Disappointing earnings have pushed US stocks lower this morning, but the decline did not last long. The EIA’s weekly inventory has shown a reduction in crude stocks, pushing oil prices higher, which in turn gave a boost to the stock market. In this article we’ll take a look at how investors reacted to the earnings reports of several noteworthy companies: Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), Wendys Co (NASDAQ:WEN), Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M), Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc (NASDAQ:BUFF) and Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA).
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Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) shares are tanking today after the company reported fiscal second-quarter results that missed expectations. Despite a string of huge box office successes, Disney saw weakening growth in its media networks and theme park businesses. As it reported earnings of $1.36 per share, the company missed analysts’ projections for the first time in five years, with the consensus being at $1.40 per share. Revenues of $12.97 billion also fell short of expectations, as market participants were looking for $13.19 billion. Media networks’ sales came in at $5.79 billion, pretty much flat year-over-year, while revenues from the parks and resorts business stood at $3.93 billion, below estimates of $4.03 billion. The film unit was the star player, as sales grew 22% year over year to $2.06 billion. Billionaire Ken Fisher is a fan of this stock, with his fund, Fisher Asset Management, having reported a 1% increase in its holding to 8.64 million shares held at the end of the first quarter. The value of this position was estimates at more than $852 million.
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Shares of burger chain Wendys Co (NASDAQ:WEN) are down today, despite an upbeat earnings report. The numbers released this morning easily beat analysts estimates, with revenues coming in at $378.8 million and earnings at $0.11 per share when adjusted for one time costs. The consensus among analysts was $350.8 million in revenues and a profit of $0.06 per share. It seems that market participants paid more attention to growth figures where Wendys’ weakness currently lies. Compared to the same period of last year, revenues fell by 16%, while net income dropped by roughly 7.5%. As a result, the stock plunged this morning and is currently down by 6.8% from yesterday’s closing price of $11.18. Murray Stahl‘s Horizon Asset Management continued to reduce its stake in Wendys Co (NASDAQ:WEN), with the latest 13F filing showing a 13% decrease in its holding to 13.5 million shares worth $147.3 million at the end of March.
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On the next page we’ll take a look at the numbers released by the remaining three companies.
