If you're feeling good about the market, you're not alone. Take my hand as we go over some of this week's more uplifting headlines.
1. Ford knocks
It's always nice to see companies live up to their promises, especially when they comply two years early.
It seemed as if it was wishful thinking a year ago when Ford
That's a big number. But it's not an inflated number, unless you want to handicap automakers that benefited from this past summer's "Cash for Clunkers" program. In Ford's case, this is the first time the automaker has turned a profit since 2005. It's refreshing to see Ford, like its original Model T cars, back in black.
2. Some Sirius lovin'
Validation is becoming a weekly rite for Sirius XM Radio
Both analysts set $1 price targets on Sirius XM Radio, which just a week earlier had wowed skeptics by preannouncing that it tacked on 257,000 net new subscribers in its latest quarter.
3. It's a stream come true
Netflix
Revenue and earnings climbed by 24% and 36%, respectively. Netflix added 1.2 million more subscribers during the past three months and closed out the year with 12.3 million members.
Churn and subscriber-acquisition costs clocked in lower, so the company's retention and attraction prospects remain bright. As perhaps the only company that has managed to get digital video right -- offering it at no additional cost to unlimited DVD plan subscribers -- Netflix is earning a five-star rating from Wall Street's stingiest reviewers.
Among the analyst upgrades, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch analyst Nat Schindler had one of the meatiest attitude adjustments. He upgraded the stock to "buy" from "underperform" and jacked up his price target from $40 to $70.
4. He went Hathaway
In a move that Warren Buffett fans will call long overdue, Berkshire Hathaway
The move became a no-brainer after Berkshire Hathaway finished its purchase of Burlington Northern, an index component, and completed a 50-for-1 stock split on its B shares.
Berkshire Hathaway then went on to prove its brainy ways by issuing a press release yesterday afternoon.
"We have received several inquiries regarding whether or not Berkshire would be issuing additional shares of its common stock in what is often referred to as an Index Add issuance," reads the release. The company concludes that it will not issue any more shares than necessary to complete its Burlington Northern transaction.
This is a brilliant move, since it will force indexers to bid up the company's existing float if they want, or need, to establish a position in the company. Then again, it's hard to expect anything less from Buffett.
5. Look what's brewing
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
Net sales soared 77% in its first fiscal quarter of 2010, with adjusted earnings per share skyrocketing by 163%. There were 650 million K-Cup refills sold during the period, and that number is only going to go higher, since nearly 1.5 million Keurig brewers shipped during the past three months.
Green Mountain is revising its 2010 outlook higher, naturally. It sees earnings per share clocking in between $1.95 and $2.05, and that's weighed down by $0.15 in non-cash acquisition-related charges related in part to its pending purchase of Diedrich Coffee
