Earning Surprises

Two big banks report Q2 results, setting the stage for a flurry of bank earnings announcements next week. The second quarter earnings season kicked off on a rather uneasy note, with Alcoa (AA.N) managing to beat analysts’ estimates by reporting a profit of 6 cents a share, a penny above the consensus. But the aluminum [...]

The government may have ordered Canadian Pacific’s union employees back to word, but now it’s up to activist hedge fund manager Bill Ackman to see if he can get them to generate better profits for shareholders. Back in May, activist hedge fund manager William Ackman, triumphed in a bitter battle for control over Canadian Pacific [...]

Fortress may have capital to invest, but its earnings power is flagging amidst sub-par performance by some of its alternative investment vehicles. Fortress Investment Group (FIG.N) has always struggled to win the affections of investors: as an asset management company offering alternative investment products like hedge funds to ultra-wealthy individuals and institutions, it’s not an [...]

With the housing market inching back to life, West Fraser Timber is poised to see higher lumber sales translate into stronger-than-expected earnings growth. The housing market, the financing of which via subprime lending was at the heart of the financial crisis, has, understandably enough, been one of the slowest to generate any kind of significant [...]

It’s a tug-of-war, with analysts being resolutely bearish when it comes to forecast second-quarter corporate profits, while early-reporting companies in the “preseason” have offered up better-than-expected results. Alcoa (AA.N) kicked off the earnings season for the second quarter of 2012 with rather gloomy news. True, on an operating basis, the company’s profits from continuing operations [...]

Netflix’s marketing efforts pay off, big time, and analysts are raising their earnings estimates. Ever since it alienated its customers by boosting its charges and launching a doomed plan to get them to sign up to two separate video rental services (one streaming, one DVD-by-mail), Netflix Inc. (NFLX.O) has been battling to woo them back. [...]

Analysts and top corporate executives have become notably more bearish in recent months – are their views correct, and should we prepare for a bleak second-quarter earnings season? Join the debate here… The second quarter is officially at an end; within a few days, we will be back in the midst of earnings season as, [...]

Sky-high jet fuel costs have been a major headache for all the airlines, but US Airways (LCC.N) may well see its earnings take off as that headwind vanishes. Among the groups celebrating the recent decline in crude oil prices, some of the greatest jubilation is being demonstrated by airlines, for whom jet fuel costs are [...]

When the economy turns sluggish, consumers pull back from spending – especially on big-ticket items like new cars. That’s great news for car repair shops, whose technical skills are in demand as owners try to keep their vehicles on the road longer, but it’s not great news for those whose business revolves around selling new [...]

In recent AlphaNow articles, we have discussed the plight of resource companies that have invested heavily in new energy or mining operations only to find that the high commodity prices on which the economics of these projects were based have fallen sharply. That’s bad news for earnings at mining companies or oil and gas exploration [...]