<BREAKFAST WITH THE FOOL>
Friday, October 30, 1998
"Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre." -- Warren Buffett
Infoseek-ing Profits
Halloween is tomorrow, but today could end up being a scary day for Internet content integrator, aggregator, and disseminator Infoseek Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SEEK)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SEEK)") end if %>. The "portal" company reported a Q3 loss of $0.08 per share compared to last year's $0.19 per share loss, which was a bit worse than the $0.06 per share loss expected by analysts surveyed by First Call. The results include $1.4 million in expenses related to the company's integration with Starwave, which is the Web production unit of major stakeholder Walt Disney Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: DIS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: DIS)") end if %>.
On the bright side of things, revenues in the quarter more than doubled to $19.2 million, while average daily pageviews increased 5% to 21.4 million per day in September from 20.3 million per day in June. In comparison, rival Yahoo! <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: YHOO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: YHOO)") end if %> recently reported a 25% jump in average daily pageviews to 144 million per day at its site during the same period. Excite <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: XCIT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: XCIT)") end if %> said its average daily pageviews increased 15% to 50 million per day between June and September. Meanwhile, average daily pageviews from Starwave's joint ventures with the popular ESPN.com and ABCNEWS.com websites increased 42% during the same span to 17 million per day, according to Infoseek.
Since Disney acquired its 43% interest in Infoseek in June, investors and analysts alike have been expecting great things from the company. As Infoseek CEO Harry Motro has said, some 500 million people around the world use a Disney product every day. However, it appears that Infoseek's main challenge of finding ways to attract new users online continues to nag the company, despite the millions of Disney fans.
News to Go
Information technology services firm Electronic Data Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: EDS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: EDS)") end if %> reported Q3 EPS of $0.44, down from the $0.50 earned a year ago but well ahead of the First Call mean estimate of $0.34. The company said it signed about $2.8 billion worth of new contracts in the period, which helped offset a 2% year-over-year decline in revenues from largest client General Motors <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GM)") end if %> to $1.03 billion.
Oilfield products and services provider Halliburton Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: HAL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: HAL)") end if %> reported Q3 EPS of $0.44 (before merger-related charges) versus $0.50 last year, topping the Street's mean estimate by $0.03. Total revenues eked up 1% in the quarter to $4.2 billion, while the firm's Energy Services Group posted flat year-over-year results.
Coffeehouse operator Starbucks Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SBUX)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SBUX)") end if %> reported a 5% increase in October same-store sales compared to the same month a year ago. Net revenues in the month jumped 29% to $109 million from $84 million last year.
Joseph Hutts, the CEO of physician practice management company PhyCor Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: PHYC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: PHYC)") end if %>, told The Wall Street Journal that he has received "about half a dozen" offers from investment firms and others to possibly take the company private, based in part on the firm's historically low stock price. "We're listening," he said, "but we're not anywhere close to having serious discussions with anybody."
Earnings Announcements:
Allmerica Financial Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: AFC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: AFC)") end if %> -- Q3 operating EPS: $0.72 (excluding gains, losses, and charges) vs. $0.90 last year; Estimate: $0.78
Business Objects <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: BOBJY)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: BOBJY)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.13 vs. $0.01 last year; Estimate: $0.11
Fair Isaac & Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: FIC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: FIC)") end if %> -- fiscal Q4 EPS: $0.59 vs. $0.44 last year; Estimate: $0.48
Jacor Communications <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: JCOR)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: JCOR)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.08 (excluding charges and tax effects) vs. $0.01 last year; Estimate: $0.07
Kimco Realty Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: KIM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: KIM)") end if %> -- Q3 FFO: $0.77 vs. $0.65 last year; Estimate: $0.76
Life Re Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: LRE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: LRE)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.99 (excluding gains and charges) vs. $0.85 last year; Estimate: $0.99
MicroStrategy Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSTR)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSTR)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.05 vs. $0.02 last year; Estimate: $0.04
MRV Communications <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MRVC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MRVC)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.06 vs. $0.23 last year; Estimate: $0.12
Nationwide Financial Services <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: NFS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: NFS)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.63 (excluding investment losses) vs. $0.52 last year; Estimate: $0.63
The North Face <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TNFI)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TNFI)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.95 (excluding charges) vs. $0.92 last year; Estimate: $1.03
Premiere Technologies <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: PTEK)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: PTEK)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.05 vs. $0.23 (excluding charges) last year; Estimate: $0.05
W.R. Berkley Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: BKLY)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: BKLY)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.30 (excluding gain) vs. $0.67 last year; Estimate: $0.46
More Foolishness
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