The spring was much kinder to Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI ) than the winter was. After staying away in December, January, and February, guests are starting to trickle back into Olive Garden and Red Lobster locations.
This week, Darden reported traffic growth at its flagship restaurants for the first time in six months. Red Lobster notched a strong 6% boost in customers in March, after both brands endured a brutal February plunge.
At that time, Darden said rising gas prices and payroll taxes had hurt its customers' purchasing power. But the restaurants' troubles went further back than that:
Source: Darden Restaurants financial filings.
The difference this spring is that Darden made progress in getting its menu prices in line with what diners expect. The company decided to match promotions from rivals and to focus on what it called "aggressively addressing affordability on our core menu items." In other words, Darden cut its prices.
Top 10 Wireless Telecom Stocks To Watch Right Now: Renesola Ltd.(SOL)
ReneSola Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of solar wafers and solar power products. It offers virgin polysilicons, monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar wafers, and photovoltaic cells and modules. The company also provides cell and module processing services. Its products are used in a range of residential, commercial, industrial, and other solar power generation systems. The company sells its solar wafers primarily to solar cell and module manufacturers. It principally operates in Mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, India, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, and the United States. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Jiashan, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
But Trina gave a troubling update to its quarterly guidance a couple weeks ago, saying that it shipped 390-400 megawatts of solar modules during the quarter, down from its original 420-430 megawatt estimate. With gross margins of just 1% to 3%, Trina isn't faring as badly as peer ReneSola (NYSE: SOL ) , which posted negative gross margins in its quarterly report earlier this month. Yet Trina still isn't making enough money to come close to profitability in the near future.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Big earnings movers: Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) is up 12.5% at $49.11 and posted a new 52-week high of $49.94 today. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is down $15 at $19.74. Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) is up 12.8% at $55.18 after posting a new 52-week high of $55.83 earlier today. Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is up 2.3% at $35.42. ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) is up 8% at $4.75.
- [By Travis Hoium]
What: Shares of solar manufacturer ReneSola (NYSE: SOL ) jumped as much as 26% today after the company increased guidance.
So what: Management said that second-quarter shipments would be 760 MW-770 MW, well above the previous expectation of 700 MW-720 MW. Gross margin is also expected to be 5%-6%, above the 3%-5% previously expected. �
- [By Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]
Chinese solar-products company Renesola Ltd.(SOL) on Monday said it had appointed Daniel Lee as its chief financial officer, effective May 5. Mr. Lee will take over for Henry Wang, who is resigning May 4 for personal reasons, the company said.
Top 5 Net Payout Yield Stocks To Own Right Now: Newpark Resources Inc (NR)
Newpark Resources, Inc., incorporated on June 3, 1988, is a diversified oil and gas supplier providing products and services primarily to the oil and gases exploration (E&P) industry. The Company operates in three segments: fluids systems and engineering, mats and integrated services, and environmental services. The Company's Fluids Systems and Engineering segment provides customized drilling fluids solutions to E&P customers globally, operating through four geographic regions: North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America, and Asia Pacific. The Company's Mats and Integrated Services segment provides composite mat rentals, well site construction and related site services to oil and gas customers at well, production, transportation and refinery locations in the United States. The Company's Environmental Services segment processes and disposes of waste generated by E&P and industrial activity, primarily along the United States Gulf Coast. On December 31, 2012, it acquired operations of Alliance Drilling Fluids, LLC
Fluids Systems and Engineering
The Company's Fluids Systems and Engineering business offers customized solutions, including technical drilling projects involving complex subsurface conditions, such as horizontal, directional, geologically deep or deep water drilling. These projects require increased monitoring and critical engineering support of the fluids system during the drilling process. The Company provides drilling fluids products and technical services to markets in North America, EMEA, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific region. The Company also provides completion services and equipment rental to customers in Oklahoma and Texas. The Company has industrial mineral grinding operations for barite. The Company grinds barite and other industrial minerals at facilities in Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas, New Iberia, Louisiana and Dyersburg, Tennessee. The Company uses the resulting products in its drilling fluids business, and also sell! s them to third party users, including other drilling fluids companies. The Company also sells a variety of other minerals, principally to third party industrial (non oil and gas) markets, from its main plant in Houston, Texas and from the plant in Dyersburg, Tennessee.
Mats and Integrated Services
The Company provides mat rentals, location construction and related well sites services to E&P customers in the Northeast United States, onshore United States Gulf Coast, and Rocky Mountain regions, and mat rentals to the petrochemical industry in the United States and the utility industry in the United Kingdom. These mats provide environmental protection and ensure all-weather access to sites with unstable soil conditions. The Company manufactures its DuraBase Advanced Composite Mats for sales, as well as for uses in its domestic and international rental operations. The Company's marketing efforts for this product remain focused in principal oil and gas industry markets which include the Asia Pacific, Latin America, EMEA, as well as markets outside the E&P sector in the United States and Europe.
Environmental Services
The Company processes and disposes of waste generated by its oil and gas customers. Primary revenue sources include onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico drilling waste management, as well as reclamation services. Additionally, the Company provides disposal services in the West Texas market. The Company operates six receiving and transfers facilities located along the United States Gulf Coast. E&P waste is collected at the transfer facilities from drilling and production operations located offshore, onshore and within inland waters. Waste is accumulated at the transfer facilities and moved by barge through the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to the Company's processing and transfer facility at Port Arthur, Texas, and, if not recycled, is trucked to injection disposal facilities. Any remaining material is injected, after further processing, into envir! onmentall! y secure geologic formations. Under permits from Texas state regulatory agencies, the Company operates waste disposal facilities in Jefferson County, Texas (Fannett and Big Hill). The Fannett site is the Company's primary facility for disposing of E&P waste. Utilizing this same technology, the Company also receives and disposes of non-hazardous industrial waste at the Big Hill facility, principally from generators in the United States Gulf Coast market, including refiners, manufacturers, service companies and industrial municipalities that produce waste. These non-hazardous waste streams are injected into a separate well utilizing the same low-pressure injection technology. The Company also disposes of non-hazardous industrial waste.
The Company competes with Schlumberger, Halliburton and Baker Hughes.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Travis Hoium]
What: Shares of energy service provider Newpark Resources (NYSE: NR ) jumped 17% today after the company released earnings.
So what: Revenue was up 7.7%, to $283 million in the first quarter, and net income jumped 11.1%, to $17.4 million, or $0.18 per share. Analysts only expected $278 million in revenue, and earnings of $0.17 per share, and the slight beat was enough to send shares higher. It didn't hurt that the report was accompanied by a $50 million share repurchase plan, which indicates that management is bullish on the company's long-term future.�
Top 5 Net Payout Yield Stocks To Own Right Now: Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.(FDP)
Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces, transports, sources, markets, and distributes fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables worldwide. It also offers prepared fruit and vegetables, juices, beverages, snacks, and poultry and meat products. The company provides various fresh-cut fruit products, such as bananas, pineapples, melons, tomatoes, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, citrus, avocados, blueberries, kiwi, strawberries, plantains, mangos, and fruit cocktail; and fresh-cut vegetable products primarily consisting of potatoes, onions, bell peppers, and cucumbers, as well as prepared salads, such as coleslaw and potato salad. In addition, Fresh Del Monte Produce engages in ocean freight; and manufacture of plastics and box products comprising bins, trays, bags, and boxes. It offers fresh produce under the DEL MONTE, UTC, and Rosy brands; and prepared fruits and vegetables, juices, beverages, and snacks under the DEL MON TE, Fruit Express, Just Juice, and Fruitini brands. The company markets and distributes its products to retail stores, food clubs, wholesalers, distributors, and foodservice operators. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. was founded in 1886 and is based in George Town, Cayman Islands.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE: FDP ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Top 5 Net Payout Yield Stocks To Own Right Now: Chiquita Brands International Inc. (CQB)
Chiquita Brands International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution and marketing of bananas and fresh produce under the Chiquita and other brand names worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Bananas, Salads and Healthy Snacks, and Other Produce. The Banana segment sources, transports, markets, and distributes bananas to retailers and wholesalers, and chain stores. It also engages in the cultivation and production of bananas. The Salads and Healthy Snacks segment offers value-added salads under the Fresh Express and other labels; and fresh vegetable and fruit ingredients used in foodservice, healthy snacks, and processed fruit ingredient products. This segment also provides fresh-cut products, such as lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage, and onions to foodservice distributors who resell these products to foodservice operators. It distributes Fresh Express branded products to food retailers, foodservice distributors, and quick-service restaurants; and fresh produce foodservice offerings primarily to third-party distributors for resale principally to quick-service restaurants in the United States. The Other Produce segment engages in sourcing, marketing, and distributing fresh fruits and vegetables other than bananas in Europe and North America. It offers grapes, pineapples, melons, kiwis, tomatoes, and avocados. The company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
After all, like Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB ) , Dole's been undergoing a significant corporate restructuring, and last month it�sold its packaged-foods and Asia fresh business for $1.7 billion, making it a more focused international fresh fruit business, but one subject to all the vagaries that entails. In comparison, Chiquita's reorganization has it looking to become a high-volume, low-cost producer of bananas and chopped salads.
- [By Jack Kramer and Nick Martell]
3. Chiquita earnings get frozen
Just in time for our favorite part of the year, smoothie season, your favorite childhood banana distributor,�Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB ) , reported first-quarter earnings on�Friday�that investors (figuratively) threw bananas at. Revenue for the first three months of 2014 fell 2% from the same period the previous year, to $762 million. - [By Rich Smith]
Charlotte, N.C.-based Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB ) will soon have a new chief financial officer -- and a new chief operating officer, too. Sort of.
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