What to Watch This Week: 4 Hot Earnings Reports, 1 High-Flying Gamble Aug 4th 2013, 16:22
Filed under: Company News, Earnings, Walt Disney, Stocks
You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From a new movie with soaring expectations to an earnings report whipped up by the country’s largest stand-alone smoothie chain, here are some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street.
Monday — Blending Right In: It’s been a scorching-hot summer across much of the U.S., and that’s no doubt been good for Jamba (JMBA). The parent company of the Jamba Juice smoothie chain thrives during the warm summer months, when its fortified chilled fruit beverages are in hot demand.
Jamba reports quarterly results on Monday afternoon, and it will be the chain’s first report since executing a 1-for-5 reverse stock split. (Every five shares were exchanged for a single share at a price that’s five times higher.) The result is that a company that has been trading in the low single digits throughout most of the past few years now finds itself in the mid-teens. Analysts see healthy bottom-line growth as Jamba’s move to hand over company-owned stores to successful franchisees has been delivering healthy margin improvement.
Tuesday — That’s One Expensive Handbag: One of the indicators that the economy’s showing signs of life is that shoppers aren’t flinching at the prices of luxury handbags and accessories. We’re seeing Coach (COH) starting to bounce back, but the real powerhouse here has been Michael Kors (KORS).
It’s hard to find a hotter retailer than the Hong Kong-based seller of high-end purses. Revenue soared 57 percent in its last quarter, fueled by a 37 percent spike in comparable-store sales. Profitability more than doubled. Investors won’t see that kind of performance when Kors reports on Tuesday morning, but it should still be another strong showing out of the fast-growing retailer.
Wednesday — Deal With It: Don’t look now, but one of Wall Street’s more disappointing recent IPOs is showing signs of life. No, not Facebook (FB) (although, yes, that stock has displayed some serious resilience in recent weeks, heading back above its IPO price.) We’re talking about Groupon (GRPN).
The company went public at $ 20 a share in late 2011. A year later, shares of the leading local-deals provider had fallen as low as $ 2.60. A slowdown in bookings and a poorly received push overseas left the busted IPO reeling. Groupon isn’t back to where it was two years ago, but the shares have more than tripled since bottoming out last November.
The question of whether offering daily deals is a business model with long-term appeal is still a being answered, but Groupon’s ability to offer its local merchant partners related services including credit card processing has helped win back investors. Groupon reports on Wednesday after the market close.
Thursday — Beam Me Up, Scotty: Why haven’t more companies tapped William Shatner to be their spokesman? Online travel portal giant priceline.com (PCLN) has been a world-beater since Shatner began doing spots for the company, and on Thursday investors will get another glimpse of its fast-moving ways.
Even though Priceline’s closest rival posted disappointing quarterly results last month, analysts foresee revenue soaring 25 percent in Thursday’s report. Earnings are expected to have climbed nearly 20 percent during the period.
It’s not just about the namesake website where travelers submit how much they’re willing to pay for a getaway. Priceline’s Booking.com is a juggernaut in Europe, and it also recently acquired the popular Kayak.com, which scours multiple sites in serving up the best lodging and transportation deals on the Web.
Well done, Captain Kirk. Invest long, and prosper.
Friday — “Planes” Aims High: Disney (DIS) was set to market its animated full-length feature about a racing crop duster as a direct-to-video release, but the movie got upgraded to the full multiplex treatment along the way. “Planes” lands on a theater screen near you on Friday.
“From the world above ‘Cars,’” claims the release’s trailer — and why not? Even though Pixar itself isn’t the studio behind this project, Disney did pay billions to acquire Cars-creator Pixar several years ago. Disney had just better hope that it’s a high performer. The last thing it wants is for “Planes” to take down “Cars” by association.
Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz owns shares of Walt Disney and Jamba. The Motley Fool recommends Coach, priceline.com, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of Coach, priceline.com, and Walt Disney. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.
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