Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) plans to report financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended February 1, 2014 before the U.S. markets open on Friday, March 7, 2014. A conference call is scheduled for the same day at 9:00 a.m. EST, during which the Company will discuss these results. The Company will also comment on the current status of its strategic initiatives and provide an initial outlook for 2014.�
Wall Street anticipates that the specialty retailer will earn $0.76 per share for the quarter, which $0.03 more than last year's profit of $0.73 per share. iStock expects FL to run past Wall Street's consensus number. The iEstimate is $0.80, four cents more than expected.
[Related -Foot Locker, Inc. (FL) Put Options Active As Stock Gets Stomped]
Meanwhile, Revenue is forecasted to climb by 2.8% in Q4 2013 versus Q4 2012. The consensus sales estimate is $1.76 billion with a range of $1.68 billion to $1.81 billion. Last year, Foot Locker earned $1.71 billion in the fourth quarter.
Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., incorporated on August 7, 2007, is a biopharmaceutical company. The Company is intend to apply its deep understanding of metabolism, coupled with the Company�� ability to create medicines that can inhibit or activate metabolic enzymes, to fundamentally change the way cancer and inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) are treated. The Company has identified and validated novel and druggable targets in both cancer and IEMs. The Company�� two advanced cancer programs are targeting mutations in the enzymes isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2, referred to as IDH1 and IDH2. The Company�� drug candidates are selective for the mutated forms of IDH1 and IDH2 found in cancer cells versus the normal forms of IDH1 and IDH2 found in all other cells.
The Company focused on developing medicines to address IEMs, with a novel approach to these orphan diseases for which no effective or disease-modifying therapy is available. The Company has also de-validated and terminated numerous programs, including many that have been reported in scientific journals. In the Company�� IEM portfolio, it uses an equally rigorous set of validation techniques.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AGIO) got a boost, shooting up 29.08 percent to $40.84 after the company reported quarterly results.
Stage Stores (NYSE: SSI) was also up, gaining 13.47 percent to $22.41 after the company reported Q4 results and announced the sale of its Steele's off-price division to a new retail unit of Hilco Global.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading UP
Sangamo Biosciences (NASDAQ: SGMO) shot up 16.32 percent to $22.81 announced the publication in the NEJM of the first-in-man study of genome editing using its ZFN technology. Shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AGIO) got a boost, shooting up 27.72 percent to $40.41 after the company reported quarterly results. BJ's (NASDAQ: BJRI) was also up, gaining 21.04 percent to $33.48 after the company was upgraded toa Buy rating at Buckingham research.
Top Stock Picks 2014: Medallion Financial Corp.(TAXI)
Medallion Financial Corp., through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company engages in originating, acquiring, and servicing loans that finance taxicab medallions and various types of commercial businesses. It offers commercial loans to finance the purchase of the equipment and related assets necessary to open a new business, or the purchase or improvement of an existing business; asset-based loans to small businesses; and secured mezzanine loans to businesses in various industries, including manufacturing and various service providers. The company also raises deposits; originates consumer loans for the purchase of recreational vehicles, boats, motorcycles, trailers, and hearing aids; and conducts other banking activities. In addition, it provides other debt, mezzanine, and equity investment capital to companies in various industries. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion: Top Stock Picks 2014: XOMA Ltd.(XOMA)
XOMA Ltd., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and manufacture of therapeutic antibodies to treat autoimmune, infectious, inflammatory, and oncological diseases. Its products under development include gevokizumab, an anti-inflammatory monoclonal antibody that inhibits interleukin-1 beta and has completed Phase 2 development stage for the treatment of Behcet?s uveitis, as well as is in Phase 2b clinical trail for Type 2 diabetes with cardiovascular biomarkers; XOMA 3AB, a biodefense anti-botulism product candidate comprising a combination or cocktail of antibodies for the treatment of botulism poisoning; and preclinical antibody discovery programs in various indications, including autoimmune, cardio-metabolic, inflammatory, and oncological diseases. The company, through its collaboration agreement with Novartis AG, is also developing HCD122, a human anti-CD40 antagonist antibody that is in Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of B-cell mediated diseases, including malignancies and autoimmune diseases; and LFA102, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of hematologic tumors and other undisclosed diseases. In addition, it licenses proprietary technologies relating to bacterial expression of recombinant pharmaceutical products to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The company has collaboration agreements with Les Laboratoires Servier; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; SRI International; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Novartis AG; Arana Therapeutics Limited; Kaketsuken; Genentech, Inc.; and UCB Celltech. XOMA Ltd. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Berkeley, California.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Ben Fox Rubin]
Xoma Corp.(XOMA) announced it plans to sell shares of its common stock, though it didn’t say how many. The drug developer recently had about 93.1 million shares outstanding, according to FactSet. Shares fell 8.3% to $5.19 premarket.
- [By Keith Speights]
Good omen
Xoma Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: XOMA ) reported first-quarter results on Wednesday. The company announced lower revenue compared with the same period last year, but the market didn't care. Shares surged nearly 19% on other news from Xoma.
Top Stock Picks 2014: Agilent Technologies Inc (A)
Agilent Technologies, Inc. (Agilent), incorporated on May 5, 1999, is a measurement company providing bio-analytical and electronic measurement solutions to the communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis industries. During the fiscal year ended October 31, 2011 (fiscal 2011), it had three business segments: electronic measurement business, chemical analysis business and life sciences business. Its electronic measurement business addresses the communications, electronics and other industries. Agilent�� chemical analysis business focuses on the petrochemical, environmental, forensics and food safety industries. Its life sciences business focuses on the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic and Government, bio-agriculture and food safety industries. In addition to its three businesses, it conducts research through Agilent Technologies Laboratories (Agilent Labs). In fiscal 2011, the Company acquired A2 Technologies, Lab901 and Biocius Life Sciences Inc. On December 21, 2011, the Company acquired BioSystem Development business and P.V.R. s.r.l., a vacuum pump manufacturer. In February 2012, the Company acquired software solutions and technology for device-level modeling and validation from Accelicon Technologies. In June 2012, the Company acquired cancer diagnostics company, Dako. In August 2012, the Company acquired Aurora SFC Systems, Inc.
Electronic Measurement Business
The Company�� electronic measurement business provides electronic measurement instruments and systems, software design tools and related services that are used in the design, development, manufacture, installation, deployment and operation of electronics equipment, and microscopy products. Related services include start-up assistance, instrument productivity and application services and instrument calibration and repair. It also offers customization, consulting and optimization services throughout the customer's product lifecycle. It sells products and services applicable to a rang! e of communications networks and systems, including wireless communications and microwave networks, voice, broadband, data, and fiber optic networks. Test products include Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software, vector and signal analyzers, signal generators, vector network analyzers, one box testers, oscilloscopes, logic and protocol analyzers, and bit-error ratio testers.
The Company�� wireless communications and microwave network products include radio frequency and microwave test instruments and electronic design automation software tools. These products are required for the design and production of wireless network products, communications links, cellular handsets and base stations. It provides handheld products for the installation and maintenance of wireless networks. Its electronic design automation software tools and instruments are used by radio frequency integrated circuit design engineers to model, simulate and analyze communications product designs at the circuit and system levels.
The Company�� suite of fiber optic test products measure and analyze a range of optical and electrical parameters in fiber optic networks and their components. Components which can be tested with Agilent solutions include source lasers, optical amplifiers, filters and other passive components. Test products include optical component analyzers, optical power meters and optical spectrum analyzers. It sells the products into the general purpose test market, including general purpose instruments, modular instruments and test software, digital test products, semiconductor and board test solutions, electronics manufacturing test equipment, atomic force microscopes and radio frequency and network surveillance solutions. The Company�� general purpose products include spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, signal generators, logic analyzers, digitizing oscilloscopes, voltmeters, multimeters, frequency counters, bench and system power supplies, function generators and waveform synthesizers. Modular! instrume! nts and test software are used by the designers and manufacturers of electronic devices as the building blocks of systems that can be configured for a range of test applications.
The Company�� digital test products are used by research and development engineers across a range of industries to validate the function and performance of their digital product and system designs. These designs include a range of products from digital control circuits to high speed systems, such as computer servers and the gaming consoles. The test products offered include oscilloscopes, logic and serial protocol analyzers, logic-signal sources and data generators.
The Company�� semiconductor and board test solutions enable customers to develop and test semiconductors, test and inspect printed circuit boards, perform functional testing, and measure position and distance information to the sub-nanometer level. It is a supplier of parametric test instruments and systems used to examine semiconductor wafers during the manufacturing process. Its in-circuit test system helps identify quality defects, such as faulty or incorrect parts, that affect electrical performance. Its laser interferometer measurement systems provide precise position or distance information for dimensional measurements. Its atomic force microscopes (AFM) are imaging devices. An AFM allows researchers to observe and manipulate molecular and atomic level features. Its portfolio of AFM products provides customers with tools for a range of nanotechnology applications, including semiconductor, data storage, polymers, materials science and life science studies. The Company�� surveillance systems and subsystems are used by defense and government engineers and technicians to detect, locate and analyze signals of interest. The products offered include receivers for detecting radio frequency signals, probes for detecting wire line signals and software that enables the identification and analysis of these signals. Agilent's electronic measureme! nt custom! ers include contract manufacturers of electronic products, handset manufacturers and network equipment manufacturers who design, develop, manufacture and install network equipment, service providers who implement, maintain and manage communication networks and services, and companies who design, develop, and manufacture semiconductors and semiconductor lithography systems. Its customers use its products to conduct research and development, manufacture, install and maintain radio frequency, microwave frequency, digital, semiconductor, and optical products and systems and conduct nanotechnology research.
The Company competes with Aeroflex Incorporated, Anritsu Corporation, Ansys Corporation, EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering, Inc., National Instruments Corporation, Rohde & Schwartz GmbH & Co. KG, Spirent plc, Danaher Corporation, Bruker Corporation, LeCroy Corporation, Teradyne, Inc., Test Research Inc. and Zygo Corporation.
Chemical Analysis Business
The Company�� chemical analysis business provides application-focused solutions that include instruments, software, consumables and services that enable customers to identify, quantify and analyze the physical and chemical properties of substances and products. Its product categories in chemical analysis include gas chromatography (GC) systems, columns and components; gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) systems; inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instruments; atomic absorption (AA) instruments; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) instruments; software and data systems; vacuum pumps and measurement technologies; services and support for its products. Agilent provides custom or standard analyzers configured for specific chemical analysis applications, such as detailed speciation of a complex hydrocarbon stream, calculation of gas calorific values in the field, or analysis of a new bio-fuel formulation. It also offers related software, accessories and consumable ! products ! for these and other similar instruments. Its MS products incorporate technologies for measuring mass, including single-quadrupole, triple-quadrupole, and ion trap mass spectrometers. It combines its mass spectrometers with other instruments to instruments, such as GC/MS, and ICP-MS. It also offers related software, accessories and consumable products for these and other similar instruments. The Company�� spectroscopy instruments include atomic absorption (AA) spectrometers, inductively coupled plasma-optical emissions spectrometers (ICP-OES), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometers (ICP-MS), fluorescence spectrophotometers, ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometers, Fourier Transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrophotometers, near-infrared (NIR) spectrophotometers, Raman spectrometers and sample automation products. It also offers related software, accessories and consumable products for these and other similar instruments.
The Company�� vacuum technologies products are used to create, control, measure and test vacuum environments in life science, industrial and scientific applications where clean and vacuum environments are needed. Products include a range of vacuum pumps, including diffusion, turbomolecular and ion getter; intermediate vacuum pumps, including rotary vane, sorption and dry scroll, vacuum instrumentation, including vacuum control instruments, sensor gauges and meters, and vacuum components, including valves, flanges and other mechanical hardware. Its products also include helium mass spectrometry and helium-sensing leak detection instruments used to identify and measure leaks in hermetic or vacuum environments. The Company offers a range of services, including an exchange and rebuild program, assistance with the design and integration of vacuum systems, applications support and training in basic and advanced vacuum technologies. The Company offers a range of consumable products, which support its technology platforms, including sample preparation consumables, suc! h as soli! d phase extraction (SPE) and filtration products, self manufactured GC and LC columns, chemical standards, and instrument replacement parts. Consumable products also include scientific instrument parts and supplies, such as filters and fittings for GC systems; xenon lamps and cuvettes for UV-Vis-NIR, fluorescence, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy instruments; and graphite furnace tubes, hollow cathode lamps and specialized sample introduction glassware for its AA, ICP-OES and ICP-MS products.
The Company competes with Bruker Corporation, PerkinElmer Inc., Shimadzu Corporation and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Life Sciences Business
The Company�� life sciences business provides application-focused technologies and solutions, which include instruments, software, consumables and services. Its product categories include liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, microarrays, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) instrumentation, bioreagents, electrophoresis, software and informatics, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, and, consumables and services. The Agilent liquid chromatograph (LC) portfolio is modular in construction and can be configured as analytical and preparative systems. Agilent's liquid chromatography/ mass spectrometer (LC/MS) portfolio includes instruments built around five analyzer types, such as single quadrupole, triple quadrupole, ion trap, time-of-flight (TOF) and quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF). It is a provider of microarray-based, genomics research solutions. It provides products for sequencing platforms. Its portfolio of PCR instrumentation, reagents and kits, coupled with its other products, such as microarrays and target enrichment systems for sequencing, provides a range of workflow solutions to customers in the genomics marketplace.
Agilent is a supplier of electrophoretic separation solutions. The 2100 Bioanalyzer analyzes biomolecules or cells in microfluidic networks of channels and wells etched i! nto glass! chips. The 3100 OFFGEL Fractionator resolves proteins or peptides by isoelectric point with liquid-phase recovery. It provides software for instrument control, data acquisition, data analysis, laboratory content and business process management, and informatics. With OpenLab, Agilent has open architecture, which enables capture, analyze, and share scientific data throughout the lab and across the enterprise. It offers a range of consumable products, which support its LC, and MS technology platforms. These consumable products include sample preparation products; self manufactured LC columns and instrument replacement parts, and consumable supplies to meet its customers' analysis needs. It offers a range of startup, operational, educational and compliance support services for measurement and data handling systems. Its support services include maintenance, troubleshooting, repair and training for all of its chemical and bioinstrumentation analysis hardware and software products.
The Company competes with Affymetrix Inc., Bruker Corp., Danaher Corporation, Illumina, Inc., Life Technologies Corp., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Waters Corp.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Paul Ausick]
Big Earnings Movers: Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is up 8.7% at $54.94. Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) is down 0.3% at $17.51 on a weak forecast. Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) is down 1% at $62.81. Youku Tudou Inc. (NYSE: YOKU) is up 11.2% at $29.30. InterCloud Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ICLD) is up 265.9% at $9.33 on solid results and higher hopes.
- [By Aubrey Pringle]
Agilent Technologies (A) Inc. rallied 8.7 percent to $54.93 for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 and the stock�� highest level in 12 years. The maker of testing equipment for electronics and medical devices reported quarterly earnings and revenues that surpassed expectations.
- [By Dr. Zen]
4. INVESTING CASH WISELY: Is the company using that cash flow in a wise manner? (a) avoiding macho or bleary-eyed acquisitions; (b) reinvesting in research and development, marketing and other critical areas in the company.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A) shares rose 5.45% to $52.01. The volume of Agilent Technologies shares traded was 736% higher than normal. Agilent announced its plans to separate into two public companies.
Top Stock Picks 2014: Ball Corporation (BLL)
Ball Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, supplies metal packaging to the beverage, food, and household products industries worldwide. It offers aluminum and steel beverage containers for producers of beer, carbonated soft drinks, mineral water, fruit juices, energy drinks, and other beverages. The company also provides two-piece and three-piece steel food containers and ends for packaging vegetables, fruit, soups, meat, seafood, nutritional products, pet food, and other products, as well as aerosol cans, paint cans, custom and specialty containers and decorative steel tins. In addition, the company provides various aerospace systems comprising spacecraft, instruments and sensors, radio frequency and microwave technologies, data exploitation solutions, and other aerospace technologies and products, as well as offers technical services and products to government agencies, contractors, and commercial organizations for a range of information warfare, electronic warfar e, avionics, intelligence, training, and space systems needs. Ball Corporation was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Monica Gerson]
Ball (NYSE: BLL) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.93 per share on revenue of $2.26 billion.
United Stationers (NASDAQ: USTR) is projected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.99 per share on revenue of $1.33 billion.
- [By Selena Maranjian]
Permit me to introduce you to Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL ) , for example. It used to be more of a household name than it is today, but it's worth knowing about, as you might want to add some Ball stock to your portfolio. Why? Well, check this out: Ball stock has appreciated by roughly 18% over the past year. It has gained, on average, about 13.5% annually over the past 25 years, enough to turn $10,000 into almost $240,000.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Food and beverage packaging specialist Ball� (NYSE: BLL ) �has launched a�cash tender offer�for its 7.125% senior notes maturing in 2016.�The company is offering $1,053.22 in total for each $1,000 in principal value of the notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest. All told, the issue has an aggregate principal amount of $375 million.
- [By Rich Smith]
The larger award, for $10.9 million, was an option exercise on a cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide logistical support, analysis, and Type III anomaly support for the Space Based Space Surveillance Block 10 System. SBSS is a satellite-based system for tracking debris, spacecraft, and other space objects beyond Earth's atmosphere and free from interference from weather, atmosphere or time of day. Ball (NYSE: BLL ) Aerospace built the satellite itself and its sensors, while Boeing has overall responsibility for the system. The current contract option runs through Dec. 20.
Top Stock Picks 2014: Brown(n)
N Brown Group plc operates as an Internet and catalogue home shopping company in the United Kingdom. The company principally offers womenswear, menswear, footwear, household, and electrical products, as well as provides insurance services. It also operates in the Republic of Ireland, Germany, and the United States. The company was founded in 1859 and is based in Manchester, the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Alex Planes]
Oracle's also partnered with NetSuite (NYSE: N ) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) . The NetSuite partnership will see Oracle combine its human capital management software -- which allows businesses to streamline human resources operations -- with NetSuite's enterprise resource planning software, which businesses use to coordinate the management of information between a company and its stakeholders. These combined applications should be available by the end of this year. Oracle's partnership with Microsoft, on the other hand, focuses primarily on its Java software suite, which it will license to Microsoft for use in its existing cloud-based services in conjunction with Oracle's other software tools.
- [By jaggom]
NetSuite (N) has performed impressively this year and risen around 50%. This is in line with the expectations for a company that is one of the leading vendors in the world for cloud computing solutions as SaaS (software as a service).
- [By Tom Taulli]
OK, so what are some of the cloud companies that look attractive and have good long-term prospects? Well, here�� a look:
Cloud Companies to Buy: NetSuite (N) NetSuite (N) is one of the pioneers among cloud companies (it was founded in the late 1990s). Then again, the company has needed lots of time to build mission-critical software for ERP (enterprise resource planning) requirements. While there is competition — such as Workday (WDAY) — it is still fairly limited. And this will likely remain the case because of complexities of the market.
Top Stock Picks 2014: Real Goods Solar Inc (RGSE)
Real Goods Solar, Inc., incorporated on January 29, 2008, is a solar energy company. The Company serves commercial, residential, and utility customers. The Company provides a solar solution, from design, financing, permitting and installation to ongoing monitoring, maintenance and support. The Company offers free home solar quotes, as well as solar system financing, design, engineering, permitting, installation, rebate acquisition, maintenance, and monitoring. Effective May 14, 2014, the Company acquired Elemental Energy LLC, doing business as Sunetric.
The Company�� solar power installation services are available in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Company's customers include homeowners, small to large businesses and corporations, universities and schools, and government agencies, such as Aetna Insurance, Stop & Shop, Timex, St. Louis Housing Authority, and Yale University.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Anna Prior]
Real Goods Solar Inc.(RGSE) said it has agreed to raise about $7 million in a private placement financing transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, RGS will issue units consisting of an aggregate of about 2.9 million shares of its Class A common stock and warrants to purchase up to 1.31 million additional shares, at a price of $2.40 a unit. Shares fell 9.7% to $2.62 premarket.