Diamonds and Dogs

11/20/15

Nike just did It. Nike's the diamond of the day up 4% near all-time highs leading the Dow back into positive territory for the year after announcing $12 billion shares buyback, a 14% hike to their dividend and a 2 for 1 stock split. The buyback will happen over the next four years for their Class B shares only, but investors are loving the news. Nike's stock took a hit the last several weeks on broad market weakness and an earnings miss by Dicks Sporting Goods. But Nike's announcement seems to indicate they aren't the culprit for Dick's weakness. Looks like a great holiday for Nike and their shareholders.

Nimble Storage (NMBL) isn't so nimble today. The cloud computing and storage maker is down 50% to a multi-year low following disappointing earnings and guidance. Analysts were expecting a loss of $0.08 per share, instead Nimble reported a loss of $0.14 per share while sales came in $7million less than analysts expected. The company also lowered expectations for the full year, and to put a cherry on top of this debacle, the law firm Levi & Korsinksy, LLP announced that they will investigate possible securities fraud performed by certain Nimble officers and directors. Eleven analysts downgraded the stock today with new price targets in the range of $14 to $17 a share. Let's hope Nimble can get their act together in the coming months.