Free Annual Reports
Top Cyber-Monday Winners
It may not be for quite the right reason, but Cyber Monday gets people thinking - usually optimistically - about online retailing stocks that are well-positioned going into the Christmas shopping season. And well they should. Last year on Cyber Monday, e-tailers sold $1 billion worth of goods. This year's figure is expected to be $1.2 billion.
Investopedia Markets: Explore the best one-stop source for financial news, quotes and insights.
Since the odds are good that these stocks are going to be getting a little extra bullish love over the next few days (and perhaps the next few weeks), it may not hurt to spice up portfolios between now and the end of the shopping season with some names that have a little more going for them than the average stock.
With that in mind, here are a couple of names to consider that may have otherwise been off the radar.
Bling
Consumer spending may be rumored to be on the rocks, but somebody forgot to tell consumers that. Spending on luxury goods like jewelry was a lot better than expected, at least for jeweler Zale Corporation (NYSE:ZLC ). Rather than losing $1.42 per share last quarter as forecasted, the company "only" lost 99 cents per share on an increase in sales. It's still a little hit and miss on the earnings front for Zale, but there is a trend of shrinking losses for the retailer, with a move back to profitability no longer completely out of reach. (For related reading on retail, see The 4 R's Of Investing In Retail.)
The improving results bode well for online jewelry sellerBlue Nile (Nasdaq:NILE ), which has been consistently profitable since 2005, making it through the recession without much of a problem. Though the stock has plenty of critics - most of whom have valid concerns about Blue Nile 's fundamentals - again, earnings have consistently grown. The outfit may end up surprising a lot of folks when the holiday season's numbers have been tallied.
First Time in the Game
It's an interesting disparity really - jewelry stores are rocking and rolling again, suggesting carefree, indulgent spending is picking up steam. Yet, deep discounters like Dollar Tree (Nasdaq:DLTR ) and Family Dollar Stores (NYSE:FDO ) have also been drawing bigger and bigger cost-conscious crowds. Dollar Tree has posted improved year-over-year earnings in every quarter for nearly three years, and Family Dollar has managed the same.
The same goes for Dollar General (NYSE:DG), which is expected to earn a record-breaking 81 cents per share for the Christmas quarter of 2011. That forecast may not fully reflect Dollar General's ace in the hole this time around though.
For its first time ever, Dollar General is offering Cyber Monday deals at its site. Its e-commerce site only went live in September, so it's too soon to say what kind of success it's been. Any traction at all with its online sales, however, is incremental additional revenue for a company that's already topped earnings estimates in six of its last seven quarters.
The Bottom Line
Warranted or not, e-tailers are likely to see a rise in their stock prices over the next few weeks. The previous companies' e-commerce sites put them in a good position to receive a bullish bump over the holiday season.
Use the Investopedia Stock Simulator to trade the stocks mentioned in this stock analysis, risk free!
At the time of writing, James Brumley did not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.
Since the odds are good that these stocks are going to be getting a little extra bullish love over the next few days (and perhaps the next few weeks), it may not hurt to spice up portfolios between now and the end of the shopping season with some names that have a little more going for them than the average stock.
With that in mind, here are a couple of names to consider that may have otherwise been off the radar.
Bling
Consumer spending may be rumored to be on the rocks, but somebody forgot to tell consumers that. Spending on luxury goods like jewelry was a lot better than expected, at least for jeweler Zale Corporation (NYSE:
The improving results bode well for online jewelry seller
It's an interesting disparity really - jewelry stores are rocking and rolling again, suggesting carefree, indulgent spending is picking up steam. Yet, deep discounters like Dollar Tree (Nasdaq:
The same goes for Dollar General (NYSE:DG), which is expected to earn a record-breaking 81 cents per share for the Christmas quarter of 2011. That forecast may not fully reflect Dollar General's ace in the hole this time around though.
For its first time ever, Dollar General is offering Cyber Monday deals at its site. Its e-commerce site only went live in September, so it's too soon to say what kind of success it's been. Any traction at all with its online sales, however, is incremental additional revenue for a company that's already topped earnings estimates in six of its last seven quarters.
The Bottom Line
Warranted or not, e-tailers are likely to see a rise in their stock prices over the next few weeks. The previous companies' e-commerce sites put them in a good position to receive a bullish bump over the holiday season.
Use the Investopedia Stock Simulator to trade the stocks mentioned in this stock analysis, risk free!
At the time of writing, James Brumley did not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.
by
James Brumley
James Brumley is a freelance writer and registered investment advisor. He began his career as a broker with a major Wall Street firm, where fundamentals and long-term holding periods were core strategies. After that, he switched gears completely, becoming an analyst at a short-term trading newsletter that focused on technical analysis. He now manages client money using the best of both philosophies. His company, Bluegrass Portfolio Management, offers investors an opportunity to reap superior returns with minimized risk.
Free Annual Reports
