Amazon reported second quarter sales after the close of the market yesterday of $6.54 billion, up 41% from a year ago and on target with expectations of $6.5 billion. But net income of $207 million, or 45 cents a share, was well short of analysts’ expectations and below the low end of the company’s own guidance. The consensus expectation was for 54 cents a share, and that’s after Amazon warned of lower earnings in April when they reported first quarter sales. Wall Street had anticipated earnings of $322 million before the April reset; and Amazon told investors to look for […]
Earnings Reports
McGraw-Hill Reports Higher Q2 Profits, But Keeps Outlook Cautious
McGraw Hill reported second quarter earnings of $191.1 million; or 61 cents a share, a 16 percent (or $27 million) jump compared with $164.1 million, or 52 cents a share last year — in line with Wall Street expectations of 61 cents per share. Revenue was up 0.6 percent to $1.5 billion. Revenue for the education side increased by 1.8 percent to $565 million, helped by foreign exchange rates that added $3.3 million in revenue and $2.3 million in operating profits. School Education Group revenue declined 4.0%, or $13.7 million, to $324.9 million, affected by a delay in shipping a […]
Scholastic Beats Expectations with Robust Q4 and Decent Fiscal Year
Scholastic reported sales from continuing operations in their fourth quarter of $538.4 million, up 9 percent from the prior period. Consolidated earnings per diluted share were $0.79 in the quarter, compared to $0.76 in the prior year period, taking into account a one-time, mostly non-cash expenses of $0.18 per share in the current period and a net one-time item gain of $0.06 per share in the prior period. Their children’s publishing and distriibution division, sales were up 6% to $273.5 million, “outperforming the book publishing and book selling industry during the period.” Segment operating income increased 40% to $50.7 million, […]
Overall Earnings Surge for Courier in Q1, but Publishing Fares Less Well
For the quarter ending June 26, Courier Corporation’s consolidated third-quarter revenues were $64.9 million, up 6% from $59.6 million a year ago, while net income rose to $1.8 million from $1.6 million at this time 12 months ago. Book publishing sales declined 4% to $10.9 million, with sales at Dover were down 6% in the quarter, but up 3% for the year. Total specialty publishing segment revenues were $11.6 million, up slightly from $11.5 million last year. Company CEO James Conway says “Given the uneven state of the recovery, many consumers chose to stay on the sidelines…We did make progress […]
Now, About that Amazon Earnings Preview
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 […]
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 […]