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Priceline.com earnings preview: A sweet deal in Q3?

Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN), which was recently added to the S&P 500, is scheduled to discuss its third-quarter 2009 financial results in a conference call Monday, November 9, at 4:30 PM ET. You can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website.

During the three months that ended in September, Priceline announced a partnership with Ticketmaster (TKTM) and launched a rewards Visa card. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect this leading online travel services provider to report that earnings for that period jumped 18.2% from a year ago to $2.92 per share. And revenue for the quarter is expected to be 23.6% higher to $693.9 million.

Continue reading Priceline.com earnings preview: A sweet deal in Q3?

Can you cut your health care costs 90% and get a free vacation?

President Obama started an intense debate in recent months about national health care. People are concerned about how to pay for the high cost of health care in America and feel it is just too expensive. There has to be a better way!

I like oranges and I grew up in Wisconsin, but in January oranges do not grow very well in Wisconsin. I don't know why -- I am not a horticulturalist -- but maybe it's the lack of sunlight, hard frozen tundra, blowing snow or temperatures of 25 below zero. We could spend a long time pointlessly debating the actual reason.

Continue reading Can you cut your health care costs 90% and get a free vacation?

Priceline surprises analysts with recession-resistant Q2

Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN), a web-based booking business that fights it out with Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE), was red-hot during yesterday's session. Shares closed higher by 14%. Volume rocked. The Q2 numbers were strong, and the market rewarded the results without hesitation.

Revenues increased 17%. According to TheStreet.com, adjusted profit of $2.02 per share walloped estimates. Wall Street was only booked for $1.79 per share. The analysts really missed this one. It's understandable, though. Whether we're close to the end of a recession or not is debatable, and I'm sure they wanted to be conservative with the models.

Continue reading Priceline surprises analysts with recession-resistant Q2

Earnings surprises: Quant picks 'best buy' trio

"We screened our database for standouts based on meaningful profit surprises," says quantitative analyst Richard Moroney.

In Upside, a service focused on applying in-depth quantitative analysis to small to mid-cap growth companies, he looks at a trio of stocks earning his "Best Buy" rating -- Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN), Sybase (NYSE: SY), and Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA).

"All things equal, the better a stock's earnings momentum and profit outlook, the more likely it is to outperform in the year ahead.

Continue reading Earnings surprises: Quant picks 'best buy' trio

Online travel to become cheaper in market share play

Desperate times call for desperate measures benefit consumers. As online travel agencies slug it out in the hunt for market share, many are starting to cut booking fees -- ironically, in stark contrast to what the airlines themselves are doing. While the airlines are looking to squeeze every last ounce of revenue from each passenger mile, the websites that put people in seats are hungry for any competitive advantage they can find.

Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) has permanently kicked its airline booking fees on both domestic and international flights. Travelocity is following suit, to a limited extent, at least, by continuing to wave booking fees ... a measure that Expedia Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE) is taking, as well. What started as promotions are fast becoming the norm.

Continue reading Online travel to become cheaper in market share play

Priceline beats expectations in Q1 -- can you still book the stock?

Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN), an online booking concern that competes with Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE), reported Q1 earnings on Monday. The stats were all right, I have to say.

Revenues increased over 14%. According to this article, earnings on an adjusted basis came to $1.09 per share. Analysts were looking for 93 cents per share. Year-ago adjusted income was 76 cents per share, according to the press release. Priceline not only expanded its bottom-line income, but it increased its net cash from operations. That figure went up by a nice 71%. Gross travel bookings as a whole jumped by over 10%. They did even better in the U.S. market.

Continue reading Priceline beats expectations in Q1 -- can you still book the stock?

The week in preview: A peek at apparel retail earnings

As earnings season begins to wind down, some apparel retailers are scheduled to report quarterly results this week. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters anticipate that Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), the 800-pound gorilla in the space, will report that it earned $0.77 per share in the first quarter, about the same as in the first quarter of last year. But JCPenney Co. (NYSE: JCP), Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), and Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) are expected to report lower profits for the first quarter as consumers continued to hold off on spending. Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) are expected to have swung to a loss year over year.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) and Winn Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) are likewise expected to report declining earnings, while the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (NYSE: GAP), parent of the A&P supermarket chain, is expected to have narrowed its net loss 68.9% to $0.28 per share.

Continue reading The week in preview: A peek at apparel retail earnings

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: DNDN, ANDE, the auto sector, DGX, MTB, ADVS, ITG, MF and PCLN

Analyst upgrades:
  • Merriman upgraded Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) to Buy from Neutral on expectations shares will react positively to the full IMPACT data release on April 28. The firm thinks Provenge could represent the first cancer immunotherapy approved in the U.S. and raised its valuation range on the stock to $33-$34 from $18-$19.
  • Piper Jaffray upgraded Andersons (NASDAQ: ANDE) as it believes the valuation is attractive, investor expectations are low, and the company's fertilizer and rail segments could recovery in FY10. The firm has a $19 target on shares. Goldman upgraded the auto sector to Neutral from Cautious and added Ford (NYSE: F) to its Conviction Buy list. The analyst does not believe Ford will have to declare bankruptcy and sees the company benefiting from Chrysler share declines and GM's (NYSE: GM) reduced product offerings. Ford's price target is $6
  • Banc of America/Merrill upgraded U.S. Airways (NYSE: LCC) to Buy from Underperform.
  • Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: DNDN, ANDE, the auto sector, DGX, MTB, ADVS, ITG, MF and PCLN

Earnings highlights: Walmart, Comcast, CVS, Sprint, Hormel, Priceline and more

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

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Walmart, Comcast, CVS, Sprint, Hormel, Priceline and more

Expedia misses expectations on its latest earnings trip

Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) did not have a good week. The online travel site, which competes with Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) for attention, reported abysmal earnings for the fourth quarter this past Thursday. The company suffered a huge loss of $9.60 per share. That's right, $9.60 per share! Kind of rocks your world, doesn't it? And not in a good way. I mean, Expedia's share price closed at $7.74 on Friday.

As you can imagine, there was an accounting issue going on (not that it should make shareholders feel any better, mind you). Expedia took a huge goodwill write-down related to the significant drop in the market capitalization of the business. We're talking $3 billion. Wow. Of course, management adjusted the earnings to represent what Expedia would have made without the charge. That would be $0.22 per share. Unfortunately, that missed expectations by two pennies.

Continue reading Expedia misses expectations on its latest earnings trip

The week in preview: A glimmer at the end of the tunnel?

Among all the negative economic data that came out last week was a positive surprise: retail sales were higher in January. A fluke or a glimmer at the end of the tunnel? That may depend on whether we see any positive surprises arising from items on this week's economic calendar:

Continue reading The week in preview: A glimmer at the end of the tunnel?

Shatner delivers again for Priceline

William Shatner has returned for the 11th year as the enigmatic spokesperson and premier negotiator for lower travel costs for Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN).

Priceline is confident that Shatner can pick up where he left off as an effective voice for the online discount travel service.

There is reason for optimism at the company. Priceline revenues and earnings for the first nine months of the year increased by 30%, outpacing the meager 2% increase in retail sales for the period, and besting the 8% increase in sales for e-commerce retailers, as well.

Revenues and earnings for the fourth quarter are also expected to run well ahead of the retail sales figures for the period.

At the current price of $65 per share, Priceline is trading at under 10 times forecasted earnings for the year. The market appears to be significantly undervaluing the company at this price level, as several analysts are lowering the stock to a neutral position based on the recent rise in price that took the stock near their target levels.

Additional concerns affecting the analysts' view of Priceline include the general softening of consumer demand, declining hotel pricing and the strengthening of the U.S. dollar.

In reality, these same concerns can be viewed as a positive for the company.

Continue reading Shatner delivers again for Priceline

Priceline.com (PCLN) pulled lower by analyst commentary

PCLN logoPriceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) shares are falling today after an analyst at Citi Investment Research reiterated his hold rating on PCLN and dropped his price target to $142, citing weakness in European travel. Citi also removed competitor Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) from its Top Picks Live list, cut the price target on EXPE as well. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on PCLN.

After hitting a one-year low of $59.50 in August, the stock hit a one-year high of $144.34 in May. This morning, PCLN opened at $119.78. So far today the stock has hit a low of $114.38 and a high of $121.95. As of 12:10, PCLN is trading at $117.95, down $7.18 (-5.7%). The chart for PCLN looks neutral and improving, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 Stars (out of 5) Hold rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bear-call credit spread above the $155 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call 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 5.3% return in seven weeks as long as PCLN is below $155 at August expiration. PCLN would have to rise by more than 32% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

PCLN hasn't been above $145 at all in the past year and has shown resistance around $132 recently. This trade could be risky if the company's earnings (due out in early August) are a positive surprise, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by resistance PCLN might find around $140, where it topped out in May.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in PCLN or EXPE.

Earnings highlights: Wal-Mart, Macy's, Sony, Sprint, Sirius, Whole Foods and others

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

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Wal-Mart, Macy's, Sony, Sprint, Sirius, Whole Foods and others

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DJIA+203.5210,226.94
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Last updated: November 10, 2009: 03:45 AM

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