It's earnings season, and that means that some stocks are delivering better news than others. Every week, I spotlight three companies that beat market expectations. But since I have so many stocks to choose from this time of year, I figured I'd double it up this time.
Leaving Wall Street's pros with quizzical looks on their faces can be a good thing. It usually means that the companies have more in the tank than analysts figured, and capital appreciation often follows.
Let's take a look at a few companies that humbled the prognosticators over the past few trading days.
|
Company
|
Actual EPS
|
Analyst Estimate
|
|
Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI )
|
$0.69
|
$0.67
|
|
Cedar Fair (NYSE: FUN )
|
$0.26
|
$0.10
|
|
Einstein Noah (Nasdaq: BAGL )
|
$0.42
|
$0.27
|
|
SINA (Nasdaq: SINA )
|
$0.43
|
$0.40
|
|
Time Warner (NYSE: TWX )
|
$0.24
|
$0.23
|
|
True Religion (Nasdaq: TRLG )
|
$0.39
|
$0.32
|
Source: Earnings.com.
We can start with Pitney Bowes. The postage-meter icon is still delivering the goods, earning $0.69 a share before one-time items. International growth helped fuel the favorable report.
Cedar Fair is another topper. The regional amusement park operator earned more than twice what Wall Street was looking for, and it wasn't even in the company's bread-and-butter summer quarter. Local attractions like regional parks appear to be succeeding in a tricky economic climate in which travelers are making shorter trips closer to home.
The bagel masters at Einstein Noah are rolling in the dough, cranking out a profit of $0.42 a share in its latest period. Consumer-facing stocks like restaurants may make investors nervous as discretionary income dries up, but this was actually a sector with plenty of good news to share last week, as eateries like fellow dough-seller California Pizza Kitchen (Nasdaq: CPKI ) make the most of tough conditions.
Chinese new-media bellwether SINA went for the gold, but shareholders have come to expect great things from the company, which is generating high-margin results in online advertising and mobile value-added services. SINA has now beaten Mr. Market's profit expectations in each of the past 10 quarters.
Time Warner barely beat the street, but a win is a win these days. The media giant is struggling in its publishing and AOL businesses, but it's been able to offset weakness there with strength in its cable and film properties.
Finally, True Religion is restoring investors' faith. The apparel specialist earned $0.39 a share, well above the $0.32-a-share target that analysts tried on in the fitting room. This one comes as a welcome surprise, because pricey denim seems like the last item on consumers' shopping lists in penny-pinching times.
Keep watching the companies that lap expectations. Over time, it will be a fruitful experience for investors, as the market rewards the overachievers. That's the kind of surprise we look for in the Rule Breakers newsletter service. Want in? Check out a 30-day trial subscription.
Either way, come back next Monday to learn about more stocks that blew the market away.
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