Can the newspaper industry be saved? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Feb 2008 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Graco Inc. (NYSE: GGG), a leading manufacturer and distributor of industrial and commercial liquids (not the baby stroller company), is still struggling to develop a growth strategy that will help the company overcome a slowdown in the commercial painting sector of the U.S. economy. Until both retail and commercial construction return to normal levels, Graco will continue to face slow or no growth in sales and profits in its U.S. market. The stock has gone nowhere recently, opening the year trading at $40.28, and closing on July 13 at $39.68, up .30. It pays a quarterly dividend of $.165 per share, not enough to attract favorable attention.

A quick look at its 1Q 2007 results confirms that Graco has taken a few hits in the past few months, but CEO David Roberts remains optimistic that Graco's numbers will shortly turn favorable as its completes the acquisition and integration of Gusmer and Lubriquip, and opens a new manufacturing facility in its home state of Minnesota. In 1Q 2007, total sales increased 3% to $197.5 million, but net earnings declined, led by a 9% decline, to $120.5 million, in its U.S. market. EPS declined 2% to $.50. This decline is nothing to get alarmed about, except that the next few quarters don't look that good for the construction sector in the U.S., despite CEO Roberts forecast, so Graco will continue to post low numbers.

Graco is concentrating on growth opportunities in both Europe and Asia. European sales increased 25% to just under $50 million, but a big chunk of that gain was due to currency exchange rates, not organic growth. Sales in Asia increased 35% to $27.6 million, but again, organic growth accounted for only a portion of the increase. Overall operating profit decreased slightly, from 28.4% to 26.4% mainly due to higher product development spending and marketing costs for a new line of paint sprayers. Graco repurchased $24 million of its stock during 1Q 2007 and still has cash on hand to pursue selective acquisitions and expand both its market and distribution channels.

Graco still working on a growth strategy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 15 Jul 2007 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• JP Morgan cut FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM) to Underweight from Neutral citing expected competition from Micronics Japan, which has successfully ramped up production at its new advanced probe card factory.

• CIBC's checks suggest that challenges still remain in Graco's (NYSE: GGG) contractor segment and is likely to impact results, downgrading shares to Sector Performer from Sector Outperformer.

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) to Hold from Buy to reflect slower user growth as the company added 77% fewer fixed-line customers in the first five months of 2007.

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• Linear Technology (NASDAQ: LLTC) was downgraded to Accumulate from Buy at ThinkEquity.

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Analyst downgrades 7-10-07: DCEL, FORM, GGG and RACK originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ; YHOO), which today replaced Terry Semel as chief executive with co-founder Jerry Yang, may be dragged into the battle royale for Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ).

Billionaire Ron Burkle, who the unions have enlisted to save them from the evil clutches of News Corp (NYSE:NWS) Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, is trying to convinced the Internet giant to join him in a bid for the owner of the Wall Street Journal, according to Fortune.

Why the unions think the Burkle is a such a good guy is a little baffling. The supermarket mogul won't get many Christmas cards from shareholders since, as a member of Yahoo's compensation committee, he helped Semel get his outrageous $70 million pay package.

Yahoo should tell Burkle to take a hike. The company's whole strategy has been based on the fact that it DOESN'T NEED TO OWN CONTENT. Executives have made this point to me in person. They've made this point to other journalists. They've made this point to Wall Street analysts. Most importantly, though, Yahoo has made this point to content providers who are nervous about the small amount of original content that the company does produce.

Joining the bidding war for Dow Jones makes no sense for Yahoo. The company has plenty of problems of its own, including how to diplomatically shove Semel out of the door. The theory is that he can do less damage as chairman, until he's given the chance to make a graceful exit, while Jerry Yang gets his feet wet as chief executive.

Susan Decker, who gained kudos on Wall Street during her tenure as CFO, would have made a better choice. She has become president and it wouldn't surprise me if she eventually left the company as well.

Yang has a tough road ahead to convince both Internet users and investors enamored of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) that Yahoo still is relevant.

Yahoo should avoid Dow Jones buyout battle as it fixes company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Why I own Graco (GGG) -- Not the stroller company

Why I own Graco (GGG) -- Not the stroller company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Nov 2006 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cramer likes Graco, Lowe's, Target; but ring register on Fortune Brands originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.