Abbott Labs' second-quarter earnings beat Wall Street's projections, as the company continues to perform well in its post-branded pharmaceuticals life. However, Abbott's medical device business couldn't keep up its more successful segments, even as the company has made progress in key areas such as drug-eluting stents, while advancing into emerging markets.Overall, device sales fell 1.6% year-over-year for the quarter.
Abbott's made a few recent acquisitions to beef up this business, and the company's stellar Xience stent remains atop the industry. Are Abbott's plans for the future enough to turn around this division's slumping sales, however? Below, Motley Fool contributor Dan Carroll tells you what you need to know about Abbott's device business, and how this segment will impact this well-diversified company -- and your portfolio -- in the future.
Abbott's diversity and international edge have made this stock one of health care's safest and most reliable picks in the past. Abbott's a key reminder that investing for the long-term is the most sure-fire way to maximize your financial future. The Motley Fool's special free report, "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich," names specific investment opportunities that could help you build long-term wealth, and help you retire well. The Fool also outlines critical wealth-building strategies that every investor should know.�Click here�to keep reading.
5 Best Safest Stocks For 2014: Under Armour Inc.(UA)
Under Armour, Inc. develops, markets, and distributes performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth primarily in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers products made from moisture-wicking synthetic fabrics designed to regulate body temperature and enhance performance regardless of weather conditions. The company provides its products in three fit types: compression (tight fitting), fitted (athletic cut), and loose (relaxed) extending across the sporting goods, outdoor, and active lifestyle markets. Its footwear offerings comprise football, baseball, lacrosse, softball, and soccer cleats; slides; performance training footwear; and running footwear. The company also provides baseball batting, football, golf, and running gloves, as well as licenses bags, socks, headwear, custom-molded mouth guards, and eyewear that are designed to be used and worn before, during, and after competition. Under Armour sells its products through retai l stores, as well as directly to consumers through its own retail outlets and specialty stores, Website, and catalogs. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Chris Hill]
Visa (NYSE: V ) and Under Armour (NYSE: UA ) hit new all-time highs. General Motors (NYSE: GM ) appears to be turning the corner in Europe. And second-quarter profits for Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX ) fell a whopping 43%. In this installment of Investor Beat, Motley Fool analysts David Hanson and Jason Moser discuss four stocks making moves on Thursday.
- [By Daniel Sparks]
Competition
Though Nike does boast impressive gross margins compared to its footwear competitors, three of them, Adidas, Puma, and Under Armour (NYSE: UA ) , are large enough to cause some disruption in some of Nike's markets. - [By Andrew Marder]
Can VF scale the peak?
The bar is high, and VF is now committed to hitting its impressive goal. Competitors are certainly not going to back down, and VF is going to be under pressure for the next five years. On its main front, expect VF to see a siege from rival brand Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ: COLM ) and sporting champion Under Armour (NYSE: UA ) . - [By Philip Saglimbeni]
The consumer retail segment is one of my favorite areas to invest in, as it remains a relatively easy business for investors to evaluate and understand. For the most part, all that is necessary for a successful investment in the retail industry is a consistently strong and unique core product line that has the potential for significant expansion. While there are numerous mid-cap companies that I feel offer this kind of aggressive growth, one of which I own in Under Armour Inc. (UA) and another that I'd like to own in Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS), there are surprisingly not many small-cap companies that meet this criteria.
5 Best Safest Stocks For 2014: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras(PBR)
Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. primarily engages in oil and natural gas exploration and production, refining, trade, and transportation businesses. The company?s Exploration and Production segment involves in the exploration, production, development, and production of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas in Brazil. This segment supplies its products to the refineries in Brazil, as well as sells surplus petroleum and byproducts in domestic and foreign markets. Its Supply segment engages in the refining, logistics, transportation, and trade of oil and oil products; export of ethanol; and extraction and processing of schist, as well as holds interests in companies of the petrochemical sector in Brazil. The Gas and Energy segment involves in the transportation and trade of natural gas produced in or imported into Brazil; transportation and trade of LNG; and generation and trade of electric power. In addition, the segment has interests in natural gas transportation and d istribution companies; and thermoelectric power stations in Brazil, as well engages in fertilizer business. The Distribution segment distributes oil products, ethanol, and compressed natural gas in Brazil. The International segment involves in the exploration and production of oil and gas, as well as in supplying, gas and energy, and distribution operations in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Further, the company involves in biofuel production business. Petroleo Brasileiro was founded in 1953 and is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Matthew Smith]
We have received quite a few inquiries regarding our view on Petrobras (PBR) and the bottom line is that we find it quite hard to get excited in the short-term over the company's prospects. Long-term it should be a viable play, but right now we see little reason to subject our portfolio to that volatility and sideways movement when there are so many great domestic opportunities here in the US which offer tremendous upside. Stick with that which is working and try not to get too cute by being a contrarian. There is a time for that, but right now is not that time.
- [By Tyler Crowe]
But there is one company that straddles the fence of NOC and investment opportunity and could be a major player in this surging oil trend: Petrobras (NYSE: PBR ) . The state-run oil company of Brazil is required to have a 30% operator stake in every well drilled in offshore Brazil. This could be a huge benefit for a region that some estimate to have as many as 50 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Petrobras doesn't seem to be wasting any time taking advantage of its leader position for offshore exploration, either. The company plans to spend $237 billion in the next four years to make this happen. If the company can deliver on these lofty production goals both on time and within budget -- two major issues that have plagued the company in the past -- its position in Brazil offshore could mean promising times ahead for this stock.��
- [By Arjun Sreekumar]
Offshore exploration risk
Deepwater locations, especially off the coasts of Brazil and West Africa, have emerged as popular hotspots. For instance, Brazilian oil major Petrobras (NYSE: PBR ) is planning to drill exploratory wells off the coast of Tanzania, where it holds 50% stakes in two offshore exploratory blocks, while Chevron (NYSE: CVX ) recently announced that it will move forward with the development of the Moho Bilondo "phase 1 bis" and Moho Nord projects located offshore the Republic of Congo.
5 Best Low Price Stocks To Invest In 2014: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The)
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory, including advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, restructurings, and spin-offs; and underwriting securities, loans and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company?s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution activities, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as commissions and fees from executing and clearing institutional client transactions on stock, options, and fu tures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, and power generation facilities. This segment also involves in the origination of loans to provide financing to clients. The company?s Investment Management segment provides investment management services and investment products to institutional and individual clients. This segment also offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services to high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, it provides global investment research services. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
5 Best Safest Stocks For 2014: Fluor Corporation(FLR)
Fluor Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and project management services worldwide. Its Oil & Gas segment offers design, engineering, procurement, construction, and project management services to upstream oil and gas production, downstream refining, chemicals, and petrochemicals industries. This segment also provides consulting services comprising feasibility studies, process assessment, and project finance structuring and studies. The company?s Industrial & Infrastructure segment offers design, engineering, procurement, and construction services to the transportation, wind power, mining and metals, life sciences, manufacturing, commercial and institutional, telecommunications, microelectronics, and healthcare sectors. Its Government segment provides engineering, construction, logistics support, contingency response, management, and operations services to the United States government focusing on the Departme nt of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. The company?s Global Services segment offers operations and maintenance, small capital project engineering and execution, site equipment and tool services, industrial fleet services, plant turnaround services, temporary staffing services, and supply chain solutions. Its Power segment provides engineering, procurement, construction, program management, start-up and commissioning, and operations and maintenance services to the gas fueled, solid fueled, plant betterment, renewables, nuclear, and power services markets. The company also offers unionized management and construction services in the United States and Canada. Fluor Corporation was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Louis Navellier]
Fluor Corporation (FLR) is one of the world�� leading heavy construction and engineering firms. I don’t want to imply that this is a bad company because it is actually a very good one. However, Fluor has divisions including Oil & Gas, Industrial Infrastructure, Government, Global Services and Power. Virtually all of them are seeing limited spending as a result of the global slowdown and reduced government spending around the world. The stock is up more than 23% this year, but earnings are actually down on flat revenues. Analysts have been lowering their estimates for the rest of this year as well as 2014, and the stock is currently rated as a by Portfolio Grader. When the economy recovers, I expect will see this company’s fundamentals improve substantially … but until that happens investors should avoid the stock.
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