Stocks Top Stories

Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $1.32 on revenue of $5.15 billion. Winnebago Industries Inc (NYSE: WGO) is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.13 on revenue of $151.43 million. Smithfield Foods Inc (NYSE: SFD) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.82 per share on revenue of $3.24 billion. Pier 1 Imports Inc (NYSE: PIR) is projected to report its Q1 EPS at $0.12 on revenue of $334.96 million. Kroger Company (The) (NYSE: KR) is estimated to report its Q1 EPS at $0.64 on revenue of $26.48 billion. John Wiley & Sons Inc (NYSE: JW-A) is estimated to post its Q4 EPS at $0.51 on revenue of $452.00 million. Actuant Corporation (NYSE: ATU) is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.46 on revenue of $379.09 million. School Specialty Inc (NASDAQ: SCHS) is estimated to post a Q4 loss at $0.97 per share on revenue of $110.86 million. Culp Inc (NYSE: CFI) is projected to post its...

Some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are: Wall Street expects Kroger Company (The) (NYSE: KR) to report its Q1 EPS at $0.64 on revenue of $26.48 billion. KR shares surged 2.75% to $23.58 in after-hours trading. Finisar Corp (NASDAQ: FNSR) issued downbeat projections for the first quarter. The company reported its Q4 earnings at $16.4 million, or $0.17 per share. Excluding one-time items, the company's earnings came in at $0.33 per share. Finisar's revenue surged to $236.9 million, from $188.5 million a year earlier. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.33 per share on revenue of $242.89 million. Taking into account the impact of its Ignis acquisition, Finisar projected Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.16 to $0.20 per share on revenue of $221 million to $236 million. Analysts expected earnings of $0.36 per share on revenue of $250.6 million. FNSR shares dipped 16.19% to $14.86 in after-hours trading. Analysts are expecting Smithfield Foods Inc (NYSE: SFD) to have earned $0.82 per...

Equities China’s surprise hike in reserve requirements sent China’s markets lower, as the Shanghai Composite fell .9% and the Hang Seng slid .7%. Korea’s Kospi gained .5%, and in Japan, the Nikkei edged up .3% as Honda Motor rallied 2% despite a weak profit forecast. European markets sank as the market focused on Greek’s debt troubles. The FTSE fell 1%, and the DAX dropped 1.3%, while the CAC40 tumbled 1.5% after Moody’s placed several leading French banks under review for a downgrade, due to their exposure to Greek debt. On the political front, Greece’s prime minister offered to resign to allow for the formation of a unity government. US market tumbled, as the debt concerns combined with weak economic data sent investors running. The Dow dropped 179 points to 11897, the Nasdaq fell 1.8%, and the S&P 500 lost 1.7%. The VIX rose to 21.7, the highest level since March, as the ‘market fear’ indicator jumped 16.8% S&P 500 is Approaching March Lows Pandora’s IPO...

The following stocks hit new 52-week highs in Wednesday's trading session 1) Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrances (NASDAQ: ULTA): Shares of Ulta hit a 52-week high of $59.40 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $57.03. The year-to-date performance of Ulta has been a gain of 67.7%. 2) Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: PCYC): Shares of Pharmacyclics hit a 52-week high of $9.03 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $8.73. The year-to-date performance of Pharmacyclics has been a gain of 43.7%. 3) Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE: CHT): Shares of Chunghwa Telecom hit a 52-week high of $34.38 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $34.24. The year-to-date performance of Chunghwa has been a gain of 35.5%. 4) Raptor Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: RPTP): Shares of Raptor Pharmaceutical hit a 52-week high of $6.49 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $6.26. The year-to-date performance of Raptor Pharmaceutical has been a gain of 71.9%. The following stocks hit new 52-week lows in Wednesday's trading session: 1) Akamai Technologies...

The following stocks hit new 52-week highs in Monday's trading session: 1) Greif (NYSE: GEF): Shares of Greif hit a 52-week high of $67.36 in Monday's trading session. The stock closed at $67.04. The year-to-date performance of Greif has been a gain of 9%. 2) Raptor Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: RPTP): Shares of Raptor Pharmaceutical hit a 52-week high of $6.48 in Monday's trading session. The stock closed at $6.43. The year-to-date performance of Raptor Pharmaceutical has been a gain of 76.6%. 3) Rockwell Medical Technologies (NASDAQ: RMTI): Shares of Rockwell Medical Technologies hit a 52-week high of $16.75 in Monday's trading session. The stock closed at $16.55. The year-to-date performance of Rockwell Medical has been a gain of 109.5%. 4) Macquarie Infrastructure (NYSE: MIC): Shares of Macquarie Infrastructure hit a 52-week high of $26.49 in Monday's trading session. The stock closed at $26.21. The year-to-date performance of Macquarie has been a gain of 24.8%. 5) Telvent GIT (NASDAQ: TLVT): Shares of Telvent GIT hit a 52-week...

Some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are: Analysts expect Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE: BBY) to report its Q1 EPS at $0.33 on revenue of $10.70 billion. BBY shares jumped 0.56% to $28.98 in after-hours trading. Hewlett-Packard Co (NYSE: HPQ) named 29-year veteran Ann Livermore to the company's board. The company's Chief Administrative Officer Pete Bocian and Chief Information Officer Randy Mott are departing. Dave Donatelli, head of H-P's servers and storage business; Bill Veghte, who runs software; and Jan Zadak, executive vice president of global sales, will now report directly to Chief Executive Leo Apotheker. HPQ shares gained 0.32% to $34.76 in after-hours trading. Analysts are expecting FactSet Research Systems Inc (NYSE: FDS) to have earned $0.92 per share on revenue of $183.10 million in the third quarter. FDS shares rose 0.46% to $104.77 in after-hours trading. Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE: CLF) raised $853.7 million through a public offering of 10.35 million shares. CLF shares rose 0.19% to...

Equities Asian markets ended Friday mixed, following Wall Street’s advance on Thursday. The Nikkei rose .5% to 9514, although it was well of its high of 9614 hit earlier in the morning. In Korea, the Kospi slumped 1.2% after the central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates. The Hang Seng fell .8%, extending its losing streak to 7 days, and the Shanghai Composite rose fractionally. After the close, China reported export data showed growth was lower than expected, adding to concerns that the global economic recovery is weaker than hoped. European markets fell sharply, closing at their lowest level in three months. The FTSE sank 1.6% to 5766, the DAX fell 1.3%, and the CAC40 tumbled 1.9%. The bearish tone continued in the US, as the Dow dropped 172 points to 11952, its first close below 12000 since March. The Nasdaq lost 1.5%, and the S&P decline 1.4% to 1271. Dow Drops more than 170 Points Semiconductor stocks fell, after Intel was downgraded by Macquarie. Steel stocks rallied,...

Watsco, Inc. (WSO) recently reported strong first quarter results as it was able to turn a single-digit sales increase into triple-digit EPS growth through gross margin expansion and leverage. Management is confident that 2011 will mark a record year of performance for the company. Analysts are bullish too and expect 29% EPS growth this year and 24% growth next year. On top of this strong growth, the company pays a dividend that yields a stellar 3.6%. Valuation is attractive too, with shares sporting a PEG ratio near 1.0. Company Description Watsco, Inc. distributes air conditioning and heating equipment and related parts and supplies in the United States. It is headquartered in Coconut Grove, Florida and has a market cap of $2.1 billion. First Quarter Results Watsco recently reported first quarter earnings per share of 21 cents, easily beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 18 cents. It was a 110% increase over the same quarter in 2010. Revenues rose a modest 4.8% to $534.3 million as sales were...

On Monday Fortis acquired Central Vermont Public Service for €470 million. This had negative implications for the buyer, with the utility giant down over 2%. Central Vermont was up over 40% reflecting the large premium being paid. Tuesday saw Ashland buy International Speciality Products for $3.2 billion in an all-cash deal. This was met with positive market sentiment, with the buyer up 11%. Also that day, KKR acquired Academy Sports and Outdoors for an undisclosed fee. This news gave only a small boost to the private equity firm, they were up 0.5%. Later on, it was announced that Intact Financial Corp. would buy the Canadian part of AXA for $2.6 billion. This did little for the Canadian insurer’s share price; it fell almost 1%, while shares in AXA were up 3% by market close. A hectic midweek saw Sealed Air purchase Diversey Holdings for $2.9 billion. This was unable to prevent the Sealed Air share price falling 7%. Lenovo bought PC...