Diamonds and Dogs

3/31/16

IBM not feeling so blue anymore. IBM (IBM) has been a dog with flees the last several years, but 2016 is looking brighter for the blue chip stock. After dropping 15% to start the year, IBM has come roaring back up 28% in the 6 weeks and up 8% for the year as one of the leaders in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Today the stock is up 2% to new recent high thanks to an upgrade from Morgan Stanley with a $168 price target. IBM is also acquiring a cloud software application company for $200 million continuing their plan to expand in the fast growing cloud and software space.

Don't watch this stock. Movado (MOV), the watchmaker, dropped 9% following disappointing earnings guidance today. Movado actually reported better than expected earnings this morning, but provided a downbeat outlook for the year while also mentioning the COO will retire. For fiscal 2017, the company expects earnings per share between $1.85 and $2, on revenue of $585 million to $600 million, well short of analyst forecasts of earnings of $2.27 per share on revenue of $615 million. I hope all the new Apple watches and Fitbit watches aren't eating into business.