Month: July 2013

Within days of announcing its plan to exit the physical commodity business, JPMorgan Chase & Co. ( JPM ) reached an agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to resolve the investigation by the agency for alleged manipulation of electricity prices in California and the Midwest region. The company will pay $410 million, without admitting or denying any wrongdoing. […]

Archer Daniels Midland Company ( ADM ) recently announced that it had received the nod from The European Commission for its proposed acquisition of Australia’s leading agribusiness company, GrainCorp Limited. With this, the company now has clearance from six government agencies for the acquisition. After gaining The United States Federal Trade Commission’s approval in Nov 2012, Archer Daniels had sealed the deal in late Apr 2013 […]

Kellogg Company ( K ) is set to report its second-quarter 2013 results on Aug 1, before the market opens. Last quarter, it reported in-line results. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement. […]

We maintain our Neutral recommendation on Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ( WMT ) following appraisal of its first quarter fiscal 2014 results. Top-line growth coupled with productivity improvement was offset by weak consumer spending in the quarter […]

Recently, Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ( ISIS ) announced that it has received a milestone payment of $2 million from GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK ). The milestone payment was related to the advancement of the ongoing randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, fifteen-month international phase II/III study (n ~ 200), which is evaluating the use of ISIS-TTR in patients suffering from familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP). […]

Alcatel-Lucent, S.A .( ALU ) reported net loss (including one-time items) from continuing operations of 51 cents (€0.39) per ADS in the second quarter of 2013, worse than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 11 cents. In the prior-year quarter, Alcatel had reported earnings per ADS of 22 cents. The quarter’s loss was primarily attributable to increased restructuring charges of €194 million ($253 million) and impairment of assets of €552 million ($720 million). […]

Alliance Data Systems Corporation ( ADS ) reported adjusted earnings of $2.41 per share in the second quarter of 2013. The results beat the Zacks Consensus of Estimate of $2.18 and was ahead of the year-ago figure by 13%. Including stock compensation expenses of $15 million, amortization of purchased intangibles of $33.1 million, non-cash interest expense of $28 million, non-cash mark-to-market gain on interest rate derivatives of $2.2 million and an income tax benefit of $26.2 million, Alliance Data reported a net income of $116 million or $1.71 per share in the quarter. […]

Intuitive Surgical ( ISRG ) has approved yet another share repurchase program. The board of directors has authorized a buyback of $779 million in addition to the existing $721 million pending from earlier programs. This brings the total value of the buyback program to $1.5 billion. […]

Amazon.com Inc. ( AMZN ), the world's largest online retailer plans to hire 7,000 workers for its warehouse and order-fulfillment centers. […]

Array BioPharma, Inc. ( ARRY ) and Celgene Corporation ( CELG ) recently announced a strategic worldwide research & development collaboration. The agreement is for a preclinical program (discovered by Array BioPharma) aimed at a novel inflammation pathway […]