Home Depot, Inc.
reported third-quarter results on Nov. 17 and continued its
three-quarter run of raising full-year 2015 guidance. Moreover,
management discussed the positive trends in its underlying business and
outlined how the key drivers of its growth continued to show positive
signs. It's time to take a closer look at a good quarter for the
retailer.
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AgroFresh Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:AGFS)
gave its first earnings call as a listed company and immediately
introduced followers to the vagaries of the farming market. AgroFresh
sells solutions that enable farmers to control the quality of their
fruit during storage and transportation as well as pre-harvesting. Its
earnings are thus always going to be somewhat subject to crop conditions
in any given year. What happened and why?
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There is something soothing and therapeutic
about a company reaching the fourth-quarter of a difficult fiscal year
and looking ahead to a better year. It's not quite that Emerson Electric's
(NYSE: EMR) management is expecting a better fiscal 2016, but rather it
expects the second half of its 2016 to mark an improvement on the
first.Following the current rough patch, investors could be looking at
an entirely different story by this time next year.Time to get excited?
Let's dive in and see if there is any cause for optimism.
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United Technologies
isn't the only company whose management believes its stock is
intrinsically undervalued, but in this case, there's a sound argument to
justify that belief. Furthermore, management is backing up its claim by
promising to buy back $16 billion worth of stock in the 2015-2017
period. Let's take a look at what's going on, and why investors in General Electric also have cause for optimism.
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Investors buy stocks for many different
reasons, and differing investment philosophies can easily lead to
radically diverging conclusions on the same stock. A good example is Illinois Tool Works.
The stock is interesting because it offers different things to growth
and value investors, and depending on your perspective, it might fit
your portfolio. Let's take a closer look.
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Information technology bellwether Cisco Systems
delivered a good set of first-quarter fiscal 2016 results, but by
management's own admission, its second-quarter guidance was lower than
market expectations. The company blamed this on a combination of adverse
foreign exchange issues and macro-economic challenges. However, there
is a lot more going under the surface of these results, so let's take a
closer look.
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A lot has been made of the way business-to-consumer e-commerce demand is surging, and how package delivery companies like United Parcel Service and FedEx Corporation will benefit from it in the long term. However, it hasn't been smooth
sailing for those shippers just yet. Volumes have increased strongly
during recent holiday seasons, putting pressure on both companies as
they attempt to deal with the demand. Consequently, both companies have
taken costly measures to improve their abilities to cope with peak. Has
peak demand affected profitability, particularly in the fourth quarter?
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At some point, oil has to bounce, right? That's the question investors in Dover Corporation
must be asking themselves. Dover may be classified as a diversified
industrial company, but in 2014, it generated around 35% of its earnings
from the oil and gas industry. Given the slump in energy capital
spending this year, it's hardly surprising that Dover's full-year
revenue and earnings are expected to slump in 2015. However, the stock
is also 19% cheaper than it was a year ago. So, is now the time to be
picking up shares of Dover? Here's what you need to know before buying.
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As United Parcel Service
moves into its critical fourth-quarter, it's a good time for investors
to take stock on what kind of year it's been and how UPS shaping up for
the future. In the near-term, the company's focus is on dealing with
peak demand during the holiday period, and the likely impact of slower
economic growth. Thinking longer term, the question is how will it
affect UPS's business and its earnings expectations? Here are five
things management had to say on such issues during the recent
third-quarter earnings call.
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Automotive parts and building components maker Johnson Controls Inc has been in transformation mode for the past couple of years, and its
fiscal 2016 promises more of the same. The company is best known as a
major automotive interior manufacturer, but CEO Alex Molinaroli has
increasingly focused on its building efficiency segment while investing
in expanding power solutions (automotive batteries). Meanwhile the
automotive experience segment is set to be spun off next year. With this
in mind, let's take a look at five things management wants you to know
about Johnson's future plans.
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Emerson Electric's
fourth-quarter results capped off a very difficult year for the
diversified industrial company. Emerson started its fiscal year
struggling with weak energy capital spending and a strong U.S. dollar.
Unfortunately, adding insult to injury, the year got worse. As the year
progressed, issues like weakening emerging market growth and slowing
industrial spending joined the party. Despite recent travails, the
company continues to be well respected by dividend investors for being a
Dividend Aristocrat -- 2015 marked the 59th consecutive year of
increased dividends -- so let's take a look at the results and how
management is dealing with difficult markets.
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s has been the case with many industrial companies, Cognex reported slowing conditions in its markets in the third quarter.
Moreover, management gave soft guidance for the fourth quarter and
cautioned investors against too much near-term optimism. On the other
hand, management still views Cognex has a long-term growth business, so
let's take a closer look at what exactly happened in the third quarter.
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It was a tough fourth quarter for Johnson Controls Inc from an end-market perspective, but much of the bad news, such as the
slowdown in China hitting its automotive and construction markets -- was
arguably priced into the stock before the earnings came out.
The question now is what about the company's prospects in 2016? Let's
take a look at the details behind the trends in the fourth quarter.
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United Parcel Service's
recently released third-quarter results left the market
underwhelmed, and the stock sold off slightly in the aftermath. Its
report followed disappointing results from package delivery rival FedEx Corporation. Consequently, investors must be wondering what lies ahead for UPS in the fourth quarter?
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3D design software specialist Dassault Systemes continued its strong run in 2015 by delivering earnings on Oct. 22 that
came in ahead of management's guidance. In addition, full-year
estimates were raised in view of the strong third-quarter results. Let's
take a look at the third quarter and what management predicts for the
rest of the year.
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Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) has comfortably outperformed the S&P 500
in the last year, but the question is: Can its run continue? Part of
the answer lies in management's ability to successfully integrate Pall Corp.
and complete the planned separation of Danaher into two companies. The
other part lies in continuing to generate growth with its existing
businesses. That said, here are five key things that management wants
you to know about the company's future prospects.
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Following fellow IT security company Fortinet Inc.'s near-20% drop after it reported results last Friday, investors in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
must have had a nervous weekend waiting for earnings on the following
Monday. In the end, Check Point's third-quarter earnings were fine, but
the real question is: What will happen in the fourth quarter?
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For the third quarter in a row, engine and powertrain company BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA)
disappointed the market by reducing its full-year revenue and earnings
guidance. Once again, currency effects played a part, but clearly
weakness in China and commercial vehicle production in parts of the
world is also hurting the company. It was an interesting report in terms
of observing trends in auto production. In addition, management took
the time to explain BorgWarner's exposure to the Volkswagen (NASDAQOTH:VLKAY) emissions debacle. Let's take a closer look.
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Anyone with lingering doubts that the manufacturing sector is in a slowdown need only take a look at MSC Industrial Direct's fiscal fourth-quarter results, which were released on Tuesday. Just as rival W.W. Grainger
indicated in mid-October, MSC Industrial is seeing a challenging
environment in which revenue growth and margin are coming under
pressure. In reality, industrial supply companies have limited
visibility, so future guidance is subject to change, but they do give a
very accurate reading on current conditions. Let's take a look at the
earnings report.
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On a headline basis, United Parcel Service delivered a solid set of results and guidance on Tuesday, but many of
the underlying themes in the report confirmed what key rival FedEx Corporation
said about the weakening in the global economy in 2015. Let's take a
look at the headline numbers and then focus on the trends beneath them.
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Commercial real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle followed rival CBRE Group, Inc
in releasing a bumper set of earnings on Wednesday. CBRE beat analyst
estimates and raised full-year earnings guidance in its results
presentation, but the standout numbers came from Jones Lang LaSalle.
Let's take a look at why the market got so excited by the earnings
report.
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Given the weakening in the industrial economy in the last six months, investors have increasingly bought into companies like Danaher for two main reasons:
First, its mix of healthcare and niche technology businesses and
minimal exposure to oil and gas capital spending means it should avoid
the worst of the slowdown.
Second, it's somewhat of a special-situations stock in the sense that
its $13.8 billion acquisition of filtration company Pall Corp. was with the intention to separate itself into two publicly traded companies.
That said, do its recent third-quarter results back up this thesis?
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A lot has been said about General Electric Company's
industrial Internet, but a lot less about how it's likely to favorably
change the operating metrics of the company. Investors' primary focus is
usually on a company's bottom line and how much they are paying for it.
With this in mind, let's take a look at five ways the industrial Internet could make General Electric a more profitable company.
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Another quarter brings another set of earnings from Illinois Tool Works
in which the underlying improvements due to its five-year enterprise
strategy plan are hidden by deteriorating end markets. In short,
management reduced earnings guidance to account for a weaker economy,
but its ongoing initiatives continue to make progress -- possibly
setting the company up for strong growth given a pickup in the
industrial economy. Let's take a closer look at the earnings.
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