July 24th, 2007
Mid Cap Watch List (Track at Marketocracy) and Large Cap Watch List (Track at Marketocracy) member Laboratory Corporation of America(R) Holdings (LH) announced results for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2007. Excluding restructuring and other special charges recorded in 2007, net earnings increased 14.1% to $132.8 million. Earnings per diluted share (EPS) increased 20.7% to $1.05, compared to $0.87 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2006. Excluding restructuring and other special charges recorded in 2007, EPS increased 25.3% to $1.09, in line with consensus estimates.
Revenues for the quarter were $1,043.1 million, an increase of 15.4% compared to the same period in 2006 and ahead of the $1.03 billion consensus. Looking ahead, the Company expects revenue growth of 13% to 14%, EBITDA margins of approximately 26.4% to 26.9%, and diluted earnings per share of between $4.11 and $4.27. With the consensus at 13.5% revenue growth and $4.21 in earnings per share, the apparent margin pressure (relative to expectations) is forecast to continue.
July 21st, 2007
The Economic Calendar is quiet in the early part of this week but there are important reports at the end of the week. On Thursday is the Durable Goods report, for which the consensus estimates a 2.0% increase. On Friday is the Preliminary Estimate of 2Q GDP, which the consensus has pegged at 3.2%. That sounds a little high to me based on the economic data table I’ve been compiling.
EconomicData
The Earnings Calendar is as busy as it can get. Some of the names I’ll be watching:
Monday
Tuesday
- CH Robinson (CHRW - Annual Report) - estimates have been rising and now stand at $0.47, but Landstar (LSTR - Annual Report) disappointed.
- CDW Corporation (CDWC) - stellar monthly sales reports have kept estimates rising. They now stand at $0.97.
- EMC Corporation (EMC - Annual Report) - The big news is still the VMWare IPO, but it is also a decent look at enterprise tech spend.
- Laboratory Corporation of America (LH) - The Mid Cap and Large Cap Watch List (Track at Marketocracy) member has been seeing positive earnings revisions and is now expected to earn $1.09 on $1.03 billion in revenue.
- Lexmark (LXK) preannounced and will probably offer poor guidance.
- Linear Technology (LLTC) - expected to earn $0.35 on $267 million in sales.
- Norsk Hydro (NHY) - The Large Cap Watch List (Track at Marketocracy) member has no analyst coverage right now.
- Plantronics (PLT) - my covered call position is now being cashed out so I’ve no skin in this one. But it is often volatile.
- United Parcel Services (UPS) is a great read on the health of the economy. Expectations are $1.03 on $12.23 billion in revenue.
Wednesday
Thursday
Disclosure: William Trent has a long position in SMH.
Topics:
Miscellaneous Capital Goods,
Iron and Steel,
Personal and Household Products,
Computer Peripherals,
Investment Services,
Metals and Mining,
Electronic Instruments and Controls,
Steel Dynamics (STLD),
Watch List,
Hexcel (HXL),
Durable Goods,
GDP,
Healthcare Facilities,
Laboratory Corp. of America (LH),
Miscellaneous Transportation,
EMC Corp. (EMC),
Air Courier,
Federated Investors (FII),
Graco (GGG),
Computer Storage Devices,
Large Cap Watch List,
Retail (Catalog and Mail Order),
Computer Hardware,
Small Cap Watch List,
Mid Cap Watch List,
Xilinx (XLNX),
Altera (ALTR),
CDW Corp (CDWC),
Lexmark (LXK),
Texas Instruments (TXN),
Plantronics (PLT),
Corning (GLW),
Xerox (XRX),
Healthcare,
Stock Market,
Technology,
Transportation,
United Parcel Service (UPS),
Semiconductors,
MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR),
Freeport McMoRan (FCX),
Colgate Palmolive (CL),
Communications Equipment,
Linear Technology (LLTC),
CH Robinson Worldwide (CHRW),
Ingram Micro (IM),
Consumer Non-cyclical,
Financials,
Basic Materials,
Conglomerates,
Norsk Hydro (NHY),
Services,
Economy |
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