Equity Analysis

We have passed the halfway point of the first quarter earnings season, and the trend we have seen so far continues. While the majority of companies are reporting stronger-than-expected earnings, most are missing on revenue. Last week was the heaviest week of earnings reports for S&P 500 companies, with 164 companies reporting first-quarter results. Of [...]

Investors seemed to be hung over for the week ended Wednesday, April 24, after bleak economic reports and news that included a fake AP tweet about explosions at the White House. The S&P 500 index finally put together three straight days of gains, returning 1.75% for the week, but that was after a lousy week [...]

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. [...]

According to market lore, “sell in May and go away” means investors should get out in the spring and buy back in the fall. Lately, however, following that advice has resulted in missed opportunities. Thomson Reuters looked at the behavior of the ten S&P 500 sectors since 2000 and found that the best offense for [...]

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 [...]

Hanesbrands struggled when cotton prices spiked dramatically a little over a year ago; now that they have come back to earth, the company appears to be reaping the benefits of its efforts to improve operating efficiency as well as the lower raw materials costs, in the shape of what may be higher profits and appear [...]

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 [...]

The rate at which companies are posting better-than-expected earnings may look impressive, but looking behind the headlines reveals an underlying problem: the fact that revenue growth just isn’t keeping pace. When analysts cut their earnings estimates for S&P 500 companies in the weeks that led up to the first quarter’s earnings season, they created opportunities [...]

Anxiety and volatility dominated markets last week, and investors responded, displaying a clear preference for fixed-income products and non-domestic stock funds — and a definite aversion to commodities funds. Not long after both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index set new records on April 11, investors began to demonstrate anxiety about [...]

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 [...]