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Starbucks 4Q 2008 earnings: Everybody Hurts ... when there are store closings

Sarah Gilbert — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:46:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Bad News, Starbucks (SBUX)

As I sit in my neighborhood Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) outlet, the song playing through the coffeeshop speakers is Everybody Hurts by REM. How appropriate. This fiscal year, especially these past two quarters, hurt Starbucks. Fiscal fourth quarter 2008 profits were $5.4 million, or a penny per share, after restructuring costs associated with store closings; but only 10 cents a share before charges, three cents less than analysts expected and a very painful 11 cents a share less than the year-ago period.

Ouch.

On a somewhat healthier note, net revenues were up a bit, to $2.5 billion, a 3% increase from a year earlier. Not a growth story exactly, but at least not negative! There's something! And CEO Howard Schultz had all kinds of positive spin, touting Starbucks as "more resilient than many other premium brands" (see how he snuck that "premium" in there? Talk about setting a subconscious benchmark!) and pointing out that he is "encouraged by our ability to drive increased traffic at a relatively low cost, as we did on Election Day" with the free tall coffee promotion.

Continue reading Starbucks 4Q 2008 earnings: Everybody Hurts ... when there are store closings

Starbucks 4Q 2008 earnings: Everybody Hurts ... when there are store closings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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eBay falls on weak forecast, CEO Meg Whitman steps down

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:38:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Forecasts, Bad News, From the Boards, Press Releases, Products and Services, Management, Insiders, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, eBay (EBAY), Amazon.com (AMZN), Marketing and Advertising

Shares of e-commerce giant eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) are trading around 7% lower in after hours trading today following its fourth quarter earnings release shortly after the market close.

As I looked at in my earnings preview, the company has been struggling to keep up with the competition in its auction business. Two key components that have hurt eBay's auction business are (1) raising fees that have left some of the company's long term users looking for other venues to do their business, and (2) large number of fraudulent items on the site.

The company announced that its fourth quarter numbers were actually better than Wall Street had expected, with earnings per share of 45 cents per share, easily topping the 41 cents that analysts had been expecting to see.

Continue reading eBay falls on weak forecast, CEO Meg Whitman steps down

eBay falls on weak forecast, CEO Meg Whitman steps down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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General Electric (GE) fourth-quarter earnings preview

Michael Fowlkes — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Before the Bell, Earnings Reports, From the Boards, Products and Services, Competitive Strategy, General Electric (GE), Merrill Lynch (MER)

Tomorrow morning before the market opens, General Electric (NYSE: GE) will get its chance to impress Wall Street when it reports its fourth-quarter numbers. So far its been a pretty turbulent earnings season, so let's hope that GE can give the market something positive to rally behind.

Going into tomorrow's report, analysts are expecting to see the company show earnings of 68 cents a share, and revenues of $47.2 billion. The last time that the company reported earnings was back on October 12 when it matched estimates for its third quarter, with earnings of 50 cents.

The stock could definitely use some good news. Over the past three months the stock has been struggling, and as of the close of yesterday's trading session, the stock is trading at $34.56, which is only 1.9% above its 52-week low of $33.90.

Continue reading General Electric (GE) fourth-quarter earnings preview

General Electric (GE) fourth-quarter earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alcoa Q4 earnings preview

Michael Fowlkes — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:43:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Earnings Reports, Management, Industry, Market Matters, Alcoa Inc (AA), Economic Data

Update July 7, 2008: Aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) will post second quarter 2008 results after the close on Tuesday, July 8. Read our preview.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) will officially kick off earnings season when it reports its fourth quarter figures Wednesday following the market close.

When we get Wednesday's report, analysts are expecting to see the numbers impacted by a lower dollar and falling metal prices. Estimates for the quarter are running at 39 cents per share. During the fourth quarter last year Alcoa posted earnings per share of 74 cents.

The market can definitely use some positive news from Alcoa when it reports. With this mornings employment data stoking fears of an upcoming recession, the market could definitely benefit from a injection of positive earnings news.

Continue reading Alcoa Q4 earnings preview

Alcoa Q4 earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Starbucks Q1 2007 results: right on the money

Sarah Gilbert — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:37:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Press Releases, Starbucks (SBUX)

Analysts expected Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) to earn 26 cents a share for the fiscal first quarter ended December 31, 2006. Starbucks earned? 26 cents a share. Right on the money.

Not only did we see exactly-met earnings, we also saw a same-store sales growth of a comfortable 6% -- nothing like the 4% that had everyone running scared this fall. Other bullet points on the report included net revenues of $2.4 billion, net earnings of $205 million, an increase of 18% over the year-earlier quarter, and "record quarterly Starbucks Card activations of $287 million" up 30%.

Disappointment hidden on page 2: evidently the bottled Frappuccino coffee drinks and DoubleShot espresso drinks, and the Starbucks ice cream, aren't doing so well; although it had a very small impact on the bottom line it's an interesting sideline to track.

Starbucks investors seemed quite happy, though, sending the stock up sharply in afterhours trading. SBUX closed out the trading day at $34.94, up 38 cents or 1.10%, and was falling a bit before the results; then bounced back up to $35.72, up 2.23% from yesterday's close.

Also check out some other earnings reports that we're following, and let us know your thoughts on earnings expectations.

Starbucks Q1 2007 results: right on the money originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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