Earnings - 13th Sept 2008

8:31AM Diodes lowers Q3 EPS guidance to low end of previous guidance, expects $0.26-$0.30/share (DIOD) 20.68 : With the continued global economic weakness, DIOD expects its Q3 results to be at the low end of its previously provided financial guidance. As a result, the co now expects GAAP earnings per share to range between $0.26-0.30 (consensus $0.33). As mentioned previously, the co is still in the process of completing the FAS141 valuation analysis for the Zetex acquisition, and thus any potential adjustments will not be included in Q3 results.

8:30AM Chipotle Mexican Grill comments on Q3 trends; impact of the weakened economy has been greater than anticipated (CMG) 71.15 : Co announces a preliminary view of third quarter. Based on third quarter results to date, the impact of the weakened economy has been greater than anticipated resulting in further sales deceleration leading to comparable restaurant sales in the low single digits for the third quarter of 2008. The combination of a weak economy as well as food costs rising faster than expected during the quarter will result in the diluted EPS for the Q3 of 2008 being slightly below third quarter 2007 (Note consensus for Q3 2008 EPS is $0.72 and Q3 2007 EPS was $0.62). The co is working on national pricing plans for the fourth quarter of 2008 to offset rapidly rising food costs. Co sees FY08 comparable restaurant sales increase in the mid to low single digits; 130-140 new restaurant openings; non-cash stock compensation expense of ~$12.5-13.0 mln.

12:16AM CEMEX provides guidance for Q308 (CX) 20.15 : Co issues downside guidance for Q3 (Sep), sees Q3 (Sep) revs of $5.9 bln vs. $6.43 bln First Call consensus. Co expectes Ebitda for Q308 to be approx $1.25 bln, a decrease of about 3% on a like-to-like basis for the ongoing operations vs the same period last year, while operating income is expected to be close to $800 mln. "We continue to face a challenging economic environment in most of our markets. Volumes during the quarter have been negatively affected by the continuing downturn in markets such as the United States, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In addition, foreign-exchange fluctuations have also had an impact on our full-year estimates, as the Mexican peso has depreciated since the end of the second quarter," said Rodrigo Trevino, CEMEX's CFO. For 2008 co expects Ebitda to be between $4.6 and $4.7 bln. About half of the drop in Ebitda guidance is the result of the lower expected performance from our U.S. operations. Co also expects lower Ebitda contribution from Spanish and UK operations. Additionally, this guidance reflects the exclusion of Venezuelan operations starting in August, as well as a negative foreign-exchange effect of close to $100 mln, primarily as a result of the weaker Euro.