Archive for May 8th, 2008
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Posted by: in Latest News
Filed under: Deals, Market matters, Allergan (AGN), Citigroup Inc. (C), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Unilever ADR (UL), Stocks to Buy, Cramer on BloggingStocks
 TheStreet.com’s Jim Cramer states the exchange rate plus big undervaluations make the great brands prime targets.
There’s always been a groupthink in Europe about currencies. The companies that want to buy American companies have, at times, seemed to care more about the currency, or at least not buying a company in a country whose currency is in decline, than they care about the actual target.
That’s what it looks like now that a large German company and now a huge Italian company have decided to begin splurging. It is no coincidence that Deutsche Tel (NYSE: DT) (Cramer’s Take) and Finmeccanica are exploring Sprint (NYSE: S) (Cramer’s Take) and DRS (NYSE: DRS) (Cramer’s Take). These companies are selling for something like 40% off for those bearing euros, and neither potential acquirer has debt problems or subprime issues, so the deals don’t have massive borrowing problems.
That’s what I’m thinking about when I see the better-than-expected figures this day from Unilever (NYSE: UL) (Cramer’s Take) and the other day from Nestle. These companies are part of that same groupthink. They are looking, no doubt, at a Heinz (NYSE: HNZ) (Cramer’s Take) and thinking, “Wait, that’s about a $10 billion company that’s a global leader.”
Or how about Allergan (NYSE: AGN) (Cramer’s Take)? That was a $20 billion company that’s down to $16 billion in dollars and about $12 billion as a translation to euros.
These are just too cheap for these companies to ignore, and much more of a healthy franchise than Sprint and a more important franchise than DRS.
We’re all possessed right now with the “imminent” catastrophe of someone — Citi (NYSE: C) (Cramer’s Take), Cerberus, ResMed (NYSE: RMD) (Cramer’s Take)? Somebody.
And those worries have continued to put a lid on many of our valuations. That, plus the subtle part of the slowdown — botox use not accelerating that fast and breast augmentation slowing down in the U.S., as Allergan stated to me last night on “Mad Money” — makes people too nervous about some solid, non-financial situations.
Yesterday was really hideous. But this market doesn’t have much of a memory. Go back over the franchises with great brands that have been crushed both here in stock and there in currency.
These are no longer going to be needles in a haystack.
Random musings: Like Quanta (NYSE: PWR) (Cramer’s Take), a sleeper that I liked for utilities, Willbros (NYSE: WG) (Cramer’s Take) — a company that I was harping on as way too cheap and brought the CEO on “Mad Money” to bolster my case — finally delivered the blowout I was looking for. I have the ability to comprehend anyone’s desire to take profits on PWR or WG if you purchased them at my direction, but these are really just “first good quarter” stocks, and I believe there’s more ahead.
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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com’s sites and serves as an adviser to the company’s CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in the stocks mentioned.
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Posted by: in Latest News
Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Wal-Mart (WMT), Hansen Natural (HANS), Costco Wholesale (COST), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Limited Brands (LTD), Crocs Inc (CROX), Unilever ADR (UL)
 Before the bell: Stocks could bounce back; retail sales, TM, BBY on tap
Unilever (NYSE: UL) is the world’s second-largest maker of food and detergent, so you would expect the company to hurt with rising commodity prices. But Unilever has been proactive and has raised prices 4.8% in the quarter to offset its rising costs. In fact, the company said revenue will beat its forecast for the first time in six years on increased prices and sales of Dove soap, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Lipton tea. First-quarter net income climbed 33%, exceeding analysts’ estimates.
As expected, April retail sales have so far indeed been strong, although there are some ares weakness is seen.
- Costco (NASDAQ: COST) shares are up 1.2% in premarket trading after the warehouse club retailer stated April same-store sales increased 8%, beating analysts’ expectations of 6.1%.
- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) shares are also higher in premarket trading, up 1.8%, after the world’s largest retailer, stated same-store sales climbed 3.2%, beating the 2.1% forecast by analysts. Staying with Wal-Mart for a moment, it said it plans to invest millions in Canada and open more supercenters.
- The more luxurious items, though, such as lingerie sold at Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) have seen a slowdown as the company stated that April same-store sales fell 5%, falling short of the 2.3% sales decline analysts had anticipated.
There was also some good news from Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX), which reported better-than-expected quarterly results after the close Wednesday with revenue climbing 40%. The plastic shoe maker affirmed its second-quarter and 2008 outlook and seen its shares jump 16% in premarket trading.
Meanwhile, as Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) keeps telling us it has no plans to make another approach for Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) after it pulled the plug on its $47.5 billion bid earlier this month, some say it could be interested in increasing its stake in Facebook.
In more earnings news: AIG (NYSE: AIG) is expected to report a first-quarter loss of 76 cents a share, when it reports after the close today. But Hansen Natural (NASDAQ: HANS) has already reported disappointing results after Wednesday’s close and is seeing its shares fall 18% in premarket trading.
And Apple? That company isn’t resting and Wednesday it signed a deal with America Movil SAB to bring the iPhone to Latin America.
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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Market matters, Ideal Purchase (BBY), News Corp’B’ (NWS), Economic data, Politics, Housing
U.S. stock futures were higher early Thursday morning as investors digested Toyota’s earnings and awaited sales reports from several big retailers.
This is after on Wednesday, U.S. stocks dropped as oil futures surged past $123 a barrel and financials showed more weakness. The Dow industrials fell 206 points, or 1.59%, the Nasdaq Composite fell 44 points, or 1.80%, and the S&P 500 dropped 25 points, or 1.81%.
But today stocks looked set to recover from the previous session huge pull back. While Toyota’s results show the automaker also struggling in the U.S. market, a stronger dollar might have helped boost sentiment. Investors also expect April retail sales to be strong rising about 1.5% to 2% due to an extra selling day and warmer weather at the beginning of the month.
Not much economic data is due today, only weekly initial jobless claims and March wholesale inventories.
Also on the docket this day is a vote the housing aid bill, the Democrats’ plan to help strapped homeowners refinance into government-backed mortgages. Already blamed by many for not doing enough to address the crisis, President Bush will likely veto the measures.
Companies in focus this day include Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE: TM), which reported quarterly results this day. Profit for the quarter sank 28% from the previous year due to the dollar’s weakness and the yen’s strength. Sales in N.America were slower as a result, hurting the Japanese automaker’s earnings. Toyota also stated that for the current fiscal year through March 2009, it expects sales to drop for the first time in nine years - and net profit to plunge 27%.
Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is buying a 50% stake in Europe’s largest cell phone retailer, The Carphone Warehouse, for $2.1 billion. The Carphone Warehouse will add its 2,400 U.S. and European stores into the new joint venture.
Rupert Murdoch’s New Corp. (NYSE: NWS) said Wednesday its quarterly net profit rose to $2.7 billion, or 91 cents per share as the company saw higher advertising sales at the Fox Television network and Fox News Channel. The results included a one-time gain from its stock swap with Liberty Media. Excluding special items earnings were 30 cents a share, a penny short of estimates. Revenue rose 16% to $8.75 billion, topping estimates.
Also news from across the pond have the Bank of England holding rates steady at 5%. The European Central Bank is also expected to hold its rates as inflation worries, at least for now, outweigh slowdown concerns.
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