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LB | L Brands LB Beats On Q4 Earnings Issues FY18 Guidance | L Brands Inc NYSE LB reported solid financial numbers in fourth quarter fiscal 2017 wherein earnings of 2 11 per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 04 after reporting in line earnings last quarter The bottom line also improved 3 9 year over year Moreover revenues surpassed the consensus mark for the second straight time This specialty retailer of women s intimate and other apparels reported net sales of 4 823 1 million up 7 4 from the prior year quarter Also the figure marginally came above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 4 795 million Furthermore L Brands comparable sales including direct sales were up 2 in the quarter However store only comps decreased 2 year over year L Brands Inc Price and Consensus Sales at Victoria s Secret Stores declined 1 2 to 2 038 3 million while Victoria s Secret direct sales were up 19 9 to 630 6 million Total Victoria s Secret sales rose 3 1 to 2 668 9 million while comparable sales fell 1 Bath Body Works total sales were up 10 7 to 1 793 7 million with a 6 rise in comparable sales Strong performances by the company s home fragrance assortment along with improvement in the body care assortments fragrances drove the segment sales Victoria s Secret and Bath Body Works International sales surged 37 2 to 170 3 million Other revenues increased 21 4 to 190 2 million Gross profit grew 5 to 2 040 3 million while gross margin reduced 100 basis points bps to 42 3 primarily due to a fall in merchandise margin rate Adjusted operating income dipped 0 1 to 986 6 million with the operating margin contracting 150 bps to 20 5 We note that shares of L Brands have declined 13 7 in the past three months against the s gain of 0 7 Store UpdateIn the quarter under review L Brands opened five Victoria s Secret stores and shuttered 19 outlets taking the total count to 1 170 stores In the same period 32 Bath Body Works stores were inaugurated and 31 were closed which totalled to 1 694 stores As a result the company had 19 Victoria s Secret U K Ireland and 27 Henri Bendel stores at the end of the fourth quarter As of Feb 3 2018 L Brands operated 3 075 stores Total franchised stores as of Feb 3 2018 were 813 comprising 241 Victoria s Secret Beauty Accessories 32 Victoria s Secret five Pink 176 Bath Body Works and 194 La Senza stores Other Financial DetailsL Brands exited fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of 1 514 9 million down from the prior year quarter s tally of 1 933 8 million Long term debt increased marginally to 5 707 million from 5 699 6 million a year ago Also shareholders deficit came in at 751 million Management incurred capital expenditures of 107 4 million in the quarter under review and 706 7 million in fiscal 2017 For fiscal 2018 the company projects the same to be roughly 750 million Meanwhile L Brands continues to anticipate free cash flow of 900 million in the fiscal year In fiscal 2017 the company repurchased 9 4 million shares for 444 9 million At the year end it had 48 million remaining under the current share buyback program of 250 million GuidanceManagement issued guidance for first quarter and fiscal 2018 Additionally the company is likely to follow a new revenue recognition accounting standard in the first quarter Comps in February are expected to rise in low to mid single digits including a low single digit growth at Victoria s Secret along with mid single digits rise at Bath Body Works However merchandise margin rate is expected to decline for the month This Zacks Rank 3 Hold company anticipates first quarter comps in low single digits In fact sales are estimated to be nearly 5 points higher than comps Further gross margin is expected to decline marginally due to a fall in merchandise margin rate somewhat offset by lower buying and occupancy expenses Earnings per share are envisioned in the range of 15 20 cents versus 33 cents in the year ago quarter For fiscal 2018 the company envisions comps to increase in the 2 4 range while sales are anticipated to be 2 points higher than comps Gross margin rate is anticipated to remain flat compared with the prior year tally Management projects earnings in the band of 2 95 3 25 per share compared with 3 20 last year Analysts polled by Zacks anticipate earnings per share of 32 cents and 3 36 for first quarter and fiscal 2018 respectively These estimates are likely to witness downward revisions Interested in the Retail Space Check TheseSome better ranked stocks from the retail space are Conn s Inc NASDAQ CONN Aaron s Inc NYSE AAN and American Eagle Outfitters Inc NYSE AEO While Conn s sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Aaron s and American Eagle carry a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Conn s has surged 68 2 in the past six months Moreover the stock has a long term earnings growth rate of 23 Aaron s shares have surged 22 7 in the last three months Also the company posted an average earnings beat of 9 6 in the trailing four quarters American Eagle Outfitters delivered an average earnings beat of 2 6 in the last four quarters It has a long term earnings growth rate of 5 5 The Hottest Tech Mega Trend of All Last year it generated 8 billion in global revenues By 2020 it s predicted to blast through the roof to 47 billion Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce the world s first trillionaires but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early |
PFE | SNY Vs PFE Which Stock Is The Better Value Option | Investors interested in Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are likely familiar with Sanofi PA SASY SNY and Pfizer PFE But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors We ll need to take a closer look to find out
The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits
Sanofi and Pfizer are sporting Zacks Ranks of 2 Buy and 5 Strong Sell respectively right now This means that SNY s earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors
Value investors are also interested in a number of tried and true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels
Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics including the popular P E ratio as well as the P S ratio earnings yield cash flow per share and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years
SNY currently has a forward P E ratio of 12 37 while PFE has a forward P E of 13 12 We also note that SNY has a PEG ratio of 1 84 This figure is similar to the commonly used P E ratio with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company s expected earnings growth rate PFE currently has a PEG ratio of 2 93
Another notable valuation metric for SNY is its P B ratio of 1 59 The P B is a method of comparing a stock s market value to its book value which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities By comparison PFE has a P B of 3 47
Based on these metrics and many more SNY holds a Value grade of A while PFE has a Value grade of D
SNY stands above PFE thanks to its solid earnings outlook and based on these valuation figures we also feel that SNY is the superior value option right now |
PFE | Pfizer Shares Slump 2 After Cutting Full Year Revenue Outlook | Investing com Shares of Pfizer NYSE PFE slumped in premarket trade on Tuesday after the pharmaceutical giant provided a downbeat revenue outlook for the coming year
For 2019 the company revised its revenue guidance range to 52 0 billion to 54 0 billion from 53 0 billion to 53 7 billion and lowered its forecast for adjusted EPS to between 2 82 and 2 92 from an earlier range of 2 98 to 3 02
We enter 2019 with confidence in the competitive positioning of our businesses the prospects for our recently launched products and product line extensions as well as the strength and breadth of our research pipeline Albert Bourla Pfizer s chief executive officer said in a press release
The lowered forecast represented expectations for an essentially flat operating performance this year with the overall drop being explained by foreign exchange movements and changes in the value of equity investments
For the current quarter Pfizer posted earnings per share of 64 cents for the fourth quarter matching expectations
Revenue totaled 13 98 billion above forecasts of 13 96 billion
Pfizer shares dropped 2 2 in premarket trade to 38 68
Pfizer follows other major Healthcare sector earnings this month
On January 22 J J reported fourth quarter EPS of 1 97 on revenue of 20 39B compared to forecasts of EPS of 1 95 on revenue of 20 2B
Abbott Labs earnings matched analysts expectations on January 23 with fourth quarter EPS of 0 81 on revenue of 7 77B Investing com analysts expected EPS of 0 81 on revenue of 7 81B
Stay up to date on all of the upcoming earnings reports by visiting Investing com s earnings calendar |
PFE | Pfizer Rises 3 | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE rose by 3 05 to trade at 40 66 by 12 20 17 20 GMT on Tuesday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Pfizer shares traded since the start of the session was 21 25M Pfizer has traded in a range of 39 47 to 40 74 on the day
The stock has traded at 42 8800 at its highest and 39 4400 at its lowest during the past seven days |
LB | L Brands authorizes 250M buyback program | L Brands NYSE LB authorizes a new 250M million share buyback program
The authorization includes 10 3M remaining under its previous 250M share repurchase program
Source Press Release
Shares of L Brands are down 21 over the last 90 days
Now read |
PFE | Pfizer PFE Q2 Earnings Top Estimates | Pfizer PFE came out with quarterly earnings of 0 80 per share beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0 77 per share This compares to earnings of 0 81 per share a year ago These figures are adjusted for non recurring items
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 3 90 A quarter ago it was expected that this drugmaker would post earnings of 0 77 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 85 delivering a surprise of 10 39
Over the last four quarters the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times
Pfizer which belongs to the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry posted revenues of 13 26 billion for the quarter ended June 2019 missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0 44 This compares to year ago revenues of 13 47 billion The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters
The sustainability of the stock s immediate price movement based on the recently released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management s commentary on the earnings call
Pfizer shares have lost about 1 3 since the beginning of the year versus the S P 500 s gain of 20 7
What s Next for Pfizer
While Pfizer has underperformed the market so far this year the question that comes to investors minds is what s next for the stock
There are no easy answers to this key question but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company s earnings outlook Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter s but also how these expectations have changed lately
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried and tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions
Ahead of this earnings release the estimate revisions trend for Pfizer was mixed While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company s just released earnings report the current status translates into a Zacks Rank 3 Hold for the stock So the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future You can see the complete list of today s Zacks 1 Rank Strong Buy stocks here
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead The current consensus EPS estimate is 0 68 on 12 86 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and 2 88 on 52 86 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank Large Cap Pharmaceuticals is currently in the top 14 of the 250 plus Zacks industries Our research shows that the top 50 of the Zacks ranked industries outperform the bottom 50 by a factor of more than 2 to 1 |
PFE | Aileron up 35 on advancement of ALRN 6924 Ibrance study | Thinly traded nano cap Aileron Therapeutics ALRN 35 1 is up on an 8x surge in volume following its announcement that dosing is underway in an expansion cohort in its Phase 2a clinical trial evaluating lead candidate ALRN 6924 combined with Pfizer s PFE 0 6 IBRANCE palbociclib in patients with MDM2 amplified solid tumors The new arm will enroll up to 25 participants Preliminary data should be available in H2 ALRN 6924 is a cell permeating peptide that mimics the p53 tumor suppressor protein to disrupt its interaction with MDMX and MDM2 two proteins that interfere with its action Palbociclib inhibits two enzymes CDK4 and CDK6 that play key roles in the cell cycle Blocking their action interferes with cancer cell proliferation Now read |
PFE | GSK Chairman Hampton to step down ahead of split | By Arathy S Nair Reuters GlaxoSmithKline Plc L GSK Chairman Philip Hampton will step down after more than three and a half years in the role as Britain s biggest drugmaker prepares to split its business into two The announcement comes a month after GSK s Chief Executive Emma Walmsley announced her boldest plans yet to split the company into two businesses one for prescription drugs and vaccines the other for over the counter products Walmsley who took the helm in 2017 announced in December that GSK and Pfizer N PFE would combine their consumer health businesses in a joint venture with sales of 9 8 billion pounds 12 7 billion 68 percent owned by the British company in an all equity transaction Following the announcement of our deal with Pfizer and the intended separation of the new consumer business I believe this is the right moment to step down and allow a new Chair to oversee this process through to its conclusion over the next few years Hampton said in a statement Hampton aged 65 was paid a sum of 700 000 pounds 900 550 of which he elected to take 25 percent in GSK shares according to the company s 2017 annual report He took the top job at GSK at a testing time just after a profit warning in 2014 due to weak sales of its core respiratory drugs The Briton was tasked with helping steer the drugmaker back to sustainable growth Shares of GSK have however remained flat after peaking about 17 percent during his tenure They were little changed in early trading on Monday GSK whose consumer products include Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol painkillers has lagged rivals in recent years in producing multibillion dollar blockbusters and it largely sat out a spate of dealmaking by rivals under previous CEO Andrew Witty Seeking to reassure investors of its financial strength GSK extended its guarantee on the dividend by stating it expected to pay unchanged dividends of 80 pence per share for 2019 Before joining GSK Hampton was chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc L RBS and J Sainsbury plc L SBRY He was parachuted in to help rescue RBS following its 45 billion pounds bailout during the financial crisis and led the bank through a turbulent period of transition
GSK which has been looking to buy early stage assets and partner with companies said it had started the search for a successor |
PFE | Pfizer Falls 3 | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE fell by 3 01 to trade at 40 88 by 11 56 16 56 GMT on Thursday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Pfizer shares traded since the start of the session was 12 70M Pfizer has traded in a range of 40 89 to 41 79 on the day
The stock has traded at 43 2400 at its highest and 40 8200 at its lowest during the past seven days |
WFC | Wells Fargo gets U S approval to use internal models for capital | WASHINGTON Reuters Wells Fargo N WFC won regulatory approval on Tuesday from federal banking regulators to use its own tailored risk models for determining its capital requirements
The sign off by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency comes about one year after the regulators gave similar approvals to other big banks |
WFC | Tennis megaplex in central Florida to help sport and region grow | By Barbara Liston ORLANDO Fla Reuters The U S Tennis Association broke ground on Wednesday on a 100 court tennis complex believed to be the largest in the United States as part of its new 60 million headquarters in central Florida Scheduled to open in late 2016 the complex is intended to anchor an envisioned cluster of sports businesses in a fast growing section of Orlando that is also seeking to position itself as a major medical hub The tennis facility will feature a mix of red and green clay courts as well as hard courts and a show court to be used for collegiate tournaments The complex also includes a lodge to house up to 32 youth players The U S Tennis Association is leasing 63 acres for 1 per year in Lake Nona a community developed by Tavistock Group a Bahamas based private equity firm which recruited the tennis organization to relocate from White Plains New York Tavistock aims to build a sports oriented mega complex modeled after the adjacent 650 acre health sciences cluster that it began developing in 2005 Adding the tennis complex is not a game changer but it should serve as a catalyst for regional growth said Mark Vitner managing director and senior economist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Economics Group who is based in Charlotte North Carolina The Lake Nona Medical City was launched around a new medical school at the University of Central Florida and has grown to include a half dozen medical research and treatment facilities The development has been a significant driver of urban growth in Orlando long known for its theme parks A new commuter rail line launched last year in the region now also home to a major league soccer franchise The non profit U S Tennis Association with 715 000 members owns the U S Open one of the sport s leading international tournaments |
WFC | Stock buyback zeal undimmed by prospects for fed rate hike | By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK Reuters The seemingly insatiable appetite of companies for their own stock is unlikely to be satisfied soon even if the U S Federal Reserve begins to hike benchmark interest rates and shares get pricier That would extend a pattern established in the last round of Fed tightening according to a Reuters analysis of historical data Many market analysts expect that higher borrowing costs won t derail the buyback boom that has been bolstering stocks Buybacks may lift earnings per share of companies in the Standard Poor s 500 index by between 1 5 and 2 percentage points this year according to estimates from Voya Investment Management in New York With earnings estimates now calling for 1 5 percent growth for all of 2015 buybacks could make the difference between positive and negative growth in S P 500 EPS Companies have ramped up stock repurchases since the practice bottomed for this cycle in 2009 Buybacks reduce the number of stocks in circulation thereby boosting prices and calculated earnings per share In 2014 while the S P 500 rose to record highs component companies spent 553 billion on share repurchases according to S P Dow Jones Indices data a 16 3 percent increase from the previous year and four times as much as they did in 2009 The buyback spree has accelerated this year Pending and completed buybacks at all U S based traded companies in the first quarter rose to 179 7 billion compared with 124 2 billion in the first quarter of 2014 up almost 45 percent Thomson Reuters data show Corporate management wants to do this trade said Paul Zemsky chief investment officer Multi Asset Strategies and Solutions at Voya Investment Management It s being rewarded by the market and it s cheap to do The S P 500 buyback index which includes the top 100 stocks with the highest buyback ratios in the benchmark has outperformed the S P 500 SPX for seven years in a row With low expectations for first quarter earnings just starting to come in now buybacks are an effective and inexpensive way for companies to bolster their numbers Zemsky said As the Fed begins to raise short term rates something now not expected until September companies that borrow money to buy their own shares will likely have to pay more Still even several rounds of rate hikes may still leave borrowing to buy back shares a profitable strategy In aggregate S P 500 companies would earn back almost 6 percent of their investment in repurchases in the following 12 months as calculated by the earnings yield On the other hand companies in good credit standing can now borrow money for 2 9 percent on average Given those rates it may be cost efficient to issue debt to buy their own shares for some time to come Companies intensified both bond issuance and buyback activity as rates rose during the tightening cycle that started in 2004 Back then as the effective federal funds rate rose from about 1 percent in the first half of 2004 to an average of 3 21 percent in 2005 4 97 percent in 2006 and 5 26 percent in the first half of in 2007 S P 500 buybacks rose from 197 5 billion in 2004 to 349 2 billion in 2005 431 8 billion in 2006 and 589 1 billion in 2007 Today the fed funds effective rate stands at 0 12 percent and Fed policymakers estimate it will be about 0 625 percent at the end of 2015 down from 1 125 percent in the previous forecast A small initial increase in the cost of funding probably isn t going to matter that much to a lot of businesses especially if they are going to do it for share buybacks said Brian Jacobsen chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Funds Management in Menomonee Falls Wisconsin But it could signal to companies that they better start acting now Companies do seem to be stepping ahead of the Fed with investment grade corporate bond issuance up 87 percent in the first three months of this year to 345 6 billion compared with 185 billion in the first quarter of 2014 according to data from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association It could play out that companies could continue to make buybacks throughout a good chunk of the tightening cycle said Brian Reynolds chief market strategist at Rosenblatt Securities in New York |
LB | L Brands shares fall as company sees shrinking quarterly revenue profit | Investing com L Brands Inc NYSE LB shares slumped almost 8 during Wednesday s after hours session after the company reported a drop in second quarter earnings year over year but the company still beat expectations
The company earned 48 cents per share in the recent quarter down significantly from the 70 cents per share earned during the comparable quarter The result topped the consensus analyst forecast for earnings of 44 cents
Revenue came in at 2 86 billion down 4 5 year over year but 10 million above the consensus analyst estimate |
LB | Victoria s Secret Parent L Brands LB Q3 Earnings In Line Comps Down 3 | L Brands Inc NYSE LB just released its third quarter fiscal 2017 earnings results posting earnings of 30 cents per share and revenues of 2 6 billion Currently LB is a 3 Hold on the Zacks Rank and is down 4 4 to 47 09 per share in trading shortly after its earnings report was released
LB
Matched earnings estimates The retailer reported earnings of 30 cents per share coming in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 30 cents per share Net income was 86 million for the quarter compared to 121 6 million last year
Matched revenues estimates The company saw revenue figures of 2 6 billion just about meeting our consensus estimate of 2 61 billion and increasing 1 year over year
Total comparable store sales decreased 3 for the Q3 while Victoria s Secret comps were down 5 Bath Body Works saw comps rise 1 L Brands said that the exit of its swim and apparel categories had a negative impact to both its total and VS s comparable sales
Looking ahead the retailer expects Q4 earnings in the range of 1 95 to 2 10 per share For full year 2017 it expects earnings to be between 3 05 to 3 20 per share
Here s a graph that looks at L Brands price consensus and EPS surprise L Brands Inc Price Consensus and EPS Surprise L Brands operates as a retailer of women s intimate and other apparel beauty and personal care products and accessories primarily in the United States Its brand includes Victoria s Secret Victoria s Secret Pink Bath Body Works La Senza and Henri Bendel The company sells its product through franchise license wholesale partners websites catalogue and other channels L Brands Inc formerly known as Limited Brands Inc is headquartered in Columbus Ohio
The Hottest Tech Mega Trend of AllLast year it generated 8 billion in global revenues By 2020 it s predicted to blast through the roof to 47 billion Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce the world s first trillionaires but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early |
LB | L Brands LB Q3 Earnings Meet Sales Beat Stock Down 4 | L Brands Inc NYSE LB reported mixed financial numbers in third quarter fiscal 2017 wherein earnings of 30 cents per share came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate after beating the same in the trailing eight quarters However revenues surpassed the consensus mark for the first time in five quarters Nevertheless the company s bottom line declined 29 year over year which was not well perceived by investors as the stock declined 4 3 in after hours trading on Nov 15 However in the last 30 days the stock has witnessed a sharp rally of 18 7 outperforming the s 5 9 increase as it finally broke its declining streak of comparable sales in October The company s comps increased 2 in October following a decline of 2 4 7 9 7 5 10 13 and 4 in September August July June May April March February and January respectively This specialty retailer of women s intimate and other apparels reported net sales of 2 617 8 million up 1 from the prior year quarter The figure was also above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 607 million However L Brands comparable sales including direct sales were down 1 during the quarter Further store only comps also decreased 3 year over year During the quarter the exit of the swim and apparel categories had an adverse impact of 2 each to total company comps and Victoria s Secret comps Sales at Victoria s Secret Stores declined 3 3 to 1 243 million while Victoria s Secret Direct sales slipped 0 8 to 295 3 million Total Victoria s Secret sales decreased 3 to 1 538 9 million while comparable sales fell 4 Decrease in total Victoria s Secret sales can primarily be attributable to low single digits fall in lingerie bra sales in comparison to the prior year quarter s figure However PINK registered sales growth in mid single digits whereas Beauty witnessed a low single digit rise In an effort to streamline Victoria s Secret business the company made some strategic changes in 2016 L Brands had earlier stated that these strategic efforts will continue in 2017 which might put pressure on the company s full year results However it is confident of achieving a long term improvement and envisions an increase of 10 in annual operating income Bath Body Works total sales rose 6 to 815 8 million with a 4 climb in comparable sales Strong performances by the company s home fragrance assortment drove the segment sales Victoria s Secret and Bath Body Works International s sales were up 11 to 114 9 million Other revenues jumped 20 to 148 2 million Gross profit dipped 4 to 988 4 million while gross margin contracted 190 basis points bps to 37 8 primarily due to buying and occupancy expenditure deleverage during the quarter and also due to fall in merchandise margin rate Adjusted operating income dropped 18 to 231 7 million while the operating margin reduced 220 bps to 8 8 L Brands Inc Price Consensus and EPS Surprise Store UpdateDuring the quarter L Brands opened three Victoria s Secret stores and shuttered eight outlets consequently taking the total count to 1 178 stores In the period 25 Bath Body Works stores were unveiled and 14 were closed which took the total count to 1 704 stores The company had 16 Victoria s Secret U K and 29 Henri Bendel stores at the end of the reported quarter As of Oct 28 2017 L Brands operated 3 087 stores Total franchised stores as of Oct 28 2017 were 803 comprising 244 Victoria s Secret Beauty Accessories 30 Victoria s Secret five Pink 154 Bath Body Works and 194 La Senza stores Other Financial DetailsThe company exited the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of 734 9 million up from the prior year quarter s tally of 654 million The long term debt increased marginally to 5 704 7 million from 5 701 million a year ago Also shareholders deficit is pegged at 1 119 1 million During the third quarter management incurred capital expenditures of 227 8 million The company now projects the same to be roughly 750 million for fiscal 2017 compared with the prior estimate of 800 million The company continues to anticipate generating free cash flow of 650 700 million during the fiscal year In the quarter under review the company repurchased 3 8 million shares for 149 2 million At the quarter end it had 211 4 million remaining under the current share buyback program of 250 million GuidanceManagement now projects earnings in the band of 3 05 3 20 per share for fiscal 2017 compared with the previous guidance of 3 00 3 20 This expectation however sharply falls below the fiscal 2016 earnings of 3 74 and fiscal 2015 earnings of 3 99 Additionally the company expects fiscal fourth quarter earnings in the range of 1 95 2 10 compared with the prior year quarter earnings of 2 03 Analysts polled by Zacks anticipate earnings per share of 2 03 and 3 12 for fourth quarter and fiscal 2017 respectively The Zacks Rank 3 Hold company anticipates fourth quarter comparable sales excluding Victoria s Secret swim and apparel in the range of flat to up low single digit For fiscal 2017 the company envisions comparable sales to be flat and anticipates total sales growth of about 3 4 points higher than comps on account of square footage growth and a 53rd week Gross margin is anticipated to deteriorate year over year during the fourth quarter and fiscal 2017 as well Interested in the Retail Space Check TheseSome better ranked stocks worth considering from the retail space are American Eagle Outfitters Inc NYSE AEO Boot Barn Holdings Inc NYSE BOOT and Shoe Carnival LON CCL Inc NASDAQ SCVL each carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see American Eagle Outfitters delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 3 9 in the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 8 7 Boot Barn Holdings has an impressive long term earnings growth rate of 15 7 Shoe Carnival delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 20 in the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 12 Zacks Best Private Investment IdeasWhile we are happy to share many articles like this on the website our best recommendations and most in depth research are not available to the public Starting today for the next month you can follow all Zacks private buys and sells in real time Our experts cover all kinds of trades from value to momentum from stocks under 10 to ETF and option moves from stocks that corporate insiders are buying up to companies that are about to report positive earnings surprises You can even look inside exclusive portfolios that are normally closed to new investors |
PFE | Analysts Estimate Pfizer PFE To Report A Decline In Earnings What To Look Out For | The market expects Pfizer PFE to deliver a year over year decline in earnings on lower revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended June 2019 This widely known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company s earnings picture but a powerful factor that might influence its near term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates
The earnings report which is expected to be released on July 30 2019 might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations On the other hand if they miss the stock may move lower
While management s discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations it s worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise
Zacks Consensus Estimate
This drugmaker is expected to post quarterly earnings of 0 77 per share in its upcoming report which represents a year over year change of 4 9
Revenues are expected to be 13 42 billion down 0 3 from the year ago quarter
Estimate Revisions Trend
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period
Investors should keep in mind that an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts
Price Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings Whisper
Estimate revisions ahead of a company s earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model the Zacks Earnings ESP Expected Surprise Prediction
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier
Thus a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate However the model s predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70 of the time and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and or Zacks Rank of 4 Sell or 5 Strong Sell
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Pfizer
For Pfizer the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company s earnings prospects This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 2 91
On the other hand the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3
So this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Pfizer will beat the consensus EPS estimate
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue
Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings So it s worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number
For the last reported quarter it was expected that Pfizer would post earnings of 0 77 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 85 delivering a surprise of 10 39
Over the last four quarters the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times
Bottom Line
An earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors Similarly unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss
That said betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success This is why it s worth checking a company s Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they ve reported
Pfizer doesn t appear a compelling earnings beat candidate However investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release |
PFE | Can Pfizer s Q2 Earnings Help Boost PFE Stock In A Struggling Pharma Market | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE is set to report its Q2 earnings results on Tuesday July 30 Investors are hoping the report can boost PFE stock since it is down over 2 YTD
It is important to note the large cap pharmaceutical market has been struggling as a whole recently The Large Cap Pharma market is down roughly 1 so far this year while the S P 500 is up 18 in 2019
Overview
Headquartered in New York City Pfizer is one of the world s largest pharmaceutical companies The company is a component of the so called S P 100 and ranked No 57 on the Fortune 500 list in 2018 Pfizer produces popular over the counter drugs such as Advil and Robitussin as well as a variety of prescription drugs including Lipitor Viagra Xanax and Zoloft
Along with some of the most popular drugs on the market Pfizer boasts a major research and develop leg as do many pharma companies Pfizer had 97 drugs in its product pipeline as of April 30 according to its website Over a third of these drugs are currently in the clinical trial phase or being registered approved by the FDA
PFE is trading with a P E of 14 72 at the moment This is just above the industry average of 14 42 but Pfizer has historically traded below its peers Although the stock is down YTD it has gained 7 over the past 3 months In that same time period its forward earnings estimates have not increased at the same rate which has caused its P E to increase substantially Because of this PFE could potentially be overvalued at its current price of 42 89
Pfizer also pays a dividend and it has increased its payout by 0 08 annually every year since first announcing its dividend in 2009 PFE s annual dividend is currently 1 44 a share with a strong 3 4 yield at the moment
Q2 Outlook Earnings Trends
In Q2 Pfizer is expected to earn 13 42 billion in revenue according to our Zacks Consensus Estimates That number falls 0 31 below the year ago period s revenue of 13 47 billion Revenue shrinkage is not expected to end after this quarter either with Q3 revenues projected to sink 4 26 And overall fiscal 2019 sales are expected to fall 1 47
Looking back Q1 revenue did pop 2 year over year primarily driven by growth in key brands and emerging markets Foreign exchange rates had a significant negative effect on Pfizer s Q1 financials and this problem may persist in Q2
Meanwhile Pfizer s adjusted EPS figure is also expected to decline Current estimates call for EPS of 0 77 in Q2 a 4 94 fall from the same period last year This expected quarterly decline is part of the reason Pfizer s yearly EPS is predicted to fall 4 from last year
Bottom Line
Pfizer s growth prospects are not that strong right now With that said the company provides income through its solid dividend and PFE stock had tracked the larger market for the better part of a decade until its recent downturn In the end Pfizer is a relatively safe investment given its historical performance and should not be going anywhere anytime soon
If the firm can post better than expected Q2 earnings it may help it to bounce back from its YTD slump Additionally any positive updates regarding the progress of its drugs in development could lift PFE stock
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PFE | Pfizer launches pivotal study of alopecia areata candidate | Pfizer NYSE PFE initiates a Phase 2b 3 clinical trial evaluating Breakthrough Therapy tagged PF 06651600 an oral JAK3 inhibitor in patients with alopecia areata an autoimmune disorder characterized by hair loss on the scalp face or body The primary endpoint of the 660 subject double blind placebo controlled study is the proportion of patients achieving a score of 10 or less on a scale called Severity of Alopecia Tool SALT at week 24 compared to control The estimated completion date is June 2021 Related tickers NASDAQ ACRS NASDAQ CNCE Now read |
PFE | Pfizer Rises 3 | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE rose by 3 01 to trade at 43 30 by 13 05 18 05 GMT on Friday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Pfizer shares traded since the start of the session was 11 92M Pfizer has traded in a range of 42 26 to 43 33 on the day
The stock has traded at 43 7300 at its highest and 40 4200 at its lowest during the past seven days |
PFE | GSK chief Walmsley not finished with business shakeup | In an interview with CNBC s Jim Cramer GlaxoSmithKline GSK 0 7 CEO Emma Walmsley says there are tremendous opportunities to improve operating performance adding that the company will get radical about reshaping its portfolio She is already making significant waves considering last month s Tesaro buy and its joint venture with Pfizer PFE 1 3 that will split up GSK s two major businesses Now read |
WFC | Exclusive San Bernardino has defaulted on 10 million in bond payments | By Tim Reid LOS ANGELES Reuters The southern California city of San Bernardino has defaulted on nearly 10 million in payments on its privately placed pension bond debt since it declared bankruptcy in 2012 according to documents seen by Reuters In addition the city has not negotiated with its bondholders since September according to a person familiar with the stalled negotiations The missed payments illustrate the trend among cities in bankruptcy to favor payments to pension funds over bondholder obligations which has increased the hostility between creditors and municipalities San Bernardino declared last year that it intends under its bankruptcy exit plan to fully pay Calpers its biggest creditor and America s largest public pension fund with assets of 300 billion The city continues to pay its monthly dues to Calpers in full but has paid nothing to its bondholders for nearly three years according to the interest payment schedule on roughly 50 million of pension obligation bonds issued by San Bernardino in 2005 The non payment of the bond debt and the city s lack of interest in talks with its pension bondholders just weeks before it must produce a bankruptcy exit plan should serve as a wake up call to Wall Street issuers of debt to struggling cities according to Michael Sweet a bankruptcy attorney with Fox Rothschild in San Francisco In January San Bernardino s city attorney Gary Saenz told Reuters the city intended to cut its bondholder debt under its bankruptcy plan San Bernardino s bankruptcy is being closely watched by the 3 6 trillion U S municipal bond market In the recent municipal bankruptcies of Detroit the biggest ever U S municipal bankruptcy and Stockton California bondholders were forced to accept big cuts to their debt while pensioners emerged relatively unscathed Bondholders should be realizing that in Chapter 9 cases those who will invariably get better treatment by the cities are former and current employers who are part of the community and not the faceless bankers holding commercial paper Sweet said But Sweet said San Bernardino s treatment of its bondholders could come back to haunt it Down the road the city may find that the capital market is unavailable to it or that it will be penalized at a very high rate when it seeks to borrow he said San Bernardino a city of 205 000 located 65 miles east of Los Angeles declared bankruptcy in July 2012 with a 45 million deficit Bondholders and public employees want to understand how distressed cities handle their debts to Wall Street compared with other creditors such as pension funds San Bernardino s roughly 50 million pension bond debt was used in 2005 to pay off a portion of the city s obligation to Calpers In an unprecedented legal argument for a Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy EEPK the Luxembourg based bank and holder of the pension bonds and Ambac Assurance Corp which insures a portion of the bonds assert in a January lawsuit against San Bernardino that those bonds are part of a single pension obligation so that any payment to Calpers by San Bernardino requires equivalent payment to the bondholders Next week EEPK attorneys will ask the judge overseeing the bankruptcy to set a schedule to adjudicate the lawsuit Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Bank the flagship bank of Wells Fargo Co is the bond trustee but is not a party to the lawsuit On Friday the city filed court papers to dismiss EEPK and Ambac s lawsuit The city said the bondholder argument transcends novelty Rosanna Westmoreland a Calpers spokeswoman said EEPK s argument was wrong
San Bernardino s city attorney was not immediately available for comment |
WFC | U S jobless claims up slightly weather hurts factory activity | By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON Reuters The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose marginally last week indicating the labor market remained on solid footing despite slowing economic growth Other data on Thursday showed manufacturing activity in the mid Atlantic region slowed for a fourth straight month in March hitting its lowest level in more than a year while a gauge of future economic activity rose slightly in February Growth has slowed in the first quarter undercut by a harsh winter a strong dollar weaker overseas economies and a now settled labor dispute at West Coast ports These are mostly temporary factors that should fade by the second quarter The Federal Reserve on Wednesday acknowledged the moderation in growth but maintained its upbeat view of the jobs market as it signaled it was nearing an interest rate increase by dropping the reference to being patient from the central bank s so called forward rate guidance First quarter growth will be lackluster due to the weather effects and other transitory issues We do expect overall economic activity to rebound in the coming months and quarters said Sam Bullard a senior economist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Securities in Charlotte North Carolina Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 1 000 to a seasonally adjusted 291 000 for the week ended March 14 the Labor Department said The increase was broadly in line with economists expectations Claims have bounced around for much of the winter as harsh weather caused a swing in filings But through the volatility the trend remained consistent with a strengthening jobs market The four week moving average of claims considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week to week volatility rose 2 250 to 304 750 last week Prices for U S Treasuries were trading lower while the dollar rose against a basket of currencies U S stocks fell as investors booked profits after Wednesday s rally MANUFACTURING SLOWING In a separate report the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said its business activity index slipped to 5 0 in March the lowest level since February of 2014 Last month s reading was 5 2 Any reading above zero indicates expansion in the region s manufacturing Manufacturers reported a slowdown in new order growth as well as declines in unfilled orders and the average workweek for employees Inventories and shipments also fell Manufacturers may be uncertain about future demand following shocks from weather and port disruptions said Derek Lindsey an analyst at BNP Paribas PARIS BNPP in New York Manufacturing also is under strain from a strong dollar which has crimped the profits of multinational companies and lower crude oil prices which have caused oil companies to either delay or cut back on capital expenditure projects But the labor market remains bullish despite the impact of weather the dollar and port disruptions The claims data covered the period during which the government surveyed employers for the March nonfarm payrolls report Claims rose modestly between the February and March survey periods leaving economists to expect another month of job growth above the 200 000 mark As things stand we would anticipate another sizeable gain in payroll employment in March which despite the weakness of current inflation is why we expect the Fed to begin raising interest rates in June said Paul Ashworth chief U S economist at Capital Economics in Toronto The economy added 295 000 jobs in February with the jobless rate falling to a more than 6 1 2 year low of 5 5 percent February marked the 12th straight month that employment gains have been above 200 000 the longest such run since 1994 The Fed on Wednesday said it would need to see further improvement in the labor market before tightening monetary policy Many economists believe the first rate hike since 2006 could come in June though financial markets are pricing in a September move The Fed has kept its short term interest rate near zero since December of 2008 In a separate report the Commerce Department said the current account gap which measures the flow of goods services and investments into and out of the country increased to 113 5 billion from 98 9 billion in the third quarter It was the largest shortfall since the second quarter of 2012 and reflected weak overseas profits and softening export growth due to the strong dollar
The fourth quarter current account deficit represented 2 6 percent of gross domestic product the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to 2 2 percent in the third quarter |
WFC | Currency hedging takes on new importance for global stock funds | By David Randall NEW YORK Reuters As the dollar surged in the last 12 months David Marcus head of the Evermore Global Value fund steadily increased his stake in Europe He now has 60 percent of his portfolio invested in companies in the euro zone the largest stake among any global fund tracked by Lipper The gains in those stocks wouldn t matter if the fund wasn t actively hedging against euro weakness which it is helping the fund rise 8 8 percent so far in 2015 putting it among the top performing global stock funds this year We re stockpickers and by hedging currencies we can be pure stockpickers without the currency risk said Marcus Concerns over currency have prompted a surge of assets to hedged equity funds with investors moving 12 1 billion to exchange traded funds that hedge currencies over the year to date according to Lipper data One such fund the WisdomTree Hedged European Equity fund is up 18 9 percent for the year so far Demand for a way to hedge currency exposure while investing in Europe helped the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund bring in 5 3 billion in new assets over the first two months of the year the most of any equity fund according to Lipper The fund s top holdings include Anheuser Busch InBev NV Telefonica MADRID TEF SA and Daimler AG XETRA DAIGn Following behind it was the Deutsche X trackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity with 2 7 billion in new assets The fund tracks an index of developed market equities outside of the United States and Canada and has its largest positions in Nestle SA Novartis AG and Roche Holding AG The dollar s rally looks to be eating into the returns of actively managed funds fund analysts say While major stock indexes in Japan Germany and France are up 11 percent or more in local currency for the year to date the average global fund is up just 2 6 percent in dollar terms over the same time according to Lipper data Investors have few ways of knowing whether a global fund hedges its currency exposure Lipper has no way of tracking it said Jeff Tjornehoj head of Lipper Americas Research a unit of Thomson Reuters Morningstar another fund tracking service does not track currency hedges either according to a spokeswoman Fund returns this year suggest most global funds do not hedge against currency risk even though most are allowed to do so The difficulty of getting such a move correct keeps managers from actively hedging When you hedge a currency you have to be right twice You have to be right about the market and right about the currency I m not sure that s something one can do on an ongoing basis said John Manley chief equity strategist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Funds The track record of the Evermore Fund shows the difficulty with timing on currencies Over the last three years the fund has posted an average annual return of 9 2 percent a year trailing 75 percent of its peers according to Morningstar data This year the Evermore Global has benefited from significant gains in companies such as Belgian construction firm CFE SA French conglomerate Bollore SA and Italian engineering firm Maire Tecnimont SpA Marcus has been pulling back from investing in U S companies that get a significant portion of their revenues in Europe
Lately he has been adding to positions in companies such as German materials company ThyssenKrupp AG best known for making elevators The cheaper euro will likely boost its exports while lower energy costs will amount to found money he said |
LB | Premarket Gainers as of 9 05 am | GLYC 24 on receiving FDA breakthrough therapy designation ATHN 17 on Elliott stake PLCE 12 on Q1 result ETRM 11 on announcing neuroblocking technology to treat obesity metabolic diseases and other gastrointestinal disordersSNDX 10 on advances study of etinostat and Keytruda P 9 INCY 8 LB 6 on Q1 result SHPG 6 on announcement of positive results from a Phase 3 clinical trial VSLR 5 announcing a collaboration with Daimler OTCPK DDAIF Now read |
LB | After Hours Gainers Losers | Top gainers as of 5 25 p m FBR 3 6 JUNO 3 2 GRUB 1 4 LB 1 4 HPE 1 4 Top losers as of 5 25p m EML 10 5 ETSY 2 4 TVIX 1 9 Now read |
LB | 52 week low for Duluth Holdings after weak profit | Duluth Holdings NASDAQ DLTH is down 17 after missing estimates with its Q1 report The company reported a narrower quarterly profit than last year despite the 22 jump in revenue A higher advertising marketing spend was partially behind the bottom line reversal for Duluth Advertising marketing costs as a percentage of sales increased 320 bps to 25 2 during the quarter Looking ahead Duluth still is in an expansion mode with plans to open 12 retail stores and one outlet store this fiscal year Shares of Duluth hit a 52 week low of 16 83 earlier today Now read |
LB | L Brands Comps Down 2 In September Dismal Run To Persist | L Brands Inc NYSE LB continues to disappoint investors with dismal comparable sales performance for the tenth straight month This specialty retailer of women s intimate and other apparel beauty and personal care products reported 2 drop in comps for the five week ended Sep 30 2017 following declines of 4 7 9 7 5 10 13 4 and 1 in August July June May April March February January and December respectively Moreover net sales for September increased 1 to 981 6 million L Brands comps declined 5 at Victoria s Secret but increased 4 at Bath Body Works The exit from the swim and apparel categories had 2 percentage points and 3 percentage points adverse impact on overall company and Victoria s Secret comparable sales respectively Further hurricanes impacted the September total sales by nearly 1 percentage point For the 35 week ended Sep 30 2017 the company s comps had declined 7 while sales decreased 4 to 7 015 billion The exit from the swim and apparel categories had 5 percentage points and 8 percentage points adverse impact on overall company and Victoria s Secret comparable sales respectively Apart from L Brands Zumiez Inc NASDAQ ZUMZ The Cato Corporation NYSE CATO and The Buckle Inc NYSE BKE came out with comparable sales results for the month of September While comparable sales for Zumiez increased 9 3 that of Cato and Buckle declined 11 and 5 7 respectively Merchandise marginsVictoria s Secret merchandise margin rate decreased in September In October the company announced it will concentrate on the sexy impressive collections and Pink wear everywhere bra Moreover in case of Bath Body Works merchandise margin rate was down in September compared with last year owing to rise in promotional The company will focus on new seasonal collections in body care home fragrance and soap and sanitizer business OutlookL Brands expects comps to decline in low single digits in October The exit from the swim and apparel categories would hurt the comps by nearly 1 The company has underperformed the industry in a year as it continues to face short term challenges due to its decision to exit the swimwear category which according to analysts have failed to generate desired results In fact the stock has plunged 40 in a year wider than the s fall of 28 3 The effect of the short term challenges can easily be seen in the company s sale performance which has declined year over year and also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the past few quarters Management anticipates comps to decline in low single digits in September The company projects comps excluding Victoria s Secret swim and apparel in the third quarter to be in the range of flat to down low single digit For fiscal 2017 the company envisions comps to be down low to mid single digits L Brands currently carries a Zacks Rank 5 Strong Sell You can see 5 Trades Could Profit Big League from Trump PoliciesIf the stocks above spark your interest wait until you look into companies primed to make substantial gains from Washington s changing course Today Zacks reveals 5 tickers that could benefit from new trends like streamlined drug approvals tariffs lower taxes higher interest rates and spending surges in defense and infrastructure |
PFE | SNY Or PFE Which Is The Better Value Stock Right Now | Investors interested in stocks from the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals sector have probably already heard of Sanofi PA SASY SNY and Pfizer PFE But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now Let s take a closer look
Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits
Right now Sanofi is sporting a Zacks Rank of 2 Buy while Pfizer has a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold Investors should feel comfortable knowing that SNY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than PFE has recently However value investors will care about much more than just this
Value investors are also interested in a number of tried and true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels
The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics including the popular P E ratio P S ratio earnings yield cash flow per share and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors
SNY currently has a forward P E ratio of 13 05 while PFE has a forward P E of 14 91 We also note that SNY has a PEG ratio of 1 89 This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate PFE currently has a PEG ratio of 2 49
Another notable valuation metric for SNY is its P B ratio of 1 52 The P B ratio pits a stock s market value against its book value which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities For comparison PFE has a P B of 4 03
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to SNY s Value grade of A and PFE s Value grade of C
SNY has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than PFE so it seems like value investors will conclude that SNY is the superior option right now |
PFE | Deciphera launches late stage study of ripretinib in second line GIST | Deciphera Pharmaceuticals NASDAQ DCPH initiates a Phase 3 clinical trial INTRIGUE evaluating DCC 2618 ripretinib compared to Pfizer s NYSE PFE SUTENT sunitinib malate for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumor GIST patients who previously received Novartis NYSE NVS GLEEVEC imatinib mesylate The primary endpoint is progression free survival PFS at month 30 The estimated primary completion date is June 2021 Topline data from another Phase 3 INVICTUS in fourth line GIST should be available in mid 2019 Now read |
PFE | Pfizer Falls 3 | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE fell by 3 10 to trade at 40 63 by 12 21 17 21 GMT on Monday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Pfizer shares traded since the start of the session was 12 08M Pfizer has traded in a range of 40 61 to 41 96 on the day
The stock has traded at 44 1200 at its highest and 40 6300 at its lowest during the past seven days |
PFE | Pfizer Rises 3 | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE rose by 3 02 to trade at 41 77 by 15 35 20 35 GMT on Wednesday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Pfizer shares traded since the start of the session was 16 54M Pfizer has traded in a range of 40 42 to 41 79 on the day
The stock has traded at 43 9700 at its highest and 40 4200 at its lowest during the past seven days |
LB | American Eagle Outfitters misses by 0 01 beats on revenue | American Eagle Outfitters NYSE AEO Q1 EPS of 0 16 misses by 0 01 Revenue of 761 84M 1 7 Y Y beats by 20 14M Shares 0 31 PM Press ReleaseNow read |
LB | Sharp drop for Bebe Stores | Shares of Bebe Stores NASDAQ BEBE are down sharply in premarket trading after investors digest the latest reads on mall traffic Bebe Stores also released its 10 Q report late yesterday which contained several references to the negative impact of slow mall traffic BEBE 20 65 premarket to 4 15 Now read |
LB | Victoria s Secret Parent L Brands Beats Earnings Stock Tanks On Weak Guidance | L Brands NYSE LB just released its second quarter fiscal 2017 earnings results posting earnings of 0 48 per share and revenue of 2 755 billion Currently L Brands has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold and it is down 7 81 to 36 46 in after hours trading shortly after its earnings report was released
L Brands
Beat earnings estimates The company posted adjusted earnings of 0 48 per share beating our Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0 45 L Brands earnings decreased 31 4 year over year
Missed revenue estimates The company saw revenue figures of 2 755 billion just missing our estimate of 2 76 billion Revenue decreased year over year by 4 7 from 2 890 billion
L Brands reported a comparable sales decrease of 8 The exit of the swim and apparel categories from Victoria s Secret stores had a negative impact on the total company s comparable sales by 6
Looking ahead L Brands has lowered its guidance from 3 10 to 3 40 to 3 00 to 3 20 for 2017 full year earnings The company expects to earn between 0 25 and 30 per share in the third quarter
Here s a graph that looks at L Brands price consensus and EPS surprise L Brands Inc Price Consensus and EPS Surprise L Brands Inc operates as a retailer of women s intimate and other apparel beauty and personal care products and accessories primarily in the United States Its brand includes Victoria s Secret Victoria s Secret Pink Bath Body Works La Senza and Henri Bendel The company sells its product through franchise license wholesale partners websites catalogue and other channels L Brands Inc formerly known as Limited Brands Inc is headquartered in Columbus Ohio
The Hottest Tech Mega Trend of All
Last year it generated 8 billion in global revenues By 2020 it s predicted to blast through the roof to 47 billion Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce the world s first trillionaries but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early |
LB | L Brands LB Q2 Earnings Top Trimmed View Hurts Stock | L Brands Inc NYSE LB came up with eighth straight quarter of positive earnings surprise as it reported second quarter fiscal 2017 results However the company s revenues lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fourth quarter in row The company posted quarterly earnings of 48 cents per share beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 45 cents and also came above the company s initial guidance of 40 45 cents on account of cost optimization as well as non operating income gains However the company s earnings declined 31 year over year Despite reporting better than expected bottom line the company s shares declined more than 5 5 in after hour trading session on Aug 16 as investors were hurt by guidance cut In fact the Columbus OH based company s shares have tanked 20 4 in the past three months wider than the s decrease of 12 9 This specialty retailer of women s intimate and other apparel reported net sales of 2 755 million down 5 from 2 889 7 million in the prior year quarter The figure was also below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 764 million L Brands comparable sales including direct sales were down 8 during the quarter Further store only comps also decreased 6 year over year During the quarter the exit of the swim and apparel categories had an adverse impact of 6 and 9 respectively to total company comps and Victoria s Secret comps Sales at Victoria s Secret Stores declined 8 to 1 351 million while Victoria s Secret Direct sales decreased 26 to 295 3 million Total Victoria s Secret sales dropped 12 to 1 646 3 million while comparable sales declined 14 Decrease in total Victoria s Secret sales can be attributable to high single digits fall in lingerie sales in comparison with the prior year quarter However PINK registered sales growth in mid single digits Meanwhile excluding the impact of the exit of the swim and apparel categories Victoria s Secret comps declined 5 In an effort to streamline Victoria s Secret business the company made some strategic changes in 2016 L Brands stated that the strategic efforts will persist in 2017 which is likely to put pressure on the results However it is confident of achieving growth in the long run and envisions annual operating income increase of 10 Bath Body Works total sales rose 7 to 860 3 million with 6 rise in comparable sales Strong performances of the company s home fragrance assortment drove the segment sales Victoria s Secret and Bath Body Works International s sales were up 14 to 113 9 million Other revenues increased 11 to 134 5 million Adjusted gross profit dropped 8 to 1 027 9 million while gross margin contracted 120 basis points bps to 37 3 primarily due to buying and occupancy expenditure deleverage during the quarter Adjusted operating income decreased 26 to 300 9 million while the operating margin fell 320 bps to 10 9 Decline in operating income was chiefly due to Victoria s Secret L Brands Inc Price Consensus and EPS Surprise Store UpdateDuring the quarter L Brands opened six Victoria s Secret stores in total and shuttered nine outlets consequently taking the total count to 1 174 stores During the period 17 Bath Body Works stores were opened and 12 were closed which took the total count to 1 698 stores The company had 16 Victoria s Secret U K and 29 Henri Bendel stores at the end of quarter As of Jul 29 2017 L Brands operated 3 077 stores Total franchised stores as of Jul 29 2017 were 794 that comprised 236 Victoria s Secret Beauty Accessories 27 Victoria s Secret five Pink 155 Bath Body Works and 198 La Senza stores Other Financial DetailsThe company the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of 1 360 3 million up from the prior year quarter s figure of 1 272 7 million The long term debt decreased to 5 703 6 million from 5 705 8 million in the year ago period Moreover shareholders deficit is pegged at 912 3 million During the second quarter management incurred capital expenditures of 207 million and now projects the same to be roughly 800 million for fiscal 2017 The company now anticipates generating free cash flow of 650 700 million during the fiscal year down from the prior estimate of 750 850 million In reported quarter the company repurchased 1 million shares for 49 2 million At the end of quarter it had 120 8 million remaining under the current share buyback program of 250 million GuidanceThe company trimmed fiscal 2017 guidance Management now projects earnings in the band of 3 00 3 20 per share for fiscal 2017 down from the previous guidance of 3 10 3 40 and also below the fiscal 2016 earnings of 3 74 and fiscal 2015 earnings of 3 99 Moreover the company expects the fiscal third quarter earnings in the range of 25 30 cents compared with prior year quarter earnings of 42 cents Analysts polled by Zacks anticipate earnings per share of 37 cents and 3 24 for third quarter and fiscal 2017 respectively L Brands now anticipates comparable sales excluding Victoria s Secret swim and apparel in the third quarter to be in the range of flat to down low single digit For fiscal 2017 the company envisions comparable sales to be down low to mid single digits and anticipates total sales growth to be about 3 points higher than comps on account of square footage growth and also due to a 53rd week Gross margin is anticipated to deteriorate year over year during the third quarter as well as fiscal 2017 Zacks RankCurrently L Brands carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Better ranked stocks in the retail sector include The Children s Place Inc NASDAQ PLCE Burlington Stores Inc NYSE BURL and Dollar General Corporation NYSE DG All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Children s Place delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 16 3 in the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 9 Burlington Stores delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 22 6 in the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 15 9 Dollar General delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 1 4 in the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 10 6 One Simple Trading IdeaSince 1988 the Zacks system has more than doubled the S P 500 with an average gain of 25 per year With compounding rebalancing and exclusive of fees it can turn thousands into millions of dollars This proven stock picking system is grounded on a single big idea that can be fortune shaping and life changing You can apply it to your portfolio starting today |
PFE | AFT Pharmaceuticals A Licensing Deal For Pascomer | AFT Pharmaceuticals ASX AFP has reported a North American licensing deal for Pascomer a topical formulation of rapamycin being developed for facial angiofibromas in tuberous sclerosis complex TSC to private US based Timber Pharmaceuticals Timber will fund clinical development and provide AFT with over US 10m in upfront development and regulatory milestones as well as over US 10m in sales milestone payments and royalties An Investigational New Drug Application has been approved by the FDA The first of two 120 patient clinical studies is expected to start shortly with results in 2020
An attractive orphan market
According to the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke TSC affects between 25 000 and 40 000 Americans and one to two million people worldwide Angiofibromas which can be highly disfiguring affect around 80 of patients with TSC Current therapies are typically surgical such as chemical peeling excision and laser surgery
Evidence of rapamycin efficacy
Oral rapamycin was first approved in 1999 for immunosuppressant use Initial evidence of its potential efficacy in angiofibromas occurred in a patient who initiated oral rapamycin because of renal transplantation and her facial angiofibromas improve markedly A review of recent studies indicates that compounded topical formulations of rapamycin have improved lesions in 94 of subjects although there is no topical formulation available commercially
A low risk development plan for AFT
The licensing agreement with Timber allows AFT to retain some of the upside potential of Pascomer but without having to yield near to medium term profitability to fund its development Timber will have full responsibility for R D investment while AFT will collect high margin royalties if Pascomer is successfully developed
Valuation NZ 495m or NZ 5 09 per share
We are maintaining our valuation of NZ 495m or NZ 5 09 per share To be conservative we are not including Pascomer development in our estimates due to its early stage but we will revisit this as the programme progresses Also the company reiterated its operating profit target is between NZ 9m and NZ 12m for FY20
Business description
AFT Pharmaceuticals is a specialty pharmaceutical company that operates primarily in Australasia but has product distribution agreements across the globe The company s product portfolio includes prescription and over the counter drugs to treat a range of conditions and a proprietary nebuliser
Pascomer for facial angiofibromas in TSC
AFT has announced it has licensed Pascomer which is being developed for facial angiofibromas in TSC patients to Timber Pharmaceuticals for over US 10m in upfront development and regulatory milestones as well as over US 10m in sales milestone payments and royalties
TSC is a multisystem autosomal dominant genetic disorder resulting from a mutation in one of two tumour suppressor genes TSC1 encoding hamartin or TSC2 tuberin TSC is characterised by benign tumours known as hamartomas in various organs most commonly the skin brain kidneys heart and lungs A hamartoma is composed of an overgrowth of mature cells and tissues which normally occurs in the affected tissue TSC affects both sexes and all ethnic groups affecting as many as 25 000 40 000 individuals in the US and one to two million individuals worldwide with an estimated prevalence of one in 6 000 newborns according to the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Angiofibromas which can be highly disfiguring affect around 80 of patients with TSC
Pascomer is a topical version of rapamycin marketed as Rapamune by Pfizer NYSE PFE an immunosuppressant used for prophylaxis of organ rejection in patients receiving kidney transplants It is also approved for the treatment of lymphangioleiomyomatosis a progressive disease often associated with TSC that results in lung destruction Rapamycin is an inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin mTOR which has many functions in protein synthesis and cell growth and is aberrantly activated in patients with TSC making it a logical target for development in the treatment of this disease
Initial evidence of rapamycin s potential efficacy in angiofibromas occurred in a patient who initiated oral rapamycin because of renal transplantation and her facial angiofibromas improve markedly 1 As rapamycin is a potent immunosuppressive systemic exposure for the sake of improving facial angiofibromas is not ideal and there have been several small studies of topical rapamycin in this indication
According to one review 94 of the 84 patients treated with a topical rapamycin in various studies showed improvement in their lesions 2 In the one randomised double blind placebo controlled study with 23 subjects in the review 73 of the subjects who received treatment reported a subjective improvement in their angiofibromas compared to 38 in placebo although the p value was not significant p 0 18 likely because of the size of the study 3 Importantly although a variety of different topical formulations were used rapamycin was detected in only three patients out of the 74 tested for serum rapamycin levels indicating a lack of systemic exposure However one of the issues with the various topical formulations used in these studies is that stability is limited AFT believes it has developed a formulation using a proprietary dermal delivery technology that would be stable and hence commercially viable
For intellectual property there are no unexpired patents related to Rapamune in the FDA Orange Book so AFT appears to be free to operate We do not know the extent of the patent estate for Pascomer but at the very least it will be eligible for orphan drug exclusivity which is seven years in the United States and 10 years worth of data exclusivity in the EU although we would expect patent coverage to go well beyond that due to the proprietary nature of the formulation
As part of the agreement Timber will cover the clinical trial costs associated with clinical development An Investigational New Drug Application has already been approved by the FDA with the first of two 120 patient clinical studies expected to start shortly in eight centres in the US the Mayo Clinic Australia New Zealand Spain and the UK Results are expected in 2020
Valuation
We are maintaining our valuation of NZ 495m or NZ 5 09 per share as Pascomer development is too early stage to include in our estimates We will revisit this as the programme progresses
Financials
We are maintaining our financial estimates as the precise size of the upfront payment is undisclosed Also the company has reiterated its operating profit target of between NZ 9m and NZ 12m for FY20 |
PFE | Sangamo Up As Gene Therapy Shows Promise In Hemophilia Study Revised | Shares of Sangamo Therapeutics Inc NASDAQ SGMO increased 1 1 following the presentation of promising new data from phase I II Alta study evaluating its gene therapy SB 525 in patients with severe hemophilia A Sangamo is developing the gene therapy candidate in collaboration with Pfizer NYSE PFE The data were presented at the Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis ISTH in Australia Sangamo s shares have gained 0 3 so far this year compared with the s increase of 3 8 The phase I II study is evaluating four doses of SB 525 9e11 vg kg 2e12 vg kg 1e13 vg kg and 3e13 vg kg Updated data from the study showed that two patients treated with the highest dosage 3e13 vg kg achieved normal factor VIII levels with no bleeding event which continued for 19 and 24 weeks Moreover two new patients enrolled in the highest dosage cohort also demonstrated similar factor VIII activity kinetics consistent with the first two patients at week four and six The company will soon initiate dosing of the fifth patient in the highest dosage cohort The fact that the highest dose of SB 525 achieved normal factor VIII levels within five to seven weeks probably encouraged investors However the sustainability of this level remains to be seen Data available so far showed that normal levels of factor VIII were sustained for 24 weeks in the highest dose cohort Moreover one patient receiving 1e13 vg kg of SB 525 has shown durable factor VIII level for 52 weeks Please note that there are several other pharma biotech companies developing gene therapies for treating hemophilia A The most advanced gene therapy for hemophilia A treatment in clinical studies is BioMarin s valoctocogene roxaparvovec BMN 270 Late stage studies are evaluating 6e13 vg kg and 4e13 vg kg doses of the candidate BioMarin s candidate has also achieved durable factor VIII levels in patients BioMarin will file regulatory applications seeking approval of valoctocogene roxaparvovec for severe hemophilia A in both the United States and EU in the fourth quarter of 2019 Other companies developing gene therapy candidates for treating hemophilia A include Spark Therapeutics NASDAQ ONCE and uniQure NASDAQ QURE Although Sangamo is a long way from commercialization of SB 525 the candidate has demonstrated better improvement in factor VIII levels compared to BioMarin s gene therapy candidate The promising data from the early stage study on SB 525 resulted in a decline in shares of BioMarin and Spark on Jul 8 Please note that Sangamo s SB 525 enjoys regenerative medicine advanced therapy RMAT designation for hemophilia A The RMAT designation includes all benefits of fast track and breakthrough therapy designation programs Sangamo Therapeutics Inc Price
Zacks RankSangamo currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see We are reissuing this article to correct a mistake The original article issued on July 9 2019 should no longer be relied upon |
PFE | Pfizer Falls 3 | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE fell by 3 10 to trade at 43 74 by 11 25 16 25 GMT on Thursday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Pfizer shares traded since the start of the session was 8 95M Pfizer has traded in a range of 43 69 to 44 73 on the day
The stock has traded at 46 4500 at its highest and 42 9700 at its lowest during the past seven days |
WFC | Wells Fargo profit rises 1 7 percent as mortgage business steadies | By Peter Rudegeair
Reuters Wells Fargo Co N WFC said third quarter profit rose 1 7 percent after the biggest U S mortgage lender s home loan business eked out its first income increase since the end of 2012
The bank made more money from selling home loans to investors during the quarter allowing it to post a 2 percent increase in mortgage banking income even as it made 40 percent fewer home loans compared to the same period last year
The U S mortgage market is showing some signs of stabilizing after plunging for about a year Higher home loan rates in the middle of last year cut into consumer demand to refinance mortgages hurting results at most major U S banks but rates are now in more of a holding pattern
The results underscore how critical mortgage income still is to Wells Fargo Although the bank often talks about its 89 other businesses its fortunes in any quarter often depend largely on the home loan market
Fourth quarter mortgage volumes are set to be lower than the 48 billion Wells Fargo made in the third quarter of 2014 Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry said on a conference call with analysts That means they will also be lower than the 50 billion it made in the fourth quarter of 2013
I believe there are several factors holding the housing market back from a complete recovery Chief Executive John Stumpf said on a conference call with analysts He cited high levels of student debt the lack of housing inventory in populous coastal markets and the legal difficulties in lending to higher risk borrowers
Beyond mortgage the bank did get some help in the quarter from other businesses including private equity and venture capital investments where the bank recorded 712 million of income before taxes up from 502 million in the same quarter last year The San Francisco bank s venture capital investments in technology performed well in the quarter Shrewsberry said in an interview
The bank reported mixed progress on three major growth initiatives credit cards wealth management and investment banking Credit card balances rose 11 percent to 28 3 billion from the third quarter of 2013 but the pace of new account growth slowed
Profits at Wells Fargo s wealth brokerage and retirement segment rose 22 percent from a year earlier to 550 million but investment banking fees fell 7 percent to 371 million over the same period
Overall the fourth largest U S bank s net income for common shareholders was 5 41 billion or 1 02 per share in the quarter in line with analysts expectations A year ago it posted profit of 5 32 billion or 99 cents per share
Wells Fargo s loan portfolio grew by 3 7 percent to 838 9 billion in the quarter from the same period a year earlier led by a 13 percent increase in commercial and industrial loans Excluding balances the bank is liquidating loans grew 7 percent from a year earlier
Since the start of the year Wells Fargo stock is up 10 6 percent making it the best performer in the KBW index of bank stocks BKX
Reporting by Peter Rudegeair in New York and Tanya Agrawal in Bangalore Editing by Ted Kerr Jeffrey Benkoe and Meredith Mazzilli |
WFC | Exclusive Wells Fargo to shut its dark pool as demand falls | By John McCrank NEW YORK Reuters Wells Fargo N WFC is closing down its alternative trading system or dark pool due to decreased customer demand the company said on Thursday The San Francisco based bank will still offer its clients a full suite of electronic trading tools to help them execute orders but will stop offering access to the company s dark pool on Friday a spokeswoman from the bank told Reuters Our products are customized to fit client trading objectives and the products we offer are aligned with client demand Effective October 17 our product suite no longer includes the Wells Fargo Liquidity Crosser the bank said in a statement Dark pools are electronic broker run electronic trading venues and every big bank has one They allow investors to trade shares anonymously and only make trading data available after a trade happens reducing the chance that others in the market will catch wind of the buyer s or seller s intentions and move the price against them The move by Wells Fargo comes as regulatory scrutiny over dark pools has intensified over concerns about the lack of transparency in the trading venues Several regulators have ongoing probes into dark pool operators and New York s attorney general has launched a lawsuit accusing Barclays PLC of securities fraud for activities related to its dark pool Wells Fargo said the closure of its dark pool was not due to increased regulatory scrutiny but rather a lack of demand Wells Fargo s dark pool ranks 32nd out of 41 alternative trading systems tracked by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in terms of volume For the week of Sept 22 the Wells pool traded just under 7 million shares By comparison Credit Suisse s dark pool at the top of the list traded just under 350 million shares With over 40 dark pools competing for much of the same order flow along with 11 U S stock exchanges critics say the venues add to the fragmentation of the market which increases complexity and costs for market participants
Wells Fargo said it would still be routing orders to other dark pools for any customer that wishes it to do so Reporting by John McCrank Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman |
WFC | Wells Fargo lands JP Morgan broker team managing nearly 1 billion | NEW YORK Reuters Wells Fargo Advisors Wells Fargo Co s brokerage unit landed a three person team from JP Morgan Private Bank where they managed 972 million in client assets and deposits
Mike Reed Zach Gates and Eli Strait known as the Reed Gates Strait Wealth Management Group joined Wells Fargo in November The three operate an office serving high net worth clients in Lexington Kentucky
A spokesman for JP Morgan declined to comment and Reed Gates and Strait were not immediately available for comment
Wells Fargo Advisors is the second largest securities brokerage in the United States by sales force employing 15 163 advisers according to a statement from the firm Only Morgan Stanley employs more brokers reportedly having 16 162 advisers as of Sept 30
Wells Fargo s overall head count has remained stable this year with a net increase of 17 advisers since March 31
Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts editing by Andrew Hay |
LB | L Brands sees record Victoria s Secret sales fall shares slide | By Richa Naidu and Gayathree Ganesan Reuters Shares of L Brands Inc N LB tumbled to a three year low on Thursday a day after the retailer said it expected sluggish demand for Victoria s Secret lingerie to force its biggest brand s steepest ever monthly decline in comparable sales Victoria s Secret the long time lingerie market leader has been struggling to boost sales amid changing trends such as the emergence of bralettes which are cheaper and easier to size and buy online than regular bras L Brands which recently exited some product categories including Victoria s Secret s swim and apparel business said on Wednesday it expected February comparable sales at its biggest brand to fall by about 20 percent Comparable sales fell 10 percent in January Victoria s Secret last reported a double digit decline in comparable sales during the 2007 09 financial crisis but even then the decline did not surpass 15 percent L Brands whose shares slumped as much as 17 5 percent on Thursday attributed about half of its overall net sales last year to Victoria s Secret There s no question that bralettes have changed the intimates selling experience removing barriers to entry that Victoria s Secret has held and allowing other brands to start chipping away at share Instinet analyst Simeon Siegel told Reuters On top of that even though Victoria s Secret is selling bralettes they re selling a nice amount of units their problem is bralettes are lower priced than regular bras Siegel added American Eagle Outfitters Inc s N AEO down to earth and cheaper Aerie was one of the first lingerie brands to hop onto the bralette bandwagon Aerie one of several brands that is stealing millennial attention from Victoria s Secret has also gained traction through marketing campaigns targeted at the every woman with ads featuring models of all shapes and sizes who often aren t air brushed This contrasts starkly with high fashion picture perfect Victoria s Secret Angels Victoria s Secret is still a little fake and plastic I think they have an image problem and if you look at the competition out there and you look at the messaging what resonates right now is not the Victoria s Secret message said Gabriella Santaniello analyst and founder at A Line Partners They are sending mixed messages to the consumer and that conveys a lack of authenticity and I think the customer knows that and obviously they re speaking with their wallets
Victoria s Secret which has been promoted by a string of celebrity models such as Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima isn t the only struggling high end lingerie chain Troubled upmarket lingerie chain Agent Provocateur has also been hit by the luxury spending slowdown |
LB | Sales fall at L Brands in March | L Brands NYSE LB reports sales fell 7 to 951 4M in March Comparable sales for the five weeks ended April 1 decreased 10 The company says sales were negatively impacted by the later Easter this year by approximately 2 to 3 points and by the exit from the swim and apparel categories by about seven percentage points Comparable sales by brand Victoria s Secret 13 Bath Body Works 0 L Brands 10 L Brands ended the quarter with 3 078 stores 4 Q Q Source Press Release |
PFE | Glaxo s Dovato Wins EU Nod RA Candidate Enters Phase III | GlaxoSmithKline plc s NYSE GSK HIV subsidiary ViiV Healthcare announced that the European Commission has granted a marketing authorization to Dovato its once daily single tablet two drug HIV regimen The approval in the EU is for the treatment of HIV 1 infection in adults adolescent patients aged above 12 years and weighing minimum 40 kg with no known resistance to integrase inhibitors or lamivudine ViiV Healthcare is majorly owned by Glaxo and Pfizer NYSE PFE Dovato is a fixed dose combination of Tivicay dolutegravir 50 mg and lamivudine 300 mg and was approved by the FDA in this April The EU approval was based on data from the GEMINI 1 2 studies which evaluated more than 1 400 patients with HIV 1 infection Data from the studies showed that after 48 weeks treatment with the two drug regimen of Dovato demonstrated non inferior efficacy as compared to a three drug regimen for treatment na ve HIV 1 patients This means a two drug HIV regimen can control the intensity of HIV in treatment na ve patients as effectively as a three drug regimen thereby exposing the newly diagnosed patients to fewer drugs at the start of their treatment for the first time Following this nod patients can begin treatment with Dovato as the first once daily two drug regimen knowing that efficacy is non inferior to the standard three drug regimen for the given patient population Shares of Glaxo have rallied 8 1 so far this year outperforming the rise of 3 7 HIV is a key therapeutic area for Glaxo with successful dolutegravir based regimens namely Tivicay Triumeq and Juluca in its portfolio HIV sales totaled 1 1 billion in the first quarter of 2019 The metric increased 4 at CER on the back of 7 growth in dolutegravir franchise Triumeq and Tivicay and Juluca which partly offset lower sales of the established HIV products In a separate press release Glaxo announced that it has started the phase III program on its anti GM CSF antibody otilimab for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis RA who do not respond to disease modifying antirheumatic drugs DMARD or any such targeted therapies The phase III ContRAst study will also include head to head comparison of otilimab with Pfizer s Xeljanz tofacitinib and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals NASDAQ REGN Sanofi PA SASY s NASDAQ SNY Kevzara sarilumab across all pivotal studies The primary endpoint of these analyses will assess the proportion of patients achieving the American College of Rheumatology criteria ACR20 at 12 week treatment compared with placebo The study will be conducted across a broad range of difficult to treat patients The initiation of the phase III program was based on encouraging data from the phase II BAROQUE study which showed striking clinical improvements in patients treated with otilimab Zacks RankGlaxo currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see Today s Best Stocks from ZacksWould you like to see the updated picks from our best market beating strategies From 2017 through 2018 while the S P 500 gained 15 8 five of our screens returned 38 0 61 3 61 6 68 1 and 98 3 This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon From 2000 2018 while the S P averaged 4 8 per year our top strategies averaged up to 56 2 per year |
PFE | A Recession Proof Industry You Probably Haven t Heard Of | Recession proof industries are unique
They sell stuff that people buy no matter what s happening in the economy things like electricity internet access toilet paper and now pet care
That s right America is pet obsessed
Pet ownership is up Spending on pets is up In fact we actually spend more on our pets during a recession
We ll dig into the details in a moment and look at three companies in a niche of this recession proof industry that can bolster your portfolio
Most of Us Own Pets
Around 85 million US families own a pet according to the National Pet Owners Survey That s 68 of US households
This figure has increased around 2 annually since 2011 But spending on those pets has increased almost 7 annually
Meanwhile spending on veterinary care is growing especially fast From 1991 to 2015 it shot from 4 9 billion to 35 billion For perspective that s three times faster than US GDP grew over the same period
And there s more
Pet care spending even grew during the last two recessions 29 during the 2001 recession and 17 during the 2008 2009 recession
You can see this in the next chart
This all points to a solid recession proof industry
It means pet care companies enjoy predictable cash flows and sales growth even during a recession
It also means stable share prices for stockholders when they re looking for it the most
The Dog Mom Generation There are demographic reasons behind the jump in pets and pet spending
To start US household formation is near all time lows according to Yardeni Research
The main reason for this says the Institute for Family Studies IFS is that millennials born between 1980 and 2000 are marrying later And they re turning to pets for companionship
Millennials make up 25 of the US population But they own 35 of all pets making them the largest pet owning cohort in the country
Aging baby boomers and empty nesters are also big pet fans
In 2007 only 34 of adults over age 70 owned pets But by 2016 the year boomers started turning 70 that figure had jumped to 41
As I write fewer than half of the country s 75 million baby boomers have reached their 70s So the dog mom generation still has plenty of room to grow
And these folks are spending a lot on their pets The Fastest Growing Area in Pet Care Dog owners spend over 1 000 a year on Fido on average So companies that cater to these dog moms should continue to thrive
Overall spending on pets in the US has gone up every year since 1994 And it s grown 4 6 annually over the last 10 years or three times faster than overall consumer spending
This is good news for pet care companies And it makes sense that they ve done well even during the last two recessions
Pets are part of the family now Their owners skimp on other things before downgrading to cheaper pet food or cutting back on supplies
This is especially true for the 15 billion pet medication industry Sure you might skip your regular dog grooming appointment during a recession but you re not going skip your pet s medication
The booming pet medication market is proof positive of that Pet medication sales are growing twice as fast as overall pet spending
The pet medication market will be the highest growth area of the pet care industry for the next decade reports market research firm Packaged Facts It expects new products for flea and tick prevention as well as itch relief to drive sales
And we can get a slice of that
How to Profit from the Pet Health Market Recession is probably not imminent But it s coming sooner rather than later
That s why my focus is recession proof dividend paying stocks right now It will help you add safety and stability to your portfolio and prepare for this recession
The pet health market is one way to do that
One of my favorite pet health companies is PetMed Express Inc NASDAQ PETS PetMed is a leading nationwide pet pharmacy The company markets over 3 000 prescription and non prescription medications for dogs and cats directly to consumers
PETS pays a hefty 6 7 dividend yield It also has a low payout ratio which is critical to dividend stocks Shares have struggled a bit this year but that also means they re attractively priced right now and a good way to take advantage of the growing pet health market
Next on my list is Zoetis Inc NYSE ZTS Zoetis used to be the animal health unit of Pfizer NYSE PFE The company is the largest manufacturer of anti infectives vaccines and other animal health products in the world
ZTS pays a small 0 6 dividend yield However with a 19 payout ratio there s plenty of room for the company to increase its dividend payout
Lastly we have Pets at Home Group PLC PAHGF The company operates a network of stores pet services and veterinary services in the United Kingdom
The company pays a high 4 2 dividend yield At 125 the payout ratio is higher than I would like But the company has very low debt and strong free cash flow So it isn t likely to cut the dividend despite the high payout ratio
Remember this recession probably isn t coming tomorrow But it s still important to buoy your portfolio now
You want to buy recession proof companies when you can not when you need to And now is the perfect time to add some dividend paying pet health companies to your portfolio |
PFE | Pfizer sells 523M stake in ICU Medical to C P Pharmaceuticals | Pfizer NYSE PFE has sold out of its holdings of ICU Medical NASDAQ ICUI for about 523M according to a filing It sold the stake via private placement to C P Pharmaceuticals International The filing shows 2 5M shares sold at an average price of 209 25 as of yesterday
Previously WSJ Pfizer to reverse course raise prices on 41 drugs Nov 16 2018 Now read |
PFE | SunTrust Venclexta could add 1B for AbbVie | SunTrust says the FDA s new approval of AbbVie s ABBV 0 2 Venclexta could add 1B in peak annual sales
The approval was for first line treatment for elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia who can t get high doses of chemotherapy
Pfizer s PFE 0 7 Daurismo was approved Wednesday and could compete with AbbVie in the leukemia market but SunTrust thinks ABBV s has the better chance of becoming standard care based on a broader label more robust efficacy profile
Source Bloomberg First Word
Previously Pfizer s Daurismo combo for elderly adults with AML gets FDA approval Nov 21
Previously Venclexta gets accelerated approval for newly diagnosed AML Nov 21
Now read |
PFE | Dar Bioscience launches thermography study of Sildenafil Cream in women shares ahead 2 | Thinly traded nano cap Dar Bioscience DARE is up 2 in early trade albeit on only 110 shares on the heels of its announcement that enrollment is underway in an investigational study assessing the pharmacodynamics of Sildenafil Cream 3 6 in healthy women The company is developing the topical product for the potential treatment of female sexual arousal disorder The study will use thermography technology specifically a infrared camera to measure genital temperature a surrogate for genital blood flow The results will inform on the design of a Phase 2b study expected to launch in 2019 Sildenafil is the active ingredient in Pfizer NYSE PFE s Viagra Now read |
PFE | Pfizer s Lyrica nabs extra six months of pediatric exclusivity in U S | The FDA has granted an additional six months of pediatric exclusivity to Pfizer s PFE 1 2 LYRICA pregabalin extending the period to June 30 2019 The agency based its decision on data from the LYRICA Pediatric Epilepsy Program which was submitted at the FDA s request to evaluate the drug as adjunctive therapy for partial onset seizures in pediatric epilepsy patients Now read |
WFC | Simcorp eyes U S pick up next year after management change | By Stine Jacobsen COPENHAGEN Reuters Denmark s Simcorp a provider of software and services to the financial sector expects to get back on track in the United States within a year after replacing poorly performing managers its chief executive told Reuters on Thursday Simcorp cut its 2014 revenue growth forecast last week because of a weak performance in its U S business which contributes around 18 percent of total revenues but where no contracts have been signed since June 2013 It started well but then the orders we had expected kept being postponed so we turned on a big searchlight and a couple of months after we fired the managing director and the sales executive in April this year Chief Executive Klaus Holse said on the phone from Iceland Holse said former management failed to organize an increased sales force and so lost out on business opportunities The firm has now appointed a director with experience from a business twice as big as Simcorp s he added James Corrigan who came from competitor Sunguard started on Wednesday as managing director of Simcorp in North America although a new sales executive has not yet been found In the period where there s no management in the U S things will go slower and we don t expect new orders in the U S this year But in the second half of 2015 we expect to be back on track Holse said Simcorp s software is designed to manage the flow of securities trading from start to finish including back office processing The company which generated operating profit of 54 million euros 701 million on revenues of 225 million euros last year has a global market share in its industry of 14 percent but only 4 percent in the United States Because Simcorp s European business depends on maintenance contracts the U S market is essential for new growth Last year Holse told Reuters Simcorp was targeting large U S asset managers in pursuit of double digit revenue growth On Thursday he said he was still betting on North America as the company s biggest growth opportunity The market has not changed it is our execution that has been wrong he said North American revenues account for less than a fifth of the company total and are currently generated from just 22 clients including Wells Fargo Lord Abbett and Bank of Montreal out of 500 potential clients identified by Simcorp Shares in Simcorp are down 25 5 percent this year undeperforming a 17 2 percent rise in the Copenhagen s benchmark index 1 US dollar 0 7609 euro Editing by Sabina Zawadzki and Mark Potter |
WFC | Wells Fargo finds mortgage myths hamper home purchases | By Peter Rudegeair
NEW YORK Reuters Getting a mortgage in the United States may be easier than many borrowers think according to a survey released Monday by Wells Fargo Co N WFC the largest U S mortgage lender
Nearly two thirds of respondents thought that a very good credit score was necessary to buy a home and more than 40 percent thought they needed a down payment equal to at least 20 percent of the purchase price to buy a home
Under government backed programs first time home buyers with subprime credit scores can get a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration and they can put down as little as 3 5 percent of the purchase price
Since the financial crisis lenders have clamped down on mortgage credit The Mortgage Bankers Association s Mortgage Credit Availability Index which measures the ease with which borrowers can take out a home loan based on credit scores loan to value ratios and other factors fell by more than 80 percent from early 2007 through August 2014
But there are other reasons why consumers are not taking out loans like they once did including the fear of being turned down In 2013 those fears kept 19 percent of families from taking steps to get a consumer loan up from 18 5 percent in 2010 and above the 16 4 percent rate of families who were actually turned down for credit according to the Federal Reserve s most recent survey of consumer finances
Even if mortgage credit is hard to come by there is demand for homes more than two out of three respondents in Wells Fargo s survey said it was a good time to buy
Franklin Codel Wells Fargo s head of mortgage production said his bank has taken steps to expand the pool of eligible home buyers Earlier this year it lowered the minimum credit scores or FICO scores for loans that are backed by the government the Federal Housing Administration Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
When we expanded FICO ranges we saw not only an increase in applications but we also saw an increase in approval rates Codel said without providing specifics on application volume or approval rates
Codel also said that the federal government along with Wells Fargo and the realtors and consumer groups with whom it works can play a role in dispelling these myths through some kind of outreach program along the lines of what they did with the government subsidized Home Affordable Refinance Program and the Home Affordable Modification Program
Because Wells Fargo s survey is the first of its kind it is difficult to say how attitudes toward home ownership have changed over time Fannie Mae s August national housing survey found a similar number of borrowers 64 percent thought it was a good time to buy a home though tied an all time low and was down from the 71 percent response rate in the August 2013 survey
Editing by Eric Walsh |
LB | Bottom line brands chase China s high end lingerie market | By Farah Master HONG KONG Reuters High end lingerie sales are outpacing China s generally downbeat luxury market and heating up competition between international brands and local rivals looking to go upmarket U S brand Victoria s Secret will open its first store and companies including Italy s ultra luxury La Perla and Germany s Triumph are adding stores and moving beyond China s mega cities to tap a lingerie market that has more than doubled in five years to 18 billion according to Mintel Group Chinese consumer tastes are maturing women are more confident about buying for themselves and President Xi Jinping s drive against conspicuous consumption is likely diverting spending from flashy branded bags and accessories to sports and ath leisure wear and the more discreet lingerie Luxury is not about buying to show off it s about buying items that make you feel good says Chiara Scaglia La Perla s Asia chief China s women s underwear market is expected to have a retail value of 25 billion by next year double that of the United States and will grow to 33 billion by 2020 according to Euromonitor Chinese firms such as Beijing Aimer Maniform and Ordifen are also chasing that money targeting higher end customers and raising their quality That means foreign brands will have to out compete local brands not just on quality but also innovation said Matthew Crabbe director at Mintel For now the market is highly fragmented with none of the leading firms having more than around a 3 percent share International brands see China as a priority to help bolster overall sales given a fairly bleak global outlook La Perla which sells bras priced around 2 000 yuan 300 has eight stores in China and plans additional outlets in Chengdu and Chongqing within the year It also aims to open a men s store in Beijing The perception of the lingerie sector has changed Scaglia told Reuters At the beginning many people we spoke to were confused as to why anybody should spend over 1 000 on panties for something nobody sees EXPANDING FOOTPRINT Victoria s Secret will open a 20 000 square foot 1 860 square meter flagship store in Shanghai this year taking over a prime downtown location that used to house a Louis Vuitton store I think it will announce our arrival in China in a very significant way and should be the beginning of an enormous business for us said Martin Waters L Brands NYSE LB International President Triumph which already has 1 000 China stores plans to open in five new cities this year and up to 11 cities next year Cosmo Lady HK 2298 a Chinese firm that has focused on the mass market selling bras from 50 yuan 7 50 last year bought Ordifen to increase its presence in the luxury market We would like to gradually step into the high end market said Peter Lam Cosmo Lady s assistant chief financial officer Gao Qiannan a 22 year old Shandong student who says she spends upwards of 1 500 yuan a year on lingerie doesn t think there s a big difference between Chinese and foreign brands If I can buy a domestic brand I will but if I particularly like the international brand s style I ll get that she said The international brands say they don t offer products specifically for the Chinese market though La Perla notes that some colors red and baby pink sell far better in Asia than in Europe or the United States The Italian brand has also used Chinese supermodel Liu Wen in its campaigns Japanese and South Korean brands are also growing in popularity in China Yin Huijuan 23 who spends 800 yuan 120 on lingerie every three months said she prefers Japanese brands such as Wacoal and Narue I feel foreign brands style is more detailed and diversified these are areas where domestic brands fall short she said CONSUMER CAUTION ONLINE COMPETITION Even in the lingerie market though there are bumps Cosmo Lady which has 8 600 outlets including Ordifen s 550 China stores saw robust growth in its mass market sales last year but has warned about its profits for the first half of this year citing China s slowing economic growth consumer caution and competing online sales Hong Kong listed Embry Holdings HK 1388 which owns the Embry Form lingerie brand said its group retail sales slipped by nearly a fifth in April June on tougher competition and the economy Despite those bumps the lingerie sector retains a strong appeal said Eugene Mak an analyst at China Merchant Securities in Hong Kong and firms like Cosmo Lady are still outperforming other apparel retailers
He predicts the market will hit a consolidation phase at some time It s a very young market but in the near term it s going to be messy he said |
LB | Shares in L Brands parent of Victoria s Secret rise after earnings beat | Investing com Shares in L Brands Inc NYSE LB the parent company of Victoria s Secret and Bath Body Works surged nearly 3 in after hours trading following the release of stronger than expected earnings and profits over its second quarter
During the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2016 the Columbus Ohio based company reported earnings of 252 4 million or 0 87 per share up considerably from net profits of 202 5 million or 0 68 per share in the same quarter of 2015 At the same time L Brands finished with net sales of 2 89 billion for the three month period representing a 5 increase from revenues of 2 765 billion a year earlier It came amid a 3 increase in same store sales for the quarter in line with consensus estimates Although the comparable store sales dipped slightly from gains of 4 in last year s second quarter L Brands avoided the sharp same store declines that have befallen numerous companies in the retail industry through the first half of the year
Analysts expected to see revenues of 2 86 billion on earnings per share of 0 59
Within the report comparable store sales at Victoria s Secret rose by 2 up slightly from a slight increase of 1 in the Second Quarter of 2015 For the first six months of the year same store sales at Victoria s Secret were up by 2 mirroring the comparable store sales at the store over the same stretch last year In February L Brands completed a major corporate reshuffling initiative when CEO Leslie Wexner assumed control of the company s core lingerie division
Additionally same store sales at Bath Body Works increased by 5 on the quarter down mildly from gains of 6 in the same quarter last year In total L Brands comparable store sales are up 3 year to date increasing at the same pace as same store revenues over the first half of 2015 While L Brands increased its third quarter earnings per share outlook to a range between 0 40 and 0 45 the guidance still falls short of analysts forecasts of 0 47
L Brands shares gained 2 19 or 2 96 to 76 25 in after hours trading Previously company shares had fallen by 23 over the last year amid broad signals of declining sales at brick and mortar stores throughout the U S |
LB | Weak profit guidance from L Brands | L Brands NYSE LB expects Q4 EPS to fall in a range of 1 85 to 2 00 below the consensus mark from analysts of 2 03 As a monthly reporter of sales there were no surprises with L Brands on the top line for Q3 A two penny beat was generated on the bottom line of fsome cost cutting Previously L Brands beats by 0 02 beats on revenue Nov 16 |
LB | Should Value Investors Consider L Brands LB Stock | Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment After all who wouldn t want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process Let s put L Brands Inc NYSE LB stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value oriented investors right now or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks PE RatioA key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio or PE for short This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings in a given stock and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock s current PE ratio with a where this ratio has been in the past b how it compares to the average for the industry sector and c how it compares to the market as a whole On this front L Brands has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 15 18 as you can see in the chart below This level actually compares pretty favorably with the market at large as the PE for the S P 500 stands at about 20 39 If we focus on the long term PE trend L Brands current PE level puts it below its midpoint of 15 18 over the past five years Moreover the current level stands well below the highs indicating that it could be a solid entry point Further the stock s PE also compares favorably with the Zacks classified Retail Wholesale sector s trailing twelve months PE ratio which stands at 27 29 At the very least this indicates that the stock is relatively undervalued right now compared to its peers We should point out that L Brands has a forward PE ratio price relative to this year s earnings of 16 69 so it is fair to expect an increase in the company s share price in the near future P S RatioAnother key metric to note is the Price Sales ratio This approach compares a given stock s price to its total sales where a lower reading is generally considered better Some people like this metric more than other value focused ones because it looks at sales something that is far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings Right now L Brands has a P S ratio of about 1 23 This is quite lower than the S P 500 average which comes in at 3 15 right now Also as we can see in the chart below this is well below the highs for this stock in particular over the past few years Broad Value OutlookIn aggregate L Brands currently has a Zacks Value Style Score of A putting it into the top 20 of all stocks we cover from this look This makes L Brands a solid choice for value investors What About the Stock Overall Though L Brands might be a good choice for value investors there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name In particular it is worth noting that the company has a Growth grade of CA and a Momentum score of A This gives LB a Zacks VGM score or its overarching fundamental grade of A You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores Meanwhile the company s recent earnings estimates have been mixed at best The current quarter has seen two estimates go higher in the past sixty days compared to seven lower while the full year estimate has seen eight up and three down in the same time period This has had a mixed impact on the consensus estimate as the current quarter consensus estimate has dropped by 8 5 in the past two months while the full year estimate inched higher by 0 6 You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below L Brands Inc Price and Consensus This mixed trend is why the stock has just a Zacks Rank 3 Hold and why we are looking for in line performance from the company in the near term Bottom LineL Brands is an inspired choice for value investors as it is hard to beat its incredible lineup of statistics on this front However with a sluggish industry rank Bottom 10 out of over 250 industries and a Zacks Rank 3 it is hard to get too excited about this company overall In fact over the past two years the Zacks categorized Retail Apparel Shoe industry has clearly underperformed the broader market as you can see below So value investors might want to wait for estimates and analyst sentiment to turn around in this name first but once that happens this stock could be a compelling pick 3 Stocks to Ride a 588 Revenue ExplosionAt Zacks we re mostly focused on short term profit cycles but the hottest of all technology mega trends is starting to take hold By last year it was already generating 8 billion in global revenues By 2020 it s predicted to blast through the roof to 47 billion Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce the world s first trillionaires but that should still leave plenty of money for those who make the right trades early |
LB | L Brands Up Over 20 In 3 Months Initiatives Well On Track | A glimpse of L Brands Inc NYSE LB share price movement reveals that it has surged 29 in the past three months compared with the Zacks categorized industry s decline of 3 8 and sector s growth of 6 6 Further the stock s long term earnings per share growth rate of 11 3 and a of B portray its inherent strength What Propelled the Stock L Brands continues to revamp business by improving store experience localizing assortments and enhancing direct business We believe these measures will facilitate it to generate incremental sales and increase store transactions through higher conversion rate Further the company s foray into international markets is likely to provide long term growth opportunities and generate increased sales volumes We believe that L Brands sustained focus on cost containment inventory management merchandise and speed to market initiatives has kept it afloat in a competitive environment This is evident from its positive earnings surprise history In the trailing seven quarters it has outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by an average of 8 6 Following better than expected bottom line performance in the first quarter the company raised fiscal 2017 guidance Management now projects earnings in the band of 3 10 3 40 per share up from the previous guidance of 3 05 3 35 Management anticipates annual operating income to increase by 10 in the long run L Brands with its operational efficiencies new and innovative assortments remains well positioned to capitalize on the same The company has undertaken strategic initiatives to streamline its Victoria s Secret business and remains optimistic about investment in China and White Barn remodels at Bath Body Works Short Term ChallengesL Brands foresees short term challenges due to its decision to exit the swimwear category which according to analysts has failed to generate desired results For the first quarter of fiscal 2017 the exit of the swim and apparel categories had an adverse impact of 6 and 9 respectively to total company comps and Victoria s Secret comps In fiscal 2016 the same had a negative impact of 6 and 9 respectively L Brands now anticipates comparable sales in the second quarter to decline in the mid single digit range and flat to up low single digits for the go forward business Further management anticipates gross margin to deteriorate year over year during the second quarter as well as fiscal 2017 In the first quarter adjusted gross profit dropped 14 to 902 9 million while gross margin contracted 320 basis points bps to 37 1 primarily due to buying and occupancy expenditure deleverage We noted that gross margin have contracted 230 bps 190 bps 180 bps and 170 bps in the fourth third second and first quarters of fiscal 2016 to 43 3 39 7 38 5 and 40 3 respectively Given the pros and cons embedded the stock carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Key Picks in Retail SpaceTop ranked stocks in the retail space include G III Apparel Group Ltd NASDAQ GIII Tilly s Inc NYSE TLYS and The Children s Place Inc NASDAQ PLCE All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy You can see G III Apparel has a long term earnings growth rate of 15 Tilly s delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 120 4 in the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 13 Children s Place delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 36 6 in the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 8 Today s Stocks from Zacks Hottest StrategiesIt s hard to believe even for us at Zacks But while the market gained 18 8 from 2016 Q1 2017 our top stock picking screens have returned 157 0 128 0 97 8 94 7 and 90 2 respectively And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon Over the years it has been remarkably consistent From 2000 Q1 2017 the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 11X over Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we re willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation |
LB | L Brands LB Stock Swings Lower On Weak June Sales | On Thursday shares of Victoria s Secret parent company L Brands Inc NYSE LB are falling down almost 11 to 48 31 per share in morning trading after the retailer announced disappointing June sales numbers
L Brands which also owns Bath Body Works said that net sales for June declined 6 to 1 21 billion compared to 1 296 billion in the year ago period Same store sales in the same five week period ending July 1 were down 9 year over year
In particular the L Brand s decision to exit the swim and apparel categories hurt total company and Victoria s Secret same store sales by 7 and 10 percentage points respectively The company decided to leave these businesses largely so it could focus on its more profitable segments as well as push into lower priced sports bras and unstructured bralettes these items are very popular with L Brands core customer base who have been turning to rivals like Aerie owned by American Eagle Outfitters NYSE AEO
L Brands also said that sales of 4 42 billion for the 22 weeks ending July 1 were down 6 from the 4 73 billion reported in the prior year period Same store sales for this period fell 9
L Brands is currently a 3 Hold on the Zacks Rank with a VGM score of B Shares of LB are down 18 7 year to date and nearly 21 in the past 12 months
Today s Stocks from Zacks Hottest Strategies
It s hard to believe even for us at Zacks But while the market gained 18 8 from 2016 Q1 2017 our top stock picking screens have returned 157 0 128 0 97 8 94 7 and 90 2 respectively
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon Over the years it has been remarkably consistent From 2000 to Q1 2017 the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 11X over Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we re willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation |
PFE | Takeda CEO confident of investor backing for 62 billion Shire deal | By Ben Hirschler LONDON Reuters The boss of Japan s Takeda Pharmaceutical T 4502 said on Monday he was confident of securing investor backing for its 62 billion acquisition of London listed Shire L SHP despite some shareholders fears about the resulting debt burden Buoyed by a strong set of quarterly results last week helped by strong demand for its existing drugs Chief Executive Christophe Weber insisted that buying rare diseases specialist Shire was not a defensive move We are quite satisfied with our current progress at Takeda Our business is doing well he told the FT Global Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology conference in London We don t have to do this Shire acquisition We just feel it is a way to accelerate our progress and our evolution Takeda has already gained approval for what would be the biggest ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese company from U S Japanese and Chinese regulators but it is still waiting for the nod from European authorities Crucially Takeda also needs two thirds support from shareholders It has set Oct 19 as the record date entitling investors to vote in an extraordinary general meeting EGM on the deal allowing it to hold the meeting within a three month period ending Jan 18 Alternatively it could set a new record date Takeda which has a market value of around 32 billion has secured a 30 9 billion bridge loan to help finance the Shire acquisition and some investors are concerned as to how well it will cope with debt repayments Weber however said he was confident he had persuaded Takeda shareholders sufficiently for the company to name an EGM date without specifying exactly when it would be held The Japanese company struck its agreement to take over Shire in May a deal that will propel it into the top 10 rankings of global drugmakers by sales alongside the likes of Novartis S NOVN and Pfizer N PFE It will also increase Takeda s exposure to the U S drugs market the world s biggest which will account for around half of the enlarged group s business just as President Donald Trump puts a squeeze on drugmakers to cut their prices Weber said Trump s plans to base the price the government s Medicare program pays for some medications on the lower prices paid in other countries would add to pressure but would not undermine the fundamental attractions of the U S marketplace This is still the country where new innovative medicine has the fastest access there is this willingness to treat patients with the latest medicine he said
My assumption always has been there would be more price pressure in the U S and we have to deal with it |
PFE | Pfizer Rises 3 | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE rose by 3 29 to trade at 44 42 by 10 41 15 41 GMT on Wednesday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Pfizer shares traded since the start of the session was 7 13M Pfizer has traded in a range of 43 29 to 44 44 on the day
The stock has traded at 44 4200 at its highest and 41 7800 at its lowest during the past seven days |
WFC | Exclusive Wells Fargo loosens standards for jumbo mortgages | By Peter Rudegeair NEW YORK Reuters Wells Fargo Co N WFC has relaxed its standards for loans for some high priced homes as the largest U S mortgage lender tries to combat an industry wide drop in mortgage volumes The bank has eased its lending standards on mortgages it acquires from other banks said spokesman Tom Goyda for jumbo loans that are too large to receive a guarantee from government backed mortgage companies In late July the San Francisco based bank lowered the minimum credit score on these fixed rate jumbo mortgages to 700 from 720 Goyda said Credit scores range from 300 to 850 and levels below 640 are often considered subprime The lower requirements for jumbo loans are the latest effort by Wells and other banks to loosen mortgage criteria that are still tight by historical standards Of the large banks surveyed by the Federal Reserve in July thirty nine percent said they were somewhat relaxing requirements on prime residential mortgages and all banks reported that demand for prime mortgages was at its highest level in a year The mortgage industry is seeking to replace lost revenue after a spike in mortgage rates in the second half of 2013 made refinancing less attractive But for many lenders the search for revenue is tempered by the fact that the housing market is still recovering from the worst crisis since the Great Depression New rules and regulations designed to prevent the next mortgage implosion have also made some banks less willing to take risk in the market In June Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said It is difficult for any homeowner who doesn t have pristine credit these days to get a mortgage I think that is one of the factors that is causing the housing recovery to be slow In addition to lowering minimum credit scores Wells Fargo is now willing to buy jumbo loans from other lenders that go toward the purchase of a second home Goyda said For a refinancing the bank is now willing to buy mortgages whose balance exceeds the size of the borrower s previous loan known as cash out refinancing Wells Fargo s standards for mortgages it buys from other lenders remained more conservative than those it offers directly to consumers via its branches and online Goyda said The minimum credit score on those jumbo mortgages is 680 The latest expansion of Wells Fargo s mortgage lending comes six months after the bank began to offer home loans directly to borrowers with credit scores as low as 600 that were eligible for insurance with the Federal Housing Administration Its previous minimum credit score for FHA insured loans was 640 Wells Fargo executives have said its steps to expand access to mortgage credit are low risk as all borrowers must demonstrate an ability to repay the loan in accordance with rules issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that came into effect in January Most products the bank offers are 30 year fixed rate loans that do not allow borrowers to defer principal payments Wells Fargo Home Mortgage President Mike Heid said at the bank s May investor day This talk about returning to subprime is just nonsense Heid said As industry wide lending volumes have declined over the last year Wells Fargo s drop has been even sharper The bank said last month that it made 47 billion in home loans in the second quarter 58 percent less than the same period of 2013 compared with a 50 percent fall in industry wide volumes according to estimates from the Mortgage Bankers Association
The purchase market is softer than we thought that it would be said Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry on a July conference call with analysts We re not seeing breakout returns to pre crisis levels of the enthusiasm around homeownership Chief Executive John Stumpf told Reuters in a July interview that the volume of mortgages it purchased from other banks in the second quarter was lower because those lenders are now selling directly to investors under government programs Reporting by Peter Rudegeair editing by Andrew Hay |
WFC | Stated income loans make comeback as mortgage lenders seek clients | By Michelle Conlin and Peter Rudegeair Reuters Mortgage applicants who can t provide tax returns or pay stubs to show their income are getting stated income loans again as companies such as Unity West Lending and Westport Mortgage chase customers they can no longer afford to ignore
Lenders say these aren t the same products as the so called liar loans that were pervasive before the housing bust Instead the loans are going to borrowers such as small business owners or investors buying properties they intend to rent who can demonstrate an ability to repay verifiable through bank or brokerage statements Lenders said they look for enough assets to pay six to 12 months of payments while also demanding high down payments to reduce the chance of default
This is not a return to the wild and wooly days of if you fogged the mirror you can have a loan said Paul Lebowitz founder of Westport Mortgage They have a smarter edge to them now
Some rival lenders said the stated income loans on offer could be abused if borrowers fudge bank statements or don t have enough money to repay the loan None of the three biggest banks offer them Sam Gilford a spokesman for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the agency is concerned though he wouldn t say whether it is investigating them
The CFPB s rules don t give specific minimums for assets required to demonstrate an ability to repay a mortgage but critics said a year s worth of payments for a three decade loan may not be enough
It s easier to falsify bank statements than income tax returns said Julia Gordon director of housing finance and policy at the Center for American progress
To avoid the housing bust taint the new stated income loans are being called such things as alternative documentation loans portfolio programs alternative income verification loans and asset based loans
Borrowers usually have to have credit scores of about 700 though some lenders like San Jose California based Western Bancorp will accept credit scores as low as 620 Credit scores range from 300 to 850 with 640 seen as the line between prime and subprime Borrowers typically pay one half to three quarters of a percentage point above conventional mortgage rates
Jae Chang president of Los Angeles based National Mortgage Service started offering stated income loans five months ago We are targeting those borrowers who have excellent credit and a lot of liquid reserves but who are having difficulties proving their income he said National Mortgage Service is doing 15 million worth of stated income loans a month
Compared to the roughly 1 trillion of U S home loans anticipated this year the stated income mortgage volume at National Mortgage Service is tiny There is no available data about how widespread stated income mortgages are and experts said that any growth in these products is off a small base
But the shrinking mortgage market is prompting some lenders to expand their potential pool of customers The MBA s forecasts for this year s mortgage lending volumes are down 30 percent from 2013 levels Volumes started falling last year as rising rates cut into demand
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
Among the customers that lenders are targeting are small business owners whose personal income tax returns may not reflect their ability to repay a loan Many keep income in their business to reduce their personal income tax obligation Stated income loans are also often geared toward investors who don t fall under the same rules imposed by the 2010 Dodd Frank financial reform legislation
Other lenders lowering their standards to win new business include Wells Fargo Co the biggest home lender in the United States which said earlier this year it is willing to make loans to borrowers with credit scores as low as 600 down from a previous limit of 640
The Dodd Frank law said that for all owner occupied mortgages made in the United States lenders must make sure the borrower has the capacity to repay or face enforcement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as well as consumer claims in court where lenders could be liable for up to three years of finance charges and fees
Ability to repay rules apply only to mortgages for people who will live in the house That means there is potential for abuse if borrowers apply for the mortgages saying they ll rent out the property when in fact they intend to live there Because these kinds of loans are not subject to ability to repay rules and require less documentation borrowers could be talked into taking on mortgages they cannot afford a lender at a large bank said
The law and the CFPB S rules on the matter will likely prevent lenders from re embracing the worst varieties of stated income loans during the bubble years such as so called ninja loans a near acronym for no income no job or assets
While even ninja loans could easily be securitized before the mortgage bubble burst packaging non standard home loans into bonds and selling them to investors is much more difficult now Most stated income loans today are either held in lenders portfolios or sold to private investors
Reporting by Michelle Conlin and Peter Rudegeair Editing by Dan Wilchins and John Pickering |
WFC | San Bernardino starts bondholder talks two years after bankruptcy | By Tim Reid RIVERSIDE Calif Reuters San Bernardino California has begun face to face talks with some of its biggest creditors bondholders and insurers for the first time two years after filing for bankruptcy in a case that has slowed to a crawl in the past 12 months
Paul Glassman an attorney representing the city said in a court hearing on Thursday that an all day mediation session was held on Aug 5 with Ambac Assurance Corp the insurer of 50 million of pension obligation bonds issued to the city in 2005
Ambac was also negotiating on behalf of Erste Europ ische Pfandbrief und Kommunalkreditbank AG the holder of the bonds and Wells Fargo Bank the bond trustee and the flagship bank of Wells Fargo Co N WFC Details of the negotiations are subject to a judicial gag order
Glassman said the city will begin talks soon with another creditor bond insurer National Public Finance Guarantee Corp a unit of MBIA Inc N MBI
San Bernardino a city of 205 000 people located 65 miles east of Los Angeles filed for bankruptcy in August 2012 with a budget deficit of 45 million
The city is one of a handful of municipal bankruptcies being closely watched by the 3 7 trillion U S municipal bond market Bondholders public employees and other state and local governments are keen on understanding how financially distressed cities handle their debts to Wall Street compared with other creditors like large pension funds such as Calpers during Chapter 9 protection
Stockton another California city that declared bankruptcy around the same time as San Bernardino is significantly closer to exiting Chapter 9 Detroit Michigan which filed the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U S history in July 2013 filed a plan of adjustment to deal with its 18 billion of debt in February
TENTATIVE POLICE PACT
San Bernardino has also reached a tentative deal with the police union the city s biggest after months of closed door negotiations Glassman said He added that the deal represented significant progress in the city s attempt to issue a bankruptcy exit plan known as a plan of adjustment
In June the city reached a deal with its biggest creditor the California Public Employees Retirement System Calpers
San Bernardino has imposed significant cuts in pay and other benefits on its police and firefighters
While the police have now reached a deal with city leaders details are also subject to a judicial gag order the firefighters have not
A request by the firefighters union to impose a January deadline on the city to issue a plan to exit bankruptcy was rejected by U S Bankruptcy Court Judge Meredith Jury who is overseeing the case
Mark Angelov an attorney for Ambac said no progress was made in the mediation session adding that the case has been going on a long time If there continues to be no progress we may well ask for a deadline for the city to file a plan
Reporting by Tim Reid Editing by Jan Paschal |
LB | L Brands earnings soar 13 amid strong quarter from Victoria s Secret | Investing com L Brands Inc N LB the parent company of popular retail stores such as Victoria s Secret Bath Body Works and La Senza reported a 13 spike in fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday after delivering one of its strongest Holiday sales periods in company history
As a result L Brands posted record fourth quarter and full year results in 2015 finishing the year among a select few of retailers to turn a profit in an industry beset by a struggling economy and dwindling consumer demand During the company s fourth quarter which ended in late January L Brands reported a 14 increase in per share earnings from 1 89 to 2 15 while its revenues surged 8 to 4 395 billion Same store sales soared at both Victoria s Secret and Bath Body Works driven by a 15 increase in direct sales at the former
We delivered record results in a year when many retailers struggled These results are a reflection of the strength of our brands and were driven by tremendous focus and execution across the enterprise I am very optimistic heading into 2016 and confident in our growth opportunities L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner said in a statement
For the quarter L Brands opened 34 new Victoria s Secret stores while adding 33 Bath Works shops increasing the company total to 3 005 worldwide Wexner also inherited the role of executive chairwoman at Victoria s Secret following the resignation of Sharen Turney earlier this month
Moving forward L Brands expects 2016 full year earnings per share between 3 90 and 4 10 including earnings per share between 0 50 and 0 55 in the first quarter Analysts are forecasting full year per share earnings of 4 19 along with first quarter EPS of 0 65 The company noted that the negative impacts of foreign exchange translation as well as a 1 billion interest expense related to a 2015 bond sale will continue to weigh on its earnings
Shares in L Brands ticked up 0 45 or 0 54 to 83 65 in after hours trading |
LB | L Brands shares fall sharply as Victoria s Secret cuts annual forecast | Investing com Shares in L Brands Inc NYSE LB fell sharply in after hour trading as the parent company of Victoria s Secret lowered its full year guidance on Wednesday after it failed to meet analysts revenue and earnings forecasts last quarter
During the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2016 L Brands reported net profits of 152 3 million or 0 52 per share down considerably from earnings of 250 5 million or 0 84 per share over the same period last year The company also increased revenue from 2 512 billion to 2 614 billion for the three month period ending in late April amid a 3 increase in comparable store sales Analysts expected to see per share earnings of 0 55 on revenue of 2 62 billion
Within the report Victoria s Secret increased sales by 3 4 to 1 7 billion while its direct sales jumped 6 3 to 359 7 million Victoria s Secret is in the midst of a considerable transition period after CEO Les Wexner announced a host of tactical shifts in the direction of the brand three months ago As part of the changes Victoria s Secret terminated production of its catalog and decided to halt swimwear sales Wall Street analysts have estimated that the elimination of the catalog could save the company up to 100 million annually while the decision to discontinue sales of swimwear apparel could lead to considerable short term revenue declines
Meanwhile revenues among Bath Body Works rose by 7 6 to 660 2 million while direct sales soared by 24 to 73 5 million Moving forward L Brands cut its full year outlook to adjusted earnings per share of 3 60 to 3 80 down from previous estimates of 3 90 to 4 10 Analysts expect full year adjusted earnings of 4 04 from L Brands
Shares in L Brands fell 3 51 or 5 51 to 60 22 in after hours Over the last 52 weeks L Brands shares have slid by more than 33 |
LB | L Brands LB Sluggish Comparable Sales Run Continues | L Brands Inc NYSE LB witnessed a decline in comparable sales comps for the fifth consecutive month as the company reported April sales numbers This specialty retailer of women s intimate and other apparel beauty and personal care products posted 5 decline in comps for the four week ended Apr 29 after registering a decline of 10 13 4 and 1 in March February January and December respectively Moreover net sales for April dipped 2 to 719 6 billion
Late Easter holiday positively impacted the company s April comps by nearly 3 However the exit from the swim and apparel categories had a 6 percentage points and 10 percentage points adverse impact on overall company and Victoria s Secret comparable sales respectively
Dismal comps performances in the past five months have hurt the company s shares We noted that the stock has plunged 23 2 in the past six months compared with the Zacks categorized industry s decline of 12 6
The company stated that merchandise margin rate increased in April in comparison with the prior year
Further the company also reported first quarter 2017 sales number In the first quarter sales declined 7 to 2 437 million Comps in the first quarter decreased 9 The exit from the swim and apparel categories had hurt the overall company and Victoria s Secret comparable sales by 6 percentage points and 9 percentage points respectively
However the company raised first quarter earnings guidance to 30 cents from a band of 20 25 cents a share on account of lower tax rate
This Zacks Rank 3 Hold company commands a market leading position in the lingerie personal care and beauty segments We believe that its innovation in merchandise and exclusive assortments remain popular among consumers and sets it apart from peers L Brands with operational efficiencies new and innovative assortments remains well positioned to capitalize on the same
Further L Brands continues to revamp business by improving store experience localizing assortments and enhancing direct business We believe these measures facilitate it to generate incremental sales and increase store transactions through higher conversion rate
Stocks to Consider
Better ranked stocks worth considering include Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp NASDAQ BGFV The Children s Place Inc NASDAQ PLCE and Michaels Companies Inc NASDAQ MIK Big 5 Sporting Goods and The Children s Place sport a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy while Michaels Companies carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see
Big 5 Sporting Goods has long term earnings growth rate of 12
Children s Place has reported earnings beat in the trailing four quarters with an average of 39 and also the company has long term earnings growth rate of 8
Michaels an impressive long term earnings growth rate of 16 Zacks 2017 IPO Watch List
Before looking into the stocks mentioned above you may want to get a head start on potential tech IPOs that are popping up on Zacks radar Imagine being in the first wave of investors to jump on a company with almost unlimited growth potential This Special Report gives you the current scoop on 5 that may go public at any time
One has driven from 0 to a 68 billion valuation in 8 years Four others are a little less obvious but already show jaw dropping growth |
LB | L Brands LB Shares Higher On Q1 Earnings Beat Strong Guidance | Victoria s Secret parent L Brands Inc NYSE LB just released its first quarter fiscal 2017 financial results posting earnings of 33 cents per share and revenues of 2 437 billion Currently LB is a 3 Hold on the Zacks Rank and is up 5 89 to 51 25 per share in trading shortly after its earnings report was released
L Brands
Beat earnings estimates The company reported earnings of 33 cents per share surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 29 cents per share
Matched revenue estimates The company saw revenues of 2 437 billion falling in line with our consensus estimate of 2 44 billion but decreasing 7 year over year
Q1 operating income was 209 2 million while net income came in at 94 1 million
Comparable sales for the first quarter decreased 9 This was due to the exit of the swim and apparel categories which had a negative impact of 6 percentage points and 9 percentage points respectively to total company and Victoria s Secret comparable sales
Looking ahead L Brands increased is guidance for full year 207 and now expects earnings per share in the range of 3 10 to 3 40 up from previous forecast of 3 05 to 3 35 For Q2 the company expects earnings in the range of 40 cents to 45 cents per share
Here s a graph that looks at L Brands price consensus and EPS surprise L Brands Inc Price Consensus and EPS Surprise L Brands operates as a retailer of women s intimate and other apparel beauty and personal care products and accessories primarily in the United States Its brand includes Victoria s Secret Victoria s Secret Pink Bath Body Works La Senza and Henri Bendel The company sells its product through franchise license wholesale partners websites catalogue and other channels L Brands Inc formerly known as Limited Brands Inc is headquartered in Columbus Ohio
Stocks that Aren t in the News Yet
You are invited to download the full up to the minute list of 220 Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buys free of charge Many of these companies are almost unheard of by the general public and just starting to get noticed by Wall Street
They have been pinpointed by the Zacks system that nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015 with a stellar average gain of 26 per year |
PFE | Pfizer PFE Flat As Market Sinks What You Should Know | Pfizer PFE closed at 43 76 in the latest trading session marking no change from the prior day This move was narrower than the S P 500 s daily loss of 0 95 Elsewhere the Dow lost 0 67 while the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 1 51
Prior to today s trading shares of the drugmaker had gained 4 31 over the past month This has outpaced the Medical sector s gain of 3 89 and lagged the S P 500 s gain of 4 32 in that time
Investors will be hoping for strength from PFE as it approaches its next earnings release The company is expected to report EPS of 0 78 down 3 7 from the prior year quarter Meanwhile the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of 13 42 billion down 0 31 from the year ago period
Looking at the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of 2 88 per share and revenue of 52 86 billion These totals would mark changes of 4 and 1 46 respectively from last year
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for PFE should also be noted by investors These revisions help to show the ever changing nature of near term business trends With this in mind we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company s business outlook
Based on our research we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near team stock moves Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
The Zacks Rank system which ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell has an impressive outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks generating an average annual return of 25 since 1988 Over the past month the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0 12 lower PFE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
Digging into valuation PFE currently has a Forward P E ratio of 15 19 Its industry sports an average Forward P E of 14 83 so we one might conclude that PFE is trading at a premium comparatively
Meanwhile PFE s PEG ratio is currently 2 54 This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2 12 as of yesterday s close
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 76 which puts it in the top 30 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
Make sure to utilize Zacks Com to follow all of these stock moving metrics and more in the coming trading sessions |
PFE | Pfizer cuts revenue forecast as supply snags dollar strength weigh | By Tamara Mathias and Aakash B Reuters Pfizer Inc N PFE on Tuesday reported worse than expected third quarter revenue and lowered the top end of its full year sales forecast as generic competition and drug pricing pressure in the United States hurt its older drugs business Pfizer said it now expects 2018 revenue of between 53 billion and 53 7 billion compared with an earlier forecast of 53 billion to 55 billion Sales of breast cancer medicine Ibrance and rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz both considered growth drivers for the company also disappointed in the quarter and shares of the largest U S drugmaker declined 3 2 percent in premarket trading Investor attention has been increasingly focused on the company post 2020 with a view toward drugs they hope will be on the market by then including the non opioid pain treatment tanezumab Credit Suisse SIX CSGN analyst Vamil Divan said However shareholders are keen to know how the company plans to bridge the gap until 2020 with products such as Ibrance and Xeljanz underperforming this quarter he added Ibrance sales for the quarter of 1 03 billion was below analysts estimates of about 1 07 billion according to Refinitiv data Xeljanz brought in 432 million also short of estimates of about 476 3 million Pfizer which gets just over half of its revenue from outside the United States said strengthening of the dollar in relation to the euro and certain emerging market currencies led to diminished revenue projections While we are disappointed by the lowered guidance we recognize that it was the result of factors unrelated to the company s innovative new product portfolio Edward Jones analyst Ashtyn Evans said Supply problems at facilities making Pfizer s sterile injectables as well as competition from cheaper generic medicines in the United States hit sales at the company s Essential Health business Sales from the unit which Pfizer plans to reorganize into a new division that sells off patent medicines and generic drugs fell 4 4 percent to 4 83 billion in the quarter Excluding one time items Pfizer earned 78 cents per share topping analysts average expectations by 3 cents according to Refinitiv The company said it benefited from a 13 3 percent tax rate on adjusted income well below the 23 7 percent it paid last year before the U S Congress passed a bill that significantly lowered corporate tax rates Net income rose 45 percent to 4 11 billion in the three months ended Sept 30
Overall revenue for the quarter edged 1 percent higher to 13 30 billion Analysts had expected 13 53 billion |
PFE | AbbVie rheumatoid arthritis drug succeeds in late stage trial | NEW YORK Reuters AbbVie Inc NYSE ABBV on Tuesday said its experimental rheumatoid arthritis RA treatment showed significant improvement in physical function pain and quality of life compared with the commonly prescribed generic drug methotrexate in a late stage clinical trial The U S drugmaker hopes the drug upadacitinib can help replace lost revenue from its top selling RA treatment Humira when it starts to face biosimilar competition in the United States in 2023 AbbVie said it will file applications this years seeking regulatory approval for the medicine Top line results from the Phase III study were previously announced in June Upadacitinib belongs to a class of drugs known as JAK inhibitors which block inflammation causing enzymes called Janus kinases Pfizer NYSE PFE Inc s Xeljanz belongs to the same class of drugs AbbVie said that after 14 weeks of treatment 69 percent of patients receiving a 30 milligram dose of the drug and 65 percent of patients receiving a 15 mg dose reported improvements in physical function That compared with improvements reported in 45 percent of patients receiving methotrexate which is typically the first medicine prescribed for RA patients It said that 75 percent of patients receiving the 30 mg dose of the drug and 64 percent of patients receiving the lower dose said they had less pain That compared with 46 percent of patients receiving methotrexate In addition 73 percent of patients receiving the higher dose of upadacitinib and 65 percent of those who got the lower dose reported quality of life improvements versus 48 percent for methotrexate
Humira the world s biggest selling prescription drug with sales expected to reach 20 billion this year began facing competition from biosimilar versions in Europe last week |
WFC | Wells Fargo Profit Beats Estimate | By Wells Fargo Company NYSE WFC the biggest U S mortgage lender reported a better than expected 14 percent rise in first quarter net profit as it set aside less money to cover bad loans
Net income applicable to common shareholders rose to 5 60 billion or 1 05 per share in the quarter ended March 31 from 4 93 billion or 92 cents per share a year earlier the fourth biggest U S bank said on Friday
Analysts on average had expected the bank to earn 97 cents per share according to Thomson Reuters I B E S
Chief Executive John Stumpf said that capital levels continued to strengthen at the fourth biggest U S bank which also cut costs in the quarter
Wells Fargo s mortgage business which provides nearly one in five U S home loans continued to suffer from a drop in refinancing activity Income from mortgage banking fell to 1 5 billion from 2 8 billion in the first quarter of 2013
For the week ending April 4 applications for refinancing fell to their lowest share of total mortgage applications since July 2009 according to the Mortgage Bankers Association
Wells Fargo s new home loans fell to 36 billion in the quarter from 109 billion a year earlier and 50 billion in the fourth quarter
February was the worst month for new home loans since at least 2000 according to Black Knight Financial Services
Wells Fargo had 27 billion of mortgage applications in the pipeline at the end of the quarter down from 65 billion at the end of the fourth quarter
Wells Fargo s net income got a lift from a drop in the amount it set aside to cover bad loans as the housing market and the overall economy stabilized
The bank released 500 million from its loan loss reserves higher than the 200 million released a year ago but less than the 600 million released in the fourth quarter
Wells Fargo is experiencing historically low loan losses Its net charge off rate was 0 41 percent in the latest quarter down from 0 47 percent in the fourth quarter and 0 72 percent in the first quarter of 2013
Total lending rose 4 percent to 826 4 billion while total revenue fell slightly to 20 6 billion from 21 3 billion a year earlier
Wells Fargo posted big gains from its equity investments which earned 847 million in the quarter about 7 5 times the 113 million it earned a year earlier |
LB | Target website down on Cyber Monday traffic | Reuters Discount retailer Target Corp s website was down due to heavy traffic on Cyber Monday Shoppers looking for bargains on were greeted with an error message So sorry but high traffic s causing delays If you wouldn t mind holding we ll refresh automatically get things going ASAP Both traffic and order volumes are exceeding Target s Thursday Black Friday event To help manage the volume we have been metering traffic to the site Target spokeswoman Jamie Bastian said The company the fourth largest U S retailer said it was working to restore Target com to full functionality Website performance monitor Catchpoint Systems said Target s website went down at 10 00 a m ET on Monday While the site was intermittently accessible for some users items could not be added to the shopping cart An error message read There s a line for this item So sorry for the delay Items including 4K ultra high definition TV sets Microsoft s Xbox One game consoles and even a 4 lb bag of granulated sugar could not be added to carts Twitter N TWTR users were quick to express their displeasure Come on Target get it together How am I supposed to order anything on cyber Monday if you can t keep your website running Nikki Ferrell tweeted In what Target has called its Biggest Boldest Plans for Cyber Monday the retailer is offering 15 percent discounts on almost all items on Target com Target said on Friday it had unprecedented results on Target com on Thanksgiving Day and the company planned to offer free shipping on Target com through Dec 25 Deals include 50 percent off on licensed kids cameras and select Sennheiser in ear headphones Upscale retailer Neiman Marcus s website was unavailable most of Friday according to Catchpoint Other websites that have faced outages since early Thursday include L Brands N LB Inc s Victoria s Secret and Foot Locker N FL Inc Catchpoint said About 121 million shoppers planned to shop online on Cyber Monday down slightly from the 126 9 million who planned to participate last year according to the National Retail Federation
Target s shares were down 1 1 percent at 72 59 in late morning trading |
LB | L Brands LB Reports Dismal Comparable Sales In March | L Brands Inc NYSE LB witnessed a decline in comparable sales comps for the fourth consecutive month as the company reported March sales numbers This specialty retailer of women s intimate and other apparel beauty and personal care products posted 10 decline in comps for the five week ended Apr 1 after registering a decline of 13 4 and 1 in February January and December respectively Moreover net sales for March slumped 7 to 951 4 billion The Zacks Rank 4 Sell company s March sales were hurt by nearly 2 to 3 points due to late Easter this year Moreover the exit from the swim and apparel categories had a 7 percentage points and 10 percentage points negative impact on overall company and Victoria s Secret comparable sales respectively Dismal comps performances in the past four months have hurt the company s shares We noted that the stock has plunged 33 3 in the past six months compared with the Zacks categorized industry s decline of 22 8 The company stated that merchandise margin rate fell in March in comparison with the prior year chiefly owing to flaring promotional expenses This Columbus OH based company expects comps for the month of April to be down low single digit range which comprises of nearly 3 percentage points positive impact from a late Easter this year Meanwhile exited categories will negatively impact the comps by 6 percentage points Earlier management had provided tepid outlook for fiscal 2017 and the first quarter The company expects fiscal first quarter earnings in the range of 20 25 cents which is well below the year ago earnings of 59 cents per share L Brands now expects comparable sales in the first quarter to decline in the range of high single digit to low double digits year over year Moreover management projects earnings in the band of 3 05 3 35 per share for fiscal 2017 sharply down from the fiscal 2016 earnings of 3 74 and fiscal 2015 earnings of 3 99 The earnings projection includes adverse impact of the company s decision to exit the swimwear category at Victoria s Secret continued investment in China as well as investment in real estate at Victoria s Secret and Bath Body Works For fiscal 2017 it envisions comparable sales to be down by low single digit Further the company anticipates total sales growth to be about 3 to 4 points higher than comps on account of square footage growth and due to a 53rd week Stocks to ConsiderBetter ranked stocks in the retail sector include Kate Spade Company NYSE KATE The Children s Place Inc NASDAQ PLCE and Foot Locker Inc NYSE FL Children s Place sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy while Kate Spade Company and Foot Locker carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Kate Spade Company delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 14 6 in the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 28 3 Children s Place delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 39 in the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 10 3 Foot Locker delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 2 2 in the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 9 7 Zacks Best Private Investment Ideas While we are happy to share many articles like this on the website our best recommendations and most in depth research are not available to the public Starting today for the next month you can follow all Zacks private buys and sells in real time Our experts cover all kinds of trades from value to momentum from stocks under 10 to ETF and option moves from stocks that corporate insiders are buying up to companies that are about to report positive earnings surprises You can even look inside exclusive portfolios that are normally closed to new investors |
PFE | Stock Picks 3 Biotechs On The Move | Three biotechs along with recent IPO Pinterest PINS are among our four charts to watch today
G1 Therapeutics Inc NASDAQ GTHX jumped 4 75 or 24 to 24 50 on 2 2 million shares Tuesday The move on over 5 times its average volume came on news of encouraging data from the company s phase 2 study of its trilaciclib treatment for metastatic triple negative breast cancer The stock has next resistance at its May high at 27 90 a move through which could take it to 30
Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc NASDAQ IOVA gained 45 cents to 22 40 on 2 3 million shares IOVA was among cancer therapy stocks moving on Monday s news that Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE will acquire cancer drug maker Array BioPharma Inc in a deal worth up to 11 4 billion The stock is near the top of the rising channel it s been in since gapping up a month ago and could see some consolidation before its next move with a target of 28
Nektar Therapeutics NASDAQ NKTR popped 1 47 to 35 17 on 1 1 million shares Tuesday on no news from the developer of drug candidates for cancer auto immune disease and chronic pain The stock is in a mini base pattern and needs to get through its recent double top at 35 80 A move through there could get it to 38 75 next
Pinterest Inc NYSE PINS rallied 95 cents to 28 80 on 8 7 million shares Tuesday The move came on no news from the online discovery service but followed bullish comments and coverage initiation Monday by a Wedbush analyst After exploding out of its recent IPO and then pulling back the stock is on the move again Next target would be the lateral resistance level at about 31
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PFE | Pfizer to cut around 2 percent of jobs through early next year | NEW YORK Reuters U S drugmaker Pfizer Inc N PFE plans to reduce its global headcount by around 2 percent through voluntary retirements and layoffs this year and early next year as it looks to streamline its corporate structure and eliminate some managerial roles and responsibilities Pfizer has around 90 000 employees worldwide Pfizer spokeswoman Sally Beatty said the job cuts were about creating a simpler more efficient structure and not achieving cost savings The job cuts were originally reported by CNBC The move follows the announcement earlier this month that Chief Operating Officer Albert Bourla would succeed Ian Read as chief executive in January The company also added new responsibilities for many of its top managers and hired a new chief digital officer
Shares of Pfizer were up 1 8 percent at 44 70 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange Its shares are up around 20 percent this year outperforming the Standard Poors 500 index which is up about 4 percent over the same period |
PFE | Pfizer Falls 3 | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE fell by 3 06 to trade at 42 75 by 15 29 19 29 GMT on Wednesday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Pfizer shares traded since the start of the session was 23 80M Pfizer has traded in a range of 42 74 to 44 29 on the day
The stock has traded at 44 8300 at its highest and 42 7500 at its lowest during the past seven days |
PFE | Pfizer Rises 3 | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE rose by 3 11 to trade at 43 80 by 11 21 15 21 GMT on Thursday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Pfizer shares traded since the start of the session was 13 80M Pfizer has traded in a range of 41 66 to 43 83 on the day
The stock has traded at 44 8300 at its highest and 41 9000 at its lowest during the past seven days |
PFE | European shares in tentative rebound after sell off HSBC shines | By Julien Ponthus LONDON Reuters European shares set for their worst monthly performance since August 2015 opened in positive territory on Monday in a tentative rebound from a sell off which has depressed them to a level not seen since December 2016 At 0957 GMT the pan European STOXX 600 STOXX was up 1 percent with most bourses firmly in the black with U S stock futures turning positive despite worries about China s slowing economy previously weighing on Asian shares European markets enjoyed a stronger start to the week despite a sell off in China as investors digested the impact of a trade war with the US on industrial earnings said Russ Mould investment director at AJ Bell The banking sector SX7P was the best performing one up 1 8 percent with HSBC L HSBA rising 4 5 percent after Europe s biggest bank by assets posted a higher than expected 28 percent rise in third quarter profit On the other hand Spain s state controlled Bankia MC BKIA was down 4 7 percent after posting lower than expected Q3 results Italian banks shone after rating agency S P kept its credit rating two notches above non investment grade for Italian sovereign bonds Banco BPM shares rose 3 3 percent Ubi Banca MI UBI 3 percent and Unicredit MI CRDI 2 5 percent Milan s FTSE MIB FTMIB posted the best regional rise up 1 2 percent while London s FTSE rose 0 9 percent with investors waiting to learn more about Britain s 2019 budget and what impact it might have on individual companies Frankfurt s GDAXI accelerated its gains to 1 3 percent after a senior party source said German Chancellor Angela Merkel would not seek re election as party chairwoman at a conference in early December The open of Paris CAC 40 FCHI resumed after being delayed due to technical issues and was up 0 3 percent Another strong performing sector was healthcare SXDP up 1 7 percent with Novartis S NOVN adding 1 9 percent
The Swiss group and Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE PFE N are teaming up to develop treatments for a liver disease many drug companies believe will become a hugely lucrative market as it is tied to the obesity and diabetes epidemics |
WFC | Wells Fargo beats on earnings but misses on revenue in Q4 | Investing com Wells Fargo the fourth largest U S bank reported better than expected fourth quarter earnings despite posting revenue figures which trailed forecasts it announced on Tuesday Earlier in the day in its fourth quarter earnings report Wells Fargo said earnings per share came in at USD1 00 above expectations for USD0 98 The bank s fourth quarter revenue totaled USD20 7 billion missing estimates for revenue of USD21 9 billion Immediately after the earnings announcement Wells Fargo shares fell 1 2 in trading prior to the opening bell Meanwhile the outlook for U S equity markets was modestly upbeat The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a gain of 0 15 S P 500 futures pointed to a rise of 0 2 and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated an increase of 0 15 |
WFC | U S stocks open higher on upbeat retail sales Dow Jones up 0 25 | Investing com U S stocks opened higher on Tuesday supported by the release of upbeat U S retail sales data after comments by Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart sent U S equities broadly lower on Monday
During early U S trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0 25 the S P 500 index rose 0 30 while the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 0 48
The U S Commerce Department said that retail sales rose by a seasonally adjusted 0 2 last month beating expectations for a 0 1 increase Retail sales for November were revised down to a 0 4 gain from a previously reported increase of 0 7
Core retail sales which exclude automobile sales edged up 0 7 last month above forecasts for a 0 4 increase Core sales rose by 0 1 in November
U S equities were hit on Monday after Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said that the U S central bank should push ahead with its efforts to wind down monetary stimulus
Financial stocks were in focus as Wells Fargo reported better than expected fourth quarter earnings but said revenue figures trailed forecasts sending shares down 1 01
JPMorgan Chase rallied 1 30 after reporting better than expected fourth quarter earnings and revenue The lender was recently in the spotlight after having to pay penalties for not reporting suspicions of fraud by Bernie Madoff
Among tech stocks Juniper Networks rose 0 39 after Bloomberg reported that the maker of computer networking equipment was being targeted by activist hedge fund Elliott Management
Separately Google gained 0 68 after saying it would purchase digital thermostat manufacturer Nest Labs for USD3 2 billion
In the pharmaceutical sector Merck Co tumbled 1 even though a preliminary review posted on the U S Food and Drug Administration s web site on Monday cited robustly positive clinical trial results for the U S drugmaker and said its blood clot preventing drug vorapaxar should be approved
Across the Atlantic European stock markets were lower The EURO STOXX 50 slipped 0 16 France s CAC 40 edged down 0 19 Germany s DAX fell 0 27 while Britain s FTSE 100 dipped 0 01
During the Asian trading session Hong Kong s Hang Seng Index dropped 0 43 while Japan s Nikkei 225 Index plunged 3 08 |
WFC | All That Glitters Is Not Gold Not Even Bitcoin | By Nobel Laureate economist Robert Shiller U S Treasury secretary Jack Lew and JPMorgan Chase Co NYSE JPM chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon all spoke out against bitcoin at the World Economic Forum in Davos
Speaking on a panel on the topic of digital trends in financial markets Shiller an expert in financial bubbles said that as a currency bitcoin is a return to the dark ages and a classic bubble
It is a bubble Shiller said according to the Business Insider There is no question about it It s just an amazing example of a bubble
Shiller added that the computer science behind the virtual currency is an inspiration it is not an economic advance
It s not such a great idea he said he tells his students but he s blown away by how much fascination the virtual currency has engendered
Lew and Dimon spoke on the regulations and possible abuses surrounding the virtual currency which can be handled anonymously
From the government s point of view we have to make sure it does not become an avenue to funding illegal activities or to funding activities that have malign purposes like terrorist activities Lew told CNBC at Davos It is an anonymous form of transaction and it offers places for people to hide
Dimon said that bitcoin would be subjected to the same regulatory standards as other payment systems and that will probably be the end of them JPMorgan has been cautious in offering services to entrepreneurs in virtual currency while rival bank Wells Fargo has launched a group to examine how it might offer bitcoin related services the Financial Times reported on Friday
The virtual currency has proven very volatile in the last year having experienced several peaks in value in late 2013 at times reaching over 1 000 before falling again due to a ban from Chinese banks
Dimon also echoed Shiller s sentiment and said that bitcoin is a terrible store of value that can be replicated over and over as well as used for illicit purposes |
WFC | In Q1 Wells Fargo s Cost Cutting Should Shine | By Wells Fargo Co NYSE WFC a bellwether for the mortgage and housing sector is expected to report a rise in profit in the first quarter of 2014 largely from strong expense control and less so from the release of reserves set aside for bad loans as higher rates have continued to eat into the bank s lucrative mortgage business
We anticipate there to be continued weakness in Wells Fargo s mortgage banking results because refinancing activities are down and those were supporting a good percentage of the volume that they were running through that channel said Edward Jones financial services analyst Shannon Stemm
You will probably hear them Wells Fargo management talk more about the work to right size that business and there have been headcount reductions trying to get the expense more in line with the new revenue level Stemm said
Wells Fargo is slated to report its first quarter results on Friday before markets open Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are projecting a 5 percent increase to 96 cents a share in first quarter earnings Revenue is forecast to decline by 3 percent to 20 60 billion In the same period a year earlier EPS was 92 cents on 21 26 billion in revenue
This could be the first time in years in which the company Wells Fargo does not post a sequential quarter increase in EPS KBW s Christopher Mutascio said Wells Fargo reported EPS of 1 00 a share in the fourth quarter of 2013 which marked the 16th consecutive quarter of profit growth
Weakness in trading results should impact Wells Fargo much less than some of its big bank peers given that Wells Fargo doesn t do nearly as much business on the investment banking and trading side
But when it comes to the more traditional banking side Stemm said she wouldn t be surprised if there is additional pressure on net interest margin the spread banks earn from borrowing and lending given the fact that interest rates are still sitting at a very low level
Mortgage Slump
The mortgage refinancing boom that helped Wells Fargo and others drum up business for years began to fizzle last summer Interest rates started moving higher in May 2013 when the Federal Reserve first suggested it could gradually start to reduce its support for the U S economy
The San Francisco based lender which originated nearly one in three U S mortgages in 2012 saw its home lending originations drop to 50 billion in the last three months of 2013 compared with the 125 billion a year earlier and 80 billion in the third quarter of 2013
Wells Fargo chief financial officer Timothy Sloan said at an investor conference in early February that he expected originations to continue to decline in the first quarter of 2014 But we expect the rate of decline to slow from the levels that we saw in the third and fourth quarters of last year he added
Given the unusually low interest rate environment we ve been in and thus really low mortgage rates there was a lot of refinancing activity as consumers took advantage of the lower rates Stemm said There was a quarter or two when three fourth of Wells Fargo s mortgage volume if not more was driven by refinancing versus new home purchases
What Wells Fargo is faced with is a sharp slowdown in refinancing activities but not enough new purchase activities to offset the slowdown While the housing market is certainly healthier today the activity is not enough to offset how much the volume Wells Fargo was doing on the refinancing side Stemm added
Recent data from Inside Mortgage Finance a trade publication indicates that the home loan market has experienced its worst quarter in nearly a decade and a half
In the first three months of the year mortgage origination amounted to 192 billion 26 percent lower sequentially than the fourth quarter of 2013 and 60 percent lower than the first quarter of 2013 The origination numbers were the weakest seen in the first three months of the year since 2000 when total home loan volume for the quarter was 122 billion That figure topped 600 billion in 2003
Amid the search for opportunities to stem its revenue decline as overall mortgage lending volume plunges Wells Fargo has decided to tiptoe back into subprime home loans the very business that brought the banking system to the brink of collapse in the financial crisis
Wells Fargo announced in February that the firm would begin originating purchase loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration with credit scores as low as 600 Previously the minimum was 640 which is often seen as the cutoff point between prime and subprime borrowers U S credit scores range from 300 to 850
To avoid being associated with the word subprime lenders are calling their loans another chance mortgages or alternative mortgage programs intended to boost housing demand from borrowers who have been forced to sit out the recovery of home prices in the past couple of years
Expense Control
To shore up profit as mortgage revenue has fallen Wells Fargo has moved to cut costs in part through laying off employees who process mortgages
The bank announced plans to eliminate 700 more jobs from its mortgage business in February The reductions are on top of 250 cuts made in January and more are possible in the coming months
Just last year alone Wells Fargo cut about 6 000 jobs in its mortgage business Total employment at year end was 264 900 according to the bank s earnings statement
Across the bank quarterly expenses were 58 5 percent of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2013 a slight drop from 58 8 percent in the year ago period
While we will have seasonally higher personnel costs in the first quarter we expect to have lower project spending and lower mortgage expenses reflecting a full quarter run rate from the reduced staffing that we announced in the third and the fourth quarters Sloan said in February He expects Wells Fargo s efficiency ratio to remain within the firm s target range of 55 percent to 59 percent in the first quarter
Reserve Release
Wells Fargo s earnings have benefited as its bad loan expenses have dropped sharply The amount the bank set aside in 2013 for loan loss reserves was 2 3 billion well below the 7 2 billion in 2012
Reserve releases an accounting maneuver that enables banks to add any money set aside for bad loans when credit quality improves to profits come at a time when banks are being slammed by revenue slowdowns
However banks can only rely so long on reserve releases to pad their bottom lines
We saw for a long time that reserve releases were helping to grow earnings despite the weakness in the revenue line Stemm said But at this point Wells Fargo is much more dependent on expense control to deliver that kind of consistent earnings generation given reserve releases are becoming smaller in magnitude
We anticipate that there will probably be minimal reserve releases in the first quarter Stemm added
Stock Performance
Wells Fargo has increased dividends aggressively since 2010 with the figure jumping from just over 1 billion in 2010 to almost 6 billion in 2013 The bank also sped up its share repurchases over the period
But the decision announced earlier this month to buy back as many as 350 million shares about 6 6 percent of its outstanding shares still came as a pleasant surprise to investors due to the sheer magnitude of the repurchase plan
We like the company s emphasis on returning capital to shareholders said Morningstar s Jim Sinegal Wells Fargo plans to eventually return 50 percent and 65 percent of its earnings in the form of dividends and repurchases
Investors are keen on Wells Fargo s stocks up more than 8 percent since the beginning of the year |
LB | U S futures hold on to gains after PPI data Dow up 0 3 | Investing com U S stock futures pointed to a higher open on Wednesday as stronger than expected earning reports from retailers such as Staples and Target boosted market sentiment Ahead of the open the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a gain of 0 3 the S P 500 futures rose 0 45 while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0 25 Stock index futures held on to gains after official data showed that both U S producer price inflation and core producer price inflation rose more than expected in July Meanwhile in earnings news the largest U S office supply retailer Staples saw shares rally 8 3 in pre market trade after it said second quarter profit rose 36 to USD176 4 million Revenue in the period rose 5 2 to USD5 82 billion above expectations for revenue of USD5 64 billion Discount retailer Target saw shares climb 5 5 after reporting better than expected second quarter earnings boosted by higher same store sales at its retail segment and growth in earnings at its credit card segment On the downside shares in the second largest U S personal computer maker Dell tumbled 7 2 after reporting lower than expected second quarter revenue citing sluggish consumer demand The downbeat results prompted the company to cut its earnings outlook for the rest of the year The world s largest agriculture equipment manufacturer Deere Company saw shares slump 1 8 despite reporting better than expected fiscal third quarter earnings as global farm equipment demand increased The upbeat results prompted the company to raise its full year earnings outlook Other notable earnings scheduled for Wednesday included technology firms JDS Uniphase and NetApp as well as retailer Limited Brands Across the Atlantic European stock markets were mixed after a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy failed to ease concerns over the euro zone s ongoing sovereign debt crisis The EURO STOXX 50 edged 0 1 lower France s CAC 40 rose 0 5 Germany s DAX fell 0 85 while Britain s FTSE 100 retreated 0 4 During the Asian trading session Hong Kong s Hang Seng Index rose 0 38 while Japan s Nikkei 225 Index declined 0 55 Later in the day the U S was to produce government data on crude oil stockpiles |
LB | Exclusive Some charities to refuse money from U S financier accused in sex case | By David Ingram NEW YORK Reuters Some charities that have received money from U S financier Jeffrey Epstein said they are reviewing their relationships with him or will decline to accept any future gifts from him in the wake of recent allegations he forced an underage girl to have sex with Britain s Prince Andrew and other powerful men Epstein 62 who pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring an underage girl for prostitution and served a year in a Florida jail has long burnished his reputation as a philanthropist through a series of foundations that he says have given millions of dollars to institutions ranging from Harvard University to a New York junior tennis league The allegations involving Epstein became a tabloid sensation on both sides of the Atlantic after lawyers for one of Epstein s accusers made them in a court filing just over a month ago It prompted strong denials from Prince Andrew and from prominent U S lawyer Alan Dershowitz who was also accused of having sex with the girl The filing has also renewed questions about Epstein s once close links to former U S President Bill Clinton though there are no allegations of any wrongdoing by Clinton In interviews with Reuters three recipients of Epstein s money said they would accept no more gifts at least while the recent allegations are under review They are a cancer researcher at New York City s Mount Sinai hospital who with colleagues received 50 000 in seed funding a mentoring program for young Swedish businesswomen that got 30 000 and Ballet Palm Beach in Florida which declined to say how much Epstein gave The further I can keep myself from anything like that the better Ballet Palm Beach founder Colleen Smith said in a phone interview Epstein did not respond to interview requests In response to two pages of written questions from Reuters a lawyer for Epstein said the financier s philanthropy has been widespread for an extensive period of time His efforts include making substantial contributions to scientific and medical progress and in helping children in providing them with the educational and technological tools necessary for their having a chance to succeed the lawyer Martin Weinberg said in an emailed statement It would be unfortunate if the recent media activity would in any way adversely impact Mr Epstein s efforts in any of these areas he added DIFFERENT WALKS OF LIFE Well before Epstein went to jail he saw philanthropy as a way to bring together people from different walks of life in settings ranging from his own mansions to academic conferences friends said His interest is in interesting people and interesting ideas said Arizona State University physicist Lawrence Krauss who directs a program on the origins of life that Epstein has supported He said he would feel cowardly if he turned away from Epstein because of accusations Krauss knew nothing about Epstein has touted his philanthropy through regular press releases such as one in November that referred to him as an unusual Harvard investor and private financier According to publicly available tax records Epstein has given money through at least three foundations One of the three dissolved in 2012 and a second disbursed only 107 000 in a recent 12 month period according to its tax return For the third foundation named the J Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation Inc but also doing business as Enhanced Education the most recent tax return Reuters could locate was from 2002 Epstein s primary residence is a private island off St Thomas in the U S Virgin Islands Epstein s total donations are difficult to estimate because Reuters had access only to publicly available tax records for foundations where there was confirmation of a link to Epstein In two cases Epstein boasted about donations he never made a major university said In a July 2014 press release Epstein claimed he provided critical funding for scientists at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to restore five Mark Rothko murals and in a September 2014 press release he said he gave money to the MIT Media Lab to teach toddlers computer programming The Rothko press release was simply not correct and was issued without our knowledge or agreement and the toddler press release was also completely incorrect said MIT Media Lab spokeswoman Alexandra Kahn in an email A press release issued by the Harvard Art Museums on the Rothko project credited eight funding sources none of them Epstein An MIT press release on the toddlers credited five sources and Epstein was not among them Epstein did not respond to questions about the MIT programs MILLIONS TO HARVARD The recipient of one of the largest donations from Epstein has been Harvard to which Epstein pledged 30 million in 2003 according to news reports at the time By 2006 when charges against Epstein were made public in Florida he had fulfilled at least 6 5 million of that pledge the reports said Harvard s then president said he would not return the money because it was doing good for science Harvard declined to comment to Reuters citing donor privacy Epstein s philanthropy website jeffreyepstein org had until recently listed about 20 charities he gave to last year By last week the page was no longer visible Little is known publicly about how Epstein made his money He has said that after working at investment bank Bear Stearns beginning in the 1970s he managed assets for billionaires such as Leslie Wexner founder of Victoria s Secret parent L Brands Inc The latest allegations against Epstein emerged on Dec 30 when lawyers said in a Florida federal court filing that Epstein trafficked a teenager for sexual purposes to prominent businessmen and public figures The woman and other accusers are asking a judge to examine Epstein s 2008 plea agreement with the U S Justice Department to see whether their rights as victims were violated NOT GIVING IT BACK No group interviewed by Reuters said it would give back money Doris Germain an associate professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai said she could not return the money because it was spent more than a year ago on breast cancer research I don t think I would accept money from him anymore but then you sort of wonder Germain said We happen to know what he s done but what about all the other people who are giving money to foundations We don t know what they re doing Is it all clean I don t know Epstein s money has been refused before In 2006 Eliot Spitzer a Democrat then running to become governor of New York returned about 50 000 in campaign contributions news reports said Spitzer did not respond to a request for comment In 2006 one of Epstein s three foundations gave 25 000 to Bill Clinton s foundation according to tax records Clinton s foundation did not respond to requests for comment Epstein flew Clinton to Africa in 2002 to talk about anti poverty and anti AIDS programs And according to flight records obtained by the website Gawker the former U S president traveled on Epstein s jet at least 10 other times between 2002 and 2003 Reuters was unable to independently confirm the flights Clinton could not be reached for comment At least two grant recipients in academia are standing by Epstein saying he remains a friend Krauss and Robert Trivers a Rutgers University biologist Trivers said Epstein is a person of integrity who should be given credit for serving time in prison and for settling civil lawsuits brought by women who said they were abused Did he get an easy deal Did he buy himself a light sentence Well yes probably compared to what you or I would get but he did get locked up Trivers said He said he got about 40 000 from Epstein to study the relationship between knee symmetry and sprinting ability Trivers also said he believes girls mature earlier than in the past By the time they re 14 or 15 they re like grown women were 60 years ago so I don t see these acts as so heinous he said Another recipient of Epstein s foundations Ira Lamster a former dean of the Columbia University dental school said he has not asked Epstein for funding since getting 100 000 about three years ago to study the relationship between diabetes and oral health
Am I glad I didn t go back for additional funding he said I guess I am but in my interactions with him he was always a gentleman |
LB | L Brands Q3 Earnings Beat But Holiday Forecast Misses The Mark | L Brands Inc NYSE LB late Wednesday posted better than expected third quarter earnings results but offered a weak third quarter outlook for the pivotal holiday period
The Columbus OH based company reported Q3 EPS of 0 42 beating out Wall Street s 0 40 estimate by two cents Revenues rose 4 from last year to 2 58 billion also edging out analyst estimates of 2 56 billion LB had issued guidance for the quarter of EPS of 0 40 and revenue of 2 58 billion Comparable sales in Q3 rose 2 which was in line with the company s guidance published earlier this month Victoria s Secret comps fell 1 while Bath Body Works rose of 7
Looking ahead the operator of Victoria s Secret PINK Bath Body Works La Senza and Henri Bendel retail chains offered disappointing guidance for the all important holiday quarter LB expects Q4 EPS to range from 1 85 to 2 00 which could be well short of the 2 02 that analysts are looking for
L Brands shares declined 0 83 1 22 to 67 10 in after hours trading Wednesday Prior to today s report LB had fallen 29 22 year to date versus an 6 87 rise in the benchmark S P 500 during the same period |
PFE | Protalix PLX Completes Enrollment In Fabry Disease Study | Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc NYSE PLX announced completion of enrollment in a phase III study evaluating its pipeline candidate PRX 102 pegunigalsidase alfa for the treatment of Fabry disease a rare inherited genetic lysosomal disorder The phase III BRIGHT study evaluated the safety efficacy and pharmacokinetics PK of PRX 102 through intravenous IV infusions of 2 mg kg administered once every four weeks to patients previously treated with an enzyme replacement therapy ERT Fabrazyme or Replagal for 12 months Moreover the study compared PRX 102 with the current standard of care treatment regimen of infusions every two weeks Fabrazyme currently marketed by Sanofi NASDAQ SNY is already approved for treating Fabry disease Replagal too won the nod for addressing the same To date all patients who enrolled in the BRIGHT program decided to continue treatment under the 4 week dosing regimen in a long term extension study Shares of Protalix have surged 35 8 so far this year outperforming the increase of 1 4 Notably last January the FDA granted a Fast Track designation to PRX 102 for the treatment of Fabry disease In early 2019 Protalix had a productive meeting with the FDA to discuss the potential filing of its application for the accelerated approval of PRX 102 Last month the company announced that it plans to hold a follow up meeting in the second quarter of 2019 to discuss the data and content of the potential filing for an expedited nod We would like to remind investors that Protalix has a single marketed drug Elelyso approved for treating Gaucher disease The drug is marketed by Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE in the United States as part of an exclusive license and supply agreement The company is also developing OPRX 106 as an orally delivered anti inflammatory treatment In 2018 it delivered positive results from its phase II study of OPRX 106 for the treatment of ulcerative colitis Zacks Rank Key PickProtalix currently has a Zacks Rank 4 Sell A better ranked stock in the healthcare sector is Acorda Therapeutics Inc NASDAQ ACOR which sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy You can see Acorda s loss per share estimates have been narrowed 6 5 for 2019 and 6 9 for 2020 over the past 60 days Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple Digit Profit PotentialThe biotech sector is projected to surge beyond 775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases They re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases Zacks has just released Century of Biology 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of 98 119 and 164 in as little as 1 month The stocks in this report could perform even better |
PFE | Pfizer Falls 3 | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE fell by 3 to trade at 43 13 by 11 05 15 05 GMT on Thursday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Pfizer shares traded since the start of the session was 10 35M Pfizer has traded in a range of 43 01 to 44 49 on the day
The stock has traded at 45 81 at its highest and 43 06 at its lowest during the past seven days |
PFE | Pfizer settles New York probe into deceptive copay coupons | By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK Reuters Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE on Thursday settled charges by New York s attorney general that it misled consumers in its drug copayment coupon program into thinking they would pay far less to fill prescriptions than they ended up having to shell out The drugmaker agreed to pay 500 000 in fines and costs and make more than 200 000 in restitution over the coupons which can help consumers burdened by health insurance plans that carry high copayments and deductibles Pfizer s coupons said consumers would PAY NO MORE THAN 15 20 or 25 for Estring to treat vaginal atrophy Quillivant XR and Quillichew ER for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Flector patches for acute pain from minor injuries New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said this was deceptive because Pfizer buried limits on the total savings in the small print and that thousands of consumers ended up paying much more Underwood said one woman got a surprise at her pharmacy register when she was required to pay 144 62 for Estring instead of the promised 15 maximum The settlement resolves claims from 2014 to 2017 and Underwood said the rate at which New York consumers paid more than the advertised maximums went up over time Pfizer changed the text of its coupons this year to say consumers could pay as little as specified amounts The New York based company acknowledged some of the attorney general s findings but did not admit or deny liability Pfizer confirmed the settlement and said reimbursements will go to consumers who used coupons in the last three years
It refunded 129 62 to the woman who paid 144 62 for Estring after the attorney general s office intervened according to a footnote in the settlement agreement |
WFC | U S stocks open lower ISM report ahead Dow Jones down 0 43 | Investing com U S stocks opened lower on Thursday as the release of disappointing U S jobless claims data weighed on market sentiment while investors eyed an upcoming report on U S manufacturing activity During early U S trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0 43 the S P 500 index declined 0 47 while the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 0 61 Market sentiment weakened after the U S Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending December 28 declined by 2 000 to a seasonally adjusted 339 000 Analysts had expected U S jobless claims to fall by 7 000 to 334 000 last week from the previous week s revised total of 341 000 Markets were also jittery after a report on Thursday showed that China s final HSBC PMI inched down to 50 5 in December from a reading of 50 8 in November The data was published one day after a government report showed that China s manufacturing PMI fell to a four month low of 51 0 last month from 51 4 in November and worse than forecasts for a decline to 51 2 Hertz Global Holdings climbed 0 59 as the car rental company said earlier in the week that it had adopted a one year shareholder rights plan after unusual and substantial activity in its shares Phillips 66 slid 0 34 after saying Berkshire Hathaway would exchange about USD1 4 billion in shares to acquire a unit that produces chemicals to improve pipeline flow Berkshire Hathaway shares slipped 0 22 at the open of the U S trading session In the tech sector Apple tumbled 1 10 after Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform Elsewhere Wal Mart saw shares rise 0 22 after the retailer said it had recalled donkey meat sold in China after tests showed the food contained the DNA of other animals Across the Atlantic European stock markets were lower The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 0 92 France s CAC 40 lost 1 07 Germany s DAX declined 0 80 while Britain s FTSE 100 fell 0 26 During the Asian trading session Hong Kong s Hang Seng Index added 0 14 while Japan s Nikkei 225 Index remained shut for a national holiday Later in the day the Institute of Supply Management was to release a report on manufacturing activity in the U S |
WFC | U S stocks open mixed Bernanke speech ahead Dow Jones up 0 31 | Investing com U S stocks opened mixed on Friday as markets were jittery ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke scheduled later in the day During early U S trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0 31 the S P 500 index added 0 25 while the Nasdaq Composite index inched up 0 02 Market sentiment weakened earlier after data showed that China s non manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 54 6 in December from a reading of 56 0 the previous month Reports earlier in the week showed that China s final HSBC PMI inched down to 50 5 in December from a reading of 50 8 in November while China s manufacturing PMI fell to a four month low of 51 0 last month from 51 4 in November Aircraft manufacturer Boeing saw shares climb 0 79 as the company s machinists were preparing to vote on a contract that would see benefit cuts in exchange for building the 777X aircraft in the Seattle area Leaders from the union had rejected an initial contract in November FireEye skyrocketed 26 44 after the global network security company said it is acquiring Mandiant Corp in a USD1 05 billion deal that consolidates providers of services that protect computer networks against hackers and spies Elsewhere 21st Century Fox rallied 2 07 amid reports it sold its minority stake in Star China TV in part of a strategy to divest businesses in which the company can t gain majority ownership Analog Devices edged up 0 08 after Goldman Sachs Group reduced the circuit manufacturer to sell from neutral and Wells Fargo cut the stock to market perform from outperform On the downside Sprint shares plummeted 4 04 after Stifel Nicolaus Co downgraded the operator to sell from hold Across the Atlantic European stock markets were higher The EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0 47 France s CAC 40 gained 0 56 Germany s DAX advanced 0 49 while Britain s FTSE 100 rose 0 31 During the Asian trading session Hong Kong s Hang Seng Index plummeted 2 24 while Japan s Nikkei 225 Index remained shut for a national holiday |
WFC | US Housing Sector In 2014 Will Flipping Decelerate | By A remarkable U S housing recovery in 2013 where home prices rose about 12 percent may have been driven mostly by business oriented investors who bought cheap foreclosed homes and quickly flipped them for profit according to real estate experts Housing price gains were driven largely by investors who were buying property at bottom of market prices wrote Jeff Taylor managing partner of major mortgage risk company Digital Risk in an email to IBTimes But as the supply of foreclosed and lender owned properties dwindled and prices spiked investors began to exit their investments in the last quarter of 2014 leading to a slowdown in housing price growth toward the end of the year he said To maintain aggressive housing price growth in 2014 will require the return of the retail buyer which is only marginally likely he continued Limited growth in income higher interest rates and other factors will mitigate return of this type of buyer The upshot Housing prices are likely to appreciate substantially less in 2014 since business investors are hard to replace Next week the Mortgage Bankers Association will forecast that loan originations including new home buying and mortgage refinancing will hit its lowest level since 2000 according to the Wall Street Journal That could hurt the revenues at big banks like Wells Fargo Co NYSE WFC the country s largest mortgage lender Standard Poor s Financial Services LLC which produces the monthly benchmark Case Shiller home price index expects a 6 percent increase in home prices in 2014 or half the rate of 2013 advances That compares with historical averages of 4 percent to 5 percent Part of the problem could be a recent rise in mortgage interest rates S P forecasts that the 30 year fixed rate mortgage interest will rise to 4 6 percent in 2014 from 4 2 percent toward the end of 2013 Mortgage rates have risen since May 2013 averaging 4 7 percent last week Higher interest rates make mortgages more expensive to maintain and discourage refinancing The U S held 13 1 trillion in collective outstanding mortgage debt in late 2013 according to the Federal Reserve down from 14 4 trillion in 2009 In December Fed economists said in a research paper that investors buying up single family homes could both benefit and harm the real estate market Business investor activity has likely aided the recovery in certain housing markets by helping to clear the inventory of vacant and foreclosed homes Fed economists Raven Molloy and Rebecca Zarutskie wrote on Dec 5 Nonetheless investor activity may pose risks to local housing markets if investors have difficulties managing such large stocks of rental properties or fail to adequately maintain their homes they continued If an investor suffers financial distress it may be forced to sell a large number of homes at once or cut maintenance expenditures which could lower house prices in the surrounding area They concluded that since business investment portfolios were a small portion of overall home buying they didn t pose a significant risk to financial stability But they d be on the watch if investor portfolios expanded significantly or if they used too much debt to buy homes For firms that lend to small time real estate investors often wealthy individuals or small companies business has boomed Regional lender Lima One Capital active in Georgia and the Carolinas doubled its loans from 2012 to 2013 with a 180 percent uptick in loan values It plans to expand to eight new states in 2014 as it predicts real estate business investment will continue to flourish Lima One s loans averaged 166 000 in December 2013 including a 1 2 million loan in Atlanta s upscale Buckhead neighborhood We anticipate the flipping market will increase Lima One Capital CEO John Warren told IBTimes He agreed that flipping broadly drove up home prices In some poorer neighborhoods major institutional investors like the 248 billion Blackstone Group LP NYSE BX have driven up prices said Warren Blackstone bought thousands of U S homes in 2013 often to rent out to tenants and marketed a new type of real estate bond backed by rental income with Deutsche Bank AG USA NYSE DB late in the year The company is the largest owner of single family homes in the U S with its real estate business worth at least 60 billion in assets managed Bonds back ed by the underlying houses or rental income could become a medium through which house prices are bid up to unsustainable levels warned Fed economists in their December paper in a footnote They could also spur shadow banking if public markets developed a taste for these new types of bonds Tighter mortgage lending rules that came into effect Friday could also impact mortgage applications reported Reuters Friction from new regulations will greatly reduce mortgage origination volume wrote Taylor Some 9 3 million U S residential properties were still worth significantly less than their original values according to a RealtyTrac report from Thursday Almost half of homes in foreclosure were deeply underwater meaning their home values plummeted U S homeownership stands at about 64 percent Experts seem ambivalent on business investment and its potential importance or benefit to U S housing The lower than average homeownership rate and swarm of investor purchases might or might not be a long term model for U S housing wrote S P analyst Devi Aurora earlier this week |
WFC | U S futures steady ahead of data earnings Dow Jones up 0 07 | Investing com U S stock futures pointed to a steady open on Tuesday as markets eyed the release of U S data and earnings reports later in the day after comments by Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart on Monday pressured equity markets Ahead of the open the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0 07 gain S P 500 futures signaled a 0 11 rise while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0 06 uptick U S equities were hit on Monday after Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said that the U S central bank should push ahead with its efforts to wind down monetary stimulus The comments came after Friday s data showing that the U S economy added far fewer jobs than expected in December cast doubts over the strength of the recovery in the labor market and fuelled expectations that the Federal Reserve will maintain loose monetary policy for longer The pharmaceutical sector was expected to remain in focus after a preliminary review posted on the U S Food and Drug Administration s web site on Monday cited robustly positive clinical trial results for Merck Co and said its blood clot preventing drug vorapaxar should be approved Shares in the U S drugmaker dropped 0 45 in pre market trade after rallying over 6 on Monday Among tech stocks Juniper Networks advanced 0 67 in early trading after Bloomberg reported that the maker of computer networking equipment was being targeted by activist hedge fund Elliott Management Elsewhere Yum Brands was down 0 76 after hours as the owner of the KFC and Pizza Hut brands said same store sales rose 2 in China last month below market expectations Other stocks likely to be in focus included JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo scheduled to report fourth quarter results later in the day Across the Atlantic European stock markets were lower The EURO STOXX 50 declined 0 42 France s CAC 40 retreated 0 43 Germany s DAX lost 0 60 while Britain s FTSE 100 slipped 0 27 During the Asian trading session Hong Kong s Hang Seng Index dropped 0 43 while Japan s Nikkei 225 Index plunged 3 08 Later in the day the U S was to produce data on retail sales as well as reports on import prices and business inventories |
LB | L Brands LB Trims Q3 Earnings Guidance Stock Down | Shares of L Brands Inc NYSE LB declined roughly 6 during the after market trading session on Oct 31 The move came after this specialty retailer of women s intimate and other apparel beauty and personal care products provided soft comparable store sales forecast for October and trimmed its third quarter fiscal 2016 earnings projection This Columbus OH based company now expects October comparable store sales to inch up 1 However that is below analysts expectations and lower than 3 growth registered in the month of September Further management now envisions a 2 decline in comparable store sales at Victoria s Secret but an increase of 6 at Bath Body Works L Brands had earlier projected comparable store sales to be approximately flat year over year in the third quarter Apart from lower than expected October comparable store sales forecast L Brands now expects third quarter earnings to be 40 cents a share reflecting a year over year decline of approximately 27 from 55 cents delivered in the year ago period Management had previously projected earnings in the band of 40 45 cents a share The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the third quarter is currently pegged at 45 cents which is likely to witness a downward revision in the coming days following the company s trimmed guidance L Brands sustained focus on cost containment inventory management merchandise and speed to market initiatives has kept it afloat in a soft consumer environment However the competitive retail landscape and short term challenges such as foreign currency headwinds are likely to weigh upon the company s performance L Brands which carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold is slated to release its third quarter fiscal 2016 results on Nov 16 L BRANDS INC Price and EPS Surprise Stocks to ConsiderInvestors interested in the retail space may consider some better ranked stocks such as American Eagle Outfitters Inc NYSE AEO DSW Inc NYSE DSW and Boot Barn Holdings Inc NYSE BOOT all carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see American Eagle Outfitters delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 9 3 over the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 11 8 DSW delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 24 over the trailing four quarters and has a long term earnings growth rate of 8 3 Boot Barn Holdings has a long term earnings growth rate of 14 5 Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
LB | L Brands LB Beats Q3 Profit Estimate Down 2 On Weak Outlook | L Brands Inc NYSE LB just released its third quarter fiscal 2016 financial results after the bell posting earnings of 42 cents per share and revenues of 2 58 billion LB is a 3 Hold on the Zacks Rank and is down almost 2 to 66 60 per share in after hours trading
Beat earnings estimates The company reported earnings of 42 cents per share surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents per share but declining 24 year over year
Matched revenue estimates The company saw revenue figures of 2 51 billion matching our consensus estimate of 2 583 billion and increasing 4 year over year
Company wide L Brands reported a comparable sales including stores and direct sales increase of 2 Victoria s Secret saw a 1 decline in comps while Bath Body Works posted a 7 increase in comps
Third quarter operating income decreased 16 to 283 6 million compared to 338 8 million last year and net income was 121 6 million compared to 164 0 million last year
Looking ahead to its holiday quarter the company expects EPS to be in the range of 1 85 to 2 00 down from 2 15 per share a year ago
Here s a graph that looks at L Brands price consensus and EPS surprise L BRANDS INC Price Consensus and EPS Surprise L Brands Inc operates as a retailer of women s intimate and other apparel beauty and personal care products and accessories primarily in the United States Its brand includes Victoria s Secret Victoria s Secret Pink Bath Body Works La Senza and Henri Bendel The company sells its product through franchise license wholesale partners websites catalogue and other channels L Brands Inc formerly known as Limited Brands Inc is headquartered in Columbus Ohio
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PFE | With drugs pipeline in focus Bayer considers job cuts source | By Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss FRANKFURT Reuters Bayer DE BAYGN is considering job cuts and outsourcing as part of a wide ranging review of drug research and development that will last until at least November a person familiar with the company told Reuters The prospect of very tangible changes contributed to a decision by key board members to extend the contract of Hartmut Klusik the 62 year old head of personnel which was due to expire at the end of the year the source said That decision is due to be signed off by the full board in September The savings that Bayer the inventor of aspirin and maker of Yasmin birth control pills could make as part of the overhaul would give it financial wiggle room as it competes with larger rivals to buy the right to promising treatments from biotech firms Bayer which is due to release second quarter results on Wednesday is under pressure from investors to make purchases or do licensing deals that they say are needed to ensure the long term independence of the pharmaceutical division But any major external expansion is unlikely until after the review is complete the source said A company spokesman declined to comment on Klusik any potential job cuts or outsourcing An extension of Klusik s contract had been in doubt two sources familiar with the company said This is because drug production at Bayer s Leverkusen plant in Germany was found to be substandard by U S regulators in February and this fell under his remit Bayer has said it launched the R D review starting in January when drug development head Joerg Moeller was given additional control over research and discovery in January to seamlessly steer R D activities A new team reporting directly to Moeller has just been appointed to help map out the new setup a third source said The review will look at whether drug testing services should be outsourced to cheaper contractors Labor representatives who are worried about jobs moving outside the company are involved in the talks the first source said WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY After Bayer s 63 billion acquisition of Monsanto NYSE MON which was concluded on June 7 profits depend equally on farming supplies and pharmaceuticals Without an upgrade of the drugs pipeline analysts say the balance could swing in favor of the agriculture unit Revenues from the drug unit s top products blood thinner Xarelto and eye drug Eylea will peak over the next six years That gives Bayer a window of one two three years to license something in and if not to show that something is yet to emerge from its earlier stage pipeline said Frankfurt based fund manager Markus Manns at Union Investment who holds Bayer shares Analysts say a better pipeline is crucial to preserving the independence of a pharma business that ranks 15th place among global peers with about half the revenues of top three Novartis NOVN S Pfizer NYSE PFE PFE N and Roche ROG S If Bayer consisted only of its pharma division they would certainly be an attractive takeover target and would probably not prevail on a standalone basis said Manns The sources said that CEO Werner Baumann and Chairman Werner Wenning s push to acquire Monsanto was meant to render Bayer immune to unwanted overtures from larger pharmaceutical rivals The Bayer spokesman declined to comment LIMITED FIREPOWER Bayer has said its six most promising experimental treatments had an annual peak sales potential of at least 6 billion euros CEO Baumann said in May that with 50 projects in the clinical stage pharma development was well positioned Investors have said Bayer s November deal with Loxo Oncology to jointly develop cancer drug larotrectinib was a step in the right direction A number of drug development projects fell short recently including a trial on drug anetumab ravtansine against an asbestos linked type of cancer and a bid to widen the use of prostate cancer drug Xofigo Other problems are also piling up for CEO Baumann These include the prospect of years of lawsuits against Monsanto the order by U S regulators to fix production problems in Germany and weak sales of consumer healthcare products For a factbox
Financial firepower for expansion is limited Standard Poor s cut its credit rating to triple B in the wake of the Monsanto deal Bayer has said it will pay back debt to return to a single A rating |
PFE | Lilly s Elanco unit expects IPO to raise up to 1 45 billion | Reuters Eli Lilly Co s Elanco Animal Health unit on Thursday said it expects its initial public offering of 62 9 million shares to raise up to 1 45 billion The IPO is expected to be priced between 20 23 per share At the high end of the range the company would have a valuation of about 8 billion In July Lilly said it would take Elanco public marking the end of a nine month review that weighed options for the unit Analysts have cited the strong growth of top animal health company Zoetis Inc NYSE ZTS since Pfizer NYSE PFE listed it about five years ago Zoetis IPO raised 2 2 billion and the company currently has a market capitalization of 43 billion
For the six months ended June 30 Elanco s net income was 9 9 million and the company brought in revenue of 1 5 billion |
WFC | U S futures edge higher as markets eye budget talks Dow Jones up 0 11 | Investing com U S stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Friday as market sentiment improved amid growing hopes for a deal on the U S budget before the debt ceiling deadline is reached next week Ahead of the open the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0 11 rise S P 500 futures signaled a 0 06 gain while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0 12 increase No deal emerged after a 90 minute meeting between President Barack Obama and Republican leaders on Thursday but talks continued into the night in an effort to reopen the government and avoid a possible U S debt default Republicans offered to extend the government s borrowing authority for several weeks temporarily putting off a default while Obama was pushing to also reopen government operations that have been closed since October 1 U S Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated Thursday that the U S will reach its debt ceiling on October 17 and warned that the political crisis is starting to hurt the economy The comments came during testimony to the Senate finance committee Google was expected to be in focus after the Financial Times reported late Thursday that the company funneled USD12 billion of royalty payments to Bermuda last year a quarter more than in 2011 Google shares were up 0 17 in pre market trade In earnings news Micron the largest U S maker of memory chips reported fiscal fourth quarter sales that exceeded market expectations However Wells Fargo Co lowered its recommendation on the stock to underperform from market perform sending shares down 2 17 in early trading Time Warner Cable was also likely to be active after it and Univision Communications a media group that caters to Hispanic Americans agreed to extend their partnership and deliver more content to Time Warner subscribers The news sent shares in Time Warner Cable up over 6 on Thursday Other stocks likely to remain in focus included JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo both due to report third quarter earnings before the open Across the Atlantic European stock markets were higher The EURO STOXX 50 added 0 14 France s CAC 40 inched up 0 01 Germany s DAX rose 0 28 while Britain s FTSE 100 gained 0 72 During the Asian trading session Hong Kong s Hang Seng Index jumped 1 16 while Japan s Nikkei 225 Index rallied 1 48 Later in the day the University of Michigan was to release preliminary data on consumer sentiment |
WFC | U S stocks open lower despite hopes of debt deal Dow Jones down 0 02 | Investing com U S stocks opened slightly lower on Friday even as U S lawmakers seemed to be moving closer to a budget deal before the debt ceiling deadling is reached next week During early U S trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0 02 the S P 500 index fell 0 10 while the Nasdaq Composite index edged down 0 09 Hopes for progress on the U S budget front lifted sentiment after Republicans on Thursday offered to extend the government s borrowing authority for several weeks temporarily putting off a default while Obama was pushing to also reopen government operations that have been closed since October 1 No deal emerged after a 90 minute meeting between President Barack Obama and Republican leaders but talks continued into the night U S Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated Thursday that the U S will reach its debt ceiling on October 17 and warned that the political crisis is starting to hurt the economy The comments came during testimony to the Senate finance committee Google shares slipped 0 20 after the Financial Times reported late Thursday that the company funneled USD12 billion of royalty payments to Bermuda last year a quarter more than in 2011 In earnings news JPMorgan Chaset topped market expectations but still posted a quarterly loss due to legal expenses Shares rallied 1 33 following the report On the downside Wells Fargo plummeted 1 91 despite quarterly earnings that hit a record as loans and deposits surged in the three months to September Micron the largest U S maker of memory chips reported fiscal fourth quarter sales that exceeded market expectations However Wells Fargo Co lowered its recommendation on the stock to underperform from market perform sending shares down 4 23 Adding to losses Time Warner Cable fell 0 29 after it and Univision Communications a media group that caters to Hispanic Americans agreed to extend their partnership and deliver more content to Time Warner subscribers Across the Atlantic European stock markets were higher The EURO STOXX 50 added 0 21 France s CAC 40 inched up 0 02 Germany s DAX rose 0 37 while Britain s FTSE 100 gained 0 74 During the Asian trading session Hong Kong s Hang Seng Index jumped 1 16 while Japan s Nikkei 225 Index rallied 1 48 Later in the day the University of Michigan was to release preliminary data on consumer sentiment |
WFC | U S stocks gain on optimism for D C stalemate end Dow rises 0 73 | Investing com U S stocks rose on Friday over hopes talks between the White House and Congress will lead to a spending package needed to fund the government and put to rest concerns the country will hit its debt ceiling and risk default At the close of U S trading the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0 73 the S P 500 index rose 0 63 while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0 83 Expectations for an end to the U S fiscal deadlock grew after Republicans on Thursday offered to extend the government s borrowing authority for several weeks temporarily staving off a default which sent stocks rising in a relief rally The White House has yet to agree on the offer though talks between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans continued Friday which boosted spirits despite a disappointing consumer sentiment report U S Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated Thursday that the U S will reach its debt ceiling on Oct 17 and warned that the political crisis is starting to hurt the economy Lew was making his comments during testimony before the Senate finance committee The Thomson Reuters University of Michigan s preliminary consumer sentiment index for October fell to 75 2 from 77 5 in September Analysts were expecting a downtick to 76 0 The study also found that inflation expectations for this month declined to 2 9 from 3 3 in September Solid quarterly earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo boosted stock prices as well Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Johnson Johnson up 1 91 Visa up 1 59 and Goldman Sachs up 1 23 The Dow Jones Industrial Average s worst performers included DuPont down 0 62 Boeing down 0 57 and Merck down 0 40 European indices meanwhile finished higher After the close of European trade the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0 10 France s CAC 40 rose 0 04 while Germany s DAX 30 rose 0 45 Meanwhile in the U K the FTSE 100 finished up 0 88 |
WFC | Gold weakens on upbeat Dudley comments rising stock prices | Investing com Gold prices dropped on Monday after Federal Reserve Bank of New President William C Dudley said he was hopeful the U S economy will see better days ahead and stoked hopes that the U S central bank will begin scaling back stimulus tools more likely sooner than later likely in early 2014 Stimulus tools such as the Fed s USD85 billion in monthly bond prices seek to spur recovery by driving down interest rates weakening the U S dollar in the process and thus making gold an attractive hedge On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1 273 00 during U S afternoon hours down 1 12 Gold prices hit a session low of USD1 269 60 a troy ounce and high of USD1 289 00 a troy ounce Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1 260 70 a troy ounce Tuesday s low and resistance at USD1 293 60 Thursday s high The December contract settled up 0 09 at USD1 287 40 a troy ounce on Friday Dudley said he was growing increasingly hopeful that the U S economy is improving and added fiscal uncertainties may no longer be dragging down recovery as in recent months While growth in 2013 has been disappointing I believe a good case can be made that the pace of growth will pick up some in 2014 and then somewhat more in 2015 The private sector of the economy should continue to heal while the amount of fiscal drag should subside Dudley said in prepared remarks of a speech he delivered at Queens College Flushing New York Despite near term concerns growth prospects among our major trading partners will improve further next year This combination of events is likely to create an environment in which business investment spending will strengthen Comments from Dudley often viewed as a policy dove pushed gold prices lower by stoking sentiments that the Fed will announce plans to scale back asset purchases in early 2014 likely around March Dudley said he was looking forward to seeing that recovery pick up soon I have to admit that I am getting more hopeful he said Not only do we have some better data in hand but also the fiscal drag which has been holding the economy back is likely to abate considerably over the next few years at the same time that the fundamental underpinnings of the economy are improving Elsewhere National Association of Home Builders Wells Fargo Housing Market Index came in unchanged in November at 54 missing analysts calls for an uptick to 55 this month though metals markets shrugged off the report Elsewhere on the Comex silver for December delivery was down 1 80 at USD20 353 a troy ounce while copper for December delivery was down 0 57 and trading at USD3 153 a pound |
WFC | U S stocks erase gains on Icahn warning Dow up 0 09 | Investing com U S stocks finished Monday mixed to lower after noted investor Carl Icahn said he was cautious on stocks which broke into record high territory earlier on sentiments the Federal Reserve will keep its stimulus programs in place to bolster the economy Stimulus tools such as the Fed s USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases aim to spur recovery by driving down interest rates boosting stock prices in the process At the close of U S trading the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0 09 the S P 500 index fell 0 37 while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0 93 The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke 16 000 for the first time earlier while the S P 500 broke above 1 800 for the first time on widespread sentiments that the Fed will continue purchasing bonds through early 2014 before letting the economy stand on its own two feet On Monday however Icahn said at the Reuters Global Investment Outlook Summit that he was very cautious on stocks and his comments kicked in a round of profit taking later in the session on fears earnings haven t been reflecting frothy equities prices Elsewhere on Monday Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C Dudley said he was hopeful for more a more robust economy in the near future though he avoided hinting at when he felt the Fed may announce plans to taper its asset purchases I have to admit that I am getting more hopeful Dudley said in prepared remarks of a speech he delivered at Queens College Flushing New York Not only do we have some better data in hand but also the fiscal drag which has been holding the economy back is likely to abate considerably over the next few years at the same time that the fundamental underpinnings of the economy are improving Elsewhere National Association of Home Builders Wells Fargo Housing Market Index came in unchanged in November at 54 missing analysts calls for an uptick to 55 this month Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Boeing up 1 68 JPMorgan up 1 59 and Verizon up 0 90 The Dow Jones Industrial Average s worst performers included Microsoft down 1 78 Cisco down 1 14 and Visa down 1 02 European indices meanwhile finished higher After the close of European trade the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0 93 France s CAC 40 rose 0 66 while Germany s DAX 30 rose 0 62 Meanwhile in the U K the FTSE 100 finished up 0 45 On Tuesday the U S is to release data on the employment cost index an important inflationary indicator |
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