Dassault Systemes Earnings Analysis

Dassault Systemes (NASDAQOTH: DASTY  ) produced a decent set of second-quarter earnings and kept its full-year guidance intact, but question marks will inevitably remain on its prospects for the fourth quarter. Earlier in the year, management predicted that 2016 would see revenue and new licenses revenue growth shift to the back half of the year, and now that the company is past its second quarter, it's time to deliver. Let's take a closer look at the results and guidance to see exactly what's going on.

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Illinois Tool Worls Earnings Analysis

Another quarter, another three months of margin expansion for Illinois Tool Works. After a difficult end to 2015 prompting reduced earnings guidance, management has turned momentum around and for the second quarter in a row has raised its guidance for full-year earnings per share. In truth, the guidance hike is more about internal execution and margin optimism than an improvement in the revenue outlook. That said, it's only really the welding segment that's disappointing right now; elsewhere there are signs of a growth recovery in the engineering-equipment manufacturer's end markets. Let's take a closer look at a nuanced quarter that needs some careful explaining.

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General Electric Company Teams Up With Microsoft Azure

General Electric Company's (NYSE:GE) recently announced partnership with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) makes GE's cloud based platform-as-a-service (PaaS) Predix available on Microsoft's cloud service Azure. The deal between the two iconic blue chips makes great copy, but what does it mean for the investment case for General Electric stock?

General Electric Company is connecting railroads to the industrial internet. Image source: GE Digital. 

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FedEx Corporation Earnings Article

FedEx Corporation and United Parcel Service, Inc have traditionally been seen as correlated plays on global growth. Both companies, however, are benefiting from specific business trends, such as e-commerce growth, which favor their abilities to decouple from the economy. Let's take a look at the tale of FedEx's fourth quarter to see what happened, and whether these trends are ongoing.

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FedEx Corporation Earnings Preview

FedEx Corporation's (NYSE:FDX) upcoming fourth-quarter results on Tuesday will be eagerly anticipated by investors looking to see if the favorable trends established in 2016 will continue. Like peer United Parcel Service, Inc (NYSE:UPS), FedEx has managed to overcome a slowing global economy and stay on track with its full-year earnings expectations. Can it continue? Let's focus on what to watch in FedEx's earnings report.
It's a good idea to look at these trends in the context of segmental earnings:



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Stock Analysis: Cisco Systems or IBM

Tech bellwethers Cisco Systems, Inc. and International Business Machines Corporation have much in common. Both are superficially very cheap stocks, but as usual in such cases, significant questions exist over their strategic futures. What is the market afraid of, and are they worth buying on a risk/reward basis? Let's take a look.

Going cheap

Both stocks look cheap, with dividend yields of around 3.6% and free cash flow generation that suggests they could pay much more. In addition, if you look at enterprise value (market cap plus net debt) to free cash flow, the stocks are worth buying even if they only grow earnings in line with inflation.

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Dover Corp. Guidance Cut

Looking at the price chart of Dover Corp. (NYSE:DOV), you might think the company is having a pretty good year operationally in 2016. You would, however, be wrong. In fact, management took a knife to its full-year 2016 revenue and earnings guidance in the first quarter. No matter, the stock continued its gentle climb.
What's going on, and can the rally continue?

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George Soros Stock Picks

Like him or loathe him, George Soros is a highly successful investor, and looking at the stocks Soros Fund Management LLC is buying and selling is always useful. With that in mind, let's take a look at the worst-performing stocks held by the company in 2016. The idea is that they have the potential to bounce back strongly.

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Is Union Pacific Corporation a Buy?

Despite tough end market conditions in 2016, it's been a pretty good year so far the railroad stocks. Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) and CSX Corp (NASDAQ:CSX) are both up on the year, and with the recent uptick in manufacturing indicators and the price of oil, there's reason to believe better days are coming for the railroads. That said, is now the time to buy Union Pacific?

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