On Jan. 23, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) declared its most recent dividend and, perhaps surprisingly to many, the company didn’t increase its dividend year-over-year — something that income investors likely didn’t appreciate. In a previous column, I went over several potential reasons why the company may have opted not to boost its dividend.
A wafer of Intel seventh-generation Core chips. Image source: Intel.
Now that the company has announced its full-year earnings results for 2016 and, more importantly, issued its financial guidance for 2017, it’s quite clear why the chip-maker held off on giving its shareholders raises.
A big jump in capital expenditures
Companies fund their capital return programs, including share repurchases and dividends, primarily from the free cash flow that they generate. As a company grows its free cash flow and becomes increasingly confident in future free cash flow growth, it increases its ability to return cash to shareholders.
Top 10 Growth Stocks To Invest In 2018: MEDIFAST INC(MED)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows small cap weight loss or dieting stocks Weight Watchers International and Reliv International, Inc (NASDAQ: RELV) still underperforming whileNutriSystem Inc (NASDAQ: NTRI) and Medifast Inc (NYSE: MED) began taking off early last year:
- [By Lee Jackson]
These companies also reported insider buying last week: Carrizo Oil and Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO), Medifast Inc. (NYSE: MED), Medley Capital Corp. (NYSE: MCC), Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) and Sothebys (NYSE: BID).
- [By Peter Graham]
Although obesity is widespread, small cap dieting stocks havetended to causeinvestor portfolios to loose weight. A long term performance chart shows small cap weight loss or dieting stocks Weight Watchers International and Reliv International, Inc (NASDAQ: RELV) stillbelow or at breakeven for longer term investors whileMedifast Inc (NYSE: MED)has performed better and NutriSystem Inc (NASDAQ: NTRI) hasfinally begun to take offearly last year:
- [By Lisa Levin]
In trading on Friday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by just 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Medifast Inc (NYSE: MED), down 5 percent, and Bridgford Foods Corporation (NASDAQ: BRID), down 6 percent.
Top 10 Growth Stocks To Invest In 2018: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Chris Lange]
Look for Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) to reveal its fiscal second-quarter results on Thursday as well. The consensus analyst estimates are $0.63 in EPS and revenue of $3.74 billion. Shares of Nordstrom closed at $46.81 on Friday, above the consensus price target of $46.00. The 52-week range is $39.53 to $62.82.
- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap department store stock Dillard’s, Inc (NYSE: DDS), whos potential peers includemid caps Macy’s, Inc (NYSE: M) and Nordstrom, Inc (NYSE: JWN) and small cap J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE: JCP), is the most shorted stock on the NYSE with short interest of 60.80% according to Highshortnterest.com.
- [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]
After several years of being a Wall Street darling, Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) has fallen out of favor since 2015 as it has been hit by some of the same negative trends that have hurt the department store sector as a whole.
- [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]
For Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) , this means that its recent C-suite recruits and initiatives signal a digital push, especially in customer experience and logistics. Although the digital team shakeups began in 2016, Nordstrom’s steps toward innovation became all the more germane this summer when the department store’s founding family revealed that it’s considering going private.
- [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]
The Good
The market remains resistant (Rs over Ss and Ns). Brokerages, banks and insurance companies continue their league-leading strength. The Russell 2000 Index is up for the 15th consecutive day. Retail extends yesterday’s strength. Nordstrom (JWN) , Macy’s (M) , Best Buy (BBY) , Target (TGT) , Walmart (WMT) , Foot Locker (FL) and JCPenney (JCP) are strong. First day down for Amazon (AMZN) . Agricultural commodities are lackluster, but soybeans are up another up $0.05 today, up substantially for three days in a row. Speculative biotech (Sage (SAGE) , FibroGen (FGEN) , Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) and Aerie Pharmaceuticals (AERI) ) stronger after recent weakness. Ag equipment up big time after the Deere (DE) beat.
The Bad
Top 10 Growth Stocks To Invest In 2018: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Peter Graham]
After the market closed yesterday, small cap restaurant and entertainment stockDave & Busters Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ: PLAY) reported Q4 2016 earnings with shares falling by mid single digit percentagesin after hours trading. The Company apparently beat expectations on earnings, but fell short of expectations for comps. Likewise, the stock has already had a very good run meaning expectations were super high.Take a look at the following long term chart which shows Dave & Busters Entertainmentsshare performanceascompared to potential peers such as Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) and upscale gentlemen’s clubs and restaurant ownerRCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: RICK):
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows Dave & Busters Entertainment being a pretty steady performer up until June while potential peer, upscale gentlemen’s clubs and restaurant ownerRCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: RICK), took off last yearand Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) has started to fall off:
- [By Lisa Levin]
Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $121.75 after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and raised its forecast for the full year.
- [By Hilary Kramer]
We welcome host of Fox Business Network’s Making Money with Charles Payne to this year’s contest. When he’s not on air, the rags-to-riches financial guru is editing his free weekly newsletter, Charles Payne’s Smart Talk, as well as his new newsletter, Charles Payne’sSmart Investing, which allows individuals insights into picks that were formerly only available to institutions.
Payne is going with the owner, operator and franchiser of a wildly popular sports and wings bar for this year’s pick: Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD).
With commodities prices in the dumps, BWLD stands to benefit as Americans have more cash lining their pockets thanks to lower gas prices. That’s cash, Charles reasons, that Buffalo Wild Wings will be able to claim a chunk of. Not to mention the fact that if chicken prices remain subdued, it’ll mean a beefier bottom line.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Is Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) original programming likeThe Crown more interesting to watch than the Golden State Warriors’ bid to run away with the NBA championship? Could be, as the movie streaming giant continues to add to its subscriber base while sports bars like Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) lose customers quarter after quarter.
Top 10 Growth Stocks To Invest In 2018: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By George Budwell, Keith Speights, and Cory Renauer]
So, to help investors separate the wheat from the chaff, we asked our Foolish contributors which stocks they thought are worth owning until at least 2030. These three healthcare specialists recommended Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), andIntuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG). Read on to find out why.
- [By Ashley Moore]
Here is a table of the 10 most expensive stocks trading on U.S. markets today:
Company (Ticker)Price per ShareMarket CapBerkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)$ 257,227.52$ 419.50 billionSeaboard Corp. (NYSEMKT: SEB)$ 3,760.00$ 4.48 billionNVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR)$ 1,944.23$ 7.19 billionThe Priceline Group Inc. (Nasdaq: PCLN)$ 1,727.94$ 80.82 billionMarkel Corp. (NYSE: MKL)$ 978.51$ 13.78 billionWhite Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. (NYSE: WTM)$ 935.01$ 4.25 billionAmazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN)$ 846.08$ 408.27 billionAlphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL)$ 844.06$ 582.85 billionAutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO)$ 744.26$ 21.04 billionIntuitive Surgical Inc. (Nasdaq: ISRG)$ 735.63$ 28.41 billion
- [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]
As for individual stocks, IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) attracted heavy investor interest following their quarterly earnings releases.
- [By Benzinga News Desk]
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Reports Q4 EPS $0.69 vs. Est. $0.58, Rev. $22.64B vs. Est. $22.14B
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) Reports Q2 GAAP EPS $4.71, Adj. EPS $5.62 vs $4.97 Est., Sales $670.1M vs $540.7M Est.
Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) Q2 EPS ($0.14) vs ($0.19) est, Revenue $3.84B vs $3.75B est
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Q2 EPS $0.75 vs $0.59 est, Revenue $8.9B vs $8.3B est - [By Joseph Hogue]
Enter Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) and Da Vinci, a robotic arm that allows surgeons to operate with just a single incision less than an inch in size.
