Borders Group Inc. (BGP)

Bookseller Borders Group Inc said Tuesday that it had a fiscal second quarter loss from continuing operations of $39 million, or 65 cents per share, basically unchanged from $39 million, or 64 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales fell 12.7 percent to $595.5 million from $682.1 million a year earlier.
The loss was larger than expected as online book sales continue to eat into the company's business.

Nov 24 · 12:09:00 PM · Source: Company News Release
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by Larry Etter

Housing

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose for a fourth straight month in September, pointing to improvement in real estate that’s helping the economy emerge from recession. The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index increased 0.27 percent from the prior month on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a 1.13 percent rise in August, the group said today in New York. The gauge fell 9.36 percent from September 2008, more than forecast, yet the smallest year-over-year decline since the end of 2007.

Nov 24 · 12:04:00 PM
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by Larry Etter

HP (HPQ)

HP said Monday that its earnings jumped 14 percent to $2.4 billion, or 99 cents per share, in the three months ended Oct. 31, compared with $2.1 billion, or 84 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, net income totaled $1.14 per share. Sales fell 8 percent to $30.8 billion, or dropped 5 percent if currency fluctuations are stripped out. HP also added $8 billion to its stock buyback program, boosting the total amount available to $12 billion.
Sales and earnings exceeded expectations.

Nov 24 · 11:51:00 AM · Source: Company News Release
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by Larry Etter

Barnes & Noble (BKS)

Barnes & Noble reported a second quarter net loss was $24.0 million, or $0.43 per share. Included in the net loss were one-time transaction expenses of $0.13 per share associated with the Barnes & Noble College Bookstore acquisition.

The company is lowering its full year earnings per share forecast to be in a range of $0.33 to $0.63, from its previous forecast of $0.59 to $0.89.

Additionally, the company also announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share payable on December 31, 2009, to stockholders of record on December 10, 2009.

Nov 24 · 11:48:00 AM · Source: Company Press Release
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by Rich Pike

Tyson Foods (TSN)

Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat producer, Monday reported a net loss of $455 million, or $1.22 a share, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended on Oct. 3, compared with a year-earlier profit of $48 million, or 13 cents a share. Revenue edged up to $7.21 billion from $7.20 billion.
Profits and revenues did beat analyst estimates.

Nov 23 · 2:29:00 PM · Source: Company News
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by Larry Etter

CIENA (CIEN)

Ciena Corp., a fiber-optic gear maker for phone companies, won an auction for Nortel Networks Corp.’s optical-networking business, topping a bid from Nokia Siemens Networks by raising its offer to $769 million. Ciena will pay $530 million in cash and issue $239 million of convertible notes, according to a statement from the company today. It expects to close the deal in the first quarter.

Nov 23 · 2:26:00 PM · Source: Company News
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by Larry Etter

Campbell's Soup (CPB)

Campbell Soup said Monday it earned $304 million, or 87 cents a share, in the fiscal first quarter that ended November 1, up from $260 million, or 70 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales fell 2.1 percent to $2.2 billion from a year ago.
Analysts had projected 81 cents per share and company's CEO said U.S. soup sales were improving and had risen 10 percent in October

Nov 23 · 2:22:00 PM · Source: Company News
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by Larry Etter

Housing

Sales of previously owned homes jumped 10.1 percent in October from September to their highest pace in more than two years, driven in part by a lucrative tax credit for first-time home buyers, according to industry data released Monday. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing single family homes, townhomes and condominiums surged to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.10 million units last month from a downwardly revised rate of 5.54 million in September -- the highest pace since February 2007. Sales were up 23.5 percent from the same time last year.

Nov 23 · 2:16:00 PM · Source: Washington Post
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by Larry Etter