WINTER PARK, Colo., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Several Colorado skiing resorts said they have banned employees from using a line of snowboards that bear images of nearly nude Playboy magazine models.

These shareholder-friendly stocks have been marked to underperform the market.

The sporting-goods chain has earnings that aren't particularly energetic.

Why today is a good time to be an investor.

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Economic data, Housing

Earnings reports continue to dribble in as the quarter winds down. Much of the attention this week will be on homebuilders KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) as investors look for any sign that the housing sector has bottomed (home sales numbers are also due out this week; see below). Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipate that both companies will report that they narrowed their losses in the most recent quarter.

KB Home's expected $1.25 per share loss, on revenue of $725.5 million, compares to the previous quarter loss of $3.30 and to a year-ago loss of $6.19. However, KB Home's losses in the past few quarters have been deeper than expected. The Los Angeles-based homebuilder's long-range earnings growth forecast is 10.5%, less than the S&P 500. Analysts continue to recommend holding KB Home, and have for at least 120 days. Shares, however, reached a new 52-week high of $31.69 on Friday, and they are up 10.5% year to date.

Lennar is expected to post a loss of 52 cents per share, on revenue of $1.1 billion. That compares to the previous quarter's per-share loss of 76 cents and to a year-ago loss of $3.25. While Lennar also has tended in the past few quarters to miss expectations, the Miami-based company managed a positive surprise in the first quarter of 2008. Lennar's long-range earnings growth forecast is 10.3%, about the same as KB Home's. Analysts also recommend holding Lennar. Friday, shares of Lennar also reached a 52-week high, $27.75, but they are down 6.4% year to date.

Ontario-based Research in Motion (RIM) must have been very surprised to learn this past week that U.S. presidential candidate John McCain "invented" the BlackBerry. RIM, which produces the BlackBerry as well as other devices and software tools, is among tech companies scheduled to report quarterly results this coming week. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect RIM, as well as 3Com, Aehr Test Systems (which is a strong buy), Jabil Circuit (which is building new headquarters) and other techs, to report earnings growth in the most recent quarter, as compared to the year ago quarter.

Here's a look at this coming week's expected earnings gainers.

• Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND): $0.13 per share (+61.5%) on revenue of $111.3 million (-1.0%)
• Worthington Industries Inc. (NYSE: WOR): $0.55 per share (+50.9%) on revenue of $916.1 million (+20.7%)
• 3Com Corp. (NASDAQ: COMS): $0.06 per share (+50.0%) on revenue of $337.1 million (+5.5%)
• Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM): $0.87 per share (+42.5%) on revenue of $2.6 billion (+89.0%)
• Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ: AEHR): $0.20 per share (+40.0%) on revenue of $9.7 million (+26.6%)
• Tibco Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX): $0.08 per share (+25.0%) on revenue of $154.8 million (+14.5%)
• Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN): $0.66 per share (+24.2%) on revenue of $6.0 billion (+17.4%)
• Finish Line Inc. (NASDAQ: FINL): $0.17 per share (+23.5%) on revenue of $352.6 million (+2.8%)
• Texas Industries Inc. (NYSE: TXI): $0.81 per share (+21.0%) on revenue of $272.8 million (+3.5%)
• Synnex Corp. (NYSE: SNX): $0.58 per share (+20.7%) on revenue of $2.0 billion (+11.2%)
• CRA International Inc. (NASDAQ: CRAI): $0.88 per share (+18.2%) on revenue of $125.8 million (+1.2%)
• Chattem Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTT): $1.03 per share (+17.4%) on revenue of $113.6 million (+4.2%)
• AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO): $3.90 per share (+17.2%) on revenue of $2.2 billion (+10.0%)
• AZZ Inc. (NYSE: AZZ): $0.79 per share (+16.5%) on revenue of $103.6 million (+26.9%)
• Copart Inc. (NASDAQ: CPRT): $0.46 per share (+13.0%) on revenue of $204.6 million (+32.9%)
• FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS): $0.64 per share (+9.4%) on revenue of $153.6 million (+18.6%)
• Neogen Corp. (NASDAQ: NEOG): $0.23 per share (+8.7%) on revenue of $27.7 million (+20.7%)
• Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL): $0.31 per share (+6.5%) on revenue of $3.3 billion (+3.7%)
• McCormick & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MKC): $0.48 per share (+6.3%) on revenue of $781.3 million (+9.1%)
• Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX): $0.41 per share (+2.4%) on revenue of $540.4 million (+6.6%)

Not all techs reporting this week are expected to post profit growth, though. Smart Modular Technologies (which recently cut its guidance) and Analogic (which has been restructuring) are among this week's anticipated earnings decliners.

• Smart Modular Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SMOD): $0.04 per share (-81.0%) on revenue of $161.2 million (-2.7%)
• Christopher & Banks Corp. (NYSE: CBK): $0.02 per share (-77.8%) on revenue of $138.9 million (-1.6%)
• CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX): $0.08 per share (-72.4%) on revenue of $1.9 billion (-9.3%)
• American Greetings Corp. (NYSE: AM): $0.09 per share (-43.8%) on revenue of $380.8 million (+0.9%)
• Spectrum Control Inc. (NASDAQ: SPEC): $0.16 per share (-27.3%) on revenue of $33.0 million (-6.8%)
• H.B. Fuller Co. (NYSE: FUL): $0.35 per share (-23.9%) on revenue of $359.7 million (-2.2%)
• Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE): $0.93 per share (-17.0%) on revenue of $5.2 billion (+11.4%)
• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY): $0.46 per share (-16.4%) on revenue of $1.9 billion (+5.0%)
• Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS): $0.36 per share (-14.3%) on revenue of $918.0 million (-10.7%)
• Analogic Corp. (NASDAQ: ALOG): $0.58 per share (-3.5%) on revenue of $120.4 million (+29.5%)

Along with KB Home and Lennar, discussed above, ski resort operator Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) is also expected to post a narrower loss, 18 cents per share in this case, compared to 88 cents per share a year ago. But analysts expect New York-based publisher Scholastic Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHL) and #3 drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) to have widened their losses in the past quarter. Scholastic, which was no doubt disappointed by the delay of the next Harry Potter movie, is expected to report a loss of $1.00 per share, 93.0% deeper than a year ago. And Rite Aid, which recently partnered with drugstore.com (NASDAQ: DSCM), is expected to post a loss of 15 cents per share, 33.3% deeper than a year ago.

Other economic data scheduled to be released this week include:

• Existing home sales (Aug. 2008): Wednesday 10:00 AM
• Fed chairman Bernanke testifies on economic outlook: Wednesday 10:00 AM
• Durable goods orders (Aug. 2008): Thursday 8:30 AM
• New home sales (Aug. 2008): Thursday 10:00 AM
• Paulson and Bernanke testify on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Thursday 12:00 PM
• U.S. GDP (Q2 2008): Friday 8:30 AM
• Consumer sentiment index (September 2008): Friday 10:00 AM

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

 

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Economic data, Housing

Earnings reports continue to dribble in as the quarter winds down. Much of the attention this week will be on homebuilders KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) as investors look for any sign that the housing sector has bottomed (home sales numbers are also due out this week; see below). Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipate that both companies will report that they narrowed their losses in the most recent quarter.

KB Home's expected $1.25 per share loss, on revenue of $725.5 million, compares to the previous quarter loss of $3.30 and to a year-ago loss of $6.19. However, KB Home's losses in the past few quarters have been deeper than expected. The Los Angeles-based homebuilder's long-range earnings growth forecast is 10.5%, less than the S&P 500. Analysts continue to recommend holding KB Home, and have for at least 120 days. Shares, however, reached a new 52-week high of $31.69 on Friday, and they are up 10.5% year to date.

Lennar is expected to post a loss of 52 cents per share, on revenue of $1.1 billion. That compares to the previous quarter's per-share loss of 76 cents and to a year-ago loss of $3.25. While Lennar also has tended in the past few quarters to miss expectations, the Miami-based company managed a positive surprise in the first quarter of 2008. Lennar's long-range earnings growth forecast is 10.3%, about the same as KB Home's. Analysts also recommend holding Lennar. Friday, shares of Lennar also reached a 52-week high, $27.75, but they are down 6.4% year to date.

Continue reading The week in preview: A bottom for the housing sector?

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Vail Resorts, Inc. (MTN), based in Bloomfield, Colorado, is a mountain resort operator with subsidiaries that also handle real estate development and lodging. Vail’s mountain subsidiary operates the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, Heavenly in California and Nevada, and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. [...]

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst initiations

MOST NOTEWORTHY: PHH Corp., VF Corp. and Dialysis Corp. of America were today's noteworthy initiations:

• PHH Corp (PHH) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $25 target at Keefe Bruyette. The firm finds the stock inexpensive at current levels and believes the company's management team is strong and mortgage operations are improving.
  
• Baird is positive on VF Corp's (VFC) sales and EPS growth, brand portfolio strength, and global distribution opportunities. Shares were assumed with an Outperform rating and $90 target.
  
• Stanford started Dialysis Corp of America (DCAI) with a Buy rating and $10 target and believes the company is worth more to a strategic buyer, which they feel could drive revenue per treatment and margins higher.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Merrill initiated Sherwin-Williams (SHW) with an Underperform rating.
  
• Vail Resorts (MTN) was assumed with a Buy rating and $59 target at Banc of America.
  
• Goldman started Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) with a Neutral rating and $35 target.

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