Sky Deutschland, which offers pay-TV subscription programming in Germany, has lots of viewers – and lots of debt. It’s paying top dollar for must-see events and its debt/equity ratio shows it is highly levered. The StarMine SmartRatios Credit Risk Model implied rating of CCC indicates that the company’s balance sheet may need strengthening. Media companies [...]

Faced with a growing debt burden, agricultural supplier Olam is facing increased interest costs and continued poor cash flows — factors that affect earnings quality. Olam International Limited (OLAM.SI) is a Singapore-based supplier of agricultural products such as nuts, coffee, spices and cotton. It also provides commodity financial services and risk management solutions. In November [...]

Based in Jiaxing, China, the 19-year-old Haining China Leather Market sells leather and fur products – and acts as a pricing and fashion center. Enjoying revenue and earnings growth powered by strong cash flows and expanding margins, Haining is exhibiting signs of excellent earnings quality. China’s economy may be cooling down, but its people are [...]

Europe’s sputtering economy and a competitive market in China are stalling earnings and revenues at car and truck manufacturer Daimler AG. Furthermore, weak cash flows and falling margins are contributing to poor earnings quality. The European economic slowdown slashed demand for cars and trucks. Germany’s Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) — maker of Mercedes Benz luxury cars [...]

China’s economic growth is decelerating and that’s applying the brakes to the automobile sector. Brilliance China Automotive is faced with weak cash flows and falling margins. A Thomson Reuters StarMine Earnings Quality analysis indicates the company’s earnings may encounter bumps in the road ahead. As China’s economy slows down (relatively speaking) and as the new [...]

The horses are out of the gate as companies race to report first quarter earnings. A Thomson Reuters StarMine analysis reveals ten candidates that seem ready to prance into the winners’ circle — or pull up short and deliver a negative Earnings Surprise. So far three out of four companies have gone according to prediction. [...]

Gold miners are digging for profits as the precious metal’s price has been taking a dive. Canada-based Barrick Gold is also being hit by project delays and cost over-runs. Data produced by a Thomson Reuters StarMine analysis shows a large negative Predicted Surprise that indicates Barrick may miss already-lowered earnings estimates. Gold prices crashed by [...]

Lumber prices, housing starts and house prices are all rising like the walls in a hot new residential development. It looks like Weyerhaeuser’s earnings may be going up as well. Data produced by a Thomson Reuters StarMine analysis indicates the company may beat the first-quarter consensus earnings estimate. Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY.N) participates in both the [...]

Rackspace — a cloud computing provider — faces strong competition from such established players as Amazon. As Rackspace continues to feel intense pricing pressure, analysts are lowering estimates.A Thomson Reuters negative Predicted Surprise points toward the likelihood that Rackspace earnings may miss the consensus for the first fiscal quarter. Cloud computing — computing resources delivered [...]

Oil and gas drills are revving up around the world and Canadian pipeline supplier Shawcor is looking at a gusher — record order backlogs and increasing revenues. A Thomson Reuters StarMine analysis indicates it may beat the consensus estimates when it reports quarterly earnings next month and record a positive earnings surprise. In North America, [...]