Stocks To Watch – 02/19/2010
Feb 19, 2010 Earnings, Stock Market, Stocks
Apollo Group (APOL)
College Operator Apollo Group, better known for its University of Phoenix, is off $4.11 to $67.34, a loss of 6.34% after announcing that it is anticipating its earnings for its second quarter period ending February 28, will come in between $0.77 and $0.82, with revenue coming in at $1.07 billion. This is below current consensus estimates of revenue of $1.09 billion and an EPS of $0.94.
First Solar (FSLR)
Solar panel maker First Solar is currently the worst performer among S”&P 500 stocks. The stock is off $8.98 or 7.11% to $117.31. First Solar reaffirmed its estimates for this year, announcing that it still expects revenue to come in between $2.7 to $2.9 billion, with EPS coming in at $6.05 to $6.85. Traders were disappointed that the company did not raise its guidance
Intuit (INTU)
Intuit, which makes software for personal and small business use, is up $2.60 to $32.92, a gain of 8.58%. The company reported yesterday, that its fiscal second quarter profits rose 34%. The company also reported selling 10.9 million units of its Turbo Tax software through February 13, which was a million units ahead of last year’s sales.
JC Penney (JCP)
The mall retailer is up $1.73 to $27.69, a 6.66% gain on the company’s latest earnings results. For its latest four quarter period, JCP reported earnings of $200 million, or $0.84 per share on revenue of $5.55 billion, a 3.6% decline over the comparable period a year ago. The earnings was down from $211 million or $0.95 in the same period a year ago.
Analysts had been forecasting revenue of $5.55 billion and an EPS of $0.82.
The company also raised current year guidance, announcing that it anticipates earnings of $1.55 per share, $0.10 better that the current consensus estimates of $1.45.
Smith International (SII)
The oil and gas services company, which is currently the second best performer among the 500 S&P 500 stocks, is up $4.65 or 13.94% to $38, on a report from the Wall Street Journal, that the company is in talks to be acquired by Schlumberger (SLB).
Tags: apollo group, first solar, intuit, jc penney, s&p 500, smith international
