August 17, 2012
This is Mark Vickery, again covering for Sheraz Mian while he is
away this week.
It's been a pretty busy week, considering we're in mid-August. What
have we learned?
For starters, watchers of the Retail sector can breathe a sigh of
relief, at least for now. Not that we saw stellar numbers across
the board from earnings reports this week, but no companies who
elicited concerns ahead of earnings look to be falling off a cliff.
In fact, many companies such as
Gap
(
GPS
) actually beat earnings estimates by a slim margin. And other big
retailers like
Target
(
TGT
) performed very well in the quarter, so perhaps there is some hope
for upside in the 3rd and especially 4th quarters for the industry.
The U.S. jobs situation doesn't seem to be getting any better, but
at least it's not getting any worse, which was the fear a couple
weeks ago. And with the Housing industry seemingly gaining a bit of
traction -- although the July numbers weren't exactly great --
perhaps analysts can look toward the end of fiscal 2012 and beyond
with a little less gloom and doom than they had previously.
The Dow has performed well this week, and the NASDAQ and S&P
500 have held their own as well. And although revenues and guidance
for many companies this earnings season have much to wring our
hands over, overseas markets -- China and the Eurozone,
particularly -- have not piled on with any additional bad news. At
least not this week.
This morning, specialty retailer
Hibbett Sports
(
HIBB
) hit the ball solidly in its Q2 earnings report, with higher
profits and guidance.
J.M. Smucker
(
SJM
) spread a relatively sweet earnings beat, though its guidance for
fiscal 2013 was at the low end of a consensus of forecasts.
Mark Vickery
Senior Editor
GAP INC (GPS): Free Stock Analysis Report
HIBBET SPORTS (HIBB): Free Stock Analysis
Report
SMUCKER JM (SJM): Free Stock Analysis Report
TARGET CORP (TGT): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment
Research
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks
Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the
Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report