It's earnings season, and the quarterly reports have been largely positive this week.
Sure, there will always be implosions. Even a good report doesn't always provide a rallying point, especially if the company is lukewarm about its near-term prospects or if the shares had an extraordinary run heading into the report.
That said, let's go over a few of this week's winners:
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Select Comfort
(Nasdaq: SCSS) , the maker of high-end Sleep Number air-chambered mattresses, posted better-than-expected results. In an even more encouraging sign, same-store sales soared by 16% during the period. -
Isilon Systems
(Nasdaq: ISLN) rang up an adjusted profit of $0.09 a share, nearly twice what the pros were expecting. The fact that it toils away in the consolidation-friendly data-storage sector only helps at this point. -
Hasbro
(NYSE: HAS) earned $1.09 a share, a nickel ahead of Wall Street's target. The toymaker has topped the estimates in each of the past six quarters.
Good earnings news is the best market news.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
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Sirius XM Radio
(Nasdaq: SIRI) launched Pearl Jam Radio, available on both Sirius and XM. Unlike many artist-related channels that are up for a limited time, this one is set to stick around. I guess Jeremy spoke in class today. - It's been another colorful week for Apple
(Nasdaq: AAPL) . The country's most valuable tech stock reported another quarter of blowout earnings, called out the competition, and introduced a refreshed line of MacBook Air laptops. -
Electronic Arts
(Nasdaq: ERTS) is buying Chillingo, the casual-games developer behind Apple App Store sensations Angry Birds and Cut the Rope. Yes, EA has gone from relying on $60 console releases to hoping that enough people choose a $0.99 app over the free "lite" ad-supported version. Be careful with that rope you're cutting, EA.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
