You've done good, Champion Industries (NASDAQ:CHMP).
The commercial printing and office furniture specialist closed out its fiscal 2006 in stellar fashion, with earnings nearly quadrupling. Yes, a lot of the disparity is attributed to Hurricane Katrina-related charges in 2005 and storm-related recoveries in 2006. You also have a top line that inched just 7% higher for the period and 8% for the year as a whole.
But that didn't rain on Wall Street's parade. The market bid the thinly covered shares 27% higher in after-hours trading last night on the news. Sales and earnings easily topped the lone analyst's targets, even after we adjust last year's bottom line to account for the Hurricane Katrina recovery sums.
Yes, it's a good time to be at the mercy of corporate spending. Last week brought us healthy reports out of office furniture providers Steelcase (NYSE:SCS) and Herman Miller (NASDAQ:MLHR). Even though Champion's strengths rely more on its business printing and forms offerings than the corporate furnishings emphasis at companies like Steelcase, Herman Miller, and Knoll (NYSE:KNL), it's still another good way to gauge the general health of the corporate economy.
Companies ready to scale back aren't going to load up on Herman Miller Aeron chairs or Steelcase's adjustable height worksurface tables, and they aren't going to be redlighting major printing projects, either. So let's chalk another one up for the state of Corporate America. Thanks, Champion.
For more on the companies to furnish Corporate America, check out:
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz thinks that Dilbert and Office Space are hilarious, but he still respects furniture's role in the workplace. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy .
