Online marketing specialist ValueClick (VCLK) is scheduled to unveil its fourth-quarter earnings after Tuesday's closing bell. Ahead of the announcement, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are anticipating a profit of 23 cents per share, on average, which would represent an improvement over ValueClick's year-ago earnings of 18 cents per share.

ValueClick has a strong history in the earnings spotlight, having surpassed analysts' bottom-line expectations in each of the past four quarters. However, a quick scan of the stock's sentiment backdrop reveals a nearly palpable pessimism among both traders and analysts.

Continue reading ValueClick Earnings Preview

ValueClick Earnings Preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares of Patriot Coal (PCX) surged to a new annual high of $27.54 right out of the gate Tuesday, as traders cheered the energy issue's latest quarterly report.

Patriot announced that its fourth-quarter net profit dwindled 33% to $7.3 million, or 8 cents per share, from its year-ago results of $10.9 million, or 12 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter climbed 5% to $528.2 million, but selling and administrative expenses swelled 35% to $14 million. Likewise, Patriot's operating cost per ton increased 9.5% to $55.70.

Continue reading Patriot Coal Climbs Higher Despite Q4 Revenue Miss

Patriot Coal Climbs Higher Despite Q4 Revenue Miss originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

LeapFrog Enterprises (LF) plummeted more than 25% this morning, after the company warned that its full-year earnings will fall below Wall Street's expectations. The maker of educational toys expects to bank a profit of 3 cents to 6 cents per share for fiscal 2010, way below analysts' consensus estimate of 28 cents per share.

"After a solid start to the holiday season, demand softened late in the quarter relative to our expectations," explained CEO Bill Chiasson. "While sales of interactive reading products continued to grow at retail, the growth was less than we had forecasted and contributed to lower earnings growth than expected."

Continue reading LeapFrog Takes a Nosedive on Weak FY Forecast

LeapFrog Takes a Nosedive on Weak FY Forecast originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

KB Home (KBH) is ending the week on a high note, after the homebuilder comfortably surpassed Wall Street's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings expectations. Bright and early Friday morning, KBH announced quarterly net income of $17.4 million, or 23 cents per share, on revenue of $451 million. Adjusted housing gross margins improved to 19.7% from 19%.

This marks KBH's first quarterly profit, without the aid of tax gains, in almost four years. Analysts were anticipating KBH to swallow a deficit of 17 cents per share on revenue of $441.3 million, so these results definitely qualify as a positive surprise.

Continue reading KB Home Rallies After Solid Q4 Report

KB Home Rallies After Solid Q4 Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Thursday morning, GPS specialist Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) said it lost a patent dispute with Japanese firm Pioneer Corp. The District Court of Dusseldorf in Germany found that two patents owned by Pioneer were infringed by a certain functionality in Garmin's software.

However, Garmin says it has already worked out "minor software revisions that eliminate the narrow functionality at issue in the litigation." As a result, the company doesn't expect any significant impact on its ability to import and sell its navigational products.

Continue reading Garmin Slumps After Patent Defeat

Garmin Slumps After Patent Defeat originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares of Cumberland Pharmaceuticals (CPIX) are having a rough go of it after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) outlined some concerns that will further delay a ruling on its liver drug. The regulatory agency already postponed its decision from August to December, and now the FDA says it needs additional data before it can recommend the drug for approval.

In its complete response letter to Cumberland, the FDA noted insufficient evidence to prove that the injectable drug, Acetadote, is effective in all patients. Cumberland said it plans to meet with the FDA soon to address the outstanding issues.

Continue reading Cumberland Pharma Plummets After FDA Rejection

Cumberland Pharma Plummets After FDA Rejection originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares of Netflix (NFLX) started Tuesday on a high note, with the shares gaining more than 1% out of the gate. Traders appear to be responding to new comments from Jim Cramer, after the host of CNBC's Mad Money offered an upbeat opinion on the stock Monday.

Specifically, Cramer is enthusiastic about Netflix's push into streaming content, and he has high expectations for future subscriber growth. The analyst also argued that the stock's valuation is actually quite reasonable, when measured against the company's long-term growth rate. For traders looking to take part in continued gains by NFLX, Cramer suggested in-the-money call options.

Continue reading Netflix Gains Ground on Cramer Recommendation

Netflix Gains Ground on Cramer Recommendation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Call options were in heavy rotation Monday on The Gap (GPS). Within the first hour of trading, 3,350 of these bullishly oriented options crossed the tape -- about four times the expected number of call contracts. The bulk of this activity took place at The Gap's January 2011 22.50 call, where 3,031 contracts were traded. Approximately 77% of these calls changed hands at the ask price, indicating they were purchased.

However, this skew toward calls simply continues a recent trend for GPS. During the past 10 days, speculators on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) have bought to open 5.99 calls for every put on the retailer. This ratio ranks above 75% of other such readings taken during the previous year, indicating that traders on the ISE have purchased calls over puts at a faster pace just 25% of the time.

Continue reading Call Players Place Their Bets on The Gap

Call Players Place Their Bets on The Gap originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lennar Corp. (LEN) just can't seem to win much respect on Wall Street. Despite well-known fundamental issues within the housing sector, LEN has tallied a year-to-date advance of roughly 35% -- easily topping the 11.4% gain collected by the S&P 500 Index (SPX).

Wall Street seems less than impressed by this technical outperformance, though. Earlier today, S&P Equity downgraded the stock to hold from strong buy, joining six other analysts who maintain a tepid rating on the shares.

Continue reading Outperforming Lennar Shrugs Off Downgrade

Outperforming Lennar Shrugs Off Downgrade originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

American Superconductor (AMSC) gapped lower right out of the gate this morning, thanks to a bearish write-up in Barron's (subscription required) over the weekend. In a piece titled "Flagging Winds from China," author Bill Alpert warns of "signs that China's boom in wind power is slowing." As points of concern, Alpert points to dropping prices and rising inventories in the wind-turbine industry.

AMSC tumbled to a loss of more than 6% Monday morning, deepening its year-to-date decline of 18%. The stock has suffered four consecutive Friday closes beneath its 10-week moving average, and AMSC is now trading below its 20-week moving average, as well. Going forward, these formerly supportive trendlines could switch roles to act as resistance.

Continue reading American Superconductor Slides on Bearish Barron's Article

American Superconductor Slides on Bearish Barron's Article originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Diamond Foods (DMND) was on the upswing Thursday, as traders cheered the company's latest earnings report. Diamond said it banked a fiscal first-quarter profit of $14.2 million, or 64 cents per share. Excluding items, earnings arrived at 65 cents per share, while revenue increased 40% to $252.6 million.

The results comfortably exceeded Wall Street's expectations, which called for a profit of 60 cents per share on revenue of $239.8 million.

Continue reading Diamond Foods Finds New Record High After Earnings

Diamond Foods Finds New Record High After Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Call Volume Soars Ahead of Earnings from H&R Block

Call Volume Soars Ahead of Earnings from H&R Block originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bank of America (BAC) has grabbed some headlines lately, for better or worse. Earlier this week, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claimed he would release documents next year pointing to an "ecosystem of corruption" at a major U.S. bank, and many journalists connected a trail of dots leading back to Bank of America. As a result, the stock slipped 3% on Tuesday.

However, Bank of America bounced back with the rest of the market on Wednesday, after one executive at the Charlotte-based bank downplayed the growing speculation. During the course of the session, call volume on BAC rose to two times the usual level, with about 593,000 contracts crossing the tape.

Continue reading Dissecting a Massive Call Spread on Bank of America

Dissecting a Massive Call Spread on Bank of America originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Will TiVo Pop or Drop After Its Q3 Report?

Will TiVo Pop or Drop After Its Q3 Report? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mela Sciences (MELA) gapped higher right out of the gate Monday, with the shares surging roughly 12% on Monday morning. Over the weekend, Barron's noted that the stock is "worth a close look ahead of a regulatory vote on Nov. 18," and traders are apparently taking the suggestion to heart.

The financial publication described its opinion on the shares as "cautiously optimistic," explaining that analysts believe MELA could double if its MelaFind device receives the OK from a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel this Thursday. However, warned Barron's, a regulatory thumbs-down "could cut the shares in half."

Continue reading Mela Sciences Surges Ahead of FDA Panel

Mela Sciences Surges Ahead of FDA Panel originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Level 3 Communications Scores Lucrative Netflix Deal

Level 3 Communications Scores Lucrative Netflix Deal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Las Vegas is coming back," declared Jim Cramer on Friday's episode of Mad Money. He went on to add, "MGM's the best way to speculate on the turn, especially considering that they helped get Senate majority leader Harry Reid re-elected."

Continue reading MGM Resorts Catches a Lift from Cramer Endorsement

MGM Resorts Catches a Lift from Cramer Endorsement originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Online jewelry retailer Blue Nile (NILE) took the earnings stage Friday morning, with the company reporting a third-quarter profit of $2.8 million, or 19 cents per share -- up 7.7% from its year-ago results. Net sales for the quarter added 0.8% to $67.5 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were looking for a third-quarter profit of 18 cents per share on $72.1 million in revenue.

For the current quarter, Blue Nile predicted a profit of 41 cents to 46 cents per share, with sales arriving between $106 million and $115 million. Analysts anticipate a fourth-quarter profit of 43 cents per share from Blue Nile.

Continue reading Blue Nile Spikes Higher on Solid Q3 Report

Blue Nile Spikes Higher on Solid Q3 Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Liz Claiborne Gaps Higher After Earnings

Liz Claiborne Gaps Higher After Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading GOP's Gain Could Be First Solar's Loss, Warns JPMorgan

GOP's Gain Could Be First Solar's Loss, Warns JPMorgan originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.