Earnings - 21st July 2009

4:37PM Apple beats by $0.18, beats on revs; issues conservative Q4 guidance as expected (AAPL) 151.51 -1.39 : Reports Q3 (Jun) earnings of $1.35 per share, $0.18 better than the First Call consensus of $1.17; revenues rose 11.7% year/year to $8.34 bln vs the $8.2 bln consensus. Q3 gross margin of 36.3% compares to a 34.3% Street estimate. Co issues conservative Q4 guidance as expected, sees EPS of $1.18-1.23 vs. $1.30 consensus; sees Q4 revs of $8.7-8.9 bln vs. $9.05 bln consensus. International sales accounted for 44% of the quarter's revenue. Apple sold 2.6 mln Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing a four percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 10.2 mln iPods during the quarter, representing a seven percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhones sold were 5.2 mln, representing 626 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter... Q3 iPhone shipments of 5.2 mln compare to the ~5 mln Street est; Mac shipments of 2.6 mln compare to the ~2.4 mln Street est; iPod shipments of 10.2 mln compare to the ~10.5 mln Street est. "We're extremely pleased to report record non-holiday quarter revenue and earnings and quarterly cash flow from operations of $2.3 billion."

4:17PM Pactiv Corp beats by $0.17, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS in-line; guides FY09 EPS above consensus (PTV) 23.65 +0.27 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.73 per share, $0.17 better than the First Call consensus of $0.56; revenues fell 5.3% year/year to $901 mln vs the $841.1 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.47-0.51 vs. $0.51 consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY09, sees EPS of $2.37-2.45 vs. $2.22 consensus. Full year 2009 sales are expected to decline in a range of 6 percent to 7 percent, an improvement from the prior outlook of a decline of 10 percent to 12 percent. "Our strong volume performance was driven by the strategic investments we have made in product and service over the past two years. Year over year we also benefitted from lower raw material costs, as well as improved productivity and lower logistics and utility costs. Sequentially, we have seen an increase in raw material costs which will result in more normal margins in the second half."

4:15PM Illumina reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides FY09 EPS in-line, revs in-line (ILMN) 32.94 +0.91 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.18 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.18; revenues rose 15.3% year/year to $161.6 mln vs the $162.3 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.18-$0.22 vs. $0.19 consensus; sees Q3 revs of $162-$172 mln vs. $169.91 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY09, sees EPS of $0.82-$0.92 vs. $0.82 consensus; sees FY09 revs of $690-$720 mln vs. $691.24 mln consensus.

4:09PM Charlotte Russe beats by $0.09, misses on revs; guides Q4 EPS above consensus (CHIC) 12.07 -0.43 : Reports Q3 (Jun) earnings of $0.33 per share, $0.09 better than the First Call consensus of $0.24; revenues rose 4.9% year/year to $202.7 mln vs the $207.6 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.18-0.26, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.16 consensus. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, the Company expects comparable store sales to be in the negative low- to mid-single digits. "At quarter-end, the Company had $60 million in cash and no long-term debt, affording us the financial flexibility to execute our growth plans despite the ongoing challenges presented by the macro environment."

4:05PM Atheros Communications beats by $0.06, beats on revs (ATHR) 22.52 +0.02 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.20 per share, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of $0.14; revenues rose 27.6% year/year to $112.2 mln vs the $103.7 mln consensus. Non-GAAP gross margins in Q2 were 47.4%, compared to 48.1% reported in 1Q09 and 50.8% in 2Q08. Non-GAAP operating income in 2Q09 was 10.8% of revenue, compared to 3.2% in 1Q09 and 16.6% in 2Q08. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term marketable securities were $340.6 million at June 30, 2009, up $51.8 million from the prior quarter. Cash flow from operations for the second quarter was $44.9 million, up $49.4 million sequentially from cash flow used in operations of $4.5 million reported in the first quarter of 2009.

9:05AM Sybase beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides Q3 (Sep) EPS in-line, revs in-line; raises FY09 (Dec) guidance (SY) 32.39 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.56 per share, ex-items $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.52. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3 (Sep), sees EPS of 0.55-0.57, ex-items vs. $0.55 consensus; sees Q3 (Sep) revs of $275-280 vs. $278.10 mln consensus. Co rasies EPS and rev guidance for FY09(Dec), sees EPS of $2.23-2.27, ex-items vs. $2.23 consensus from $2.20-2.24 previously, sees revs of $1.11-1.12 bln vs the $1.1199 bln, up from previous rev guidance of ~$1.10 bln. Sybase's second quarter total revenue reflects a 7% negative impact from foreign currency exchange rates. Absent the impact of currency, total revenue increased 5% year over year, and license revenue increased 11% year over year. Non-GAAP operating income for the 2009 second quarter increased 23% year over year to $78.3 million, representing a 28% operating margin. Co says, "We also experienced momentum in our key growth initiatives including analytics, enterprise mobility and mobile commerce. During the quarter, we launched risk analytics with time series capabilities, expanded partnerships with the Sybase Unwired Platform, and were selected to provide the technology platform on a number of mBanking and mCommerce opportunities. Due to our stronger-than-expected performance in the first half of this year, we are raising our full-year 2009 financial guidance for the second time this year."

8:30AM BlackRock Correction: BLK reports adjusted EPS of $1.75, $0.17 better than consensus (BLK) 184.82 : Earlier we reported that BLK had beat by $0.01, this appears to have been incorrect. The comparable actual appears to be $1.75 which is $0.17 better than consensus. We have deleted the original earnings comment. Co reports Q2 (Jun) adjusted earnings of $1.75 per share, $0.17 better than the First Call consensus of $1.58; revenues fell 25.8% year/year to $1.03 bln vs the $1 bln consensus. AUM was $1.373 trillion at June 30, 2009, up 7% since March 31, 2009. Net new business totaled $15.2 billion during the quarter, including $28.5 billion of net inflows in long-dated assets, $7.5 billion of net outflows in cash management products, and $5.8 billion of net distributions in advisory assets. Inflows were well balanced geographically with $8.3 billion and $6.9 billion from U.S. and international investors, respectively. New business was equally robust across channels, with $10.5 billion of net inflows from institutional clients and $4.7 billion from retail investors worldwide. As of July 17, 2009, our pipeline of wins funded or to be funded totaled $45.7 billion, almost all of which was in long-dated investment products.

8:04AM Freeport-McMoRan beats by $0.69, beats on revs (FCX) 57.00 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.38 per share, $0.69 better than the First Call consensus of $0.69; revenues fell 32.3% year/year to $3.68 bln vs the $3.38 bln consensus. Second-quarter 2009 consolidated copper sales of 1.1 bln pounds were higher than second-quarter 2008 sales of 942 mln pounds and the April 2009 estimate of 955 mln pounds. Second-quarter 2009 consolidated gold sales of 837 thousand ounces were significantly higher than second-quarter 2008 gold sales of 265 thousand ounces because of higher ore grades at Grasberg. Consolidated molybdenum sales of 16 mln pounds in the second quarter of 2009 were lower than second-quarter 2008 sales of 20 mln pounds but were higher than the April 2009 estimate of 11 mln pounds. Projected sales volumes for 2009 approximate 3.9 bln pounds of copper, 2.4 mln ounces of gold and 56 mln pounds of molybdenum, including 910 mln pounds of copper, 550 thousand ounces of gold and 15 mln pounds of molybdenum in the third quarter of 2009. The achievement of FCX's sales estimates will be dependent on the achievement of targeted mining rates, the successful operation of production facilities, the impact of weather conditions and other factors.

7:38AM Caterpillar beats by $0.50, misses on revs; guides FY09 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (CAT) 36.65 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.72 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.50 better than the First Call consensus of $0.22; revs -41.5% to $7.98 bln vs $8.86 bln consensus. Co issues guidance for FY09, sees EPS of $1.15-2.25, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.02 consensus; sees FY09 revs of $32-36 bln vs. $34.86 bln consensus. "Our profit this quarter, despite the sharp decline in sales, is a tribute to Team Caterpillar's response to this severe global recession and the continued deployment of our economic trough strategy... There is still a great deal of economic uncertainty in the world, but we are seeing signs of stabilization that we hope will set the foundation for an eventual recovery. Credit markets have improved significantly. Fiscal policy and monetary stimulus have been introduced around the world, and we are seeing signs, particularly in China, that they are beginning to work. In addition, we've seen many key commodity prices increase from their lows in the first quarter, and they are holding in a range that is usually positive for investment... Our 2009 sales have been hurt by weak end-user demand and significant reductions in dealer inventory. In fact, dealers have reduced their machine inventories by about $1.5 billion through the first half of the year and could reach close to $3 billion by year-end. As tough as this year has been, the improved profit outlook is a tangible sign of what happens when the entire team is pulling in the same direction and deploying the trough strategy we put in place over the past four years."

7:05AM Quest Diagnostics beats by $0.05, reports revs in-line; raises FY09 EPS above consensus (DGX) 56.01 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.00 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.95; revenues rose 3.5% year/year to $1.9 bln vs the $1.89 bln consensus. Co raises guidance for FY09, sees EPS of $3.70-3.80, up from $3.65-3.75, vs. $3.71 consensus. These results include a previously disclosed benefit associated with an insurance recovery of $0.05 per share, offset by charges of $0.04 per share associated with the company's recently completed debt repurchase and an investment writeoff. Cash from operations is expected to ~$1 billion before the payment of the previously announced NID settlement, or ~$700 million after such payment. Capital expenditures are expected to ~$200 million.

6:02AM Kinetic Concepts beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line; guides FY09 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (KCI) 26.08 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.98 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.95; revenues rose 6.3% year/year to $491.3 mln vs the $487.6 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for FY09, sees EPS of $3.95-4.10 vs. $3.85 consensus; sees FY09 revs of $1.95-2.00 bln vs. $1.97 bln consensus. Co said, "KCI continues to meet its goals in terms of innovation, global market expansion and operational efficiency. We recently introduced our highly innovative open abdominal wound system, AbThera, to operating room surgeons in the U.S. and Europe and we are on track with our plans for the launch of V.A.C. Therapy in Japan. We look forward to the second half of the year with confidence."

4:39AM New Oriental Education & Technology reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs in-line (EDU) 63.97 : Reports Q4 (May) earnings of $0.07 per share, includes share-based compensation, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.07; revenues rose 47.9% year/year to $59.4 mln vs the $54.3 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidancefor Q1, sees Q1 revs of $146.6-152.6 mln vs. $152.31 mln consensus. Total student enrollments in language training and test preparation courses increased by 8.2% year-over-year to approx 330,200 from approximately 305,200 in the same period of the prior fiscal year. Non-GAAP operating margin for the quarter was 11.7%, compared to 6.3% in the same period of the prior fiscal year.