LargeCap Stocks to Watch Today

Tomahawk, WI 2/29/2012 (StreetBeat) – First Solar reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue below Wall Street's expectations. It also lowered its revenue and cash flow outlook for fiscal 2012.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, First Solar posted an adjusted profit of $110 million, or $1.26 a share, on net sales of $660 million, down more than 30% on a sequential basis.

Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.53 a share on sales of $779.3 million.

First Solar reduced its fiscal 2012 revenue view to between $3.5 billion and $3.8 billion from a prior projection of $3.7 billion to $4 billion.

Shares were dropping 7.5% to $33.68 in premarket trading on Wednesday.

Staples , the office-products retailer, reported fourth-quarter net income of $283.6 million, or 41 cents a share, on sales of $6.46 billion.

Staples was expected by analysts to earn 41 cents a share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $6.45 billion.

Shares were popping 3% at $16.48.

Costco , the warehouse retailer, earned $394 million, or 90 cents a share, in its fiscal second quarter, up from $348 million, or 79 cents, a year earlier.

Total revenue jumped 10% to $23 billion.

Analysts expected Costco to earn 87 cents a share on revenue of $22.83 billion.
Shares were rising 1.3% to $86.40.

Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs said they received Wells notices from the Securities and Exchange Commission and could face civil claims tied to sales of mortgage-backed securities.

According to reports, JPMorgan Chase is expected to announce Wednesday that it too received a Wells notice.

The notices generally indicate the SEC plans to bring charges or take other enforcement action against a company.

Shares of Goldman Sachs were sliding 1.2% to $115.70, while JPMorgan shares were up 0.5% to $39.40.

Joy Global , the mining equipment maker, reported first-quarter income from continuing operations of $142 million, or $1.33 a share on net sales of $1.1 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $1.33 a share on sales of $1.16 billion.

Shares were down 0.8% at $91.

Hewlett-Packard plans to lay off 275 employees from its webOS software division, according to reports.

CEO Meg Whitman in December opened up the company's webOS operating system to outside developers.

Shares were flat at $26.19.

DreamWorks Animation reported fourth-quarter net income of $24.3 million, or 29 cents a share, missing the consensus forecast of 32 cents.

Revenue came in at $219 million, beating the $206 million expected by analysts, on average.

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Staples Inc. Shares Fall After Earnings Miss

Palm Beach, FL 11/15/11 (StreetBeat) --Staples Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) shares fell more than 6 percent in pre-market trading, Tuesday, on news the company had missed analyst expectations for third-quarter sales.

In an earnings release, Staples chairman and CEO Ron Sargent said the company's North American results showed "strong profit improvement in a tough environment." However, "International results were weaker than expected," he acknowledged.

In addition, Staples lowered its guidance for the fourth quarter of 2011, predicting "flat to low single-digit" growth in sales compared to the year-ago period. Staples expects to achieve fourth-quarter diluted GAAP earnings per share in a range of 39 cents to 43 cents, according to the company's earnings release.

Staples posted earnings per share of 47 cents, an increase of 18 percent from the third quarter of 2010, and in line with Wall Street expectations. However, the company's $6.6 billion in quarterly sales was shy of the $6.7 billion analysts had predicted for Staples, according to a Bloomberg consensus estimate.

Third-quarter international sales hit $1.3 billion, a decrease of 7.0 percent on a local currency basis, compared withy the year-ago period, reflecting a 12 percent drop in comparable store sales in Europe and weak sales in Australia, the company said.

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LargeCap Stocks to Keep an Eye on Today

Oxford, MS 8/17/2011 (PennyPayDay) – Target (TGT) shares were rising 5.1% to $51.92 after the discount chain said it earned $1.03 a share during the second quarter, beating estimates for 97 cents. Same-store sales grew 3.9% for the three-month period.

Shares of PC maker Dell (DELL) fell in premarket trading Wednesday after the company reported second-quarter revenue that missed analysts' forecasts and it issued a weak outlook.

Deere (NYSE: DE) reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $1.69 a share on sales that rose 22% to $8.37 billion. Analysts' estimates had called for a profit of $1.67 a share on revenue of $7.5 billion. The agriculture equipment company also raised its full-year earnings forecast to $2.7 billion from its previous guidance of $2.65 billion.

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) were falling 6.4% even though the teen retailer posted second-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts' forecasts by 6 cents at 35 cents a share.

First Solar (FSLR) shares were down 2.8% at $101.50 after the solar panel maker said Jens Meyerhoff, president of the company's utility systems business group and former chief financial officer, will leave the company next month.

Analog Devices (ADI) said fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 10%, but the results missed expectations, and the chipmaker said fourth-quarter revenue could be reduced as the uncertain global economy makes customers more cautious.

Office products retailer Staples (SPLS) posted adjusted second-quarter earnings of 22 cents a share, topping the estimates of analysts.

Sales rose 5.2% to $5.82 billion.

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Some LargeCap Stocks to Keep an Eye on Today

Mining equipment company Joy Global said first-quarter net income rose about 34% to $102 million, or 96 cents a share, from $76 million, or 73 cents a share in the prior year. Sales rose about 19% to $869.5 million from $729.2 million. Wall Street was looking for earnings of $1.07 a share on revenue of $881.1 million. Shares of Joy Global fell 3.3% to $94 in premarket trading Wednesday.

BJ's Wholesale Club said fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell about 81% to $10.2 million, or 19 cents a share, from $54.5 million, or $1.02 a share a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 95 cents a share. Net sales rose about 7% to $2.90 billion from $2.70 billion. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 92 cents a share on revenue of $2.98 billion. Premarket quotes weren't available for the stock Wednesday. Shares of BJ's dipped 0.2% to $48.31 on Tuesday.

Staples, the office products retailer, said fiscal-fourth quarter earnings rose 17% as sales increased slightly. The stock rose 0.3% to $20.94 in premarket trading Wednesday.

Costco, the warehouse retailer, said fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 16% as comparable-store sales rose 7%, including fuel. Premarket quotes weren't available for Costco. The stock fell 1.6% to $73.62 on Tuesday.

Insurance company MetLife said AIG it was selling 146.8 million shares of common stock to the public in order to finalize the Alico transaction that closed last year. Shares of MetLife were falling 5% to $43.74 in premarket trading Wednesday.

Power company PPL reached an agreement to acquire the U.K.'s Central Networks electric distribution business from Germany's E.ON for 3.5 billion pounds in cash ($5.7 billion) and will assume 500 million pounds ($813.9 million) of debt. Premarket quotes weren't available for PPL. Shares of the company fell 2.1% to $24.90 on Tuesday.

Due to high oil prices, the International Air Transport Association has downgraded its airline industry outlook for 2011 to $8.6 billion from the $9.1 billion forecasted last December. This is a 46% fall in net profits from the $16 billion earned by the industry last year. "Political unrest in the Middle East has sent oil over $100 per barrel. That is significantly higher than the $84 per barrel that was the assumption in December," the international trade body explained in a prepared statement.

US Airways was rising 0.6% to $8 in premarket trading. Delta tumbled 5.6% to $10.61 at Tuesday's close, while AMR fell 2.7% to $6.56.

Electronic payment technology company Verifone Systems topped Wall Street's expectations for its fiscal first-quarter results. Premarket quotes weren't available for the stock. Shares rose 4.2% to $46.50 in after-hours trading Tuesday.

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