Church & Dwight Earns 70 Cents per Share
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 29th, 2020 at 9:33 am

More earnings today.

This morning, Church & Dwight (CHD) reported Q3 earnings of 70 cents per share. That beat estimates by three cents per share.

Third quarter net sales grew 13.9% to $1,241.0 million. The Company continued to experience a significant increase in consumer demand for many of its products, primarily in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organic sales grew 9.9% driven by a volume increase of 10.2%, partially offset by 0.3% from unfavorable product mix and pricing in support of new products. Volume growth was driven by higher consumption and restocking of retailer inventories.

Here’s the updated full-year outlook:

2020 Full Year Outlook

Reported Sales growth raised to 11% (previously 9-10%)

Organic Sales growth raised to 9% (previously 7-8%)

Adjusted EPS growth raised to 13%-14% 1, including investments

Cash from Operations raised to $975MM (previously $960MM)

Morning News: October 29, 2020
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 29th, 2020 at 7:08 am

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Cullen Roche: Three Things I Think I Think – Grossly Rich Edition

Howard Lindzon: SPAC SPAC SPAC – Chamath Palihapitiya Joins My Zoom Show ‘Investing For Profit and Joy’

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Cerner Earns 72 Cents per Share
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 28th, 2020 at 4:17 pm

After the close, Cerner (CERN) reported Q3 earnings of 72 cents per share. Previously, Cerner said that it expected earnings of 70 to 74 cents per share.

For Q4, Cerner expects revenue between $1.365 billion and $1.415 billion and earnings between 76 and 80 cents per share. That implies full-year earnings of $2.82 to $2.86 per share which is a narrowing of the previous forecast which was $2.80 to $2.88 per share. Wall Street had been expecting Q4 earnings of 78 cents per share.

Some highlights:

Third quarter operating cash flow of $382 million and Free Cash Flow of $237 million.

Third quarter days sales outstanding of 81 days, flat quarter over quarter and up from 74 days in the year-ago quarter.

Total backlog of $13.01 billion.

For Q4, Cerner expects:

Revenue between $1.365 billion and $1.415 billion.

EPS between $0.76 and $0.80.

New business bookings between $1.550 billion and $1.750 billion.

S&P 500 -3%
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 28th, 2020 at 11:29 am

The stock market is down sharply today. I suspect that Wall Street is unnerved by the latest coronavirus numbers. The S&P 500 is now down over 3%. Some tech names like Google, Facebook and Microsoft are down even more. The big loser today is Energy but that seems to happen every day.

Our Buy List is holding up much better than the market. At least, for now. Fiserv is one of the few names that’s actually up. The company had a good earnings report yesterday. Cerner reports after today’s closing bell.

The S&P 500 is now back below its 50-day moving average. From the market’s high two weeks ago to this morning’s low, the S&P 500 has lost 7%.

Morning News: October 28, 2020
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 28th, 2020 at 7:08 am

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Interest Rates Near Zero Are A Big Gift — For Biden or Trump

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Hedge Funds That Planned for U.S. Election Chaos See a Blue Wave

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Whoop Valued at $1.2 Billion With IVP, SoftBank, Eli Manning Backing

Deutsche Bank Swings to Profit, Lowers Bad-Loan Provisions

Harley-Davidson is Getting Into the Electric Bicycle Business

Uber Adds Grocery Delivery To Its Expanding List of Businesses

Ben Carlson: What’s Going to Happen to All the Underfunded Pensions?

Nick Maggiulli: Why You Shouldn’t Max Out Your 401(k)

Michael Batnick: Bearish Billionaires & Animal Spirits: The Worst Chart in Finance

Joshua Brown: Investopedia 100 Top Financial Advisors of 2020

Howard Lindzon: Product Leader and Greylock Partners Board Partner Josh Elman Joins Me On Panic With Friends to Talk Working at the Early Stages of Some of the Biggest Names in Social

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Earnings from AFLAC and Fiserv
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 27th, 2020 at 9:36 pm

After the bell, we got earnings from AFLAC and Fiserv.

For Q3, AFLAC’s (AFL) earnings rose 19.8% to $1.39 per share. The yen/dollar exchange rate didn’t impact earnings. Wall Street had been expecting $1.13 per share. AFLAC is usually pretty good at giving earnings guidance. For obvious reasons, they can’t now. The stock rose a bit in the after-hours market.

Fiserv (FISV) said it had Q3 earnings of $1.20 per share. That’s a 19% increase over last year. Wall Street was expecting $1.16 per share.

Fiserv now expects to see its earnings rise by 11% over last year. This will be their 35th year in a row of double-digit earnings growth.

Last year, Fiserv earned $4 per share. An 11% earnings increase translates to full-year earnings of $4.44 per share.

For the first nine months of this year, the company made $3.12 per share. That means the Q4 earnings should be $1.32 per share. That matches Wall Street’s forecast. The shares traded 3% higher in the after-hours market.

Sherwin-Williams Reports Earnings
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 27th, 2020 at 9:39 am

This morning, Sherwin-Williams (SHW) reported third-quarter earnings of $8.29 per share. That easily beat Wall Street’s forecast of $7.75 per share. Sales rose 5.2% to $5.12 billion.

CEO John G. Morikis said, “Continued and unprecedented strength in our DIY business, solid demand across our residential repaint and new residential segments, and improving demand in our industrial coatings businesses and regions drove our strong third quarter results.”

For Q4, the company expects consolidated net sales growth of 3% to 7%. Sherwin is also raising its full-year range. The company now expects earnings for this year to range between $21.49 and $21.79 per share. The previous range was $20.96 to $21.46 per share. That excludes acquisition-related costs of $2.51 per share.

Adjusting for that, Sherwin expects $24.00 to $24.30 per share for this year. That implies Q4 earnings of $4.53 to $4.83 per share. Wall Street had been expecting $4.87 per share.

Morning News: October 27, 2020
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 27th, 2020 at 7:04 am

China’s Inexorable Rise to Superpower Is History Repeating Itself

The Rust Belt Boom That Wasn’t: Heartland Job Growth Lagged Under Trump

Recession’s Silver Lining: American Households Are Doing Better Than Expected

Take A Stance Or Tiptoe Away? Corporate America’s Battle With Social Activism

Hedge Funds’ Shot at Keeping Stock Investments Secret Fades

A.M.D. Agrees to Buy Xilinx for $35 Billion in Stock

Ant Group to Raise $34.5 Billion, Valuing It At Over $313 Billion, In biggest IPO of All Time

SAP Stock Plunges 20% As COVID-19 Hits Profit Outlook

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Struggling Rental Market Could Usher in Next American Housing Crisis

Airbnb Fights Its ‘Party House Problem’

Ben Carlson: Does The Price of Oil Even Matter Anymore?

Howard Lindzon: Momentum Monday….Will COVID Slow Down The Market AND The Biggest Earnings Week Of The Year

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Dow -730
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 26th, 2020 at 12:16 pm

The stock market is having a rough Monday. The Dow has been down as much as 730 points, which is a little over 2.5%. The market is on pace for its worst day since early September. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 are also down but not as much.

There’s been a recent surge in new coronavirus cases, the so-called “third wave.” The U.S. topped its single-day record from July. The seven-day average is running at over 68,000 new cases. Over the weekend, Mark Meadows said that the U.S. will not get control of the pandemic. Travel-related stocks are down big today while the “lockdown stocks” are doing well.

There’s also pessimism that no stimulus deal will be reached until after the election.

This morning’s new home sales report for September showed a decrease to 959,000 (that’s an annualized number). That’s down 3.5% from August, but it’s up 32% from last September. The supply of new homes is still below normal.

I also wanted to comment on Friday’s existing-home sales report which was very good. In fact, it was the strongest such report in 14 years.

Sales of existing homes rose a higher-than-expected 9.4% in September to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.54 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were up 20.9% annually.

Sales could be more robust if there were more homes available. The inventory of homes for sale fell 19.2% annually to just 1.47 million homes for sale at the end of September. At the current sales pace that represents a 2.7-month supply. That is the lowest since the Realtors began tracking this metric in 1982.

Also, home prices are surging:

Tight supply continues to push prices higher. The median price of an existing home sold in September was $311,800, a 14.8% gain compared with September 2019. That is a new high for this series, dating back to 1968. It is also an all-time high when adjusted for inflation.

“Americans are splurging on spending for housing,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR, noting that they are also spending more on home improvements at retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s. “Home prices are simply rising too fast.”

Morning News: October 26, 2020
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 26th, 2020 at 7:02 am

Trump Had One Last Story to Sell. The Wall Street Journal Wouldn’t Buy It.

Kodak Loan Debacle Puts a New Agency in the Hot Seat

Bond Defaults Deliver 99% Losses in New Era of U.S. Bankruptcies

Apple Developing Smaller AirPods Pro, Revamped Entry-Level Model

Microsoft Quietly Prepares to Avoid Spotlight Under Biden

Chevron Bets on Middle East Gas Riches and Reconciliation

Bayer To Acquire Asklepios Bio In Foray Into Gene Therapy Worth Up To $4 Billion

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Howard Lindzon: Michael Porat of Cohesity Joins Me on Panic with Friends to Discuss the Power of Data and Technology Trends

Jeff Miller: Weighing the Week Ahead: What Should Happen? What Will Happen?

Joshua Brown: My Election Bet With Barry Ritholtz + How To Make Your First Venture Capital Investment

Michael Batnick: Yes I Was Bearish. No, I Wasn’t Bearish. & Who Owns the Stock Market?

Ben Carlson: How Many Versions of History Will There Be in the Future? & The Only 5 Things You Can Invest In

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