We've just wrapped up an incredibly strong first quarter, and surprisingly, the majority of earnings reports continue to be better than Wall Street had predicted. With so many companies reporting during the weeks that comprise earnings season each quarter, earnings reports can fall through the cracks.
Each week this year, I've taken a look at three companies that could be worth further research after either beating or missing their profit expectations. Today, we're going to take a look at three more companies that reported earnings last week. If they slid under your radar, they deserve a look:
|
Company |
Consensus EPS |
Reported EPS |
Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Commercial Metals |
$0.09 | $0.24 | 167% |
|
Rubicon Minerals |
($0.01) | ($0.06) | (500%) |
|
MAP Pharmaceuticals |
($0.31) | ($0.45) | (45%) |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
Commercial Metals
There's a reason that Carl Icahn made a hostile bid to acquire this metals recycler for $1.73 billion: Recycling is a moneymaking business. This is exactly what I was talking about in early March when I recommended Waste Management
This quarter marked the fourth straight time that Commercial Metals has trounced Wall Street's expectations. For the quarter, sales rose 10% as metal scrap prices remained stable and its domestic backlog remained strong. It's hard to see Commercial Metals performing exceptionally poor in any economic environment because of the increasing need for metals recycling. I'd suggest keeping an eye on this recycling star.
Rubicon Minerals
Don't look now, but Rubicon is ready to enter into the next phase of its existence: mine building. The company, which owns the Phoenix Gold Project in the Red Lake district of Canada, has, within the past three weeks, secured 201 million Canadian dollars in additional financing to fund the building of a mine on Phoenix and received its final three building permits.
If you recall, last year the company inked a private placement with Agnico-Eagle Mines
Rubicon anticipates mining roughly 180,000 ounces per year from Phoenix. The mine itself offers some of the highest grade ore (nearly 14 grams/tonne) in existence, which means Rubicon literally is sitting on a gold mine. I wouldn't let one small earnings miss deter you from this potential gem that could be just about to lift off.
MAP Pharmaceuticals
It was a wild week to be a MAP Pharmaceuticals shareholder, to put it mildly. MAP was told earlier in the week that the FDA would not be approving its orally inhaled migraine treatment, Levadex, due to chemistry, manufacture, and control concerns. Then, on Thursday, the company reported a significantly wider-than-expected loss amid word that it would be restating its 2011 earnings due to the way it recognizes the $60 million in collaborative revenue received from Allergan.
The good news is that calmer heads are eventually going to prevail, and approval of Levadex looks all but certain as long as MAP can address the FDA's CMC concerns and get the drug resubmitted. As for the restatement, it's more or less immaterial since it doesn't change the amount MAP received, just when it's recognizing the payments as revenue. The move lower looks like a classic overreaction to me and I remain optimistic over the long term on MAP.
Foolish roundup
Sometimes, an earnings beat or miss isn't as cut-and-dried as it appears. I've given my two cents on what's next for each of these companies; now it's your turn to sound off. Share your thoughts in the comments section below and consider adding these stocks to your free and personalized watchlist.
- Add Commercial Metals to My Watchlist.
- Add Rubicon Minerals to My Watchlist.
- Add MAP Pharmaceuticals to My Watchlist.
If you'd like the inside track on three more companies that could wind up in the earnings beat column, then I suggest you get a copy of our latest special report, "3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World." Did I mention the best part? This report is completely free, so don't miss out!
