Earnings - 22nd Dec 2008

4:07PM Red Hat beats by $0.06, reports revs in-line (RHT) 11.93 -0.44 : Reports Q3 (Nov) earnings of $0.24 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of $0.18; revenues rose 22.1% year/year to $165.3 mln vs the $166.4 mln consensus.

11:57AM PPG Industries announces Q4 2008 earnings per share will likely be in the range of $0.35 to $0.45 vs $0.67 consensus (PPG) 39.58 -1.46 : Co issues downside guidance for Q4 (Dec), sees EPS of $0.35-0.45 vs. $0.67 First Call consensus. The lower level of expected earnings reflects the accelerating rate of decline in the global economy that has emerged in the fourth quarter 2008. "Market softness seen initially in the U.S. industrial markets is now prevalent on a global basis. Our businesses that serve these industrial end-markets are experiencing significant volume deterioration, as our customers react to lower consumer demand and tight credit markets by curtailing their production and reducing their inventory levels... As a result, in addition to the restructuring actions announced in September of this year, we have taken additional cost-reduction measures during the quarter, including lowering our operating rates and furloughing workers. We will continue to monitor economic activity levels as we enter the first quarter 2009 to determine what further cost-cutting actions may be warranted... PPG has redoubled its focus on cash in the fourth quarter, seasonally a stronger cash-flow quarter, as we are managing our working capital and capital spending aggressively," Hernandez said. "Currently, we have approximately $800 mln cash on hand, up about $300 mln from September 30, and our commercial paper borrowings total just over $200 mln."

10:06AM CVS Caremark confirms earnings guidance (CVS) 26.15 -0.74 : Co reaffirms guidance for FY08 (Dec), sees EPS of $2.42-2.47 vs. $2.44 First Call consensus. "There is no question that the economy continues to be difficult and consumers are reacting with increasing caution... Our total same store sales for October grew 4.3%, and in November were up 6.1%. It appears that December's comps will be well short of those levels. Nevertheless, through careful margin and cost management, we expect to be able to deliver results within our previously announced earnings range for 2008."

8:34AM Aaron Rents raises FY09 EPS guidance; reaffirms Q408 and FY08 EPS guidance (RNT) 28.66 : Co raises guidance for FY09 (Dec), sees EPS of $1.70-1.85 (previous $1.65-1.80) vs. $1.74 First Call consensus. "We expect same store revenues for the fourth quarter to increase 5% to 7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2007," Robert Loudermilk, CEO, commented. "Our earnings guidance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2008 is unchanged, with diluted EPS for the year expected to be in the range of $1.60 to $1.65, excluding gains from fourth quarter store sales and any gain or loss on the previous announced sale of the Aaron's Corporate Furnishings division." "We are altering our 2009 square footage growth plans somewhat, and expect to increase overall store growth next year approximately 5% to 9% over the store base at the end of 2008. This will be net store growth after opening a combination of Company-operated and franchised stores, less any opportunistic merging or disposition of stores. This rate of growth should allow us to improve margins as well as fund our expansion without the need to seek additional sources of capital. Due to the current strength of our business and our outlook for next year, we are increasing our earnings guidance for 2009 from previously expecting to achieve diluted earnings per share in the range of $1.65 to $1.80 to now expecting $1.70 to $1.85 per share."

8:03AM Walgreen misses by $0.05; cutting store opening rate (WAG) 26.08 : Reports Q1 (Nov) earnings of $0.41 per share, $0.05 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.46; revenues rose 6.6% year/year to $14.95 bln vs the $15.08 bln consensus. The company is also announcing plans to further reduce its organic store openings to a rate between 4.0 and 4.5 percent in 2010 and between 2.5 and 3.0 percent in 2011. This is a further reduction from plans announced last July to slow organic store openings to 5 percent by 2011. The company will continue to open new stores in strategic markets, on the best corners, and which offer the greatest rates of return. The new target growth rate will reduce capital expenditures through 2011 by approximately an additional $500 million beyond the $500 million capital expenditure savings announced last July.

7:39AM Dominion affirms 2008 guidance and lowers 2009 outlook (D) 34.98 : After the close, co reaffirmed guidance for FY08 (Dec), sees EPS of $3.10-3.15 vs. $3.12 First Call consensus. Co lowers guidance for FY09 (Dec), sees EPS of $3.20-3.30, down from $3.30-3.45, vs. $3.30 consensus.

7:36AM Steelcase reports Q3 (Nov) results; guides Q4 revs below consensus (SCS)5.73 : Reports Q3 (Nov) net of breakeven, includes a $27.5 million pre-tax charge related to a decrease in the cash surrender value of company-owned life insurance policies and $4.7 million of pre-tax restructuring costs, may not be comparable to the First Call consensus of $0.09; revenues fell 0.5% year/year to $881.3 mln vs the $805.2 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q4, sees EPS of ($0.04)-($0.10), ioncludes $9 mln charge, may not be comparable to $0.11 consensus; sees Q4 revs of $650-700 mln vs. $747.04 mln consensus.  Co said, "We believe that the slowing of the global economy and related uncertainty will lead to significant reduction in industry demand for the next several quarters... Accordingly, we have been preparing for a difficult year in fiscal 2010, but we believe the strength of our balance sheet will allow us to continue investing in growth initiatives that will further strengthen our leadership position coming out of this economic cycle."