CF Industries (CF) and Terra Industries (TRA) are fertilizer companies with multi billion dollar market caps, but much smaller than the better known names in the industry, such as Mosaic (MOS) and Potash Corp. (POT). CF manufactures nitrogen and potash based fertilizers, while TRA is primarily a nitrogen based manufacturer.

Fertilizer companies have seen their earnings soar in recent years, and there is concern that the good times are about to end. I think this concern is misplaced, and that earnings should continue to be robust.

Helen of Troy (HELE) is a designer, producer and global marketer of a wide range of brand-name personal care and household consumer products.

The company's personal care products include hair dryers, curling irons, hair setters, women's shavers, brushes, combs, hair accessories, home hair clippers, mirrors, foot baths, body massagers, paraffin baths, liquid hair styling products, body powder and skin care products.

A. Schulman (SHLM) reported earnings yesterday (Wednesday, July 2 - see conference call transcript). The company managed to squeak by the consensus EPS estimate of $0.41 by reporting pro-forma EPS of $0.42. This adjusted EPS excluded restructuring costs and asset impairments, but not the full tax impact of these items. If it had, adjusted EPS would have been lower by a few cents.

However, I was surprised to find that the company’s cash flow was healthy due to good working capital management. As the historically poor cash generation was a core part of my negative thesis (see "A. Schulman: Cashless Profits"), I can no longer recommend the stock as a short.

A. Schulman (SHLM) is a supplier of plastic compounds and resins used in a variety of consumer, industrial, automotive and packaging applications.

Market cap: $630 million; Enterprise Value: $750 million

Goodrich Petroleum (GDP) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company.

Market cap: $2.5 billion; Enterprise Value: $2.8 billion

CKE Restaurants (CKR) reported earnings on Wednesday, Jun 25. Optically, it looked like the company performed well, meeting revenue estimates and exceeding EPS consensus (31c reported vs 27c consensus). However, a deeper look reveals this to be an illusion. Operating income was down YoY, and yet EPS was up 35%, which looks strange. The company attributed this to a lower share count from share buybacks. But still, this is not the full story…

First, the company recognized a lower tax rate than expected (36% rather than 41%), which contributed 3c of EPS. But what caught my eye was that interest expense was down in spite of debt being up a lot. (As I pointed out in my previous note ["CKE Restaurants Looks Overvalued"], the company is not generating any cash and has funded its share buybacks through increased debt.) The company recognized only $4.6Mn in interest expense, while a 7% interest rate applied on its $400Mn in debt for the 16 week period would amount to $8.6Mn. So why was the interest expense so low? The company didn’t say anything in its press release.

American Greetings (AM) reported earnings on Wednesday, Jun 25 (see conference call transcript). The company exceeded revenue estimates for the quarter, but fell far short on EPS. It blamed roll-out costs for a new card line in Canada. This was a disappointing performance, as competent management would have controlled the costs, or at the very least flagged the impending increase in costs in the last quarterly call.

So it is time for a mea culpa. Clearly, I was wrong in recommending the stock ahead of its earnings report ("American Greetings Looks Like a Buy Ahead of Earnings"). I had been comforted by the company’s healthy cash flow, and was vindicated by the beat on revenues, but the discretionary increase in expenses came as a complete surprise.

CKE Restaurants (CKR) owns, operates, franchises, and licenses quick-service restaurants in the United States, primarily under the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's names.

Market cap: $600 million; Enterprise Value: $1 billion

American Greetings (AM) is one of the world's largest manufacturers of social expression products. Along with greeting cards, its product lines include gift wrap, party goods, stationery, calendars, ornaments and electronic greetings.

Market cap: $900 million; Enterprise Value: $1 billion

Juniper Networks (JNPR) is a networking infrastructure company that manufactures the high-end routers used by telecommunications firms and large enterprises to route traffic. The business is essentially a duopoly with Cisco Systems (CSCO). The firm’s business is leveraged to the explosive growth of traffic over the Internet.

Market cap: $12.7 billion; Enterprise Value: $10.5B billion

Coinstar (CSTR) primarily operates self-service coin counting and self-service DVD rental kiosks at retail locations. You drop in a piggy bank full of coins in one of their machines, and you get cash in notes (discounted value) or a gift card. Coinstar’s trucks go around collecting the coins, so the recent increase in fuel costs is a negative for the company.

Market cap: $1 billion; EV: $1.3 billion

Quanta Services (PWR) is a contracting services company, delivering infrastructure network solutions for the electric power, natural gas, telecommunications and cable television industries. The company's services include designing, installing, repairing and maintaining network infrastructure nationwide. In other words, it is what one might uncharitably refer to as a “ditch digger”.

Next earnings report due: July/August.

Ceradyne (CRDN) develops, manufactures and markets advanced technical ceramic products and components for defense, industrial, automotive/diesel and commercial applications. It is a large supplier of ceramic body armor plates used to protect soldiers. It also makes high purity ceramic crucibles used in the manufacture of polycrystalline silicon for photovoltaic solar cells. This is definitely a growth area, but the market hasn’t tagged CRDN as an alternate energy stock as yet.

Next earnings report due: July

Gerber Scientific (GRB) is a supplier of automated manufacturing systems for sign making and specialty graphics, apparel and flexible materials, ophthalmic lens processing, and print and packaging industries.

Next earnings report due: This morning, Thursday, June 19.

Logility (LGTY) is a software company; it is a provider of supply chain solutions to companies. The company is majority owned by American Software (AMSWA), so the float and trading volume is low.

Market cap: $87 million; EV: $44 millon