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

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) earnings prospects and declining sales resulted in a downgrade.
• America's Car-Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT) stronger-than-expected Q1 results led shares to a four-year high.
• ArcSight Inc. (NASDAQ: ARST) reported strong Q1 numbers on increasing demand for cyber security.
• Brown-Forman Inc. (NYSE: BF.B) Q1 results easily topped expectations despite a decline in revenue.
• Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) posted a Q3 loss but revenue improved sequentially, and shares rose.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded CTC Media (NASDAQ: CTCM) to Buy from Neutral on a better outlook for European Media names and raised its target on shares to $17.60 from $12.
• Morgan Joseph upgraded Movado (NYSE: MOV) to Buy from Hold after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results. The firm set a $16 target on the stock.
• Needham upgraded LTX Credence (NASDAQ: LTXC) to Strong Buy from Hold following the company's Q4 results with a $3 price target.
• Canon (NYSE: CAJ) was upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at Macquarie.
• Whitney Holding (NASDAQ: WTNY) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.
• Gafisa SA (NYSE: GFA) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

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

• American Capital Agency Corp. (NASDAQ: AGNC) earnings prospects earned it an analyst's upgrade.
• Broadpoint Securities Group Inc. (NASDAQ: BPSG) earnings prospects improved with recent acquisitions.
• Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) was upgraded on the belief that its fiscal year outlook is too conservative.
• Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) earnings prospects resulted in an upgrade from JPMorgan.
• Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Q1 profit and same-store sales fell and it offered a weak outlook.
• Movado Group Inc. (NYSE: MOV) bested Q1 expectations and forecast a considerable profit for the full year.

Movado (NYSE: MOV) is a watchmaker. It distributes timepieces based on various brands such as Lacoste and Coach (NYSE: COH). And its stock is on the rise today. During early afternoon trading, Movado is up by over 8% on very good volume. As can be expected, an earnings report is behind the excitement.

Now, to be certain, the stats weren't great. Movado is still reeling from the harsh economic times. Sales declined 33% in Q1, and there was a loss per share of $0.37. That compared very unfavorably to a profit of $0.05 per share in the year-ago period. Also, the gross margin slipped significantly.

Shares of the following companies surged after they posted quarterly results on Tuesday.

Watchmaker Movado Group Inc. (NYSE: MOV) reported a smaller-than-expected Q1 loss as cost cutting offset weak sales due to the continued pullback by consumers of discretionary spending. Movado also surprised with a profit forecast for FY 2010. Shares rose 26.4% to close at $10.24.

Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) Q2 earnings and revenue fell short of analysts' estimates as the recession dampened demand for commercial vehicles. Navistar also slashed its forecast for the full year, and said it plans to cut costs by shifting production from Canada to Mexico. Yet shares rose 5.6% to close at $45.46.

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

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) easily topped Q4 earnings estimates but same-store sales fell.
• Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) forecast Q3 earnings that are well above analysts' estimates.
• Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) said it narrowed its loss in Q4 despite restructuring costs.
• Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. (NYSE: EXM) is expected to fall short of Q4 earnings expectations.
• Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) reported strong Q2 results and and raised its outlook for Q3.

Movado Group (NYSE: MOV), maker of watches, reported numbers for the fourth quarter. Really bad numbers. Net sales dropped over 32%. For the bottom line, there was a net loss of $0.42 per share on an adjusted basis. In last year's Q4, Movado generated adjusted income of $0.40 per share. That is one hell of a drop. Furthermore, the market wasn't even close to anticipating this ugly performance. According to this source, analysts thought that the company would only bleed about $0.02 per share.

You know, I haven't worn a watch in a long time. Maybe a lot of people are thinking like me, that they don't really need watches since we have so much access to clocks via cell phones and other devices (I don't own a cell phone, but I'm content to simply seek out a clock if I'm out and about). Of course, I'm being a little facetious here. Movado is merely suffering through a bad economy. And it's perhaps in need of some better management. The company sells timepieces based on licensed brands such as Coach (NYSE: COH) and Tommy Hilfiger. Consumers are apparently satisfied with purchasing cheap, non-branded watches. Can't blame them.

John Reese is an expert in analyzing the investment criteria of "legendary" advisors with time-tested strategies. And one market approach that may be of particular interest to investors during the current period of market turmoil is the value strategy developed by Benjamin Graham. (For more on this strategy, see our other post, "Three Rules of Value Investing".)

In his Validea newsletter, John reese explains, "Benjamin Graham -- considered the greatest investment guru by Warren Buffett -- built his reputation by using an extremely conservative, low-risk approach to investing." Buffett, incidentally, was Ben Graham's student.

Reese continues, "To Graham, preserving one's original capital was every bit as important as netting big gains. Having lived through the 1929 market crash, it's no surprise that the strategy Graham laid out in his classic book The Intelligent Investor was a conservative, loss-averse approach.

"To Graham, an investment wasn't something that could be turned into quick, easy profits; anything that offers such 'easy' rewards also comes with substantial risk, and Graham abhorred risk. In terms of specifics, Graham's approach limited risk in a number of ways, and my Graham-based model lays out several of those methods.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), SunTrust (NYSE: STI) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) to Outperform from Neutral citing the ability to raise cheap capital following the Treasury's aggressive policy response.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded First Security Group (NASDAQ: FSGI), Amcore Financial (NASDAQ: AMFI) and Seacoast Banking (NASDAQ: SBCF) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect the benefits of the government's TARP program.
  
• Suntrust believes Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) is disproportionately positioned to benefit from what should be a wave of industry fallout and consolidation over the next few years. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Neutral.
• Cadbury (NYSE: CBY) was raised to Hold from Sell at ING Group.
  
• Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• Genentech (NYSE: DNA) was upgraded at Piper Jaffray to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst downgrades:

You can say a lot about the Swiss (sorry Mom!), but at least they are always on time. There is a great article over on the BBC that details Switzerland's obsession with time. Everywhere you turn in Switzerland, there's a watch, a clock, or a timer of sorts. I love visiting my Mom who's a recent transplant to Zurich. The trains, the shows, food service -- everything is exactly on time.

It's going to be interesting when hordes of tourists from across Europe and hinder pour into Switzerland June 7 for the start of the European football (that's soccer to you and me) championships. Extra trams and trains are already being rolled out to make sure fans make it everywhere they need to go -- on time.

So, how does one think about "playing" the Euro 2008?

Father's Day is around the corner. Why not spend some time looking at the coming earnings and how Dad's Day may have an impact. It is funny to see how many of the companies reporting earnings this week actually have links to Father's Day.

While this column has been obviously bearish of late, there are a few potential winners that may appear, just in time for the big day. Time to stock up on gifts for dear-ole-dad, or get farther away from stocks? You tell me... (by the way, comments and ideas are always appreciated)

Monday, May 26

Markets will be flat. I am certain that stocks on the U.S. Market will close at the exact price they closed last Friday. But what do I know!

Most of those designer watches you admire in exclusive shops are actually made by a relatively small number of industry stalwarts. One member of the club is headquartered in Paramus, New Jersey.

Movado Group (NYSE: MOV) designs, manufactures and distributes watches. The firm provides nine timepiece lines, including its own Movado, Ebel, Concord and Esq Swiss varieties, as well as Coach, Hugo Boss, Juicy Couture, Lacoste and Tommy Hilfiger licensed brands. The company also designs, develops, and markets proprietary Movado-branded jewelry and tabletop items. It sells its products directly and through a variety of retail outlets.

The firm pleased investors last week, when it reported Q2 EPS of 45 cents and revenues of $139.5 million. Analysts had been looking for 42 cents and $132.9 million. The COO particularly noted solid quarterly adjusted gross profit (63.6% of sales) and operating profit (11.7% of sales). Management also affirmed previous FY08 guidance. The news popped the shares out of a late-August/early-September "cup" into the mid-September "handle" of a Cup & Handle formation. The price is now showing signs of completing the pattern with a bullish rise from the right-hand side of the "handle".

Brokers recommend the issue with one "strong buy" and two "buys". Analysts see a 17 percent growth rate through the next year. The MOV P/E ratio (17.68), Price to Sales ratio (1.58), Price to Book ratio (2.23), Price to Cash Flow ratio (12.62), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (17.51) and Return on Assets (8.94%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions hold about 69 percent of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 600 SmallCap Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $22.99 and $35.40. A stop-loss of $27.70 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

Designer watch retailer Movado Group Inc. (NYSE: MOV) recently released 2Q fiscal 2008 results. There certainly does not seem to be problems in high end retailing, at least not according to Movado. Net sales increased 10% to $139.5 million. This figure includes $8 million worth of excess discontinued product. More importantly, operating profits increased 16% to $16.3 million. Net income for the quarter was $12.3 million, or diluted EPS $0.45, up $0.02 from one year ago.

Movado managed to post these gains despite two consecutive quarters worth of negative comparable store sales in its U.S. boutiques. Granted the decline is not huge, 1.9% for the two quarters, but it does denote a trend that needs to be examined and then fixed, pronto.

For the first half of fiscal 2008, Movado posted a net sales increase of 7.4% to $240.8 million, and net income of $14.7 million, or diluted EPS $0.54, exactly what it was one year prior. CEO Efraim Grinberg forecasts increased sales outside the U.S. The company is looking at net sales projections of $560 million in fiscal 2008, with diluted EPS of $1.72. The stock repsonded positively to the earnings news, closing up $0.22 at $29.95 on September 6.

On CNBC's STOP TRADING! segment, Cramer said that the looting at Tyco International (NYSE:TYC) was real and that is why "Big Koz" went to jail.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) was a stock that was giving away free money and it isn't done yet. He thinks it is not done going up and his price target is $100.

AnnTaylor Store's Corp. (NYSE: ANN) is a name that should come back down before going in. The street was too optimistic on the "less bad news" and the management team isn't that great.

Movado Group, Inc. (NYSE: MOV) is the cheapest in show at 14-times earnings, and Cramer called it "The Next Tiffany's" as a comparison with a $40 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Sabre Holdings was the sole notable downgrade today.

• The travel commerce company, Sabre Holdings (NYSE: TSG), was downgraded to Sell from Buy at Soleil Securities after they agreed to be bought by Texas Pacific and Silver Lake Partners, two private equity firms, for ~$5 billion.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Telik Inc. (NASDAQ: TELK) was downgraded to Sell from Buy at Stifel following the disappointing ASSIST data.

• Movado Group (NASDAQ: MOV) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Matrix USA, citing valuation.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).