Diamonds and Dogs
7/5/12
Cato Corp. (CATO)Cato Corp had a rough day, closing down 10.53% at $28.37. The company said that revenue at stores open at least a year fell 10 percent in June, driven by bad weather and continued economic uncertainty. Needless to say that number was well below what Wall Street expected. Analysts surveyed by Reuters forecast flat revenue at stores open at least a year. Cato's revenue from stores open more than a year has fallen every month since last April, excluding May. Total sales during the five weeks ended June 30 were down 7 percent to $83.7 million. Cato now expects to hit the low end of its previous earnings outlook in the second quarter, between 53 to 57 cents per share. That's 7 to 13 percent lower than the second quarter of last year. Cato shares have been beaten up.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX)
Netflix is a diamond for two consecutive trading days, up 13.44% at $81.72. The companies 13.44% or $9.38 gain today has pushed shares to their highest level in two months. As mentioned on Tuesday, Netflix exceed 1 billion hours of video streaming. This post followed an earlier note from Citigroup reaffirming a buy rating on Netflix. Analyst Mark Mahaney cited a proprietary survey showing "overall customer satisfaction with Netflix has stabilized since March." Mahaney did note that Netflix "remains one of the most controversial stocks." This referring to Netflix's issue with customer satisfaction, when they tried to raise prices and spin off their DVD business. Netflix shares are still significantly lower than their 52-week high of $304.79, however 13% days will certainly help the stock return to its highs.
Diamonds and Dogs market commentary is a journal of daily observations on anything that happens to be of interest to our author. Obviously, our primary focus is the stock market and world economic events, but for this page we have no defined topics. We want this page to be dedicated to the interests, concerns, and possibly to the financial gain of our clients and friends. All comments contained herein are for informational purposes only, and should not be considered as a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The firm does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information or make any warranties regarding results from it's usage.