FeedPosted Nov 20th 2009 11:00AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Wal-Mart (WMT)
Foot Locker (FL), which competes against Collective Brands (PSS) and Wal-Mart (WMT) for a share of the shoe industry, issued a Q3 report on Thursday after the bell that was typical of many retailers: declining sales and dismal profits. Sometimes, the market is in the mood to ignore such grim news, but such indifference is usually predicated on an earnings beat. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the New York-based specialty athletic retailer.
On an adjusted basis, per-share profit dropped over 40% to 10 cents per share. Analysts were looking for 13 cents per share, according to Earnings.com. Same-store sales took a dive of 8.2%.
Continue reading Foot Locker has tough Q3, but does the dividend yield mean anything?
Posted Nov 19th 2009 3:50PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Wal-Mart (WMT), Target Corp. (TGT), Sears Holdings (SHLD)
Sears Holdings (SHLD) was selling off close to 5% at the time of this writing in reaction to the company's Q3 report. On an adjusted basis, the retailer lost 81 cents per share. That was better than the 90 cents lost in the comparable period, and it did beat the forecast as highlighted in our earnings preview.
I'm sort of shocked that the market didn't bid Sears higher. Going into the earnings news, the stock was hanging out near a 52-week high. Let's see, Wall Street sends the stock to the high point of the range, the release comes out, the loss isn't as bad as analysts expected it to be, and everyone sells. The market sure is strange sometimes, isn't it?
Continue reading Sears Holdings beats estimates, but still has a bad trading day
Posted Nov 14th 2009 2:10PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Wal-Mart (WMT), Walt Disney (DIS), Blockbuster Inc 'A' (BBI), Applied Materials (AMAT), Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF), Toll Brothers (TOL), Electronic Arts (ERTS), Blackstone Group L.P (BX), Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF)
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:
- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) lower Q3 results still topped expectations and sent shares higher.
- Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) posted much better-than-expected Q4 earnings, the first profit in a year.
- AstraZeneca (AZN) received an analyst's downgrade due to concerns over its earnings prospects.
- Blackstone Group (BX) received an analyst's upgrade following the company's Q3 results.
- Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) widened its net loss in Q3 and revenue and same-stores sales declined.
- Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (CLNE) shares declined after its Q3 numbers fell short of expectations.
- Consolidated Water Co. Inc. (CWCO) earnings prospects for 2010 earned it an analyst upgrade.
Continue reading Earnings highlights: Abercrombie, Blockbuster, Disney, Macy's, Walmart ...
Posted Nov 12th 2009 4:00PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), General Electric (GE), Wal-Mart (WMT), Intel (INTC), Bank of America (BAC)
Continue reading Closing Bell: Can't go up every day (BAC, HE, HPW, COMS, BRCD, WMT, AMD)
Posted Nov 12th 2009 3:20PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Wal-Mart (WMT), Target Corp. (TGT), Sears Holdings (SHLD), Costco Wholesale (COST)

Wal-Mart (
WMT), which competes with chains such as Sears Holdings(
SHLD), Costco (
COST), and Targe
t (
TGT), reported results for the
third quarter this morning. According to our
Before the Bell piece, the famous -- and oftentimes controversial -- retailer beat expectations by a few pennies, earnings 84 cents per share from continuing operations. This was 9% better than the per-share profit earned in the comparable period.
Net sales went up only 1%. They were inhibited by the currency environment. But total sales aren't as relevant as same-store sales when it comes to this sector. If I were a shareholder of Wal-Mart, I would be very disappointed by the comps number, since it is the older locations which indicate how well a retailer is truly doing.
Continue reading Wal-Mart grows profit and cash flow in Q3, but comps still ailing
Posted Nov 12th 2009 2:00PM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT), Black Friday
Wal-Mart (WMT) won't close Thanksgiving weekend -- not at all. The world's largest retailer is going to keep its stores open 24 hours in an attempt to manage demand for entry during the busiest shopping days of the year. The company has announced it will also implement other crowd-control measures. The festivities start at 5 AM on November 27, 2009. Of course, this doesn't involve any change fro the Wal-Mart Supercenters which already remain open 24 hours a day, but it does address the 800 stores that aren't.
The 24-hour access alone won't do much to alleviate the pressure from thrill-seekers and the bargain-crazed who will want to push through immediately. To help with this problem, Wal-Mart is allowing people to gather in different parts of the store when waiting for the deals to kick off. According to Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar, "If you've got a 200,000-square-foot store, people will be dispersed throughout the store instead of lined up outside the store." Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
As the old infomercial guys love to say ... "But wait, there's more!"
Continue reading Wal-Mart amps up hours, crowd control for Black Friday
Posted Nov 12th 2009 10:40AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Wal-Mart (WMT), Target Corp. (TGT)
Macy's (M) reported third-quarter numbers on Wednesday, and although the bottom line beat estimates, shares of the retailer plunged over 8% on high volume. And I don't blame the market whatsoever for deciding to sell the company down.
Macy's said it lost, on an adjusted basis, 3 cents per share. The call was for a loss of 7 cents per share, according to Earnings.com. Okay, I guess we can say losing less money than expected is a good thing. However, looking at the sales numbers really makes me pause. Total sales declined 3.9%, and same-store sales contracted 3.6%.
Continue reading Macy's tops estimates, but market not impressed
Posted Nov 12th 2009 8:00AM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), General Electric (GE), Wal-Mart (WMT), Market matters, Economic data, United Technologies (UTX), Oil

U.S. stock futures were lower Thursday morning after the Dow industrials hit yet another 13-month high on Wednesday, but the S&P 500 couldn't close above the 1,100 level. Even though Wal-Mart beat earnings and improved its outlook, futures declined as investors await weekly jobs data.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (
WMT) posted
third-quarter profit of 84 cents a share, above Bloomberg's analyst estimates for profit of 81 cents. Wal-Mart also upped its full-year profit above estimates, but fourth quarter guidance barely matched projections. Sales grew by just 1% in the quarter. WMT shares slid over 1% in pre-market trading.
Continue reading Before the bell: Stocks to open lower despite Wal-Mart's beat
Posted Nov 9th 2009 12:30PM by Beth Gaston Moon (RSS feed)
Filed under: eBay (EBAY), Wal-Mart (WMT), Marketing and advertising, Technology
Joining the ranks of Tickle-Me Elmo, Cabbage Patch Kids, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ... behold, the Zhu Zhu Pets. These robotic rodents are expected to be the most in-demand toy for the 2009 holiday shopping season.
The five battery-operated hamsters respond to touch with 40 different sounds, and can also run around when set in "explore" mode. It's all the fun of having a pet without the messy clean-up duty.
Parents, you have Cepia LLC, a small company in St. Louis, to thank for these critters. The firm is hoping to ship between 4 million and 5 million pets by the end of the year (banking $300 million to $400 million in sales), but admits they cannot keep up with the demand. Cepia has grand plans, however, for the next part of the Zhu Zhu universe, hoping to roll out hedgehogs, rabbits, and other furry robot friends in the next year or so.
Continue reading And the hottest toy for the holiday season is ...
Posted Nov 8th 2009 2:10PM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Competitive strategy, Wal-Mart (WMT), Amazon.com (AMZN), Target Corp. (TGT)
Santa hasn't even been tugged down Central Park West yet, and Wal-Mart (WMT) is already slashing its prices. The market among major retailers is intensifying, with many offering products as loss leaders in order to entice customers into the store (physical or otherwise) and boost their basket sizes. Along with Target (TGT) and Amazon (AMZN), Walmart is slashing DVD prices, the same tactic it's using with books.
Retailers are rushing to undercut each other this year, which is causing prices to spiral down quickly. When Walmart announced reduced prices on several titles to $10, Amazon followed at $9.99, with Walmart stepping back in at $9.98.
Continue reading Walmart, Amazon now slash DVD prices: What's next?
Posted Nov 6th 2009 11:40AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT), Target Corp. (TGT), Costco Wholesale (COST), Gap Inc (GPS), Nordstrom, Inc (JWN)
There's a chill in the air and a slight up-tick in confidence. Holiday discounts are coming a bit earlier, too. For retailers, this has been a great combination, leading to the second consecutive month in which retail sales increased.
This follows more than a year of drops. Consumers aren't going crazy, but they are loosening their wallets a little bit. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of the U.S. economy, and the coming holiday season is where the action is -- for the retail sector and, consequently, for everyone else.
Continue reading Retail sales: Signs of life, but not yet a rising tide
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