Earnings - 29th July 2008

8:19AM Concur Tech and American Express enter into exclusive alliance to offer corporate clients T&E expense management services (CNQR) 36.05 : American Express (AXP) and CNQR announces that they have entered into an alliance involving both an exclusive marketing partnership and a strategic investment by American Express in CNQR. AXP has also purchased 6.4 mln shares of newly issued common stock, representing 13% post issuance of the currently outstanding common equity voting interest in Concur, at a price per share of $39.27, for $251 mln in cash.

8:16AM Inverness Medical misses by $0.05, reports revs in-line (IMA) 30.00 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.37 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.42; revenues rose 158.8% year/year to $401.1 mln vs the $398 mln consensus.

8:12AM AGCO Corp beats by $0.37, beats on revs; guides FY08 EPS above consensus (AG) 52.30 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.34 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.37 better than the First Call consensus of $0.97; revenues rose 40.0% year/year to $2.4 bln vs the $2.17 bln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY08, sees EPS of $3.60-3.70 vs. $3.41 consensus.

8:02AM Natl Oilwell Varco beats by $0.07, beats on revs (NOV) 74.11 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.20 per share, $0.07 better than the First Call consensus of $1.13; revenues rose 39.4% year/year to $3.32 bln vs the $3.2 bln consensus.

7:47AM Valero Energy beats by $0.04, beats on revs (VLO) 31.81 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.37 per share, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $1.33; revenues rose 51.4% year/year to $36.64 bln vs the $34.93 bln consensus. "Despite the difficult environment for margins on gasoline and many secondary products, Valero continued to be profitable. Wide differentials for the heavy and sour feedstocks that we can process in our refineries benefited us significantly in the second quarter... Looking at market fundamentals, we expect distillate margins should be strong for the rest of the year and next. However, we expect gasoline margins to continue to be weak and industry utilization rates to decline. We expect secondary products to have a margin recovery, particularly if the price of crude oil stabilizes or falls, as the prices of these products lag changes in the price of crude oil... Concerning asset sales, although we have received preliminary indications of interest from parties regarding our Ardmore and Memphis refineries, we have not yet received a proposal that we believe is in the best interest of our employees and shareholders, so these refineries remain under strategic review. Obviously, gasoline margins have weakened and the availability of financing is clearly lacking as the financial markets continue in turmoil. However, we plan to continue to pursue a potential transaction for Aruba."

7:33AM Waste Mgt beats by $0.04, misses on revs; reaffirms FY08 EPS guidance (WMI) 35.07 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.63 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.59; revenues rose 3.9% year/year to $3.5 bln vs the $3.43 bln consensus. Co reaffirms guidance for FY08, they are confident that they will meet the upper end of the range of their previously announced full-year earnings guidance of $2.19 to $2.23 per diluted share vs. $2.23 consensus. "We also expect to achieve our free cash flow guidance of $1.4 billion. In each case we exclude costs associated with our proposal to acquire Republic Services."

7:33AM Harsco beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS in-line; guides FY08 EPS in-line (HSC) 51.21 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.07 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $1.02; revenues rose 16.2% year/year to $1.1 bln vs the $1.09 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.92-0.95 vs. $0.95 consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY08, sees EPS of $3.50-3.55, compared to previous guidance of $3.45-3.55, vs. $3.55 consensus.

7:31AM EMCOR Group beats by $0.09, beats on revs; guides FY08 EPS in-line, revs in-line (EME) 27.46 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.65 per share, $0.09 better than the First Call consensus of $0.56; revenues rose 25.6% year/year to $1.72 bln vs the $1.64 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY08, sees EPS of $2.32-2.47 vs. $2.35 consensus; sees FY08 revs of $6.8-7.0 bln vs. $6.86 bln consensus.

7:15AM Kaydon beats by $0.01, beats on revs (KDN) 55.95 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.64 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.63; revenues rose 23.4% year/year to $139.9 mln vs the $132.9 mln consensus. Co raises quarterly cash dividend to $0.17 from $0.15. Co's Board of Directors has authorized the co to review options to add capacity in the wind energy industry. "While we continue to work towards our historical target of 10-12 percent earnings per share growth, attainment in 2008 will be more challenging than previously anticipated given current business conditions. Meeting our target in 2008 will be predicated upon an improved flow of immediately shippable orders, or 'book and ship' orders, to our general industrial markets in North America, and upon the funding and release of certain military orders previously expected in the fourth quarter, which are now expected to be delayed due to funding issues, and therefore fall into 2009."

7:13AM GrafTech Intl beats by $0.04, beats on revs; sees FY08 total net sales increasing approx 20-22% (GTI) 24.10 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.51 per share, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.47; revenues rose 24.9% year/year to $319.5 mln vs the $295.9 mln consensus. Co says they remain encouraged by global steel industry conditions and expect solid demand from their steel end markets and the markets that drive their Engineered Solutions segment in 2008. As a result, the co is raising their full year 2008 guidance. Co sees total net sales increasing approx 20-22% (vs previous guidance of 16-18%); operating income targeted growth of approximately 35% to the range of $320-$330 mln (previous guidance $310-$320 mln).

7:10AM Hercules Offshore misses by $0.03, beats on revs (HERO) 29.18 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.22 per share, $0.03 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.25; revenues rose 173.5% year/year to $270.8 mln vs the $260.3 mln consensus. "The domestic offshore environment is expected to remain positive as current commodity prices are driving attractive well economics and higher capital spending by our customers."

7:06AM Under Armour beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; reaffirms FY08 revs guidance (UA) 26.63 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.03 per share, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.01; revenues rose 30.0% year/year to $156.7 mln vs the $156.3 mln consensus. Co reaffirms guidance for FY08, sees FY08 revs of $765-775 mln vs. $767.07 mln consensus. The co also raised its 2008 income from operations outlook to $104.5 - $105.5 mln from $103.5 - $104.5 mln. The co said gross margin for the second quarter of 2008 was 45.3% compared to 49.0% in the prior year's quarter. The decline in gross margin was primarily driven by the higher proportion of footwear sales in the quarter, which have lower gross margins than apparel. Co says inventory totaled $183.9 million at June 30, 2008, compared to $166.1 million at December 31, 2007 and $128.8 million at June 30, 2007. As the Company had anticipated, the inventory growth rate in the second quarter of 2008 marked a deceleration from the inventory growth reported for the first quarter.

6:34AM Alexion Pharm beats by $0.20, beats on revs; raises Soliris product guidance (ALXN) 79.95 : Reports Q2 (Jun) GAAP earnings of $0.06 per share, $0.20 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.14); total/Soliris revenues rose 508.2% year/year to $59.6 mln vs the $54 mln consensus. Co raises worldwide Soliris net product sales to $235-245 mln from previous guidance of $215-225 mln. Co sees cost of sales unchanged at 12-14% of net product sales. Co maintains its forecast of a non-GAAP profit for Y08, and additionally now expects to report a GAAP profit for Q3 and Q4. Co's Board of Directors has a approved a two-for-one stock split.

6:26AM Patriot Coal reports Q208 results; misses by $0.09 and beats on revenue (PCX) 134.70 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.44 per share, $0.09 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.53; revenues increased 32.6% year/year to $339.68 mln vs the $324.37 mln consensus. For 2008, including Magnum beginning July 23, co anticipates sales volumes in the range of 30.0 to 32.0 mln tons and EBITDA between $165 and $185 mln. EPS for 2008 will substantially increase over prior guidance. This increase is a direct result of the positive impact from purchase accounting adjustments related to the valuation of existing sales contracts. Accretion related to below-market sales contracts resulting from the acquisition of Magnum will be included in the net income, but will not be reflected in EBITDA. For 2009, including Magnum for the full year, PCX anticipates sales volumes in the range of 41.0 to 44.0 mln tons and EBITDA between $750 and $950 mln.


6:08AM Continental Resources beats by $0.05, beats on revs (CLR) 63.72 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.75 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.70; revenues rose 108.8% year/year to $303.4 mln vs the $280.3 mln consensus. Co also announces that President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Monroe will retire effective October 31, 2008.

6:05AM Amedisys beats by $0.07, beats on revs (AMED) 60.91 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of
$0.76 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than the First Call consensus of $0.69; revenues rose 84.5% year/year to $312.7 mln vs the $288.3 mln consensus.

4:40AM CTC Media beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides FY08 revs in-line (CTCM) 21.25 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.31 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.30; revenues rose 54.1% year/year to $172.8 mln vs the $164 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY08, sees FY08 consolidated total operating revs of $650-700 mln vs. $657.04 mln consensus. For FY08, co reaffirms its guidance for organic total operating revenues in the range of $600-650 mln.

2:33AM Sony beats by $0.09, misses on revs; guides FY09 revs lower (SNE) 39.93 : Reports Q1 (Jun) earnings of $0.31 per share, $0.09 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.40; revenues increased 0.1% year/year to $18.67 bln vs the $19.60 bln consensus. Reports net income decreased 47.4% to $330.0 mln. Co issues downside guidance for FY09, sees FY09 revs of Y9.2 trln vs. Y9.71 trln consensus.

2:20AM BE Aerospace beats by $0.02, beats on revs; guides FY08 EPS in-line; reaffirms FY09 EPS below consensus (BEAV) 24.83 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.59 per share, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.57; revenues rose 31.1% year/year to $522.2 mln vs the $499.3 mln consensus. Co issues in line guidance for FY08, sees EPS of approx $2.37, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $2.40 consensus. Co reaffirms downside guidance for FY09, sees EPS of approx $2.85, excluding impact from HCS transaction, vs. $2.98 consensus. Co see EPS of $3.65, excluding HCS transaction impact, for FY10.

1:16AM Teva Pharm beats by $0.01, beats on revs (TEVA) 45.77 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.65 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.64; revenues rose 18.3% year/year to $2.82 bln vs the $2.68 bln consensus.