Earning Surprises

While those S&P 500 companies that have yet to report their fourth-quarter results are disproportionately made up of companies in sectors and groups that analysts expect to post disappointing or lower earnings, that may not put as much of a dent in overall earnings growth rates as analysts fear. With over half of the companies [...]

New automotive technologies have already made Mazda’s cars hotter-selling vehicles than many of their rivals; now, the falling yen could boost exports and profits further. The weakening of the Japanese yen against other currencies, including the dollar, may be bad news for that nation’s own consumers, but it helps make Japanese exporters’ products more competitive [...]

China’s economic slowdown has been felt around the world, but some companies have experienced a significantly greater degree of pain, such as Sinotruk, whose fate is tied to Chinese growth in GDP and exports. A setback to both of these means the company’s 2012 earnings are likely to disappoint. While it may be hard to [...]

Wuliangye Yibin has tremendous pricing power and its premium liquors appeal to China’s burgeoning middle class; even an anti-corruption crusade isn’t likely to spoil the possibility of a positive earnings surprise next month. The recent clampdown on political and business corruption in China has been bad news for the domestic liquor producers as well as [...]

With fourth-quarter corporate earnings season kicking into high gear, we highlight ten companies that seem poised to deliver big disappointments or positive surprises. About 150 of companies in the S&P 500 had reported their fourth-quarter results as of the end of last week, and one of the ten companies that the StarMine research team selected [...]

Companies are reporting positive surprises at an impressive rate, handily beating analysts’ forecasts. Still, those forecasts had been lowered significantly in earlier weeks, and the fate of Apple (AAPL.O) demonstrated clearly that a positive surprise may not be enough to encourage investors if it is accompanied by a year-over-year decline. The fourth quarter earnings season [...]

The rally in housing has been good news for earnings at banks (where mortgage volumes kept climbing in the fourth quarter) and home builders, and is pushing blended earnings growth estimates higher for the S&P 500. Last week it was the turn of banks and other financial services companies to dominate the earnings news, with [...]

Innovation is wonderful, and Huntsman has won plaudits for its role in creating a new carbon chassis for Lamborghini. But a downturn in demand and pricing for one of its staples products is likely to weigh on its fourth-quarter earnings. Reviewers have labeled Lamborghini’s new two-door sports car, the Aventador, as “bold and brash”, stunning [...]

Lumber prices and forest products companies are among the beneficiaries of the rebound in the U.S. housing market, and that is setting the stage for a blockbuster year of earnings surprises for Canfor Corp. (CFP.TO) The housing market was one of the best performing sectors of both the U.S. economy and the stock market last [...]

J.C. Penney (JCP.N) just can’t seem to catch a break; shoppers continue to shun its revamped stores and reject its new business model, and as analysts have continued to cut their earnings forecasts for the fourth quarter and the coming year, the company has kept its capital spending at a high rate. It’s time to [...]