Danaher Sees Q1 Beating Guidance

A few items today.

Danaher (DHR) said to expect Q1 earnings to be above the high-end of their guidance. Thomas Joyce, the CEO said:

“We have seen a strong start to 2018 from both a core revenue and margin perspective and based on our results through February, we now expect first quarter 2018 adjusted EPS to be above the high-end of our previously communicated guidance range. Better than expected results in our Life Sciences and Diagnostics platforms – specifically at Cepheid – are the main drivers for this performance as we continue to see positive momentum in these businesses.”

When their Q4 earnings came out, Danaher said they expected Q1 earnings between 90 and 93 cents per share. For all of 2018, they’ve projected $4.25 to $4.35 per share. The stock is up about 3% today.

The NYSE (owned by ICE) agreed to paid $14 million to settle investigations into market malfunctions in 2015. From the WSJ:

Tuesday’s fine won’t have a big financial impact on NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange Inc., a global exchange operator that had profits of $2.5 billion last year. But it is a black eye for the Atlanta-based firm, known as ICE, which has a reputation for bringing cutting-edge technology to the exchange industry. ICE completed its acquisition of NYSE in 2013.

Here’s how Ross Stores is faring after earnings:

Here’s MarketWatch on Ross:

Despite the Ross Stores investment plan, Wells Fargo analysts are bullish on the stock.

“All in, Ross Stores continues to outperform the broader retail market and we remain upbeat on their outlook,” analysts wrote.

Wells Fargo rates Ross Stores shares outperform with an $86 price target, down from $91.

Susquehanna analysts said investors are focusing too much on the operating margin pressure resulting from investments that the company is making in wages.

“They are missing the continued comparable-store sales gains off some of the strongest compares that we saw in FY17,” Susquehanna analysts led by Bill Dreher wrote in a note.

Dreher said Ross Stores’ fundamentals are “intact” and encouraged investors to “take advantage of any near-term weakness.”

Susquehanna rates Ross Stores shares as positive with a $95 price target, down from $100.

Bloomberg is reporting that Smucker is looking to sell off its baking brands unit which includes Pillsbury. The deal could be worth $700 million.

Posted by on March 7th, 2018 at 1:05 pm


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