Earnings - 9th April 2009

4:16PM MEMC Elec reaffirms Q1 revs; cuts gross margin guidance (WFR) 17.95 +1.08 : Co reaffirms Q1 rev guidance, sees revs of $214 mln vs $225.03 mln First Call consensus. As a result of lower pricing and additional underutilization charges, gross margin for the quarter is now expected to be approx 9% of sales, compared to the company's previous outlook of gross margins declining to the 20% range. Reduced Guidance: 20%  Margin to 9% Margin on sales. 

8:06AM Aeropostale reports March comparable sales of +3% vs +4.2% Briefing Consensus; raises Q1 EPS guidance (ARO) 26.92 : Co reports March comparable sales of +3% vs +4.2% Briefing Consensus. Co also raises its Q1 EPS guidance to $0.35, ex-items, vs First Call consensus of $0.27, and vs prior guidance of $0.22-$0.24.

8:03AM American Eagle reports Mar SSS -16% vs -10.5% Briefing.com consensus; raises Q1 guidance to EPS of $0.06-0.07 vs. $0.05 First Call consensus (AEO) 12.51 : Co reports Mar SSS -16% vs -10.5% Briefing.com consensus; issues upside guidance for Q1 (Apr), sees EPS of $0.06-0.07 vs. $0.05 First Call consensus; previous guidance called for EPS of $0.04-0.07. The earnings revision reflects AE's planned and controlled promotional strategy. This revised guidance excludes potential additional impairment charges or losses related to investment securities. Co also announces that total sales for the five weeks ended April 4, 2009 decreased 9% to $242.6 mln, compared to $267.3 mln for the five weeks ended April 5, 2008.:  

8:01AM Wells Fargo expects record Q1 earnings of approximately $3 bln; sees EPS of $0.55 vs $0.23 First Call consensus (WFC) 14.89 : Co expects record Q1 earnings of approximately $3 bln; sees EPS of $0.55 vs $0.23 First Call consensus, revs of $20.0 bln vs $18.98 bln First Call consensus. EPS excludes preferred dividends, including $372 mln in dividends paid to U.S. taxpayers on the U.S. Treasury's Capital Purchase Program investment. Co cites strong operating results at legacy Wachovia; solid operating margins with consolidated net interest margin of approximately 4.1% and efficiency ratio of approximately 56%. "Business momentum in the quarter reflected strength in our traditional banking businesses, strong capital markets activities, and exceptionally strong mortgage banking results -- $100 bln in mortgage originations, with a 41% increase in the unclosed application pipeline to $100 biln at quarter end, an indication of strong second quarter mortgage originations." Tangible common equity (TCE) ratio expected to increase in first quarter.Tangible common equity is expected to be above 3.1% of tangible assets at March 31, 2009. The 85% reduction in the Company's common stock dividend from $0.34 per share to $0.05 per share announced on March 6, 2009, will benefit retained earnings by about $1.25 bln in additional common equity per quarter, the equivalent of about 10 basis points of TCE per quarter, beginning in the second quarter. 

7:56AM Gymboree raises guidance above consensus for Q1 (GYMB) 21.81 : Co issuesupside guidance for Q1 (Apr), sees EPS of $0.50-0.56 vs. $0.23 First Call consensus, prior guidance $0.18-0.25. Co cites improved revenue and margin performance, and the impact of the Company's ongoing cost containment strategies. Co said, "Compared to the trends we were seeing in February, we saw a steady and significant increase in sales performance during the month of March... As a result of better than anticipated customer response to the new product assortment, as well as more effective promotional campaigns, we were able to generate improved sales and margins. However, we still expect the retail sales environment to remain volatile throughout the fiscal year and will continue to take a cautious view on sales expectations."

7:31AM A-Power Energy beats by $0.15, beats on revs; guides for FY09 (APWR) 4.47 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.30 per share, $0.15 better than the First Call consensus of $0.15; revenues rose 93.4% year/year to $81.4 mln vs the $75.8 mln consensus. The Company expects revenues and net income for 2009 to be approximately $290 million (rev consensus $579.2 mln) and $29 million, respectively. These targets are based on the Company's current DG backlogs, which are subject to change when the company signs new DG contracts and/or recognizes revenues from wind turbine sales during 2009.

7:15AM Cash America sees Q1 EPS of $0.76-0.78 vs consensus of $0.63; previous guidance was $0.61-0.65 (CSH) 17.27 : Co announced today that it expects its earnings for the first quarter ended March 31, '09, to significantly exceed its previously released guidance for the quarter, co sees Q1 EPS of $0.76-0.78 vs consensus $0.63; previous $0.61-0.65. The primary contributors to the higher-than-anticipated earnings for the quarter were better than expected performance from the co's pawn lending operations, both in the US and Mexico, and lower loan losses associated with the cash advance product. In addition, the co experienced greater than expected cash advance fee revenue in the quarter from its online cash advance offerings in some of the states that had announced adverse changes in legislation and/or regulations in '08 but have not been implemented thus far in '09 as previously expected.