Topic: Growth Stocks

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, November 21, 2014

Article Excerpt

PETSMART INC., $78.70, Nasdaq symbol PETM, operates 1,387 pet stores in the U.S. and Canada. It also has 201 in-store PetsHotel boarding facilities for dogs and cats. In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended November 2, 2014, PetSmart’s earnings declined 0.1%, to $92.16 million from $92.22 million a year earlier. However, earnings per share rose 4.5%, to $0.92 from $0.88, on fewer shares outstanding. Activist investment firms Jana Partners and Longview Asset Management each own about 9% of the company’s stock. Under pressure from these investors, PetSmart is now lowering its overhead and other costs, with the goal of cutting $200 million from its annual expenses by the end of fiscal 2016. Excluding restructuring costs, PetSmart earned $1.02 a share in the latest quarter. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus forecast of $0.94 a share. Revenue gained 2.6%, to $1.74 billion from $1.70 billion. However, sales were flat on a same-store basis. The stock has gained 13% in the past three…