Diamonds and Dogs

1/20/16

Not many stocks higher to start the day, but Amphenol Corp (APH) is bucking the trend thanks to strong earnings. The company designs and manufactures and markets wide range of products that focus on voice, data communications, commercial and military aerospace electronics, industrial factory automation, and automotive and mass transportation applications. In a time when most companies are struggling to grow the top line, Amphenol posted revenue of $1.43 billion in the quarter easily beating estimates of $1.35 billion. The company also completed their acquisition of FCI Asia Pte Ltd which hopefully will produce synergies to keep revenue and profits growing ahead of expectations.

Take a dart, put every S&P 500 company name on a board and blindly throw the dart and you will probably hit a down stock, at least halfway through the day. I was hoping once the earnings came out, we'd realize things weren't so bad, but not the case for IBM. Big Blue has seen better days down 6% to a six year low after disappointing earnings and dramatically lowering guidance. Since CEO Virginia Rometty took over in 2012, the stock has gone straight down, down over 40% in three years. With the recent quarterly disappointment, I would assume the CEO is on a short lease to change things or move on.