Honda Shares in the Midst of a Comeback

Last Tuesday (7/21) the Masters wrote Honda Motor Shares: Ready for a Comeback? You bet they are, since that time shares have gone from $27 to $30.81 thanks to an undervalued market and today's increased earnings outlook for 2009 giving Honda Motor Company (HMC) shares the ol... 1-2-shabadoo.

1-2-shabadoo indeed. Like we said:

Honda has said it anticipates a loss in the first half but a return to profit in the second half, resulting in a small profit for the year.

However as we all know, any glimmer of hope can send HMC shares up 5 to 10% next week, stay tuned.

Honda, whose North American production operations are based in Marysville, Ohio, told investors Wednesday it earned $77.3 million (7.5 billion yen) in the three months ended June 30. That’s down about 95 percent from $1.64 billion (173 billion yen) last year, though analysts were expecting Honda to slip to a quarterly loss.

Revenue in the fiscal first quarter fell about 30 percent to $20.6 billion (2 trillion yen) from $27.3 billion (2.87 trillion yen) a year ago, driven by a 35 percent sales slide in North America, which accounts for the largest chunk of the company’s sales.

Honda told investors it’s expecting slightly lower revenue than a previous forecast in April, but said both motorcycle and automobile unit sales should be stronger than first forecast.

As a result, Honda raised its fiscal-year earnings expectations by more than one-third. Honda in April projected earnings for the year ending March 31, 2010, of $421 million (40 billion yen), but said it now expects profit of $604 million (55 billion yen).

Honda Motor Co.’s Marysville-based manufacturing arm has more than 12,000 workers at assembly and engine plants in and around Central Ohio, where they produce Honda Accords, CR-Vs, Elements and Acura TLs and RDXs. The company also operates a recently completed plant in Greensburg, Ind.

Happy Safe Investing Masters and hopefully a few of you cashed in on the 7 day move.

Disclosure: No positions in HMC