Wall Street took a downturn this morning as the markets reacted to GM’s announcement of more temporary factory shutdowns and weak economic data.
Today’s Stock Alerts include: Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV), TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), Jos. A Bank Clothiers (Nasdaq: JOSB) and Automatic Data Processing Inc. (Nasdaq: ADP).
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) Stock Alert – LUV Reports Decline in May Traffic
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) shares slipped .72% this morning, trading at $6.92. The Dallas-based passenger airline recently announced it flew 6.4 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in May 2009, representing a 3.6% decline from the 6.7 billion RPMs flown in May 2008. RPMs is the airline industry’s measure of traffic, and it calculates every paying passenger flown per mile into its statistics.
The company’s load factor also experienced a minor drop over last year, with the airline recording a load factor of 74.6%, down from 74.9% in May of last year. Available seat miles recorded in May declined 3.2%, dropping to 8.6 billion from 8.9 billion last year. Available seat miles equals the total number of seats available for transporting passengers times the number of miles flown during the period.
In a separate release, the company responded to Southwest Airlines Pilots Association’s (SWAPA) decline on the tentative agreement it had with the company. Pilots at Southwest reportedly rejected the company’s proposal for a five-year contract. SWAP said that 95% of its members participated in the vote and that nearly 51% of them voted against the proposed deal.
In a press release, Chuck Magill, vice president of Flight Operations for Southwest Airlines said, “We are naturally disappointed and acknowledge it was a very close vote. We reached a tentative agreement in good faith, and both sides put a lot of effort into getting to this point. We have an outstanding and highly productive group of Pilots, and we appreciate their active involvement in the voting process. We welcome the opportunity for our negotiating teams to re-engage and work toward an agreement that best meets the needs of our Company and our outstanding Pilots during these challenging economic times.”
As of December 31, 2008, Southwest operated 537 Boeing 737 aircraft and provided service to 64 cities in 32 states throughout the United States. The company focuses principally on point-to-point service, rather than hub-and-spoke service. As of December 31, 2008, Southwest served 438 non-stop city pairs.
Approximately 78% of the company’s customers fly non-stop. Southwest predominantly serves short-haul routes with high frequencies. It complements this service with more medium to long-haul routes, including transcontinental service. The company’s average aircraft trip stage length for the year ended December 31, 2008, was 636 miles with an average duration of approximately 1.8 hours.
In today’s daily chart, LUV’s MACD reflects strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently above the stock’s 13-day moving average, an indication of a bullish trend is generally considered. Bollinger Bands indicate a relatively stable condition as reflected by tighter than normal band width. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price trend.
TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO) Stock Alert – TIVO Issues Statement on the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals’ Decision to Issue a Temporary Stay of Injunction
TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO) shares lost 1.96% this morning, trading at $10.49. Shares of the digital video recording company were boosted after a judge ruled that Dish Network Corp. (Nasdaq: DISH) and EchoStar Corp. (Nasdaq: SATS) must pay $192.7 million for infringing TiVo’s video-recorder patents.
According to the report, the court rejected EchoStar’s attempted workaround claim regarding its patent, found EchoStar to be in contempt of court and ordered that an earlier permanent injunction EchoStar had lifted be fully enforced. For TiVo, the victory further validates its patents. An agreement would also represent a valuable new revenue stream, which could potentially set the standard for new deals.
However, Dish Network said Wednesday that a federal appeals court has temporarily set aside a lower court’s ruling that favored TiVo in a long-running patent infringement lawsuit between the two companies.
Commenting on Federal Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision, TiVo said, “We are confident the U.S. Court of Appeals will again uphold the District Court ruling and not permit EchoStar to further delay this case once it has an opportunity to consider TiVo’s response and EchoStar’s motion on the issue of the stay.”
The subscription-based TiVo service redefines home entertainment by providing consumers with a way to record, watch, and control live television and receive movies and television shows from cable, broadcast, and broadband sources, as well as other forms of video content from broadband sources, such as YouTube videos, and a collection of music videos and songs, and Internet radio.
Additionally, the company provides the TiVo service through agreements with television service providers and satellite television providers, as well as international cable and broadcasting companies. TiVo also provides advertising solutions for the television industry, including a platform for advertisers and audience research measurement. As of January 31, 2009, there were approximately 3.3 million subscriptions to the TiVo service.
In today’s daily chart, TIVO’s Bollinger Bands indicate greater than normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading above its upper Bollinger Band, the stock reflects an overextended condition relative to its recent price action and is due for either a pause or retracement. MACD reflects a strong bullish signal, with the indicator above the 9-day moving average signal line, and also above the 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending higher. With share prices currently above the stock’s 13-day moving average, an indication of a bullish trend is generally considered.
Jos. A Bank Clothiers (Nasdaq: JOSB) Stock Alert – JOSB Report Profit Growth in Q1; but Shares Down on Analyst’s Caution
Jos. A Bank Clothiers (Nasdaq: JOSB) shares fell 2.08% to $39.47 this morning. The Maryland-based designer, retailer and direct marketer (through stores, catalog and Internet) targets men by offering tailored and casual clothing and accessories.
The company said Tuesday its profit rose 17%, while revenue rose 11% to $161.9 million, for the quarter ended May 2. Citing stronger sales, the company said it earned $11.5 million, or 62 cents per share, up from $9.8 million, or 53 cents per share, it earned in the same quarter of last year.
Analysts expected the company to earn 58 cents per share on revenue of $159 million, according to data provided by Thomson Reuters. The company is scheduled to hold a conference call Thursday to discuss the quarter.
While both figures beat analyst expectations, the company’s shares fell Wednesday as an analyst said the second half of the year will be more difficult.
In a note to investors, C.L. King analyst Scott Krasik stated that first-quarter results were solid, but was cautious about the second half of the year.
“We reiterate our Neutral rating,” Krasik wrote. “Jos. A. Bank continues to do a very good job during the downturn, but sales and earnings comparisons get more difficult in the second half of the year and the promotional intensity is not expected to lighten up at all in 2009.”
Jos. A. Bank sells all of its products exclusively under the Jos. A. Bank label through its 460 retail stores (as of January 31, 2009, which includes seven outlet stores and 12 franchise stores) located throughout 42 states and the District of Columbia in the United States, as well as through the company’s nationwide catalog and Internet (www.josbank.com) operations.
Its products are targeted at the male career professional and emphasize the Jos. A. Bank brand of tailored and casual clothing and accessories. The company’s products, which range from the original Jos. A. Bank Executive collection to the more luxurious Jos. A. Bank Signature collection to the exclusive Jos. A. Bank Signature Gold collection.
Jos. A. Bank operates through two segments: Stores and Direct Marketing.
In today’s daily chart, JOSB’s MACD reflects a strong bullish signal, with the indicator above the 9-day moving average signal line, and also above the 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending higher. With share prices currently above the stock’s 13-day moving average, a bullish trend is indicated. Also, a rising moving average signals that there has been buying interest in this stock. JOSB is trading within its Bollinger Bands, a normal condition signaling that the stock is neither overbought nor oversold relative to the recent price action.
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (Nasdaq: ADP) Stock Alert – ADP Reports Improvement in Job Market
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (Nasdaq: ADP) shares slipped .47% to $37.81 in today’s early trading. Payroll-processing firm Automatic Data Processing (ADP) recently released an employment index Wednesday, two days ahead of the government’s job report.
ADP says 532,000 jobs were lost in March, the fewest jobs lost since November. ADP’s report shows a 2.4% improvement from the revised 545, 000 drop in April.
According to its report, goods producing industries cut 267,000 jobs while services cut 265,000. Manufacturing firms cut 149,000 positions, the 39th consecutive decline. Construction firms shed 108,000 jobs, the 28th straight monthly decline. Financial firms cut 32,000 jobs, the 18th straight decline. The index does not include government jobs.
In a press release, Miller Tabak & Co analyst Dan Greenhaus stated, “Previous ADP figures helped prepare the financial markets for substantial declines in payrolls, and today’s figure shouldn’t alter that trend.”
ADP’s report is based on anonymous payroll data that represents 400,000 of its 500,000 domestic business clients and about 24 million employees across a broad range of industries.
Automatic Data Processing is engaged in providing business outsourcing solutions. It offers a range of human resource (HR), payroll, tax and benefits administration solutions from a single source.
ADP is also a provider of integrated computing solutions to automotive, heavy truck, motorcycle, marine and recreational vehicle dealers globally.
The company operates in three segments: Employer Services, Professional Employer Organization (PEO) Services and Dealer Services.
In its recent chart, ADP’s MACD reflects a strong bullish signal, with the indicator above the 9-day moving average signal line, and also above the 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending higher. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price trend.
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