Posts Tagged ‘syk’

  • CWS Market Review – April 20, 2012
    , April 20th, 2012 at 5:16 am

    We’re entering the high tide of the first-quarter earnings season, and so far earnings have been quite good. Of course, expectations had been ratcheted down over the past several months, but there have still been fears on Wall Street that even the lowered expectations were too high.

    According to the latest figures, 103 companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings and 82% have beaten Wall Street’s expectations. That’s very good. If this “beat rate” keeps up, it will be the best earnings season in at least ten years.

    Earnings for our Buy List stocks are doing especially well. JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson and Stryker all beat expectations. Plus, J&J did something I always love to see: raise their full-year forecast.

    Next week is going to be another busy earnings week for us; we have five Buy List stocks scheduled to report earnings. In this week’s issue, I’ll cover the earnings outlook for our Buy List. I’m expecting more great results from our stocks. I’ll also let you know what some of the best opportunities are right now (I doubt AFLAC will stay below $43 much longer.) But before I get to that, let’s take a closer look at our recent earnings reports.

    Three Earnings Beats in a Row

    In last week’s CWS Market Review, I said that I expected JPMorgan Chase ($JPM) to slightly beat Wall Street’s consensus of $1.14 per share. As it turned out, the House of Dimon did even better than I thought. On Friday, the bank reported earnings of $1.31 per share. Interestingly, JPM’s earnings declined slightly from a year ago, but thanks to stock repurchases, earnings-per-share rose a bit.

    The stock reacted poorly to JPM’s earnings—traders knocked the stock down from $45 to under $43—but I’m not too worried. The bank had a very good quarter and Jamie Dimon has them on a solid footing. Last quarter was better than Q4 and this continues to be one of the strongest banks on Wall Street. (If you want more details, here’s the CFO discussing JPM’s earnings.) Don’t be scared off; this is a very good stock to own and all the trends are going in the right direction. I rate JPMorgan Chase a “strong buy” anytime the shares are less than $50.

    On Tuesday, Stryker ($SYK) reported Q1 earnings of 99 cents per share which matched Wall Street’s forecast. Last week, I said that 99 cents “sounds about right.” I was pleased to see that revenues came in above expectations and that gross margins improved. That’s often a good sign that business is doing well.

    Stryker’s best news was that it reiterated its forecast for “double-digit” earnings growth for this year. I always tell investors to pay attention when a company reiterates a previous growth forecast. I think too many investors tend to ignore a reiteration as “nothing new,” but it’s good to hear from a company that its business plan is still on track. I suspect that Stryker will raise its full-year forecast later this year. Stryker is an excellent buy up to $60.

    Last week, I said that Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) usually beats Wall Street’s consensus by “about three cents per share.” This time they beat by two cents which is probably more of a testament to how well the company controls Wall Street’s expectations. For Q1, J&J earned $1.37 per share. I’ve looked at the numbers and this was a decent quarter for them.

    For the first time in a while, I’m excited about the stock. A new CEO is about to take over, and the company will most likely announce their 50th-consecutive dividend increase. The company also won EU approval for its Synthes acquisition. But the best news is that the healthcare giant raised its full-year guidance by two cents per share. The new EPS range is $5.07 to $5.17. Johnson and Johnson is a good stock to own up to $70 per share.

    Focusing on Next Week’s Earnings Slate

    Now let’s take a look at next week. Tuesday, April 24th will be a busy day for us as AFLAC ($AFL), Reynolds American ($RAI) and CR Bard ($BCR) are all due to report. Then on Wednesday, Hudson City ($HCBK) reports and on Friday, one of our quieter but always reliable stocks, Moog ($MOG-A), will report earnings.

    Let’s start with AFLAC ($AFL) since that continues to be one of my favorite stocks and because it has slumped in recent weeks. AFLAC has said that earnings-per-share for this year will grow by 2% to 5% and that growth next year will be even better. Considering that the insurance company made $6.33 per share last year, that means they can make as much as $6.65 this year and close to $7 next year.

    So why are the shares near $42 which is less than seven times earnings? I really don’t know. AFLAC has made it clear that they shed their lousy investments in Europe. Wall Street’s consensus for Q1 earnings is $1.65 per share which is almost certainly too low. I think results will be closer to $1.70 per share but I’ll be very curious to hear any change in AFLAC’s full-year forecast. Going by Thursday’s close, AFLAC now yields more than 3.1% which is a good margin of safety. AFLAC continues to be an excellent buy up to $53 per share.

    I’ve been waiting and waiting for CR Bard ($BCR) to break $100. The medical equipment stock has gotten close but hasn’t been able to do it just yet. Maybe next week’s earnings report will be the catalyst. Three months ago, Bard said to expect Q1 earnings to range between $1.53 and $1.57. That sounds about right. I like this stock a lot. Bard has raised its dividend every year for the last 40 years. It’s a strong buy up to $102.

    With Reynolds American ($RAI), I’m not so concerned if the company beats or misses by a few pennies per share. The important thing to watch for is any change in the full-year forecast of $2.91 to $3.01 per share. If Reynolds stays on track to meet its forecast, I think we can expect the tobacco company to bump up the quarterly dividend from 56 cents to 60 cents per share.

    Reynolds American has been a bit of a laggard this year. It’s not due to anything they’ve done. It’s more of a result of the theme I’ve talked about for the past few weeks: investors leaving behind super-safe assets for a little more risk. It’s important to distinguish if a stock isn’t doing well due to poor fundamentals or due to changing market sentiment. Reynolds is still a very solid buy. The shares currently yield 5.4%.

    Hudson City Bancorp ($HCBK) raced out to a big gain for this year, but it’s given a lot back in the past month. The last earnings report was a dud, but the bank is still in the midst of a recovery. Some patience here is needed. Wall Street’s consensus for Q1 is for 15 cents per share. I really don’t know if that’s in the ballpark or not, but what’s more important to me is the larger trend. Hudson City is cheap and a lot of folks would say there’s a good reason. I think the risk/reward here is very favorable. At the current price, Hudson City yields 4.8%. The shares are a good buy up to $7.50.

    As I mentioned before, Moog ($MOG-A) is one of our most reliable stocks. The company has delivered a string of impressive earnings reports. Moog has said that it sees earnings for this year of $3.31 per share (note that their fiscal year ends in September). That gives the stock a price/earnings ratio of 12.2. I think Moog can be a $50 stock before the year is done.

    There are three Buy List stocks due to report soon but the companies haven’t told us when: Ford ($F), DirecTV ($DTV) and Nicholas Financial ($NICK). Ford and Nicholas are currently going for very good prices. They usually report right about now, so the earnings report may pop up any day now. I think both stocks are at least 30% undervalued.

    That’s all for now. Next week will be a busy week for earnings. We’re also going to have a Fed meeting plus the government will release its first estimate for Q1 GDP growth. Be sure to keep checking the blog for daily updates. I’ll have more market analysis for you in the next issue of CWS Market Review!

    – Eddy

  • Stryker Earns 99 Cents Per Share
    , April 17th, 2012 at 4:11 pm

    Stryker ($SYK) earned 99 cents per share for the first quarter which matched Wall Street’s estimate:

    For the latest quarter, Stryker reported a profit $350 million, or 91 cents a share, up from $307 million, or 78 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding items, earnings were 99 cents a share, matching the estimate from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

    Revenue increased 7.2% to $2.16 billion, above analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion.

    Sales at Stryker’s MedSurg unit, which makes products including surgical equipment, hospital beds and stretchers, increased 7.5% to $821 million.

    Gross margin rose to 67.2% from 65.8%.

    Shares of the company, which affirmed its forecast for 2012, rose 1.1% to $55.50 in after-hours trading. The stock has risen 10% so far this year.

    Stryker reiterated its full-year forecast of earnings growth of “double-digit levels” over 2011.

  • CWS Market Review – April 13, 2012
    , April 13th, 2012 at 8:20 am

    That money talks, I’ll not deny, I heard it once: It said, ‘Goodbye’.
    -Richard Armour

    After sliding for five days in a row, the stock market has started to right itself. On the first trading day of April, the S&P 500 closed at a 46-month high but promptly broke up like a North Korean rocket and shed 4.26% in a week. That’s not a major pullback, but it’s one of the biggest slumps we’ve seen in months. Thanks to rallies on Wednesday and Thursday, the market has already made back half of what it lost (in fact, the traceback has been almost exactly 50%).

    What’s most surprising about the market so far in April is the recrudescence of volatility on extremely low volume. Consider this: In the first 64 trading days of 2012, the S&P 500 suffered just one daily drop of more than 1%. In 2011, that happened 48 times. Then suddenly, we had three 1% drops in four days. Yet average daily trading volume last month was the lowest since December 2007. What gives?

    In this issue of CWS Market Review I want to look at why the market has gotten so jittery all of a sudden. But more importantly, I want to take a look at the first-quarter earnings season. Over the next month, 16 of our Buy List companies are due to report earnings. As always, earnings season is the equivalent of Judgment Day for Wall Street. I’m expecting good news for our stocks, but the outlook may not be so sunny for the rest of Wall Street.

    Sorry, Folks. QE3 Is Not Coming

    Part of the reason why the stock market got a sudden case of the worries is what I mentioned in the previous two editions of CWS Market Review. Wall Street has been focused on the March jobs report and first-quarter earnings season. The jobs report wasn’t so hot and the market took its pound of flesh. Earnings season is the next hurdle.

    Interestingly, the stocks that dropped the most during the five-day selloff were often the ones that rallied the most on Wednesday and Thursday. These tended to be cyclical stocks and financials. It’s also interesting to note that the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index (^CYC) had peaked on March 19th, two weeks before the rest of the market. This means, the cyclicals had already started to erode before the jobs report pullback.

    The stock market was given a boost on Thursday when two Fed officials, Janet Yellen and William Dudley, said that rates will have to stay low for a while longer. That‘s not a big surprise. Let me add a quick note on QE3. Some folks think the weak jobs report will cause Bernanke and his buddies at the Fed to jump in with a third round quantitative easing. Do not believe any of this. We often forget that the C in FOMC stands for “committee” and it’s obvious that the policy-makers are very far from a consensus on this issue. The media has been searching for any hint, no matter how trivial, that QE3 is on the way. It’s not. Plus, the jobs report was hardly a harbinger of a new recession. For now, the talk of QE3 is pure nonsense.

    Although the selloff was initially triggered by the jobs report, it was kept alive by bad news from Europe and China. The yield spreads in Europe (specifically, between any country and Germany) have been inching upward, particularly in Spain. I think it’s somewhat amusing that Monsieur Sarkozy is using the example of Spain to scare French voters from supporting the socialist opposition in next month’s election.

    The wider spreads signal some nervousness from investors but it’s important to note that we’re a long way from the frenzy we had last year. I want to urge investors not to be carried away by these renewed concerns from Europe. The fears of Spain not being able to pay her bills are greatly overblown. Europe will not sink the U.S. stock market.

    Q1 Earnings: The Story Is About Margins

    Last earnings season was disappointing. This time around, investors don’t expect much. The numbers vary but the consensus is that first-quarter earnings will be about the same as they were last year. In other words, zero profit growth. How times have changed. Not that long ago, analysts were expecting double-digit earnings growth for Q1.

    One of the problems facing many companies is that higher fuel costs are cutting into profits. All 10 sectors of the S&P 500 will see higher sales numbers, but at least seven of those sectors will have a hard time turning those top-line dollars into bottom-line profits.

    The story here isn’t that a slowdown is upon us. Rather, it’s that business costs are rising after being held back for so long. Part of this is the cost for new employees, which is a good thing. As I’ve said before, the story here is about margins, not a weakening economy. Even with as much as earnings growth estimates have fallen, the stock market hasn’t responded in kind. That’s because Wall Street correctly sees this as a temporary issue. In fact, the current view is that earnings growth will reaccelerate later this year as Europe comes back online.

    The important point for us is that even with little earnings growth, the stock market is still a very good value compared with the competition. Bond yields have climbed, but they’re still way too low. As long as the migration away from super-safe assets continues, our Buy List will thrive.

    Now I want to focus on some upcoming earnings reports for our Buy List stocks (you can see an earnings calendar here). Unfortunately, not all of our companies have said when earnings will come out yet.

    Expect an Earnings Beat at JPMorgan

    On Friday, JPMorgan Chase ($JPM) will be our first Buy List stock to report earnings. With a 34.86% year-to-date gain, the bank is our top-performing stock this year. That’s not bad for a little over three months’ work. (It’s always a surprise to me who the #1 stock will be.) What’s remarkable is that even with as well as the stock has done, the shares are still going for less than 10 times this year’s earnings estimate.

    Wall Street currently expects JPM to report earnings of $1.14 per share for Q1. That’s down a little from one year ago. That estimate, however, has been climbing in recent weeks while estimates for many other companies have been pared back. I’ve looked at the numbers and I expect a small earnings beat from JPM. But I’ll be curious to hear what CEO Jamie Dimon has to say about the bank’s business.

    Not only is JPM a big report for us, but it’s also a bellwether for the entire financial sector. Jamie Dimon likes to see himself as the unofficial spokesman for the banking world and a lot of investors want to hear what he has to say. JPM even moved up their earnings call so Jamie could hit the stage before Wells Fargo ($WFC).

    I agree with Dimon’s assessment that the last earnings report was “modestly disappointing.” One of the concerns this time around is investment banking, but Jamie has been clear that the division will rebound. For Q1, trading profits will probably be down from a year ago but better than Q4. This is a solid bank and I was particularly impressed by the 20% dividend increase. Bottom line: I’m sticking with Jamie, and I’m raising my buy price on JPMorgan Chase from $45 to $50 per share.

    Johnson & Johnson: 50 Straight Years of Dividend Increases

    Next Tuesday, we’ll get two more earnings reports—Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) and Stryker ($SYK). I’m afraid that J&J has been a weak performer this year. In January, the healthcare giant said that earnings-per-share for 2012 will range between $5.05 and $5.15. Wall Street had been expecting $5.21.

    J&J has been dogged by a series of quality control problems, and the stock has lagged. Later this month, Alex Gorsky will take over as the new CEO. I think that’s a good choice particularly since he helped the company tackle its internal problems. Wall Street’s consensus for Q1 is for $1.35 per share which is exactly what Johnson & Johnson made one year ago. The stock usually beats by about three cents per share, but I’m not going to get worked up by a result that’s within a few pennies of $1.35. What I want to see is solid proof of a turnaround, although I realize it may take some time.

    The best part about J&J is the rich dividend. Going by Thursday’s close, the stock yields 3.55%. But the yield to investors is probably even higher. Later this month, I expect the company to announce its 50th-straight dividend increase. But coming after January’s lower guidance, the quarterly dividend will probably rise from 57 cents to 60 cents per share. If that’s right, J&J now yields 3.74%. I’m keeping my buy price at $70.

    Stryker Is a Good Buy Up to $60

    Shares of Stryker ($SYK) haven’t done much for the past several weeks which is puzzling because the business has been strong. Stryker has said that it sees “double digit” earnings growth for 2012. I doubt they’ll have trouble hitting that forecast. In fact Stryker is probably low-balling us, but that’s understandable since the year is still so young.

    For Q1, the Street expects earnings of 99 cents per share which sounds about right. Stryker rallied last earnings season after they met expectations. The business tends to be very stable. I think the stock is a good value here and I’m raising my buy price to $60 per share.

    Before I go, I want to highlight some other good values on the Buy List. Among the financials, AFLAC ($AFL), Nicholas Financial ($NICK) and Hudson City ($HCBK) are all going for a good price. I also think that Ford ($F) has drifted down to bargain territory as well.

    That’s all for now. Be sure to keep checking the blog for daily updates. I’ll have more market analysis for you in the next issue of CWS Market Review!

    – Eddy

  • Good Day for Us!
    , January 25th, 2012 at 2:16 pm

    The S&P 500 just broke 1,322 which is another six-month high.

    Thanks to big moves from Stryker ($SYK) and Hudson City ($HCBK), this is a huge day for our Buy List. Of course, the best gain of all comes from CA Technologies ($CA) which has been up as much as 14.76% today. Hudson City got as high as $7.46 and Stryker got up to $55.17.

    As of 2 pm, the S&P 500 is up 0.51% and our Buy List is up 1.21%.

    For the year, we’re up 7.59% while the S&P 500 is up 5.00%.

  • Stryker Rallies on Earnings
    , January 25th, 2012 at 12:25 pm

    There’s one more earnings report to mention. After the bell yesterday, Stryker ($SYK) reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.02 per share which was inline with Wall Street’s forecast. For the year, Stryker earned $3.72 per share. Previously, Stryker told us to expect full-year earnings between $3.72 and $3.74 per share.

    Changes in product mix and volume increases helped drive revenue. Stryker said sales in its MedSurg segment climbed 11 percent to $857 million due to higher shipments of emergency medical and surgical equipment and surgical navigation systems, among other items.

    The Kalamazoo, Mich., company earned $401 million, or $1.05 per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That compares with net income of $295 million, or 74 cents per share, in the 2010 quarter. Adjusted earnings, which exclude one-time items, totaled $1.02 per share in the latest period.

    Stryker reiterated its forecast for 2012 of “double digit” earnings growth. That implies earnings of $4.09 per share for 2012 so Stryker is currently going for about 13.3 times this year’s earnings. The stock has been up as much as 3.97% today.

  • Stryker Raises Dividend By 18%
    , December 7th, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    The market is down so far today but it’s not too bad. The S&P 500 is currently at 1,255 though we’re up about 10 points from today’s low. The defensive sectors are doing the best today while the cyclicals are pulling up the rear.

    There’s not much action today on the Buy List though I want to highlight a few items.

    The best news is that Stryker ($SYK) is raising its quarterly dividend from 18 cents per share to 21.25 cents per share. That’s an 18% increase. The new 85-cent annual dividend translates to a yield of 1.75%.

    My advice to investors is to not overlook moves like this. We want to look at the overall trends of a business. Bear in mind that Stryker raised its dividend by 20% last year. These things add up.

    The other news is that Moody’s may downgrade Leucadia ($LUK), and Gilead ($GILD) just priced $3.7 billion in unsecured notes. That just reminds me of how much I hate the Pharmasset deal.

  • Stryker To Cut 1,000 Jobs
    , November 11th, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    From Reuters:

    Medical device maker Stryker Corp said it will cut 5 percent, or about 1000 jobs to largely offset costs related to the scheduled implementation of the new Medical Device Excise Tax in 2013.

    “While it is still uncertain whether the device tax will exist in its current form come 2013, we believe that companies across the space will make moves to mitigate the P&L impact of the new excise tax,” Susquehanna International Group analyst David Turkaly wrote in a note.

    The maker of hip and knee replacements and surgical products, which expects to save about $100 million from the restructuring, said it will record $85-$95 million of the entire $150-$175 million charge in the current quarter.

    Stryker expects to complete the restructuring activity by 2012-end.

  • CWS Market Review – October 21, 2011
    , October 21st, 2011 at 8:15 am

    The stock market continues to improve albeit in a hesitating manner. Last week, the S&P 500 broke above its 50-day moving average and this past Tuesday, the index closed at its highest level in two-and-a half months.

    So has the bear finally left us alone? Unfortunately, it’s too early to say. The market is stronger than it was but there are still plenty of hidden—and not-so-hidden—risks out there. The problems in Europe are still bad but at least the authorities finally realize that they can no longer drag their lederhosen. For now though, all eyes are on the third-quarter earnings season which is now in full swing.

    In this issue of CWS Market Review, we’ll take a closer look at earnings season. So far, all four of our Buy List stocks that have reported have topped expectations. I’m happy to report that our Buy List is leading the rebound. In the last 13 trading days, our Buy List has gained more than 11.3%. If this keeps up, 2011 will be our fifth-straight year of beating the overall market. As usual, prudence and patience have served us well.

    Now let’s look at the most exciting news this week which was the break-up announcement of Abbott Labs ($ABT). The company stunned Wall Street on Wednesday when they said that they’re breaking themselves into two separate companies: a drug business and a medical devices business. I’ve long been a fan of ABT. This company throws off tons of cash and has a solid balance sheet.

    The problem for Abbott (and what attracted me to it) is that the market is clearly wary of giving their drug business a decent valuation. Humira, Abbott’s blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug, will rack $6.5 billion in sales this year. But there are fears that competitors will move into that space and knock the legs out from under Humira.

    Due to these worries, the entire company’s valuation has suffered. But as I’ve noted before, Abbott is much more than Humira. They have a strong business in medical devices which hadn’t been getting the market love it deserves. So Abbott did the logical step and announced the break-up. Interestingly, it’s the medical devices business that will keep the Abbott name. That probably tells you where the priorities lie.

    The spin-off will happen sometime next year so it won’t impact this year’s Buy List. As a general rule I like spin-offs, especially when good companies do them. What often happens is that a highly profitable division feels that it has to “carry the weight” of a larger organization. Once the division is unmoored from its parent company, it’s able to be more flexible and find new areas of growth.

    Also on Wednesday, Abbott reported third-quarter earnings of $1.18 per share which was a penny more than estimates. Abbott narrowed their full-year guidance from $4.58 – $4.68 per share to $4.64 – $4.66 per share. That means the stock is going for 11.6 times this year’s earnings which is less than the overall market. The full-year range implies a Q4 range of $1.43 to $1.45 per share which is a nice jump over the $1.30 per share from last year’s Q4.

    Shares of Abbott responded positively to the break-up news and the stock currently yields a healthy 3.55%. For the year, Abbott is a 12.82% winner for us which is a lot better than the market’s loss of 3.36%. I congratulate Abbott on their bold move and I rate the stock a strong buy up to $58 per share.

    Two other healthcare companies of ours reported earnings this past week. On Tuesday, Johnson and Johnson ($JNJ) reported earnings of $1.24 per share. This beat Wall Street’s consensus by three cents per share but was a penny less than my forecast. The bottom line is that this was another solid quarter for J&J.

    In last week’s CWS Market Review, I said that JNJ could raise both ends of their full-year forecast by five cents per share. Well, I was half right. The company raised the low end of its forecast by a nickel per share. The new EPS range for 2011 is $4.95 – $5.00 per share which implies a Q4 range of $1.08 – $1.13.

    The share price dropped a bit on the news but not too badly. JNJ continues to do well. This is a very well-run firm; Johnson & Johnson is a good buy up to $67 per share.

    The other healthcare stock to report was Stryker ($SYK). After the close on Wednesday, the company reported earnings of 91 cents per share which was two cents better than estimates; plus Stryker raised their full-year guidance. The new guidance is $3.70 – $3.74 per share which is up from $3.65 – $3.73 per share. That implies a Q4 range of $1 – $1.04 per share.

    Last week, I wrote that I like Stryker but that it would be better at a cheaper price. Sure enough, the stock dropped on the good earnings report. Stryker closed Thursday at $48.28 which is a decent price (less than 13 times this year’s earnings). However, if you’re able to get Stryker below $45, you’ve gotten a very good deal.

    The upcoming week will be a very busy week for us; we have five Buy List stocks reporting earnings. On Tuesday, Reynolds American ($RAI) reports. Then on Wednesday, AFLAC ($AFL) and Ford ($F) are due to report. Finally on Thursday, Deluxe ($DLX) and Gilead Sciences ($GILD) will report.

    The one I’ll be watching most eagerly is AFLAC ($AFL). Simply put, the selling of AFLAC shares reached ridiculous levels over the last several weeks. At one point, the stock was trading at $31.25 though the company has told us repeatedly that it expects to earn between $6.09 and $6.34 per share in operating earnings this year.

    Well, Wednesday will be the time of reckoning. In the last earnings report, AFLAC said that it expects Q3 operating earnings to range between $1.54 and $1.60 per share. My numbers say that’s too low. I think AFLAC can easily make $1.64 per share. They may also have good things to say about next year as well. I’m going to raise my buy price for AFLAC to $43 per share.

    Three months ago, Reynolds upset Wall Street when it missed earnings by four cents per share (which I suspected would happen). That was pretty unusual for Reynolds but the stock has recovered very nicely. The current estimate for Q3 is for 73 cents per share which seems about right.

    The other earnings report to watch will be from Ford. The company is fundamentally very sound despite the stock’s poor performance this year. I’m also pleased to see that the latest union contract has been approved. Wall Street currently expects Ford’s third-quarter earnings to come in at 45 cents per share which is below the 48 cents per share from the year before. I think there’s a good chance here for a large earnings beat.

    That’s all for now. Be sure to keep checking the blog for daily updates. I’ll have more market analysis for you in the next issue of CWS Market Review!

    – Eddy

  • Stryker Beats and Guides Higher
    , October 19th, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    First we had good news from Abbott Labs ($ABT). Now we have more good news from Stryker ($SYK). The company just reported Q3 earnings of 91 cents per share which was two cents better than estimates.

    The company also adjusted its full-year earnings range from $3.65 to $3.73 per share to $3.70 to $3.74 per share. That implies Q4 earnings of $1 to $1.04 per share. The CEO said, “We are on track to achieve double digit sales growth in 2011 and adjusted per share earnings at the high end of the range we targeted at the start of the year.”

    That’s nice to hear. Here are some more details:

    Revenue for the quarter rose 15 percent to $2.03 billion, in line with Wall Street expectations.

    Reconstructive products sales rose 8 percent to $901 million as demand for artificial hips and extremities implant systems helped offset a decline in knee replacement sales.

    “The recon (reconstructive) market continued the softness that began last year,” MacMillan told analysts on a conference call.

    MedSurg product revenue increased by 12 percent on higher sales of surgical, endoscopic and emergency equipment and demand for replacement hospital beds and stretchers.

    Neurotechnology and spine products sales jumped 46 percent to $363 million, primarily due to contributions from recent acquisitions.

    In last week’s CWS Market Review, I cautioned investors not to chase Stryker. This is a good earnings report although the stock is down slightly in the after-hours market. Stryker is a decent buy here but I’d like to see it a little cheaper before I called it an outstanding buy.

  • CWS Market Review – October 14, 2011
    , October 14th, 2011 at 8:19 am

    In last week’s CWS Market Review, I mentioned that we could be seeing the start of a prolonged rally. I’m happy to see that the stock market extended its gains this week. On Monday, the S&P 500 broke above its 50-day moving average. Then on Wednesday, the index came very close to hitting its highest close since August 3rd.

    Despite how well the market has done, I’m not a full-fledged believer just yet. I’ll feel a lot better once the market clears its 200-day moving average, but we have another 6% to go for that to happen. Historically, stocks perform much better when the S&P 500 is above its 200-DMA.

    I’m pleased to see investors are gravitating towards the kind of high-quality stocks we favor. Since Monday before last, our Buy List is up 10.29% which is 79 basis points more than the S&P 500. Over that same time span, shares of Ford ($F) and Wright Express ($WXS) are both up 21% and shares of boring little Deluxe ($DLX) are up close to 24%. Best of all, Deluxe still yields close to 4.5%.

    The fact is clear: for the first time in several weeks, investors are seeking safety in stocks, not bonds. Over the last three weeks, investors have quietly sold their bonds and yields have ticked higher. The 30-year Treasury dropped for six days in a row which was its longest slide in four years. The 10-year note recently crossed 2% and I think it could head to 2.5%.

    Until three weeks ago, investors had been massively piling into gold and bonds, seeking shelter from whatever weekly disaster was happening in Europe. The latest (tentative) news from Europe is hopeful and gold has taken its biggest drop in three years. This is part of the Fear Trade unwinding. It’s still too early to declare victory, but the bears are clearly walking back some of their risk-averse positions.

    Make no mistake, the European banks are far from healthy and S&P just downgraded Spain; but it looks like the authorities are starting to realize how bad things are. It’s as if everyone in Europe is waiting for a “Lehman” moment, which may never come. Instead, we’re watching a slow erosion of investor confidence. According to Barclays, the problems in Europe have erased $13 trillion of wealth since July 1st. I should add that I’ve been impressed by how strong the comments have been from officials in Europe. It looks like the next big meeting will be on November 3rd-4th when the G-20 assembles in Cannes.

    Here in the U.S., the next few weeks will be dominated by earnings reports. I expect this earnings season to be good but it won’t be as impressive as previous seasons have been. Overall, our stocks should continue to post good numbers and that’s probably giving us a lift. Earlier this week, Reynolds American ($RAI) hit a new 52-week high. Don’t let these conservative value stocks fool you. Reynolds is one of our best performers so far this year. The recent good news from Europe has also been positive for AFLAC ($AFL). Since September 23rd, the stock is up 28%. I’m expecting another solid earnings report in two weeks.

    Looking around at other stocks on our Buy List, I see that Bed, Bath & Beyond ($BBBY) is also near its 52-week high. Sometime within the next few weeks, I expect to see Becton, Dickinson ($BDX) increase its dividend for the 39th year in a row. I still like Oracle ($ORCL) a lot. In fact, I’m going to raise my buy price for it. Three weeks ago, I said Oracle was a good buy up to $30. I’m now raising that to $33. That’s a very good stock.

    I mentioned last week that the big story for us this week would be JPMorgan Chase’s ($JPM) earnings report. On Thursday, the bank reported earnings of $1.02 per share which was ten cents more than estimates. The stock fell after the earnings report but I think this was a decent report, though not a great one.

    Bear in mind that Wall Street has been slashing estimates for all the major banks for this earnings season. To give you an example, a few weeks ago the analyst community was expecting Goldman Sachs ($GS) to report earnings of more than $3 per share. Now that’s down to 27 cents per share. In fact, Goldman could post a loss. For JPM, the downgrades weren’t nearly as harsh. Estimates fell from around $1.20 per share to 92 cents per share (which they beat anyway). The story for JPM is that the capital markets side of the business is rather weak but traditional retail banking is doing fine.

    All told, JPM is still doing well despite a more challenging environment. By most reasonable metrics, the shares are cheap. In my opinion, the most important factor to watch with JPM is the dividend. The quarterly dividend is currently at 25 cents per share which gives the stock a yield of 3.16%. That’s about what a 30-year Treasury gets now. But more importantly, JPM can easily raise its dividend by 30% or more.

    The next earnings report from a Buy List stock will be Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ), which reports on Tuesday, October 18th. Wall Street expects Q3 earnings of $1.21 per share which is too low. That would actually be a decrease of two cents per share from one year ago. My analysis shows that JNJ can deliver earnings of $1.25 per share.

    In July, JNJ reiterated its full-year EPS forecast of $4.90 to $5. I think there’s a very good chance that they’ll raise both ends of their forecast by, say, five cents per share. The bottom line is that JNJ is the ultimate in blue chip safety. Unlike the United States of America, JNJ has a AAA credit rating. The stock currently yields 3.55%. Johnson & Johnson is a good buy up to $67 per share.

    On Wednesday, October 19th (the 24th anniversary of the ’87 Crash), Stryker ($SYK) will report earnings after the close. For the first and second quarters, the company earned 90 cents per share, so let’s go with that figure for the third quarter as well (the Street expects 89 cents). Stryker has said it expects full-year earnings of $3.65 to $3.73 per share. Stryker is a very good company but I’d like to see the stock a little lower than where it is right now before I feel confident calling it a very strong buy. As it is, Stryker is a good buy at $50 but I’d like it a lot more at $45.

    That’s all for now. Be sure to keep checking the blog for daily updates. I’ll have more market analysis for you in the next issue of CWS Market Review!

    – Eddy