Author: Robert Gay, GEARS
Disclaimer: Robert does not own any of the listed securities in his Covestor Earnings Surprise model.
October 27, 2010: At GEARS we have developed unique tools to find improving fundamentals companies when their share price is depressed and identify deteriorating fundamentals companies when their share price is extended. To perform that analysis, we have created an accurate set of fundamental performance metrics and a share price volatility calculator.
A review of our fundamental metrics derived from last quarter’s financial statements is useful just before the quarterly earnings announcement. Analysis of the company fundamentals from the prior period provides context in interpreting the new report.
We have selected the companies that have indicated that they will make their earnings announcement in the next few days and created four categories.
1) Improving Fundamentals and Depressed Share Price- Companies with improvement evident in their fundamental metrics from last quarter where shares are currently depressed. Trends in company fundamentals tend to persist. If the stock is trading nearer the bottom of the historical volatility range relative to the market, the shares are depressed. This combination of evident improvement and depressed share price produces the eligible population for the Earnings Surprise Model.
After the strong stock market rally in recent weeks the number of shares trading at a discount to their historical volatility range has declined. Stocks with depressed share prices of companies with improving fundamentals metrics from the most recent set of financial America are Service Group Inc,(ASGR), Cerner Corp,(CERN), Integra Lifesciences Hldgs,(IART), Minnesota Mining & Mfg Co,(MMM), Resmed Inc,(RMD), Thoratec Corp,(THOR), Colgate Palmolive Co,(CL), Belo Corp,(BLC), Brunswick Corp,(BC), Coinstar Inc,(CSTR), Deluxe Corp,(DLX), Iron Mountain Inc,(IRM), Palm Harbor Homes Inc,(PHHM), Standex International Corp,(SXI), Strayer Education Inc,(STRA), West Marine Inc,(WMAR), Ball Corporation,(BLL), Harsco Corp,(HSC), ITT Industries Inc,(ITT), Newpark Resources,(NR), Equity Residential Properti,(EQR), Applied Micro Circuits Corp,(AMCC), Cabot Microelectronics Corp,(CCMP), Conexant Systems Inc,(CNXT), Electro Scientific Inds Inc,(ESIO), Graftech International Ltd,(GTI), L 3 Communications Holdings,(LLL), Maxim Integrated Products,(MXIM), Microsoft Corp,(MSFT), and Chicago Mercantile Exchange,(CME).
2) Improving fundamentals- Companies with improvement evident in their fundamental metrics from last quarter with share prices that are not trading at a discount to their historical volatility range. After the strong rally in stocks in recent weeks it may not be surprising that this category contains the largest list. Over time companies with improving fundamentals perform well and will often lead a market advance. Companies with fundamentals improvement are good to own. The list of companies expected to announce earnings in coming days where share prices are not depressed is collected in this book of improving fundamentals reports.
3) Deteriorating Fundamentals Extended Share Price- Companies with deterioration evident in their fundamental performance metrics from last quarter that are trading at a premium to the historical volatility range. In the population of companies due to report in the coming days there are Harte Hanks Inc,(HHS), Mine Safety Appliances Co,(MSA), Monster Worldwide Inc,(MWW), Regal Entmt Group,(RGC), Forrester Research Inc,(FORR), On Assignment Inc,(ASGN), Startek Inc,(SRT), Autonation Inc,(AN), Curtiss Wright Corp,(CR), Jarden Corp,(JAH), Manitowoc Co,(MTW), Aware Inc,(AWRE), Scansource Inc,(SCSC), Federated Investors Inc,(FII) and Reliant Energy Resources Co,(CNP).
4) Deteriorating Fundamentals- Companies with deterioration evident in their fundamental performance metrics from the most recent quarter that are not trading at a premium to the volatility range. This is the category to be watched most closely for improvement in their fundamental performance metrics as the financial statements from the new quarter are collected. Companies in this category that are expected to announce earnings in the coming days are Eastman Kodak Co,(EK), Human Genome Sciences Inc,(HGSI), Openwave,(OPWV), Steiner Leisure Ltd,(STNR), Zimmer Holdings Inc,(ZMH), CDI Corp,(CDI), Century Business Svcs Inc,(CBZ), Omnicare Inc,(OCR), Lancaster Colony Corp,(LANC), Shaw Group Inc,(SHAW), Gulf Island Fabrication Inc,(GIFI), Drexler Technology Corp,(LCRD), Investment Technology Gp In,(ITG) and Scientific Games Corp,(SGMS).
Differentiating between improving and deteriorating companies is critical to successful active portfolio management. Making purchases of evidently improving companies when share prices are depressed is the basis of all GEARS models.
