IBM beats forecasts

IBM $170.62 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $206.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.7%) reported higher-than-expected earnings in the latest quarter.

Before one-time items, IBM’s earnings per share rose 22.3% in the three months ended March 31, 2011, to… Read More

Weak sales growth makes La-Z-Boy a hold

LA-Z-BOY INC. $10 (New York symbol LZB; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 51.9 million; Market cap: $519.0 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; No dividends paid since March 2009; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.la-z-boy.com) makes reclining chairs and other furniture.

The company’s aggressive cost… Read More

Hello Pat: I own shares of TSO3 and I would like your advice. TSO3 is waiting for a U.S. FDA approval and has a distribution agreement with 3M. Does this stock have real upward potential? Thanks for your attention.

TSO3 Inc., $1.43, symbol TOS on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 58.0 million; Market cap: $83.0 million; www.tso3.com), has developed an innovative sterilization process that uses ozone, a gas comprised of three atoms of oxygen. Ozone is an effective killer of even the most resistant bacteria and… Read More

Small-cap industrials with big potential

Small-cap stocks, generally thought of as those with a market capitalization under $1 billion, have not performed as well as larger companies during the recent market volatility. Over the past year, the Russell 3000 Index, which has median market cap of $807 million, has gained… Read More