BBY

Can Eddie Lampert Turn Around Sears?

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Earlier this week, Sears (click ticker for report: ) CEO Lou D’Ambrosio announced that he’ll resign from his position in February due to an illness in the family. Not so surprisingly, Sears chairman and hedge fund titan Eddie Lampert will be taking the reigns as CEO. Lampert, who merged Sears and Kmart several years ago, will be the chief executive for the first time, and as far as we can tell, he seems confident in his ability to turnaround the failing retailer. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Lampert cites Jeff Bezos’ success as a finance guy turned retailer leading Amazon (click ticker for report: ) as evidence that he can turn the dying company around. Although he hasn’t … Read more

The Valuentum Dividend100 Publication; A Must-Have For Any Income Investor

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Dividend investors literally have thousands of income stocks to choose from. So what are they to do, and where can they go for the most trusted forward-looking opinions on dividend growth and safety? That’s the question we seek to answer with our ValuentumDividend100 publication. In this document, we showcase the top 100 high-quality, dividend growth gems within our coverage universe. Whether you’re looking to build a portfolio consisting of high-yielding, dividend-growers or simply seeking to augment it with a few income gems, the Valuentum Dividend100 is an essential resource for any income investor. We outline some of the key components of our Dividend100 publication below, and explain how you can get the most from each of one Sign Up for … Read more

Are Any Rumored Buyouts Worth Betting On?

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Buyouts and private-equity acquisitions can provide powerful stock moves and often act as the catalyst to drive stock prices to intrinsic value. In the portfolio of our Best Ideas Newsletter, we had held shares of Collective Brands. We liked the company’s valuation, relatively small size, and its attractiveness to other companies (among other things). And while we’d never own a stock solely on speculation of M&A activity, a buyout turned out to be the catalyst for our call on Collective Brands to work out for members. Shares proceeded to appreciate over 35% on our cost basis! In recent months, we’ve heard rumors of cash-heavy companies and private equity funds interested in several different deals. Let’s take a look at a few higher-profile names. … Read more

Best Buy’s Performance Continues to Tumble

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Electronics retailer Best Buy (click ticker for report: ) announced weak third quarter results Tuesday morning. Revenue dipped 3.5% year-over-year to $10.8 billion, roughly in-line with consensus estimates. Earnings, adjusted to reflect continuing operations, dropped 94% year-over-year to $0.03 per share, which was worse than consensus expectations. Perhaps the most encouraging parts of the report came from the headline and CEO Hubert Joly’s remarks. The company showed its sense of frankness with the headline, “Best Buy Confirms Significant Decline in Fiscal Third Quarter 2013 earnings.” Further, Joly stated: “In line with trends experienced over the last three years, Best Buy’s third quarter financial performance was clearly unsatisfactory. On November 13, we shared our candid assessment of Best Buy’s situation and … Read more

Housing Market Strength Propels Home Depot

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Thanks to strength in the US housing market, home improvement giant Home Depot (click ticker for report: ) posted terrific third quarter results this morning. Revenues grew 4.6% year-over-year to $18.1 billion, easily exceeding consensus estimates. Earnings, excluding the closing of some unproductive stores in China, increased 23% year-over-year to $0.74 per share. Increased productivity helped tremendously, as aggregate same-store sales grew 4.2% year-over-year, and US same-store sales increased 4.3% year-over-year, driven by higher average tickets and more transactions. Gross margins ticked up about 20 basis points year-over-year to 34.6%, reflecting the higher average ticket prices and better appliance sales. Appliance sales are a good indicator of consumer confidence in the housing market, in our view. Management noted that credit … Read more

Apple Reports a Strong Fourth Quarter and Sandbags Guidance

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Best Ideas Newsletter holding Apple (click ticker for report: ) reported another fantastic quarter Thursday afternoon. The tech giant saw revenues surge 27% year-over-year to $35.9 billion, a touch higher than consensus estimates. Earnings increased 23% year-over-year to $8.67 per share, a few cents weaker than consensus expectations, but negatively impacted by a $50 million loss from other income versus a forecasted gain of $150 million. Apple generated $50 billion in operating cash flow during the fiscal year. Guidance, not surprisingly, was lackluster. The firm establishes notoriously low expectations and is assuming earnings of $11.75 per share on $52 billion in revenue during its first quarter in fiscal 2013. Margins are expected to be lower thanks to the introduction of … Read more

eBay Reports Solid Third-Quarter Results; Active Marketplaces User Growth Reaches Best Pace Since 2007

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On Wednesday, global commerce and payments company eBay (click ticker for report: ) reported solid third quarter performance that showed accelerated growth in both Marketplaces and PayPal. We continue to like the company and hold shares in the portfolio of our Best Ideas Newsletter. Revenue for the third quarter increased 15%, while GAAP and non-GAAP net income jumped 22% and 14%, respectively. The firm’s consolidated operating margin advanced 150 basis points from the same period last year (100 basis points on a non-GAAP basis), as segment margin in each of its three business segments expanded on a year-over-year basis. Cash flow was robust, with eBay pulling in $1.2 billion in operating cash flow and $792 million in free cash flow … Read more