Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) beat Q2 expectations and offered Q3 and full-year guidance.
• Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) widened its Q1 loss but maintained its full-year profit forecast.
• Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) Q3 profit rose due to the sale of Godiva, but shares tumbled.
• Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) beat Q1 expectations and offered rosy full-year guidance.
• Gamestop Corp. (NYSE: GME) posted record Q1 earnings but offered weak Q2 and full-year guidance.
• Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) posted strong Q2 results in the wake of its announced EDS acquistion.
• Hot Topic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTT) Q1 loss widened due to declines in same-store sales.
• Kenexa Corp. (NASDAQ: KNXA) beat Q1 expectations and raised its full-year guidance.
• Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) posted flat Q4 earnings despite strong sales, and missed full-year estimates.
• Napster Inc. (NASDAQ: NAPS) narrowed its loss and exceeded analysts' Q1 epectations.
• Ross Stores Inc. (NYSE: ROST) Q1 profits rose on same-store growth and a real estate settlement.
• Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) swung to a modest Q1 profit after two quarterly losses.
• Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) Q1 profits slipped but came in ahead of analysts' estimates.
• Tween Brands Inc. (NYSE: TWB) Q1 profit was hurt by a one-time charge but still beat expectations.

Additional earnings highlights:
Home Depot, Gap, Lenovo, Air France, Activision, Suntech and others
Ford, Hormel, Limited Brands, Intuitive Surgical, PetSmart and others

Upcoming results to watch for include Borders (NYSE: BGP), Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL), TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO), Big Lots (NYSE: BIG), Costco (NASDAQ: COST), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), HJ Heinz (NYSE: HNZ), Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF), and Tiffany (NYSE: TIF).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Earnings highlights: Hewlett-Packard, Target, Barnes & Noble, Campbell, Staples and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 24 May 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Late last year, the Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) sold off Godiva Chocolatier for a cool $850 million. So why give up such a prized brand?

Well, it will mean that Campbell can focus on its core business of soups and snacks. Next, the chocolate market is highly competitive -- especially in light of the recent deal between Mars and Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company (NYSE: WWY).

The deal was also a big help for the Q1 results. Net income went from $217 million, or $0.55 per share, to $532 million, or $1.40 per share. Revenue increased 7.4% to $1.88 billion. Unfortunately, soup revenues were meager, falling 3%. Simply put, Campbell's competitors are getting the upper hand. It also doesn't help that there is commodities inflation.

On the conference call, Campbell was upbeat. After all, the company is launching a variety of health-conscious offerings. But so far, investors aren't convinced. In today's trading, Campbell's shares fell 6% to $33.70. It was the lowest level in eight years.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Campbell snacks on M&A originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 19 May 2008 17:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm not a fan of soup; never had the stuff in my life. But I notice that Wall Street is liking Campbell Soup's (NYSE: CPB) stock today; at the time of this writing, the shares are up a little over 6%. Guess there's money to be made in that soup stuff, no matter what I may think.

For the second quarter, Campbell saw a 7% rise in net sales. Earnings from continuing operations were $0.67 per diluted share for the quarter compared to $0.65 per diluted share for the year-ago period. Gee, that doesn't sound like such hot growth. But as some articles have observed, Campbell's stock has been sold off in recent months, so this is sort of a buy-on-the-news scenario. Plus, total soup sales increased 4% in Q2, and the baking/snacking segment increased its top line by 8% -- those iconic Goldfish crackers will not be stopped, let me tell you. And you know what else is doing well? Those V8 V-Fusion beverages. I've been drinking a ton of that stuff lately; those drinks really are superb. Gross margin was down, though. I don't like that, but I do enjoy the fact that operational cash flow increased for the first half of the year: that metric came in at $442 million...in the previous comparable period, Campbell booked $328 million. Campbell recently decided to dump its Godiva brand.

I didn't find this earnings report so exciting, but Campbell Soup is like Kraft (NYSE: KFT), Kellogg (NYSE: K), General Mills (NYSE: GIS), and Hershey (NYSE: HSY) -- it has a valuable portfolio of foodstuffs that people buy every day, and it pays a dividend that should go up over time. It's not my favorite dividend-reinvesting name right now, but it'll be around for the long term. And even though I am not helping out investors by shunning soup, I do have to reiterate my love for those V8 Fusion drinks -- believe me, I'm aiding the company significantly on that front.

Campbell Soup's hot stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Campbell's sells Godiva to Yildiz Holding of Turkey originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Campbell Soup

The Wall Street Journal reports, however, that "should Starbucks indulge in Godiva, which Campbell put up for sale in August, it would be a departure from its modus operandi." Wall Street experts put the price of Godiva at around $800 million.

If Starbucks buys Godiva, it would be a huge mistake. The coffee retailer's shares are near a 52-week low, trading at under $26. They have a 52-week high of more than $40.

The doubts about Starbucks center around its long-term goal of having 40,000 stores worldwide. Investors are concerned that current same-store sales may be too weak to support that kind of expansion. If Starbucks goes into a second business without fixing its first, the company's stock could take another hit.

Godiva may seem like a sweet deal, but all it would do is take Starbucks' eyes off the ball.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Starbucks looks at the chocolate business originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 02 Nov 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Some people are disinterested in chocolate, while others of us would drive through a hurricane to feed our Godiva jones. According to the UK Telegraph, a new study in the Journal of Proteome Research suggests that the culprits may live in our stomach.

According to the findings of scientists at the Nestle Research Centre and others, the type of bacteria busy aiding in digestion in the guts of chocolate lovers may be different than those of people who don't crave the brown bliss. Since 90% of the cells making up a human being are actually bacteria and other symbiotic partners along for the ride, how could we expect to be able to fight off the urgings of such a throng?

While the findings are only suggestive of a link, I wonder if any chocolate company executives are already fantasizing about the effects on sales of adding the sweet-craving bacteria to their products.

I can't decide if this is good or bad news for the Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) and other chocolatiers. If you could eliminate your desire for chocolate, would you?

Hershey (HER) devotees may be smaller than you think originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 14 Oct 2007 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Campbell (CPB) seeks big bucks for Godiva Chocolatier originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The soup market must be simmering if today's earning report from Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE:CPB) is any example. Its quarterly earning jumped from $146 million in 2006 to $217 million, attributed in part to an increase in marketing and a price hike. EPS rose from $.35 to $.55 in the same interval.

Two sectors performed particularly well for the company. Its low-sodium soups exceeded expectation. (Why do I envision legions of Campbell's consumers reaching for their saltshakers? We shop with good intentions, but...) The V-8 brand also pulled in healthy numbers, which reinforces my contention that the best vegetable is one that can be mixed with vodka.

The only decline reported was in the competitive salsa market, where the Pace brands declined. Another Campbell brand, Godiva Chocolatier, was up, primarily due to Asian sales. The Midwest's Valentine's Day snowstorm (aka Massacre, if you're a florist), was blamed for some loss of sales.

Adding to the sustained value of the stock is Campbell's stated intention to repurchase $600 million of its shares with the proceeds of the recent sale of its UK holdings. The company boosted its year-end forecast slightly to $1.94-$1.97.

Campbell Soup creams quarterly report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 May 2007 15:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.