Shares of The Boston Beer Company (NYSE: SAM) surged to a new 52-week high Friday morning, after the brewmaster reported a third-quarter profit of $10.4 million, or 72 cents per share, on revenue of $108.7 million. The company swung to a loss of 2 cents per share in the third quarter of 2008, but attributed its turnaround to strong shipments and decreased advertising expenses.

The results were better than analysts expected, with consensus estimates calling for Boston Beer to bank a profit of 39 cents per share on $107.5 million. Looking forward, Boston Beer now expects full-year earnings of $1.75 per share to $2.05 per share, a marked increased from its prior forecast for a 2009 profit of $1.40 per share to $1.70 per share.

Snacks-and-soda stalwart PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is scheduled to unveil its third-quarter results before the market opens this Thursday, Oct. 8. Heading into the report, analysts are expecting PEP to bank a profit of $1.02 per share, according to Thomson Reuters, fractionally lower than its year-ago earnings of $1.06 per share.

PepsiCo has a healthy history in the earnings spotlight, having exceeded Wall Street's consensus expectations in each of the previous three quarters. Judging by recent option activity, traders are speculating on another upside surprise from the Frito-Lay firm.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) rallied to a new 52-week high Tuesday after topping analysts' second-quarter earnings expectations. The used-car retailer reported a quarterly profit of $103 million, or 46 cents per share, while net sales jumped 13% to $2.1 billion. By contrast, analysts were expecting net income of just 18 cents per share on $1.77 billion in revenue.

"The government's CARS, or 'cash for clunkers,' program resulted in a spike in traffic in late July and August," explained CEO Tom Folliard. Same-store used-unit sales for the quarter climbed 8%, bouncing back from a 17% drop in the first quarter.

Luckily for American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG), the embattled insurer has agreed to sell its AIG Finance unit to China Construction Bank for $70 million in cash. This news is helping to offset some distinctly less bullish developments for AIG today.

Specifically, Patrick Fitzgerald of Dow Jones Bankruptcy Review reports that Lehman Brothers Holdings (LEHMQ) is asking a bankruptcy judge to force AIG to pony up millions of dollars it owes Lehman for credit default swaps.

In the wake of its second-quarter earnings report, SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) has garnered no fewer than four price-target increases and at least two upgrades. Running through the list, FBR upgraded the shares from "market perform" to "outperform," while Collins Stewart upped the equity from "sell" to "hold." FBR also hiked its price target from $22 to $40, while Citigroup upped its target from $15 to $18. Elsewhere, Credit Suisse raised the stock's price target from $20 to $32, and Canaccord Adams increased its 12-month estimate from $21 to $29.

In fact, Wedbush Morgan is the lone bearish holdout this morning, with the brokerage firm bucking the trend by downgrading SPWRA from "outperform" to "neutral."

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) is sharply higher today after shocking Wall Street with a better-than-expected fourth-quarter forecast. Last night, the company reported that strong demand for its handguns and tactical rifles sent revenue up 20% during the quarter to $99.5 million, outpacing analysts' expectations for sales of $90.83 million. SWHC's full fourth-quarter results will be reported Monday, June 22.

BioDelivery Sciences International Inc. (NASDAQ: BDSI) is bouncing higher today as investors anticipate FDA approval for its cancer pain drug. In a press release, the company said that it has reached an agreement with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and a review team on all aspects of the new drug application (NDA) for ONSOLIS. The regulatory agency informed BDSI that it "will not be issuing a review extension letter, as their action on the NDA is forthcoming."

"Although we cannot pinpoint the exact timing of when the FDA's action might occur, we have previously indicated that we expect a first half 2009 approval of the NDA for ONSOLIS. Based on our discussion with FDA last Friday, we should be within a few weeks of that target," explained Dr. Mark Sirgo, BDSI's president and CEO.

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) stepped into the earnings spotlight last night, with the company reporting a fourth-quarter loss of $20.1 million, or 40 cents per share.

Excluding items, the quarterly loss would have been 30 cents per share. Revenue for the period fell 47% to $89.1 million, while gross margin contracted from 27.2% to 17%. Analysts were expecting a wider loss of 46 cents per share on slimmer revenue of $68.3 million.

Looking ahead, OVTI expects a fiscal first-quarter adjusted loss of seven cents to 16 cents per share, with revenue ranging between $90 million and $100 million. The forecast was unexpectedly upbeat; analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting a first-quarter loss of 23 cents per share on $74 million in revenue.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) has enjoyed a stellar run higher in 2009, with the shares up 105% year-to-date.

Today, the company announced that its board has approved a three-for-two stock split in the form of a stock dividend. All shareholders of record as of May 29 will receive one additional share of GMCR common stock for every two shares currently held, with distribution scheduled for June 8.

"This stock dividend allows us to share our success with our loyal stockholders to the extent of our authorized stock and underscores our confidence in the strength of our Company and its prospects for the future," said President and CEO Larry Blanford in a statement.

Analysts, on average, are expecting BWLD to report a profit of 46 cents per share, up from 36 cents per share in the first quarter of 2008. The company has a mixed history in the earnings confessional: in its previous four reports, the chain has exceeded analysts' estimates twice, met them once, and fallen short on one other occasion.

Two days before its second-quarter earnings report, lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was hit this morning with a steep price-target cut. RBC slashed its price target on LULU from $47 to $30, noting "a 200 basis-point increase in our cost of equity assumption." The analysts tempered their bearish note by reiterating an Outperform rating on the shares.

The brokerage firm's downwardly revised target represents a 64% premium to the stock's closing price Monday. By contrast, the average 12-month price target on LULU is $39.72, according to Thomson Financial. This consensus estimate is 117% higher than yesterday's close, which seems to indicate that further price-target cuts could be in the offing, particularly if second-quarter earnings fail to impress.

During the past four quarters, First Call reports that lululemon has met or exceeded analysts' per-share profit expectations every time. However, it's safe to say that nobody on Wall Street was particularly impressed by LULU's last quarterly earnings report. Since the company announced inline earnings of 12 cents per share on June 2, its shares have shed 43% of their value. Even more compelling, institutional investors have reduced their stake in LULU by a net total of 5% since last quarter.

With surging crude oil prices, and a slower economy, airline stocks don't rank high on investor wish lists. You don't hear colleagues standing around the water cooler singing the praises of the airlines. So what would make a sane investor contemplate purchasing an airline stock? I am not sure myself but if you take a long look at JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU), you may feel like throwing the dice.

Mark Kreiger at SeekingAlpha.com has a really good analysis of why JetBlue stock is compelling. He says, " The airlines are responding to the fuel crises by doing all the right things such as utilizing fuel hedging programs, initiating capacity reductions and reducing overall costs."

Kreiger singles out JetBlue because their Q1'08 report soundly beat analyst estimates. The company has $1 billion in cash and has a book value of $6. Well above the approximately $4.50 price per share. More interesting is a potential short squeeze setting up on the stock. Kreiger analyzes this further at the site, and it's worth a close read.

If you believe that at some point crude prices will drop, and you are looking for a way to play that drop, you potentially may want to do some research on JetBlue.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer's fund has no position in any stock mentioned, as of 5/27/08.

So much for that oil slump. Oil's price pullback lasted all of one day as buyers piled back into oil futures Wednesday, sending oil surging up $5.00 to a new record close of $104.52, after OPEC said it would maintain current production quotas.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to maintain production targets at a meeting Tuesday in Vienna, Bloomberg News reported. That price-bullish reality, combined with a surprise report by the U.S. Department of Energy indicating that U.S. crude inventories fell for the first time in eight weeks, was enough to send the oil pits into frenzied buyer mode, once again. Earlier this week oil broke through the previous nominal high of $103.76 set back in 1980.

Gasoline, heating oil prices surge

The other major energy commodities also rocketed higher. Heating oil surged 14 cents to $2.93 per gallon, unleaded gasoline jumped 10 cents to $2.63 per gallon and natural gas climbed 37 cents to $9.72 per million BTUs.

And once again, OPEC repeated its oft-stated rationale that "the markets are well supplied," Bloomberg News reported, arguing that speculators and investors seeking to buy oil as a long-term asset and as an inflation hedge, are primarily behind oil's climb to the stratosphere. And once again, traders and other oil buyers acted as if there won't be enough oil to meet global demand at some point in the months ahead.