Amazon has a lot to live up to when it reports those Q2 numbers on Thursday: over the last 4 quarters, the company’s reported eps exceeded the market’s consensus estimates by margins in the range of 2.24% and 37.2%. Maybe that’s why investors seem to be just a little more cautious with their expectations this time around, as iStockAnalyst reports, and why Barron’s says “Morgan Stanley’s derivatives strategists are advising clients to bullishly trade ahead of [the earnings report]”. Q2 estimates now range “from a low of $0.44 to a high of $0.76 per share, compared to a consensus estimate […]
Booksellers
Waterstone's Sales Decline 6.3% for the Year. As Profit Evaporates
Waterstone’s parent HMV reported good sales for the overall group for fiscal 2009, reaching a new high of 2.017 billion pounds, though “the one area of disappointment was in the financial performance” of the bookselling unit. At 513.6 million pounds for the year, Waterstone’s sales fell 6.3 percent, as operating profit was just 2.8 million pounds, a significant decline from 10 million pounds a year ago. The company says that their previously-announced new strategic plan “is already beginning to have a positive impact.” On their controversial new distribution center, they say “it is clear that the implementation…also adversely impacted performance […]
Nook Lifts BN Sales, While Adding to Losses, As Bookstore Comps Fall 3.1%
Barnes & Noble gave some sense of what Nook is worth to the company in reporting fourth quarter earnings (and forward guidance for fiscal 2011). BN.com sales–where Nook units and ebooks are both recorded–rose by about $44 million in the quarter, at $141 million overall up 51 percent from a year ago. And for 2011, the company expects BN.com sales to rise “approximately 75 percent to $1 billion.” So they expect to gain another $425 million in the year ahead from Nook device and ebook unit sales. (Note that for comparison purposes, their sales estimate “reflects the actual retail selling […]
Reflecting Weak Market, WH Smith Confirms Sales Decline
WH Smith issued a brief trading update for the 14 weeks ending June 5. With the UK book market in general decline, their High Street stores declined 4 percent on a like-for-like basis compared to a year ago. Their travel stores were also down 4 percent overall, which they somehow parsed into 2 percent regular decline and 2 percent volcanic ash decline.
Kobo Costs Weigh On Indigo In Weak Finish to Good Year
The ramp-up of Kobo impaired Canadian retailer Indigo’s earnings in their fourth quarter (ending April 3), down $1.4 million (CA) to just $500,000. While the Canadian market has been more stable than the US or the UK, Indigo’s sales suffered in the final quarter as well. Working on a 13-week comparison to the same quarter a year ago, superstore sales fell 2.7 percent and smaller format stores were down 5.8 percent, while online sales declined 3.3 percent. (They reported a 14-week fourth quarter, and a 53-week fiscal year.) CEO Heather Reisman blamed “no blockbuster hit to compete with last year’s […]
Borders' Next Ideas? Lease Buyouts, Less Stealing, Still Reinventing the Supply Chain
After yet another quarter of disappointing results, Borders cfo Mark Bierley took the lead in the company’s conference call in explaining their latest strategy towards “improving profitability” (which begs the question of how you can improve something that doesn’t exist). Since “a number of stores are dilutive to our EBITDA” they “intend to aggressively pursue lease buyouts from these stores. The buyout on these leases would, based on our assumptions, positively impact our long-term bottom line.” They also have a “comprehensive audit program” that’s “designed to reduce” losses from shoplifting, particularly in “stores that have historically seen high levels of […]