Welcome to John Ransom's Stocks In The News, where the headline meets the trendline.
Stocks in the News is produced by Ransom Notes Radio and Goodfellow, LLC. Crista Huff manages Goodfellow LLC, a website that recommends outperforming stocks using fundamental and technical analysis.
Stock number one is:
MasterCard Inc., (SYMBOL: MA) and the headline says:
"MasterCard Profit Beats Estimates as Customer Spending Increases
Bloomberg
Global payments company MasterCard Inc. reported first quarter net income up 12% year-over-year and revenue up 8%. Share repurchases came in much higher than anticipated.
Earnings are projected to grow 16-19% per year for the next three years. Morgan Stanley has a $590 price target on MA shares.
On March 28, we told investors to “Buy MasterCard”. The stock has been consistently rising, broke out on the upside again yesterday, and had a pullback today.
Our Ransom Note trendline says: BUY MASTERCARD.
Stock number two is:
Time Warner Inc., (SYMBOL: TWX ) and the headline says:
Time Warner Beats Estimates on Higher Revenue From Cable Bloomberg
The overriding theme of this season’s earnings reports has been earnings coming in higher than estimates, and revenues coming in lower. This holds true again today for Time Warner. Corporate America continues to produce more income with less revenue by cutting expenses and increasing share buybacks.
Going forward, Time Warner’s earnings are projected to grow 12-16% per year for the next three years. The company plans to spin-off its magazine business later this year, which includes People magazine and Sports Illustrated.
The stock has been climbing steadily all year. We told investors to buy Time Warner in February and March.
Our Ransom Note trendline says: ACCUMULATE TIME WARNER AT $58 PER SHARE.
Stock number three is:
Humana Inc., (SYMBOL: HUM ) and the headline says:
Humana Net Rose 91% on Lower Benefit Costs (Dow Jones Newswire)
Health & benefits company Humana Inc. reported a big first quarter earnings beat today. The company is adding Medicare Advantage customers at a brisk rate.
Humana guided full-year earnings growth expectations up to about 11% in 2013; dramatically slowing in the two years thereafter. The stock has been trading sideways for two years.
Our Ransom Note trendline says: STAY ON THE SIDELINES.