Clark (KMB), is yet another stock close to a 52-week high. Is it too high to buy, or is it likely to be a prudent defensive holding for 2010?

P&G's price action is pretty interesting. Even though it's near a 52-week high, it's actually flat on the year-to-date frame in terms of performance. That doesn't include dividend payments, of course, but nevertheless, there have been so many other stocks that have bounced off the March lows and delivered serious price appreciation superior to what P&G has been able to accomplish. This is one argument for the stock, since you might not have to worry about it being overbought relative to other equities.

Continue reading Procter & Gamble: A Defensive Holding for 2010?

Procter & Gamble: A Defensive Holding for 2010? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Clorox (NYSE: CLX), a consumer-products business that counts Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) as related stocks, may have seen a sales drop of 1% in its fiscal first quarter, but that didn't stop it from posting a nice bottom-line growth rate. Clorox made $1.11 per share in Q1, and that represents a 23% increase. What a way to start a new corporate year!

According to Reuters, expectations were for 95 cents per share. That's a wonderful beat. Plus, sales volume went up 1%. Helping to drive things along was a healthy gross margin, as well as the dreaded H1N1 virus. Clorox has done well over the years associating its brand with sanitizing effectiveness, so when a pandemic rears its ugly head, the trademark is prepared to leverage such reputation to drive value.

Continue reading Clorox starts its new year off right

Clorox starts its new year off right originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Stocks suffered a scary drop on Friday. It was fitting, in a sense, since it was the day before Halloween. In fact, as this Closing Bell piece noted, there were more tricks than treats to be had on Wall Street.

There are always equities bucking the trend, however. The Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL) was one of them. Bullish buyers loved the beauty company's fiscal Q1 earnings release. As has been the case with many reports, the top line wasn't the fun part of the document: Estee Lauder saw a decrease of 2.7% for adjusted revenues. Here's the item of interest: net income after charges was 85 cents per share, more than three times what was made in the comparable frame.

Continue reading Estee Lauder's earnings explode to the upside in Q1

Estee Lauder's earnings explode to the upside in Q1 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) had a difficult third quarter. Currency translations helped to drive a 4% decrease in net revenue. Excluding that effect, sales were up 7%. Net income decreased a big 31% to 36 cents per share.

However, according to Reuters, adjusted earnings of 42 cents per share beat analyst projections by two pennies. Such news didn't seem to matter to the market. At the time of this writing, Avon was down 1.9% on significant volume.

Continue reading Avon sold on Q3 news, but think long term

Avon sold on Q3 news, but think long term originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB), a consumer products entity whose colleagues include Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), is up today on third-quarter results. At the time of this writing, my screen was showing shares of Kimberly-Clark higher by a little under 6%.

According to the corporate press release, sales declined 1.7%. Not a great start, but Kimberly-Clark highlighted a better metric: organic sales increased 3%, helped along by price increases. Luckily, sales volume didn't fare too badly; they were essentially flat.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark high on Q3 data

Kimberly-Clark high on Q3 data originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of my wonderful friends, Ms. P, asked me for some guidance on how she might allocate $50,000 currently earning peanuts in a money market account. Though she is decades from becoming a grandmother, after a brief discussion about her financial parameters, it became clear to me that she was looking for a "granny fund."

In reality, my recommendations would be suitable, and perhaps desirable, for many passive investors as well.

The $50,000 is a portion of money Ms. P has set aside to purchase a home, which might happen in six months, but could also be pushed out further, depending on the economy and her situation. Basically, she wants to cover all her bases because she might need the money at any time and does not want to be caught short, while at the same time she would like to generate some revenue without taking any big risks.

Continue reading Where should granny put $50,000?

Where should granny put $50,000? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Interested in buying some General Motors stock?

Interested in buying some General Motors stock? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX), a famous supermarket brand similar to companies such as Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), reported Q4 earnings today. Excluding certain factors, Clorox increased its per-share profit by 18% to $1.35.

The dollar continues to wreak havoc on companies with international exposure (there's a whole lot of them, of course). Including currency translations, Clorox's top line was flat. Without the effect (and excluding the impact of a private-label business that the company exited), sales increased 3%. The company utilized price increases to help offset the tough times. Unfortunately, volume decreased 2% during the quarter.

Continue reading Clorox increases prices -- and profit -- in Q4

Clorox increases prices -- and profit -- in Q4 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), whose colleagues at the supermarket include companies like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Clorox (NYSE: CLX), did all right in the second quarter. Sales were inhibited by currency rates: they dropped by well over 5%. The bottom line, on the other hand, fared a lot better. The company made $1.07 per share compared to 92 cents per share in the year-ago period. However, the previous year's quarter had 6 cents of charges to take into account, so the adjusted earnings in 2008 actually comes out to 98 cents. This makes the growth rate a modest 9%. The market was expecting $1.05 per share according to Earnings.com, so management beat by two pennies.

I was surprised a little by how the stock sold off on Thursday after the earnings report. Shares of Colgate-Palmolive closed down over 5% on very active volume.

Continue reading Colgate-Palmolive beats estimates in Q2

Colgate-Palmolive beats estimates in Q2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB), a consumer-products company that counts Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) as colleagues, announced Q2 results on Thursday. The performance wasn't spectacular, but management successfully defended the bottom line from the recession by instituting pricing strategies that leveraged the brand equity of the company's portfolio.

The bottom line fell, of course, but probably not as far as it would have if there weren't any pricing mechanisms in place. Earnings per share came in at 97 cents. This was six cents lower than last year's adjusted Q2 income. Revenues were challenged by dollar fluctuations, dropping well over 5%. However, here's the silver lining: organic sales increased almost 3%, even with volumes on the decline.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark up on Q2 numbers

Kimberly-Clark up on Q2 numbers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), a company that counts Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) as colleagues, will report results for the second quarter on Tuesday, July 14. JNJ is expected to post a bit of a profit decline. Last year's Q2, according to Earnings.com, saw the health-care business earn $1.18 per share. This time around, analysts are thinking that JNJ will do somewhere around $1.11 per share.

Will JNJ beat the analysts? It's quite possible, since the company has a good record on this count. As a matter of fact, JNJ beat predictions by four cents back in April. Sales, however, came in a little weak. Interestingly enough, the market didn't really care too much about the earnings performance on that day. Shares had rallied a bit in pre-market trading, but they closed slightly down by the end of the regular session. I found a similar situation back in January.

Continue reading Earnings preview: Johnson & Johnson could surprise Wall Street

Earnings preview: Johnson & Johnson could surprise Wall Street originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Consumer-products concern WD-40 (NASDAQ: WDFC) had something of a rough third quarter. According to the press release, which was issued on Wednesday after the bell, sales were down over 16%. The company made 41 cents per diluted share. This was 8 cents less than the previous year's Q3 performance.

It was, however, 3 cents better than what the analysts were looking for, according to Earnings.com. Gross margin, it should also be noted, improved significantly. Driving this positive element of the story were efficiencies in the supply chain, price increases, and the drop in the price of oil.

Continue reading WD-40 beats earnings, aided by drop in oil price

WD-40 beats earnings, aided by drop in oil price originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Barclays believes Procter & Gamble's (NYSE: PG) portfolio mix provides better leverage to stabilizing macro trends. The firm upgraded shares to Overweight from Equal weight and raised its target to $60 from $56. Note the firm downgraded Colgate (NYSE: CL) to Equal Weight from Overweight.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) to Buy from Hold as it finds the risk/reward on shares compelling at current levels and sees upcoming catalysts from McCafe and easing commodity pressures. The firm raised its target price to $65 from $60.
• FBR Capital upgraded Talbots (NYSE: TLB) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect an attractive risk/reward, reduced risk of a bankruptcy, and merchandise improvements. The firm raised its target price to $4 from $2.
• Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: PG, MCD, TLB, CL, JTX, HD, IPCM, MYRG and NFLX

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: PG, MCD, TLB, CL, JTX, HD, IPCM, MYRG and NFLX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 May 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) might not have the best growth rates going these days, but truth be told, I thought the company's Q3 report was acceptable given everything that is going on.

Yes, sales declined by 8%, driven by currency effects. Organic sales, however, increased 1%. Earnings per share increased 2% to 84 cents. This beat Wall Street forecasts by four pennies according to this source.

Continue reading Procter & Gamble beats in Q3, had a passable quarter

Procter & Gamble beats in Q3, had a passable quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 May 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Revenues, however, didn't fare so well. They fell 7%. Not only did the economy affect sales, but the dreaded currency-translation phantom that has been haunting the top lines of all businesses that are exposed to international transactions made its dreaded appearance on Energizer's earnings report. A conservative stance on the part of retailers and their inventory levels was also mentioned as a negative driver for sales in the release.

Continue reading Energizer beats in Q2, but is the stock powerful enough for your portfolio?

Energizer beats in Q2, but is the stock powerful enough for your portfolio? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

WD-40 (NASDAQ: WDFC), whose consumer-product colleagues include Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Clorox (NYSE: CLX), issued its second-quarter report on Wednesday after the market closed. The numbers were a bit rusty (yes, the bad pun was on purpose!).

First, we have a big net-sales drop of over 20%. Then, we have a 50% decline in net income, with earnings coming in at 25 cents per share. And finally, we see that the 25-cent per-share number missed estimates by two pennies according to this source. Management blamed the bad results in part on the weak global economy and on currency translations.

Continue reading WD-40 disappoints analysts in Q2

WD-40 disappoints analysts in Q2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shareholders of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) received some not-so-cool news on Wednesday. The consumer-products business was subjected to a downgrade courtesy of Linda Bolton Weiser of Caris & Co. The analyst changed the designation on Colgate-Palmolive from "Buy" to "Above Average." The effects of currency translations is what she's worried about. She believes that they could be a drag on earnings.

If you're a long-term shareholder, I probably wouldn't worry too much about this downgrade. The stock didn't react much to the news, dropping only modestly at the end of the trading session on Wednesday (it was down like 0.3%). Obviously Colgate-Palmolive, like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Clorox (NYSE: CLX), and Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB), has great potential as a core investment because of its brand portfolio.

Continue reading Colgate-Palmolive downgraded on currency exposure

Colgate-Palmolive downgraded on currency exposure originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.