Mattel MAT continues to adapt to children’s demands, innovating new products tailored to changing tastes. With a number of new franchises coming on line in 2013 (including Ever After High and Max Steel), the company will maintain the wide brand recognition it has captured over numerous decades, keeping its narrow rating intact. While second-quarter results fell short of expectations, the rest of the year will … Continue reading MAT Adapting to Consumers
Smith & Nephew SNN posted first-quarter results that were largely consistent with our expectations, and we are standing behind our fair value estimate of $58 per share. As we had suspected, the growth of reconstructive products slowed considerably as Smith & Nephew’s new product cycle is waning just as competitors are launching new products. Nonetheless, the firm plans to launch its new knee system later … Continue reading Smith & Nephew Counters Soft 1Q Reconstructive Sales with Strength in Wound Management
Abbott Laboratories ABT reported solid second-quarter performance that underscored the strength of its presence in emerging markets, where robust growth continues. While second-quarter results have not spurred a change in projections for the rest of this year or 2014, we may see $40 per share, which was primarily driven by a lower cost of equity assumption. Considering the breadth of new Abbott’s remaining businesses, the … Continue reading Abbott Shows Strong Growth in Emerging Markets
Exelon is the largest U.S. competitive power generator with roughly 35 gigawatts of power generation, including the nation’s largest nuclear fleet with 19 GW of capacity, as a result of its all-stock merger with Constellation Energy, which closed in 2012. Exelon is also the nation’s secondlargest regulated distributor of electricity and gas (6.6 million customers) and one of the largest retail energy suppliers in the … Continue reading EXC May Need to Watch Obama Administration
BG Group BG. reported largely uneventful first-quarter results with most key metrics in line with previous guidance, which provided a welcome respite from previous quarters’ downward production guidance revisions and budget overruns. Total operating profit fell to $2.1 billion from $2.3 billion the year before as lower production and higher operating costs and depreciation offset the benefit of higher realized gas prices. Production fell to … Continue reading Thankfully, BG’s Earnings Report Uneventful
RSA Insurance Group RSA released its first-quarter interim management statement, which contained a limited amount of information about its progress so far this year. Reported written premium growth was 7% across the group, due to a combination of acquired premiums and the positive impact of rate gains due to the improving insurance pricing market. The strength was driven, in particular, by growth in emerging markets … Continue reading RSA Releases 1Q Management Statement
