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Regal Entertainment Group (RGC)
If
you
love movies, chances are you familiar with Regal Entertainment Group.
The company operates the largest and most
geographically diverse theatre circuit in the U.S., consisting of 6,580
screens
in 522 theatres across 37 states.
In
2011,
RGC registered over 211 million attendees.
Their diverse geographical exposure includes theatres in 43 of the top
50
U.S. designated market areas. What also makes Regal unique is that they
offer an
average of 12.6 screens per location, well above the North American
motion
picture exhibition industry average. RGC
operates under the brand names: Regal Cinemas Corporation, United
Artists
Theatre Company and Edwards Theatres, Inc.
Regal
is a
mid-cap (2.23 billion) company trading at 18.8 times forward earnings,
Strong Results
It looks like American consumers are still going to the movies;
on May 1st, RGC reported total
revenues for Q1 2012 were $684.9 million compared to $570.9
million in the same period in 2011.
More impressive was the
turnaround to a profit of $46.3 million Q1 2012 compared to a loss of
$(23.6)
million in Q1 2011. Earnings per share came in at $0.30 for the first
quarter of
2012 versus a loss of 15 cents in the same period in 2011.
They managed to not only beat, but double the
Zacks Consensus Estimate of 14 cents.
Looking Ahead
On the earnings call, executives seemed
upbeat about both the past and the future earnings of RGC.
Amy Miles, CEO of Regal Entertainment Group
noted “We are pleased that a strong film slate combined with our
continued
focus on cost control allowed us to achieve our highest ever first
quarter
Adjusted EBITDA and our highest Adjusted EBITDA margin for any quarter
in over
seven years.”
She
went on to say “We are
excited about the upcoming summer movie season that kicks off with
Marvel’s The
Avengers and remain optimistic about the potential for box office
success for
the remainder of 2012”
The
majority of the 17 analysts who
cover RGC seem to agree with the CEO; many of them have increased
estimates for
the current and next quarters as well as FY2012 and FY2013 in the past
week
alone. Expectations are for Regal to
earn 26 cents this quarter and 24 cents in Q3 2012. Full year
2012 expectations now stand at 76
cents per share. Analysts are looking
for 9% growth in FY2013 with full year earnings of 84 cents.
Regal
has surprised analysts to the
upside for the past 4 quarters in a row at an average of over 100%!
The stock became a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy on
May 3rd.
This
Week’s Momentum Zacks Rank Buy Stocks:
Sturm Ruger
& Co
Inc. (RGR)
Being a Texan, I can
appreciate a dependable, durable and quality gun; fortunately for Sturm
Ruger
& Co, Texans aren’t the only ones who share that
sentiment. In fact,
RGR had to stop taking new orders earlier in the year just to catch up
on the
demand that had been building for months.
Just last month RGR announced
that it had received orders for more than 1 million units in the first
quarter
alone, the company noted that “despite efforts to increase
production
rates, the incoming order rate exceeds our capacity to rapidly fulfill
these
orders.” I’d say that’s a good problem to have…
Many gun manufacturers have
enjoyed similar demand even through the recession and beyond.
Smith &
Wesson, Sturm Ruger and other have seen demand growing almost
constantly since
2008, sparked by economic uncertainty and worries that Barack Obama
might seek
to reduce gun rights in America. I remember hearing a talk
roughly a year
ago where the speaker told the audience to “buy puts and bullets.” (Put
options
are a bet that stocks will move lower)
Maybe
the masses are heeding
that advice and also purchasing firearms to put the bullets into.
READ
FULL
STORY
Align Technologies Inc (ALGN)
Align technologies has been on the
momentum radar since they reported Q4 2011 earnings of 28 cents,
topping the
Zacks Consensus Estimate of 22 cents. Q4 2011 EPS results
represented a
100% increase over the same period in 2010. For the year,
Align’s
earnings of 97 cents, surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 90
cents as
well as the year-ago adjusted EPS of 80 cents.
The
company beat the street again
last week, reporting Q1 2012 EPS of 26 cents, 30% higher than the
year-ago
period. Adjusted EPS came in at 27 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus
Estimate
of 22 cents as well as the year-ago quarter adjusted EPS of 21 cents.
The
adjusted EPS also surpassed the company’s guidance range of 19−21 cents.
All
in all, it was a very good 2011
for the orthodontics and technology manufacturer, whose products have
now
helped over 1.5 million patients around the world.
Early 2012 seems
to be looking like a continuation of this strength.
But
it’s not just about invisible
braces; ALGN is growing their imaging / scanning segments as
well. A
recent acquisition may help propel this growth into the coming
quarters. READ
FULL
STORY
Jared A
Levy is the Senior
Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. He is also the Editor in charge of the
market-beating Zacks
Whisper Trader Service.
REGAL ENTMNT GP (RGC): Free Stock Analysis Report
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