It always amazes me when a company reports stellar earnings that beat analysts' consensus and Wall Street fails to take notice. That is exactly what happened to small grocery retailer Spartan Stores (SPTN) on Wednesday. The company beat earnings per share by $0.11 and beat analysts' projected revenue estimates by $6.4 million.

In the fourth quarter, Spartan increased its sales by 4.9% to $592.8 million. This figure is comparative to a 52 week period in the prior year, despite there being an extra week in fiscal 2013. Analysts were expecting revenue of $586.5 million. Spartan reported earnings per share of $0.48, which easily beat the $0.37 estimated by analysts. Despite these strong numbers, shares stayed completely flat at the end of Wednesday's trading session.

Spartan saw comparable store sales growth. Several factors contributed to the increase in sales, including: Easter holiday, strong distribution sales, strong retail sales, and significant

On May 21st, gamers will finally get details on the upcoming XBOX 360 follow-up from Microsoft (MSFT). The new console will finally be given a name on Tuesday. New rumors from IGN cite the name as the XBOX Infinity. This comes after months of gamers nicknaming the device the XBOX 720, due to it being the follow-up to the XBOX 360. The console will be released in 2013 along with Sony's (SNE) Playstation 4. Both consoles get a late start to the new round of consoles, after Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) released the WiiU back in 2012.

Just as I did with the Playstation 4 event, here is a preview of items to watch during the event.

Will Activision be the Big Winner Again?

I proclaimed Activision Blizzard (ATVI) the winner among other companies at the Playstation 4 reveal. At that event, Blizzard announced that the popular game

Last week, hedge fund Third Point announced its push to Sony (SNE) for a spin-off of the company's entertainment division and the possible sale of other assets. This announcement comes as Sony stock has been trading up 77% in 2013. Despite the rally, shares are still down 58% over the last five years and appear to need a change. Is Third Point's plan the one that can keep Sony going?

Third Point founder Daniel Loeb wants to spin-off the entertainment segment, which contains Sony's movie assets and music assets. This is the same Daniel Loeb guy who brought about changes at Yahoo (YHOO) by bringing to light the CEO's lies about his education. Loeb also helped land Marissa Mayer at Yahoo after convincing her to depart from Google (GOOG).

As a sign of respect and to get the ball rolling, Loeb hand delivered his letter to executives in Japan.

If you haven't heard by now, Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) has been in the news for the CEO's poor comments on customers. Chief executive officer Mike Jeffries made insensitive comments to plus size customers and now has protestors and boycotts heading towards his stores. Amazingly enough, shares of the teen retailer trade close to 52 week highs. It's time to sell Abercrombie shares before sales take a hit.

Back in a 2006 interview with Salon, Jeffries made known that he was very strict about his company's demographic. At the time he offered this,

In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don't belong (in our clothes) and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary?

Manchester United (MANU) shareholders and fans learned recently of the sad news concerning the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson as the team's manager. Ferguson, who had guided the Red Devils for the last 26 years, leaves investors with several possible long term buying opportunities.

Newly elected head coach David Moyes spent the last 12 seasons as the manager of Everton. Moyes has a great deal of management experience in the English Premier League, where Manchester United plays. Moyes will be the second longest serving EPL coach, with the retirement of Ferguson. As manager of Everton, Moyes posted a record of 217 wins, 139 draws, and 160 losses.

With an underfunded team, Moyes won coach of the year on three occasions (2003, 2005, 2009). Moyes also took Everton to the Champions League in 2005 and the FA Cup final game in 2009. All of these accomplishments, despite a small operating budget,

Shares of SolarCity (SCTY) shot up 11% on Thursday after a new financing deal from Goldman Sachs (GS). SolarCity, which provides solar panels to homes and businesses, will be able to secure additional customers and blow past its guidance for installed products.

The collaboration with Goldman Sachs brings $500 million in financing for homes and businesses. The deal is listed as enough to produce 110 megawatts of solar panel products. In comparison, SolarCity just produced 156 megawatts in fiscal 2012. The deal with Goldman Sachs is the largest ever in the United State for homeowners' rooftops. An extension of a 2012 agreement, the deal has already produced 26 MW of solar panel projects.

Wall Street liked the announcement and you should too. Despite being in only 14 states and having a relatively small market share of available homes, SolarCity continues to accelerate its growth and benefit from financing deals.

RadioShack (RSH) was in the news Thursday with an announcement that could propel shares over the key $5 mark. I was bullish on shares back in 2012 with news of expansion in China. Today, the company is expanding to college bookstores near you.

In a partnership with the National Association of College Stores, RadioShack is bringing its products to college bookstores. The five year deal will place RadioShack centers inside 4000 stores. Items mentioned in the press release include: Beats by Dr. Dre, Skullcandy, Sol Republic, Enercell, and Auvio.

The importance of listing these brands is the two brands Enercell and Auvio. These two brands are exclusive to RadioShack and provide higher profit margins for the company. Creating brand awareness for these exclusive brands could also help boost regular RadioShack same store sales.

RadioShack's Chief Executive Officer Joe Magnacca had this to say about the deal:

"This agreement with

On Monday, video game company Take Two Interactive (TTWO) saw shares soar in the after-hours trading after a surprise revenue and earnings beat. To go along with the beat, the company is closing in on the launch of one of the biggest blockbuster games of all time, "Grand Theft Auto V". So with shares at all-time highs, is there room left for investors to venture in?

In the fourth quarter, revenue grew 105% to $303.1 million. The company's prior outlook was sales of $235 to $285 million. Take Two experienced record digital revenue in the fourth quarter and saw the segment increase 192% from the prior year. The growing segment of digital sales made up 22% of the company's fourth quarter revenue. Strong catalog sales, which made up 25% of revenue, also helped the company blow past its previous guidance.

The highlight for Take Two's fourth quarter was the

Zynga (ZNGA) is partnering with Disruptor Beam to bring gamers "Game of Thrones: Ascent," a social game based on the popular HBO show. Disruptor Beam is a small social gaming startup that is counting on "Game of Thrones: Ascent" becoming a hit. Disruptor Beam said that thits eir goal has always been to disrupt social games, gameplay and stories. The company will now have a chance to do that with the large built in audience Zynga enjoys. In a given month, over 250 million people play Zynga games online, on mobile devices, or tablets.

(click to enlarge)

Gameplay will see fans of the show swearing allegiance to one of the houses. Players will make decisions that will impact their individual storylines. The game will follow storylines from the television show and the popular novel series by author George R.R. Martin.

Currently on Facebook, over 100,000 people a

Last week, leading video game publisher Activision Blizzard (ATVI) announced it would be releasing a new "Call of Duty" game in November. This should come as no surprise to anyone who follows Activision or the video game industry. However, this year's version of the hit franchise will be a new spin-off that could create some excitement for an already climbing stock.

Activision and Infinity Ward, the studio behind the hit "Modern Warfare" series, will release "Call of Duty: Ghosts" on November 5th, 2013. The game will be available for current PS3 and XBOX 360 consoles, along with the eventual releases of the highly anticipated Playstation 4, from Sony (SNE), and new Microsoft (MSFT) console.

The new console launches coming from Sony and Microsoft appears to be the perfect time for this new line in the popular "Call of Duty" franchise. Mark Rubin, executive producer of developer Infinity Ward, had

Shares of Hain Celestial (HAIN) fell 3.2% on Friday, despite an impressive third quarter earnings report and an acquisition that strengthens the company's infant nutrition line. Shares are now trading down 14% from fifty-two week and all-time highs set back in September of 2012. The time to buy shares of Hain Celestial could be fast approaching.

Hain Celestial's third quarter was impressive, despite weakness in the European region. The company saw sales increase to $456.1 million. This 21.4% increase in sales helped the company record its highest quarterly total. Hain Celestial posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.72, an increase of 28.5%. Earnings matched the amount expected by analysts on Yahoo Finance. This marked the ninth consecutive quarter of double digit adjusted earnings per share for Hain Celestial.

Operating income increased 43% in the region to $8.8 million. The United States also saw large growth of 9.3% to $277.6

Shares of Leapfrog (LF) traded down 2.7% on Thursday. This decline came despite an earnings and revenue beat. Leapfrog, which was one of my top ten picks for 2013, continues to provide long term opportunities for patient investors as the company expands internationally and may become a key acquisition target.

In the first quarter, sales grew 15% to $82.9 million. Analysts were expecting sales of $79.47. Earnings per share increased to a loss of $0.04. Analysts were expecting the company to post a loss of $0.07. This double beat was driven by strength in domestic and international sales. Sales in the United States were up 11%, while international sales saw a huge increase of 26%.

The best is yet to come for the rest of 2013 as Leapfrog fills the second half with new releases and international expansion. In March, the company launched a new multimedia line. The

Publicly traded Craft Brew Alliance (BREW) is the owner of three key craft beer brands. The company, through two mergers, owns the brands Redhook, Widmer, and Kona. One of those brands (Redhook) has a partnership coming with Buffalo Wild Wings that could create coverage of the company's stock and blow revenue estimates out of the water.

Redhook and Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) will launch Game Changer Ale in July, as part of a new alcohol menu at all of the restaurant chain's locations. Buffalo Wild Wings CEO Sally Smith had this to say, "Draft beer is another cornerstone of our brand. We continue to create new opportunities to enhance the draft beer experience for our guests, increase our beer sales and improve our draft beer margins."

This is a huge partnership for Redhook, as Buffalo Wild Wings has over 900 locations nationwide. The inclusion of the new beer

Since being spun off from Sara Lee in 2006, shares of Hanesbrands (HBI) have shot up 124%. The company is a category leader in many consumer brands and continues to strengthen itself through new initiatives and product launches.

Company

Hanesbrands owns the following brands:

· Hanes, Champion, Playtex, Bali, L'eggs, Just My Size, Barely There, Wonderbra, Duofold

The company ranks first in market share for:

· T-shirts

· Fleece

· Socks

· Men's Underwear

· Kids' Underwear

· Sheer Hosiery

Hanesbrands also has the number two market share position in both bras and panties.

Shareholder Returns

Hanesbrands is focusing on three aspects to drive shareholder returns:

· Strong consumer franchise

· Innovate-to-elevate strategy

· Strong cash flow

One of these three things might be a big reason why investors are about to pour into Hanesbrands shares. Recently, the company initiated a quarterly dividend of $0.20. With an annual payout of

Last week, Iconix Brand Group (ICON) reported earnings for its first fiscal quarter. The company posted revenue of $105.1 million, a new first quarter record. Iconix earned $0.54 per share, beating the consensus target of $0.52. For those unfamiliar with the licensing giant, here is a list of brands the company owns or has a partial stake in:

· Candie's, Bongo, Badgley Mischka, Joe Boxer, Rampage, Mudd, Massimo, London Fog, Op, Danskin, Rocawear, Starter, Peanuts, Ed Hardy, Artful Doger, Ecko Unltd, Marc Ecko, Zoo York, Material Girl, Truth or Dare Madonna, Umbro, Buffalo, Lee Cooper, Modern Amusement, Cannon, Fieldcrest, Charisma, Royal Velvet, Waverly, Sandra, Sharper Image.

As you can see, Iconix owns quite the diverse list of consumer product names, clothing brands, and sporting apparel. The company is transitioning into a worldwide leader in brand management. Here are six reasons why I think you should hold the stock in

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) reported first quarter earnings that were down from last year. However, several important takeaways from the company's earnings call provide details of future growth.

Expanding Outside Wings

Over the past several earnings calls, Buffalo Wild Wings has discussed entering other restaurant models and is looking for strategic opportunities. In an April 2012 article, I discussed several acquisition or merger candidates. While I have not been right on any of these, I did nail two potential ideas from that list. I suggested a merger with Papa John's (PZZA), as the partnership between pizza chain and wings restaurant would greatly help to diversify, and offset commodity costs associated with wings. I also suggested a merger with BJ's Restaurants (BJRI) to create beer concepts and bring BJ's brewed beers to all the Buffalo Wild Wings locations.

Game Changer Beer Brand

Buffalo Wild Wings announced a partnership with

On Wednesday, leading retailer Wal-Mart (WMT) announced its exclusive partnership with Time Warner (TWX) and the upcoming blockbuster "Man of Steel". Fans of the highly anticipated superhero movie will likely be venturing into the big box retailer in the next month to get first crack at movie tickets.

Over 3,500 Wal-Mart stores will be part of the promotion beginning May 18th. At 8am on that date, fans will have to travel to the electronics section of Wal-Mart stores to buy advanced tickets for a showing of "Man of Steel" in their region. Customers will be limited to buy four tickets and will have to visit stores to make the purchase.

Dan Fellman, the president of domestic distribution at Warner Brothers had this to say of the deal, "We are extremely pleased to partner with Walmart on this unprecedented initiative, which will allow devoted fans to be among the first

Shares of restaurant company Yum Brands (YUM) are trading higher Wednesday after the company's first quarter earnings report Tuesday night. The company, which has seen intense pressure on its China unit due to avian flu concerns, is powering ahead thanks again to its United States segment.

In the first quarter, same store sales took a big hit in China. In the region, same store sales dropped 20%, compared to gains of 1% in other international markets and 2% in the United States. This huge decrease caused operating profits to drop 41% in China. In the United States and Yum International markets, the company saw increases of 5% and 19% respectively.

In the first quarter, Yum Brands opened 380 new restaurants in. Yum Brands International was responsible for 147 of these new units in 44 countries. Yum Brands remains committed to its continued expansion in China, despite worries of avian

On Tuesday night, iRobot (IRBT) reported first quarter earnings. The company beat revenue and earnings per share targets. The company raised guidance and continues to be a good long term bet.

In the first quarter, revenue increased to $106.2 million from $97.8 million. Net income increased dramatically to $9.4 million from $0.7 million last year. Earnings per share were reported as $0.29. This is an increase from a profit of $0.02 last year. Analysts on Yahoo Finance were expecting revenue of $103.9 million and earnings per share of $0.18.

In the first quarter, iRobot shipped its first RP-VITA telemedicine robots. This is a topic I wrote about back in February and believe will be the growth of the company going forward. At the end of the first quarter there were 12 of these robots in operation.

In the last article I highlighted quotes about the telemedicine

Gentex (GNTX), a leader in automobile mirror manufacturing, reported first quarter earnings on Tuesday. Shares were up 3.7% on the heels of a revenue and earnings per share beat. The bullish trend continues for this automobile company.

In the first quarter, net sales declined to $269.5 million ($290.7 million). This number did beat analysts' estimates of $268.1 million. Net income decreased two percent to $45.4 million. Earnings per share were reported at $0.32, beating analysts' target of $0.30 by $0.02.

Automobile net sales were $263.0 million in the first quarter. This was a sharp decline from the $285.7 million from last year. Auto dimmable mirror shipments increased 8% in North America. Other net sales were $6.5 million for the quarter, an increase of 30%. This increase was due to higher shipments of dimmable aircraft windows.

The quarter was strengthened by the launch of new SmartBeam technology devices. Earnings also