Earnings - 23th June 2009

4:35PM Darden Restaurants beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line; guides FY10 EPS below consensus (DRI) 33.00 -1.24 : Reports Q4 (May) earnings of $0.90 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.86; revenues rose 8.2% year/year to $1.98 bln vs the $1.98 bln consensus. Co issues downside guidancefor FY10, sees EPS of $2.59-2.85 vs. $2.91 consensus. Co says, "we're assuming that the economic and industry weakness we've experienced over the past six months will continue through all of our fiscal 2010. We are assuming that blended same-restaurant sales for our three large casual dining brands, Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse, will be between -2% and flat in FY10. Based on these same-restaurant results and ~50-55 net new restaurant openings, total sales change is expected to be between -1% and +1% and diluted net EPS are expected to range from -2% to +8%. Please note that our FY09 included a 53rd week of operations. Excluding that extra week, our FY10 same-restaurant sales assumptions and plans for net new restaurant openings are expected to drive total sales growth of +1% to +3% and diluted net EPS growth that ranges from flat to +10%. It is also important to note that going forward, we will no longer report results and prior period comparisons that exclude integration costs and purchase accounting adjustments."

4:32PM AeroVironment earnings correction: Beats by $0.01; guides FY10 revs above consensus (AVAV) 27.36 -0.49 : Earlier we incorrectly calculated the co's revenue guidance. We have deleted the original comment. Co reports Q4 (Apr) earnings of $0.27 per share,$0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.26; revenues rose 18.2% year/year to $76 mln vs the $71.2 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY10, sees FY10 revs growth of 18-22%, which equates to ~$292.2-302.2 mln. $290.35 mln consensus.

4:07PM Oracle beats by $0.02, beats on revs (ORCL) 19.87 -0.10 : Reports Q4 (May) earnings of $0.46 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.44; revenues fell 5.2% year/year to $6.86 bln vs the $6.47 bln consensus. Co says, "We executed substantially better than we expected on both the top and bottom line for the quarter. We grew Q4 non-GAAP operating margins by a faster than expected 240 bps to over 51%. That helped us generate $7.7 bln in free cash flow for fiscal 2009. We grew faster and took market share from SAP in every region around the world. In Europe our applications business grew 5% in constant currency versus negative 27% growth for SAP in their most recent quarter. Historically Europe has been an SAP stronghold, but these results prove that we can compete and beat them everywhere. The Exadata Database Machine is well on its way to being the most successful new product launch in Oracle's 30 year history. Several of Teradata's largest customers are performance testing -- then buying -- Oracle Exadata Database Machines. In a recent competitive benchmark, a Teradata machine took over six hours to process a query that our Exadata Database Machine ran in less than 30 minutes. They bought Exadata."

4:05PM Sonic beats by $0.04, beats on revs (SONC) 9.00 +0.50 : Reports Q3 (May) earnings of $0.24 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.20; revenues fell 9.9% year/year to $191.9 mln vs the $181.7 mln consensus. Co says, "While our sales were lower than we expected in the third quarter, we believe our continued emphasis on distinctive promotions that drive traffic, loyalty and check -- in concert with our unique quality and customer service experience -- will improve sales over the long run."

9:19AM Commercial Metals beats by $0.04, misses on revs (CMC) 14.21 : Reports Q3 (May) loss of $0.10 per share from cont ops, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.14); revenues fell 53.9% year/year to $1.34 bln vs the $1.49 bln consensus. Co says it believes for the balance of calendar 2009, market conditions in the US will remain difficult. There is very little evidence of stimulus dollars impacting demand. It is likely in 2010 that the stimulus package will impact infrastructure spending and, thus, demand for steel long products such as rebar. Co is seeing some small signs of a pick up in demand. However, this is more a function of seasonality and restocking of certain steel products than a general recovery in demand. Co believes destocking of rebar and merchant products is almost over. It is likely that steel prices will stabilize and recover modestly in the coming months.

7:05AM America's Car-Mart beats by $0.05, beats on revs (CRMT) 17.66 : Reports Q4 (Apr) earnings of $0.43 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.38; revenues rose 1.8% year/year to $77.9 mln vs the $74.9 mln consensus. Same store revenue increased .9% for the three months. The average down-payment percentage was 8.6% compared to 7.5% for the prior year period and collections as a percentage of average finance receivables was 17.7% compared to 17.5% for the prior year. The provision for credit losses was 20.8% of sales compared to 20.0% in the same period last year. Net charge-offs as a percentage of average finance receivables was 6.3% compared to 5.9% in the same period last year. Gross margins on vehicle sales were slightly lower during 4Q09 and Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses were higher as infrastructure investments, primarily payroll costs, continued to be phased in. Co says, "Our future growth will come from both increases in sales at our existing dealerships and the addition of new dealerships. We finished 2009 with an increase in the average number of retail units sold per lot per month. Even with this increase, we know that we have significant up-side for volume levels at our existing dealerships... We saw improvements in credit loss percentages and the level of accounts over 30 days past due at year end is at its lowest level in several years. It is exciting to be in a position to grow revenues into the future without near-term capital constraints and maximize the leveraging of the infrastructure investments we have made."