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After spending much of this year locked into a four-star rank, enough top-performing CAPS members have recently turned bullish on Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE: NWL ) to boost the company back to the five-star level. A total of 326 members have given their opinion on Newell Rubbermaid, with many offering analysis and commentary to explain their recent optimism.
Newell Rubbermaid makes consumer products, ranging from the office supplies found at stores like Office Depot (NYSE: ODP ) to the baby products listed on Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN ) . Despite a slow economy, with constrained consumer spending and worrisome unemployment, Newell Rubbermaid has recently managed to grow profits and drive market share. It pulled in 14% higher earnings in the second quarter, even as its revenue fell. Lower material costs, and the abandonment of some lower-margin products, helped the company keep its bottom line healthy.
Newell Rubbermaid grew its gross margin by three percentage points, while generating positive free cash flow and topping Wall Street's forecasts. On top of this, the company raised its full-year earnings and operating cash flow outlook.
Challenges remain as the economy recovers, and dropped product lines could affect the company's future revenue. Still, some CAPS members like Newell Rubbermaid's long-term outlook. When things pick up again at retailers such as Lowe's (NYSE: LOW ) , Home Depot (NYSE: HD ) , Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT ) , and Target (NYSE: TGT ) , investors expect that Newell Rubbermaid will benefit. While shares have seen healthy gains in recent months, many CAPS members still consider this a good opportunity to pick up a strong company at a reasonable price.
Do you think Newell Rubbermaid deserves its elevated status? Add your thoughts in the comments box below on this page, or head over to CAPS to rate the company and check out our community's opinions and information, absolutely free.
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