Market Currents

• Thursday, October 29, 2009

• 07:37 AM AutoNation (AN): Q3 EPS of $0.36 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $2.92B (-13.2%) vs. $3.13B. "Cash for Clunkers was a highly effective stimulus program that provided a much needed lift in auto sales and has set the stage going forward for a gradual recovery of new vehicle sales." Says CARS boosted Q3 EPS by $0.07. Approves $250M buyback. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable pre-market earnings: ABX, AEP, AET, AGN, AN, APA, AVP, AYE, AZN, BC, BCRX, BKC, BPO, CL, CLI, CME, CMS, COCO, COT, DLR, EK, EXPE, FNFG, GTI, K, KBR, MCO, MOT, MPS, MWW, MYL, NBL, NEM, NRG, ODP, OMX, PCG, PDE, PG, PPL, PTEN, RDS.A, S, SII, TSM, VTR, WMB, XEL, XOM Comment!

• Wednesday, September 23, 2009

• 19:18 PM Mike Jackson, CEO of AutoNation (AN) - the biggest U.S. auto dealer chain by far - gives his view of the industry in a Q&A from the dealer perspective. Comment!

• Saturday, August 22, 2009

• 17:14 PM Worried about paperwork backlogs and slow response times from the DoT, AutoNation (AN) and Group 1 Automotive (GPI) put the brakes on cash-for-clunkers sales three days early. 1 Comment

• Wednesday, August 19, 2009

• 10:58 AM AutoNation (AN) CEO Michael Jackson says the government still owes his company $45M in cash-for-clunkers rebates, but he's not complaining, saying he's confident the 'administrative log jam' will get fixed. DoT, meanwhile, says it's "committing enormous resources and working overtime to the process the overwhelming volume of applications both quickly and responsibly." Comment!

• Monday, August 17, 2009

• 11:38 AM Shares of AutoNation (AN) are +1.8% after BofA/Merrill upgraded shares, saying strong dealership sales and the slowing of Ford's (F) cash burn are among positive surprises for the industry. "We believe industry volume is on the verge of a natural recovery as replacement demand kicks in 2010 followed by slow growth in discretionary demand in out years," firm says. Comment!

• Friday, July 31, 2009

• 07:31 AM AutoNation (AN): Q2 EPS of $0.29 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $2.61B (-28.8%) vs. $2.8B. "Having weathered the storm, AutoNation remains in an excellent position to capitalize on dealer consolidation and the gradual recovery in industry volumes." (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Friday's open: AEP, AGN, AIV, AN, CEG, CVX, D, ITT, PEG, PKD, SRE, TOT, WY Comment!

• Thursday, April 23, 2009

• 07:45 AM AutoNation (AN): Q1 EPS of $0.23 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $2.47B (-35.6%) vs. $2.74B. Says it reduced debt by $500M in Q1, and remains in compliance with all debt covenants. Sees sales improving in H2. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Thursday's open: ABC, ALXN, AN, AVT, BDK, BG, BLL, CBE, CIT, CLS, CME, CNX, COP, CP, DHR, DO, EMC, ESI, ESV, EXC, FITB, GMT, GR, HSY, IGT, IVZ, JNS, LCC, LLL, MAR, MI, NCR, NCX, NIHD, NOV, NUE, OMTR, OXY, PENN, PM, PNC, POT, RCL, RS, RSH, RTN, RX, SCG, SEIC, SIAL, STI, SU, SVU, TCB, TMO, UNP, UPS, ZMH 1 Comment

• Tuesday, February 17, 2009

• 11:08 AM Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation boosts its stake in McDonald's (MCD) to 6.4M shares from 4.9M, Coca-Cola (KO) to 5.7M from 2.7M and AutoNation (AN) to 10.2M from 7.7M. Gates's investments lost 20% in Q4 - almost $3B. MCD recently -1.6%. KO -2.8%. AN +0.8%. 1 Comment
• 07:36 AM Interesting segment on CNBC right now, Titan Town Hall, with T. Boone Pickens and AutoNation (AN) CEO Mike Jackson. Comment!

• Thursday, January 29, 2009

• 06:51 AM AutoNation (AN): Q4 EPS of $0.12 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $2.7B (-33.9%) vs. $3.1B. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Thursday's open: AEP, AMB, AN, AZN, BC, BDK, BLL, CAL, CELG, CL, CNX, D, EK, EQT, ERIC, F, FCS, FO, GNTX, HOT, HP, IP, ITW, JBLU, LCC, LEA, LLL, LLY, MMM, MO, MPW, NWL, OSK, OXY, PCZ, RCL, RDS.A, RTN, SEIC, SII, SNE, TKR, TROW, TXT, XEL, YRCW, ZMH Comment!

• Thursday, November 6, 2008

• 07:41 AM AutoNation (AN): Q3 EPS of $0.25 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $3.54B (-21.5%) vs. $3.88B. "We expect the rest of 2008 will continue to be challenging and foresee U.S. industry new vehicle sales for 2008 in the low 13-million unit level, an 18-year low," company says. It sees 2009 sales at 12M. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Thursday's open: ABH, ABV, AN, ANSS, ARD, BRL, BX, BZH, CCOI, CDL, CEG, CHTR, CLR, CXW, DPTR, DTV, DYN, EP, FLO, FTO, GOL, HK, HUN, IAG, INCY, JRCC, KG, LAMR, LINE, NDAQ, NRF, OMG, OMX, PCG, PNK, PRGO, SE, SFY, SNH, SONS, TEL, TEVA, TM, VCI, VRX, WEN, WMB, WNR, WRC Comment!