wall street

C.R. Bard Inc. (symbol BCR on New York) makes medical devices in four main areas: urology products, such as vascular products, including stents and catheters (28% of 2010 sales); oncology products that detect and treat various types of cancer (27%); drainage and incontinence devices (26%); and surgical tools and other products (19%). Bard is one of the stock market picks we analyze in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter. In 2010, Bard’s sales rose 7.3%, to $2.7 billion from $2.5 billion in 2009. Earnings rose 10.7%, to $509.2 million from $460.1 million a year earlier. Earnings per share climbed 15.7% to $5.32 from $4.60, on fewer shares outstanding. If you exclude unusual items, such as merger costs, earnings per share would have risen 10.0%, to $5.60 from $5.09....

Briggs & Stratton (symbol BGG on New York) is the world’s largest lawnmower engine maker. This business accounts for 62% of Brigg’s revenue. It gets the remaining 38% by making other home and garden equipment, such as portable and standby generators, pressure washers and snow blowers. In the three months ended December 26, 2010, sales rose 14.6%, to $450.3 million from $393.0 million a year earlier. Larger shipments of engines to European and Asian manufacturers boosted revenue, as did sales of snow blowers, lawn mowers and pressure washers. However, the company lost $1.3 million, or $0.03 per share, compared to earnings of $3.0 million, or $0.06 a share, a year earlier. The loss resulted in part from $4.6 million in restructuring and refinancing charges....

Arkansas Best Corp. (symbol ABFS on Nasdaq) specializes in “less-than-truckload” shipping, which involves loading freight from a number of customers onto a single truck. In 2010, Arkansas Best’s revenue rose 12.6%, to $1.7 billion from $1.5 billion on 2009. The company lost $32.7 million, or $1.30 per share, in 2010. However, that was a big improvement on the $127.5 million, or $2.46 per share, that it lost in 2009. Arkansas-Best shipped more freight as the economy gradually recovered in 2010, particularly during the fourth quarter. Strong competition has been keeping shipping rates down, however. Arkansas-Best is now raising its rates to cover rising fuel costs....

Archer Daniels Midland Co., New York symbol ADM, processes corn, wheat, soybeans, canola, flaxseed, peanuts, cocoa and other crops into a wide variety of food ingredients, such as flour, oils and sweeteners. It mainly sells its products to firms that make and process food for both humans and animals. The company is also the largest maker of ethanol from corn in the U.S. Ethanol is a gasoline additive that lowers harmful emissions. Archer Daniels has more than 270 plants worldwide. The company is one of the commodity investments we analyze in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter. In its 2011 second quarter, which ended December 31, 2010, the commodity investment’s revenue rose 31.6% to $20.9 billion from $15.9 billion a year earlier. That beat the consensus revenue forecast of $17.2 billion. Earnings rose 29.1%, to $732.0 million, or $1.14 a share, from $567.0 million, or $0.88 a share. The latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.78 a share....

Small cap stocks are companies with a “market cap” (the value of shares they have outstanding) below $2 billion, or some other arbitrary figure. (In the latest Wall Street Stock Forecaster, we updated our buy/sell/hold advice on a former U.S. small cap stock that has jumped that’s 89.1% since we first recommended it in May 2007. At the time, the company’s market cap was $1.6 billion. But it has more than doubled since, to $3.4 billion today. See below for further details.) Small cap stocks have the potential for strong gains, but they are generally more volatile than large-cap stocks. Temporary setbacks, such as a poor quarterly earnings report or the loss of a contract, can quickly cut their share prices. That’s why we view even the best small cap stocks as aggressive, and advise investors not to overindulge in small caps....

Stanley Black & Decker Inc., New York symbol SWK, makes power and hand tools and security devices. It took its current form on March 12, 2010. That’s when Stanley Works bought the Black & Decker Corp. for about $4.5 billion in stock. Stanley shareholders own 50.5% of the combined company, and Black & Decker investors own the remaining 49.5%. In 2010, the U.S. stock’s earnings per share rose 35.5%, to $4.12 from $3.04. This excludes one-time merger costs. Sales improved in both the U.S. and internationally, especially in Latin America. Sales in Canada and Australia declined slightly. Adding Black & Decker’s pre-merger sales in early 2010 to sales of the merged company in 2010 results in $9.3 billion total sales for 2010. Stanley Black & Decker expects that figure to rise by 5% to 6% in 2011....

Adding a stock market pick from the Consumer sector can add stability to your portfolio. That’s because these companies sell items, like food, that consumers must buy regardless of the direction of the economy. The best consumer stocks have built brands that have strong customer loyalty and produce steady, predictable revenue streams. In a just-published issue of Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that focuses on U.S. stocks, we’ve updated our buy/sell/hold advice on a stock market pick that has a number of strong brands, Kraft Foods Inc. (symbol KFT on New York). Kraft is the world’s second-largest food company, after Switzerland-based Nestle. This stock market pick cut its costs during the recession, including selling or discontinuing less-profitable brands, closing plants and cutting jobs. It has used these savings to improve the quality of its existing products and develop new ones....

TUPPERWARE BRANDS CORP., $45.63, New York symbol TUP, is our #1 Stock of the Year for 2011. The company makes high-quality products for the home, including plastic food and beverage containers and children’s educational toys. These products account for 70% of its revenue. The remaining 30% comes from its beauty products division, which makes a wide range of cosmetics, bath oils and fragrances. Unlike most consumer product makers, Tupperware mainly prefers to sell its goods through independent dealers instead of stores. The company now has 2.5 million dealers in over 100 countries. These dealers hold “Tupperware parties” in homes, offices and other locations to demonstrate products and take orders for merchandise. Parties also provide an opportunity to recruit new dealers, and make it easier to expand sales in less-developed countries with few retail stores or distribution networks....

Texas Instruments Inc. (New York symbol TXN) makes chips for a wide variety of electronic devices, including cellphones, DVD players, digital cameras and handheld calculators. The tech stock’s chips are also used in other products, ranging from weapons-guidance systems to kidney-dialysis machines. In the three months ended December 31, 2010, Texas Instruments’ earnings jumped to $942 million, or $0.78 a share. A year earlier, the company earned $655 million, or $0.52 a share. The sale of a product line, and restoring a research and development federal tax credit contributed $0.14 a share to the latest quarterly earnings. The tech stock’s sales rose 17.3% to $3.5 billion from $3.0 billion. The company saw stronger demand for chips from makers of smartphones and communications gear. That offset lower sales to computer and television makers....

We’ve chosen Tupperware as our Stock of the Year for 2011. We first recommended it in the May 2007 issue of Wall Street Stock Forecaster at $26. We felt its direct sales force was an overlooked asset. This independent dealer network keeps the company’s marketing costs low, and is a great way to enter developing markets with few retail stores. Tupperware could also use its network in the future to sell other products besides food containers and cosmetics. The stock has gained 80.8% since we first made it a buy. Even so, we feel it has lots more growth ahead. As well, Tupperware trades at less than 12 times its expected 2011 earnings. That’s a low p/e ratio in light of the company’s well-known brands and continued strong growth potential in emerging markets. TUPPERWARE BRANDS CORP. $47 (New York symbol TUP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 63.2 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.tupperwarebrands.com) makes high-quality products for the home, including plastic food and beverage containers and children’s educational toys. These products account for 70% of its revenue. The remaining 30% comes from its beauty products division, which makes a wide range of cosmetics, bath oils and fragrances....