Bird flu should make for tasty Chinese burritos…..no?

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“Alcoa reported an increase in quarterly profit on Monday as performance in its alumina and primary metals segments improved despite a tough market. Revenue, however, fell short.

After the earnings announcement, the company’s shares slipped in extended-hours trading. (Click here for the latest after-hours quote.)

“I’m relatively optimistic that 2013 is going to be better than 2012,” Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa CEO, told CNBC. “So for us, we continue to project 7 percent demand growth in aluminum.”

“When you look at aerospace, automotive, building and construction in the U.S. is coming back, China is performing stably and even Europe… is relatively resilient and muddling through,” he said….”

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“Even without Christmas or the benefit of a new hit device, Samsung Electronics Co. (005930)posted near-record earnings in the first quarter. Profit (005930) is set to surge when the Galaxy S4 smartphone goes on sale this month.

The mobile-phone business again was the company’s biggest earnings driver, with sales of cheaper handsets in emerging markets supplementing growth by high-end Galaxy models. Operating profit rose to about 8.7 trillion won ($7.7 billion) in the three months ended March 31 from 5.69 trillion won a year earlier, Asia’s biggest technology company said today…”

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“Red Hat (NYSE: RHT  ) results for the company’s Q1 have been released. For the quarter, revenue was $348 million, a 17% improvement over the $297 million in the same period the previous year. Non-GAAP net income came in at $70 million ($0.36 per diluted share) from Q4 2011’s red figure of just under $57 million ($0.29).

On average, analysts had been projecting revenue of $349 million and EPS of $0.30….”

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“TORONTO (Reuters) – BlackBerry announced an unexpected quarterly profit on demand for the new touchscreen device that holds the key to its successful turnaround, but revenue remained far below year-earlier levels.

The smartphone maker said on Thursday that it had sold about 1 million of the new Z10 devices during the fourth quarter ended March 2. It shipped roughly 6 million smartphones in that period.

Net income in the quarter was $98 million, or 19 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $125 million, or 24 cents a share.

Shares of the Waterloo, Ontario-based company fell 1.1 percent to $14.40 in premarket trading after the results were released…”

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“China Cosco Holdings Co. (1919), the nation’s biggest shipping company, reported a wider-than- expected annual loss as dry-bulk rates slumped.

The net loss was 9.56 billion yuan ($1.54 billion), compared with 10.5 billion yuan a year earlier, under international accounting standards, the Tianjin-based company said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing yesterday. That is wider than the 7.53 billion-yuan average loss of 22 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 4.4 percent to 88.3 billion yuan.

Chairman Wei Jiafu is restructuring the company’s assets in a bid to return to profitability as a third straight annual loss may result in shares being delisted in Shanghai. The company has unveiled a plan to sell its logistics unit. It may raise as much as 27 billion yuan selling assets to its parent, said two people with knowledge of the matter this month.

“The outlook remains challenging,” Vivian Tao, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., said in a note to clients today. The logistics unit sale “is far from enough” to turn China Cosco profitable this year and further restructuring can be expected, she said.

China Cosco fell 4.2 percent to HK$3.66 at the close in Hong Kong trading. The city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 percent.

China Cosco plans to sell Cosco Logistics Co. to state- backed parent company China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co. for 6.74 billion yuan, the company said in a separate statement. The sale will give China Cosco a pretax gain of about 1.96 billion in 2013, the company said.

Rates, Costs…”

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“Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s fourth-largest lender, posted better-than-estimated profit growth of 12 percent last year as an expansion of its lending margin outweighed an increase in bad loans.

Net income rose to 139.4 billion yuan ($22 billion), or 0.48 yuan a share, from a restated 124.3 billion yuan, or 0.43 yuan, a year earlier, the Beijing-based lender said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange today. That beat the 132.6 billion-yuan average estimate of 31 analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

Bank of China and No. 3 lender Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (601288) join China Construction Bank Corp. (939), the second-largest, in reporting slower annual profit growth as the industry struggles to curb rising defaults after the world’s second-largest economy faltered. Chinese lenders’ profit growth may further slow in 2013, Agricultural Bank President Zhang Yun said today.

“The trend is very clear: the Chinese banks’ high growth rates of the past aren’t sustainable,” said Chen Xingyu, a Shanghai-based analyst at Phillip Securities Group. “If the market improves this year, then we may see a small rebound in their earnings.” ….”

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“Tiffany TIF -2.47% & Co.’s fiscal-fourth-quarter earnings rose slightly from a prior year weighed down by headquarters-relocation costs.

Tiffany on Friday said it expects fiscal-first-quarter adjusted earnings to decline about 15% to 20% because of pressure on margins and higher marketing costs, while analysts were looking for flat profit. The company predicts earnings growth in all subsequent quarters.

For the quarter ended Jan. 31, Tiffany reported a profit of $179.6 million, or $1.40 a share, up from $178.4 million, or $1.39, a year earlier. Last year’s per-share earnings were $3.60 excluding costs to relocate Tiffany’s New York headquarters staff.

The company’s November projection was for per-share earnings of $1.35 to $1.55.

Sales increased 4.1% to $1.24 billion, short of analysts’ expectations for $1.25 billion. Excluding the effect of foreign-currency translation, sales rose 5%. Same-store sales were flat with the prior year….”

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“Nike Inc. (NKE), the world’s largest sporting-goods company, gained after easing investors’ concerns that its profitability and business in China were weakening.

Price increases enacted last year finally paid off for the Beaverton, Oregon-based company as its gross margin widened for the first time in nine quarters. Meanwhile, the company reported that orders for the Nike brand in China, excluding changes in currency exchange rates, gained after sales there sank 10 percent last quarter for a second straight decline.

The gain in gross margin came in the fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28, when earnings from continuing operations rose 16 percent to $662 million, or 73 cents a share, from $569 million, or 61 cents, a year earlier, Nike said yesterday in a statement. Analysts projected 67 cents a share, the average of 20 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“Nike is firing on all cylinders right now,” said Brian Yarbrough, an analyst for Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis, who has a hold rating on the shares. “They’ve been talking about, for several years now, expecting gross margins to eventually turn. And now it looks like that has played out.”

Nike rose 8.2 percent to $58.02 at 7:57 a.m. in New York. The shares had gained 3.9 percent this year through the end of yesterday’s regular trading, compared with an increase of 8.4 percent in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

The company gave an initial forecast for fiscal 2014 that was in line with analysts’ estimates. Sales will increase in the mid-single-digit percentage range, and adjusted earnings per share will advance a mid-teen percentage. Analysts projected gains on average of 7 percent for revenue and 14 percent for earnings per share.

Future Orders…”

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“Here’s a contrarian view for you on the corporate profit mean reversion front.  Credit Suisse says profit margins are likely to stay high due to two primary factors – an accommodative Fed and a weak labor class:

• Net income margins are unlikely to fall significantly until rates rise

50% of the improvement in margins has come from lower interest charges. We believe that the interest charge will not rise unless rates go up. Indeed, looking at the relationship between the corporate bond yield and the interest charge suggests that, if anything, the interest charge will fall….”

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“KB Home (KBH), one of the nation’s largest and most recognized homebuilders, today reported results for its first quarter ended February 28, 2013. Highlights and developments include the following:

Three Months Ended February 28, 2013

• Revenues increased 59% to $405.2 million from $254.6 million for the first quarter of 2012 as a result of an increase in the number of homes delivered and a higher average selling price. Compared to the year-earlier quarter, revenues were up across all of the Company’s homebuilding regions.
  • The Company delivered 1,485 homes, up 29% from the first quarter of 2012, reflecting increases in three of its four homebuilding regions.
  • The overall average selling price of $271,300 was $52,300, or 24%, higher than the year-earlier quarter, marking the Company’s 11th consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement, and its highest first-quarter average selling price since 2006.
    • The higher average selling price in the current quarter reflected, among other things, the Company’s ongoing strategy of repositioning its operations to serve its core first-time and first move-up homebuyers in higher-performing choice locations in land-constrained growth markets that feature higher household incomes and greater demand for larger homes and more design options, as well as generally rising home prices….”

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“Hermes International SCA (RMS), the French maker of Kelly bags and silk scarves, reported 2012 earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates as it increased production.

Operating profit rose 26 percent to 1.12 billion euros ($1.45 billion), the Paris-based company said today in a statement. Analysts predicted profit of 1.09 billion euros, according to the average of 15 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The operating margin widened to 32.1 percent, the highest since its shares began trading in 1993.

Hermes said last month it expected that measure of profitability to beat 2011’s 31.2 percent after a surge in fourth-quarter sales led to a 16 percent gain in full-year revenue, excluding currency swings. The company, which added two workshops in France in 2012, exerts control over revenue by limiting supply of its handbags amid strong demand, according to Exane BNP Paribas….”

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“REDWOOD SHORES, CA–(Marketwire – Mar 20, 2013) – Oracle Corporation ( NASDAQ : ORCL ) today announced that fiscal 2013 Q3 total revenues were down 1% to $9.0 billion. New software licenses and cloud software subscriptions revenues were down 2% to $2.3 billion. Software license updates and product support revenues were up 7% to $4.3 billion. Hardware systems products revenues were $671 million. GAAP operating income was up 1% to $3.3 billion, and GAAP operating margin was 37%. Non-GAAP operating income was down 1% to $4.2 billion, and non-GAAP operating margin was 47%. GAAP net income was unchanged at $2.5 billion, while non-GAAP net income was down 1% to $3.1 billion. GAAP earnings per share were $0.52, up 6% compared to last year while non-GAAP earnings per share were up 5% to $0.65. GAAP operating cash flow on a trailing twelve-month basis was $13.7 billion.

Without the impact of the US dollar strengthening compared to foreign currencies, Oracle’s reported Q3 GAAP earnings per share would have been $0.01 higher at $0.53, up 8%, and Q3 non-GAAP earnings per share would have been approximately $0.01 higher. Total revenues also would have been 1% higher and new software licenses and cloud software subscription revenues would have been 2% higher than reported.

“Our non-GAAP operating margin increased to a Q3 record of 47%, and we expect it to reach an all-time high for the fiscal year,” said Oracle President and CFO, Safra Catz. “Both operating cash flow and free cash flow were at record levels for a Q3, with operating cash flow of $13.7 billion over the last twelve months.” …”

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“FedEx Corp. (FDX) plans deeper capacity cuts to Asia after lowering its 2013 earnings forecastamid a widening customer shift to cheaper overseas shipments.

Profit in the fiscal year through May will be $6 to $6.20 a share, down from an earlier forecast of as much as $6.60, the Memphis, Tennessee-based shipping company said in a statement today. Both the projection and fiscal third-quarter profit trailed analysts estimates.

FedEx, an economic bellwether because it moves goods as varied as medical supplies and auto parts, is in the midst of a a $1.7 billion restructuring to compensate for customers moving away from the fastest, most lucrative deliveries. Starting in April, it will decrease capacity to and from Asia and put low- yielding shipments in less expensive networks, Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith said in the statement.

“Our lower-than-expected results for the quarter and reduced full-year earnings outlook were driven by third-quarter international revenues declining approximately $100 million versus our guidance, primarily due to accelerating customers preference for lower-yielding international services,” Chief Financial Officer Alan Graf said in the statement.

Analysts had estimated FedEx, operator of the world’s largest cargo airline, would post full-year profit of $6.35, the average in a Bloomberg survey. FedEx fell 3.3 percent to $103 at 8:07 a.m., before the start of regular trading in New York.

Shares Decline…”

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“Lennar Corp.’s LEN -0.39% quarterly net profit surged, catapulting results way above Street estimates as the homebuilder recorded strong revenue growth buoyed by higher deliveries and prices, while orders and backlog both recorded double-digit percentage growth.

The results come as the home-building sector enters the all-important spring selling season, which has the potential to be the strongest in several years. Builders are benefiting as buyers leave the sidelines, and interest rates remain low, making owning a home more affordable than renting in many markets. Lennar—which is considered one of the sector’s strongest players by some analysts—has consistently reported double-digit revenue growth over the past several quarters amid a broad housing market recovery….”

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“Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) reported first-quarter 2013 earnings of 22 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 20 cents. Adjusted earnings per share exclude one-time items but include stock-based compensation expense.

Revenues

Adobe’s total revenue was $1.008 billion, down 12.6% sequentially and 3.6% year over year. However, reported revenues were slightly above management’s expectation range of $950 million to $1.0 billion attributable to increased adoption of Adobe’s Creative Cloud.

Products generated 67.0% of Adobe’s revenues and were down 16.4% year over year. Subscription revenues comprised 22.0% of total revenue, up 53.4% sequentially and Services & Support brought in the balance, increasing 19.1% year over year.

Revenues by Segment…”

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“DSW earned $0.69 a share in the fourth quarter, missing the $0.72 average analyst forecast. Revenue of $594.3 million also lagged the $601.88 million consensus estimate. DSW drops 11 percent before the bell on my tradeMONSTER platform.

Lululemon Sees Yoga Pants Shortage…”

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“PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Urban Outfitters Inc.’s fiscal fourth-quarter net income more than doubled on stronger sales but still fell just short of market expectations. Its shares fell in after-hours trading Monday.

The Philadelphia company owns the Anthropologie, BHLDN, Free People, Terrain and Urban Outfitters brands.

Urban earned $82.5 million, or 56 cents per share, for the period that ended Jan. 31. That compares with $39.3 million, or 27 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Its revenue increased to $856.8 million from $730.6 million on stronger revenue from its Free People, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie brands.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 57 cents per share on revenue of $850.5 million.

The company got a boost from a 44 percent increase in sales directly to consumers, which included online and catalog sales. Its total revenue from retail stores increased nearly 9 percent year-over-year…..”

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“SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Snack foods maker Diamond Foods Inc. said Monday that it turned a profit in its fiscal second quarter after taking a loss on one-time charges a year ago.

For the three months ended Jan. 31, net income totaled $10.1 million, or 43 cents per share. A year ago it took a loss of $20.2 million, or 93 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, Diamond earned 5 cents per share. Revenue fell 16 percent, to $220.8 million, as sales of Emerald Nuts decreased.

Analysts expected net income of 6 cents per share on $239.2 million in revenue, according to FactSet.

Diamond reported a gain of $18.6 million in the recent quarter as its share price fell more than 20 percent in late 2012 and early 2013. That decreased its warrant liability. A year ago the company’s results included a $12.1 million charge related to a failed attempt to buy the Pringles brand from Procter & Gamble and $10.7 million related to an audit committee investigation.

Diamond Foods disclosed in early 2012 that it would have to restate two years of earnings because it had not properly accounted for payments to walnut growers. The company replaced its CEO and chief financial officer, and its bid for Pringles collapsed. Procter& Gamble Co. ultimately sold Pringles to Kellogg Co. for $2.7 billion….”

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“Costco Wholesale Corp.’s COST -0.59% quarterly earnings jumped 39% as the wholesale club recorded strong revenue growth and also saw its bottom line buoyed by a one-time tax benefit.

Costco’s sales have mostly topped Wall Street’s expectations in recent quarters, thanks in part to a shaky economy encouraging shoppers to make bulk purchases at its warehouse clubs, which can be less expensive than other outlets. Costco also sells its gasoline for less than area pumps, which has contributed to higher traffic at its clubs. But like many other retailers, Costco has faced rising costs for merchandise, a trend that continued in the latest quarter.

Ahead of the company’s earnings release, analysts at William Blair pointed to the company’s same-store sales gain for February, saying same-store traffic growth continues to be driven by growth in food and consumables. The firm said that unlike large-cap discount peers such as Target Corp. TGT +1.49% and Wal-Mart StoresInc., WMT -0.07% who recently logged weaker sales in February, Costco continues to generate consistent, strong growth across all general merchandise categories, which William Blair said is a reflection of its low e-commerce risk profile.

Tuesday, Costco reported that total same-store sales were up 5% for the period, excluding currency fluctuations and inflation in gasoline price.

For the quarter ended Feb. 17, the company reported a profit of $547 million, or $1.24 a share, versus a year-ago profit of $394 million, or 90 cents a share. The latest quarter included a $62 million, or 14-cents-a-share tax benefit in connection with the portion of a special cash dividend paid by the company in December.

Total revenue jumped 8.3% to $24.87 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.06 a share on $25.03 billion in revenue.

Revenue from membership fees rose 15% to $528 million. In November of 2011, Costco raised membership fees by 10% in the U.S. and Canada, the first increase in five years.

Operating margin narrowed a hair to 97% from 97.1%. Merchandise costs increased 8.1%, while selling, general and administrative expenses rose 8.4%….”

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