As bad as things got in the U.S., they were much worse in Europe and Societe Generale (Nasdaq:SCGLY) teetered on the brink of going the way of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual. Since going almost to the very edge of the cliff, though, SocGen management has been working hard to clean up the business, shore up its capital, and reposition the company for profitable growth. Although there is still a lot left to be done, and ample doubts as to whether they can do it, a strong second quarter and ongoing improvements are a good sign.
SEE: How To Evaluate The Quality Of EPS
A Significant Beat For The Second Quarter
In a swamp of charges, one-offs, and very items, it's not especially easy to evaluate SocGen's performance. Cutting through to the basics, though, SocGen reported revenue that was 6% better than the average of analyst estimates, operating income that was 28% better, and underlying net profits that were nearly 50% better than expected.
Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Buy For 2015: Recon Technology Ltd.(RCON)
Recon Technology, Ltd. provides hardware, software, and on-site services to companies in the petroleum mining and extraction industry in the People?s Republic of China. The company offers equipment, tools, and other hardware related to oilfield production and management; and develop and sell industrial automation control and information solutions. Its oil and gas production and transportation equipment comprise heating furnaces, burners, and separators. Recon Technology, Ltd.?s oil and gas development tools and equipment include packers of fracturing, production packers, and water injection packers; and oil and gas production increasing techniques consist of fissure shaper technique to increase perforation depth, sand prevention in oil and water well technique, water locating and plugging technique, fracture acidizing technique, and electronic broken-down service. Its automation systems and services comprise pumping unit controllers that monitors the pumping units and co llects data for load, pressure, voltage, startup, and shutdown control; RTU for monitoring natural gas wells and collecting gas well pressure data; wireless dynamometer and wireless pressure gauge; electric multi-way valve for oilfield metering station flow control; and natural gas flow computer system to measure the flow. The company?s automation systems and services also consist of Recon SCADA oilfield monitor and data acquisition system for supervision and data collection; EPC service of pipeline SCADA system for pipeline monitoring and data acquisition; EPC service of oil and gas wells SCADA system for monitoring and data acquisition of oil, and natural gas wells; EPC service of oilfield video surveillance and control system to control the oil and gas wellhead area and measure station area; and technique service for digital oilfield transformation. Recon Technology, Ltd. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By James E. Brumley]
Anybody who was lucky enough to get into a Recon Technology, Ltd. (NASDAQ:RCON) position before October 7th, then congratulations - you're up big-time. Now get out. Instead, a better use of that capital is Mitek Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MITK). While RCON is overbought and ripe for a pullback, MITK is itching to stage a breakout.
Best Quality Stocks To Buy Right Now: Spirit Airlines Inc.(SAVE)
Spirit Airlines, Inc. provides passenger airline services. It provides travel opportunities principally to and from south Florida, the northeast United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The company also offers optional travel-related products or services. As of December 31, 2011, it had a fleet of 37 Airbus single-aisle aircrafts. The company was formerly known as Charter One and changed its name to Spirit Airlines, Inc. in 1992. Spirit Airlines, Inc. was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Miramar, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Spirit Airlines (SAVE), Delta Air Lines (DAL),�Alaska Air (ALK) and American Airlines (AAL) ranked behind Allegiant and all had ROIC ��WACC spreads that were 4 ��5 points. We are of the view that an airline with ROIC – WACC spread of at least 3 points (based on the industry�� historical WACC) has sufficient flexibility to pay down debt, re-invest in the business, and pursue pro-shareholder initiatives. If current trends hold, we believe United Continental (UAL) with a 2.3 point spread (produced in 2013) will be well-positioned to return capital to shareholders by 2015.
- [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]
Spirit Airlines (NASDAQ: SAVE ) stock rocketed higher by more than 153% in 2013. This made it the biggest gainer in one of the top-performing industry sectors this year, outshining strong performances from Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL ) and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV ) .
- [By Eric Volkman]
Spirit Airlines (NASDAQ: SAVE ) saw notable increases in several of its key metrics last month and for the year-to-date period. For March, the company's revenue passenger miles grew by 19.1% over March 2012's number, to hit almost 1 billion. Available seat miles increased by 16.5% on a year-over-year basis, to 1.1 billion. Load factor -- i.e., airplane occupancy -- grew by 2.0 percentage points over the same time frame, coming in at 87.9%.
- [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]
However, there are still good stocks to buy in the airline sector, if you look a little further afield. Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ: ALGT ) and Spirit Airlines (NASDAQ: SAVE ) are the two pioneers of the "ultra-low-cost carrier" concept. By keeping costs and base fares low, but charging fees for things like checked bags, carry-on bags, seat assignments, and onboard snacks and drinks, these companies have consistently achieved industry-leading margins. This positions Allegiant and Spirit for long-term earnings growth.
Best Quality Stocks To Buy Right Now: Regulus Therapeutics Inc (RGLS)
Regulus Therapeutics Inc., incorporated on September 5, 2007, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing microRNAs to treat a range of diseases. microRNAs are naturally occurring ribonucleic acid (RNA), molecules that play a critical role in regulating key biological pathways. The Company uses its microRNA product platform to develop chemically modified, single-stranded oligonucleotides that the Company calls anti-miRs. As of December 31, 2012, the Company�� operations included acquiring and in-licensing intellectual property rights, developing its microRNA, undertaking basic research around microRNA targets and conducting preclinical studies for its initial programs.
The Company is developing RG-101 for the treatment of HCV and is advancing other microRNA therapeutics toward clinical development in several areas, including oncology, fibrosis and metabolic diseases. The Company intends to focus its resources on product opportunities in therapeutic areas where development and commercialization activities are appropriate for its size and financial resources, which the Company anticipates will include niche indications and orphan diseases.
The Company competes with Groove Biopharma, Inc., miRagen Therapeutics, Inc., Mirna Therapeutics, Inc., and Santaris Pharma A/S.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
A blast to the past
It's occasionally very difficult to value biotech stocks, because of the wide range of outcomes possible given their pipelines. Other times, as in the case with Regulus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RGLS ) , I bang my head against a table and wonder what the heck investors are thinking.
Best Quality Stocks To Buy Right Now: Six Flags Entertainment Corporation New(SIX)
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation owns and operates regional theme, water, and zoological parks. The company?s parks offers various selection of state-of-the-art and traditional thrill rides, water attractions, themed areas, concerts and shows, restaurants, game venues, and retail outlets. It owns and operates 19 parks, including 17 parks in the United States; 1 park in Mexico City, Mexico; and 1 park in Montreal, Canada. The company was formerly known as Six Flags, Inc. and changed its name to Six Flags Entertainment Corporation in April 2010. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation was founded in 1971 and is based in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rick Munarriz]
"We join this call today with heavy hearts," Six Flags (NYSE: SIX ) CEO James Reid-Anderson said in kicking off this morning's quarterly earnings report.
- [By John Udovich]
SeaWorld Entertainment Inc (NYSE: SEAS) had its IPO earlier in the year to join other amusement park stocks like Six Flags Entertainment Corp (NYSE: SIX) and Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE: FUN) on the NYSE. Moreover, the SeaWorld Entertainment IPO has�been a killer whale of a deal for the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), its biggest shareholder, but what about for ordinary�investors?
- [By John Udovich]
Theme park stocks SeaWorld Entertainment Inc (NYSE: SEAS), Six Flags Entertainment Corp (NYSE: SIX), Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE: FUN)�and Independent Film Development Corporation (OTCMKTS: IFLM) have been producing a steady floe of news this week along with some pretty good returns for investors (for the most part) since the start of the year or longer. Just consider the following news:
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