According to a new report from Edmunds.com, sales of used cars were down 6% in the first quarter of 2013. New-car sales were up, but the pace of growth has slowed down greatly since the end of last year.
Is the economy slowing, or is something else going on? In this video, Fool.com contributor John Rosevear takes a closer look at the numbers -- and at some emerging trends that could favor automakers like Ford (NYSE: F ) .
Ford's turnaround has been impressive, but the company still has big growth opportunities ahead. We've outlined those opportunities in detail in the Motley Fool's premium Ford research service. Just click here�to get started now.
5 Best Clean Energy Stocks To Own Right Now: Expedia Inc.(EXPE)
Expedia, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an online travel company in the United States and internationally. It provides travel products and services to leisure and corporate travelers, offline retail travel agents, and travel service providers through a portfolio of brands, including Expedia.com, hotels.com, Hotwire.com, Expedia Affiliate Network, Classic Vacations, Expedia Local Expert, Expedia CruiseShipCenters, Egencia, eLong, Inc., and Venere Net SpA. The company?s travel offerings consist of airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, destination services, cruises, and package travel provided by various commercial airlines, lodging properties, car rental companies, destination service providers, cruise lines, and other travel product and service companies on a stand-alone and package basis. It also facilitates the booking of hotel rooms, airline seats, car rentals, and destination services from its travel suppliers; and acts as an agent in the transa ction, passing reservations booked by its travelers to the relevant travel provider. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Benjamin Pimentel]
But Expedia Inc. (EXPE) �fell 6.2% to close at $48.51 after Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Sandler cut his rating on the online travel agency to hold from buy, citing intensifying competition in the U.S. market. Sandler also pointed to worries about management changes at Hotels.com.
- [By Rick Munarriz]
Investors have often flocked to Priceline stock as the high-margin leader in this growing category, and it has been the S&P 500's biggest winner over the past five years as a globetrotting six-bagger. Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW ) is just starting to turn profitable, so it's not much of a challenge. Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE ) may be the leader in gross bookings, but Priceline's the one scoring the meatier earnings as it focuses on the more lucrative hotel commissions.
- [By Victor Selva]
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) is one of the world's largest online travel services companies. Businesses include Expedia, Hotels.com and Hotwire. In December 2011, Expedia spun off TripAdvisor (TRIP) as a publicly traded company.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) from ��eutral��to ��uy.��The target price for Expedia has been raised from $60 to $75.
Hot Sliver Companies To Watch In Right Now: South Jersey Industries Inc.(SJI)
South Jersey Industries, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, transmission, and sale of natural gas for residential, commercial, and industrial customers. It also sells natural gas and pipeline transportation capacity on a wholesale basis to various customers on the interstate pipeline system, as well as transports natural gas purchased directly from producers or suppliers to their customers. In addition, it markets natural gas storage, commodity, and transportation assets on a wholesale basis for energy marketers, electric and gas utilities, and natural gas producers in the mid-Atlantic, Appalachian, and southern regions of the United States. Further, the company develops and operates energy-related projects, which provide cooling, heating, and emergency power; and operates landfill gas-fired electric production facilities and solar projects. Additionally, it provides services for the acquisition and transportation of natural gas and electricity for re tail end users; markets total energy management services; installs and services residential and light commercial HVAC systems; provides plumbing services; and services appliances, as well as offers meter reading services. As of December 31, 2010, the company served 347,725 residential, commercial, and industrial customers primarily in southern New Jersey. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Folsom, New Jersey.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Marc Bastow]
Energy services holding company South Jersey Industries (SJI) raised its quarterly dividend 6.7% to 47.25 cents per share, payable on Dec. 27 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 10. The increase marks the 15th consecutive increase to the annual dividend.
SJI Dividend Yield: 3.41%
Hot Sliver Companies To Watch In Right Now: AMN Healthcare Services Inc(AHS)
AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. provides healthcare staffing and clinical workforce management solutions in the United States. The company?s Nurse and Allied Healthcare Staffing segment provides staffing solutions for hospitals and other healthcare facilities, including medical, surgical, specialty, licensed practical or vocational, and advanced practice nurses, as well as surgical technologists and dialysis technicians. This segment also offers allied health professionals under the Med Travelers, Club Staffing, and Rx Pro Health brand names to acute-care hospitals and other healthcare facilities, such as skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation clinics, and retail and mail-order pharmacies. These allied health professionals include physical, surgical, respiratory, and occupational therapists, as well as medical and radiology technologists, speech pathologists, rehabilitation assistants, pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. Its Locum Tenens Staffing segment places physic ians of various specialties, certified registered nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, and dentists on a temporary basis as independent contractors with various healthcare organizations, including hospitals, medical groups, occupational medical clinics, individual practitioners, networks, psychiatric facilities, government institutions, and managed care entities. The company?s Physician Permanent Placement Services segment provides permanent physician placement services to hospitals, healthcare facilities, and physician practice groups under the Merritt Hawkins and Kendall & Davis brand names. This segment also offers specialty offerings, including internal medicines, family practices, and surgeries. Its Home Healthcare Services segment provide home healthcare services to individuals with acute-care illness, long-term chronic health conditions, permanent disabilities, terminal illnesses, and post-procedural needs. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in S an Diego, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
What: Shares of AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE: AHS ) , a health care staffing solutions company, jumped as much as 11% after reporting its third-quarter earnings results.
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE: AHS ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Hot Sliver Companies To Watch In Right Now: Align Technology Inc.(ALGN)
Align Technology, Inc., a medical device company, designs, manufactures, and markets clear aligner systems or Invisalign systems, intra-oral scanners, and computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) restorative models used in dentistry, orthodontics, and dental records storage in North America and Internationally. The company?s clear aligner products include Invisalign Full for the treatment of malocclusions; Invisalign Express and Invisalign Lite solutions for less complex orthodontic cases; Invisalign Teen, which is primarily marketed to orthodontists for treating malocclusion in teenage patients; Invisalign Assist for use in anterior alignment and aesthetically-oriented cases; and Vivera retainers for invisalign and non-invisalign patients. It also offers ancillary products comprising cleaning material and adjusting tools used by dental professionals during the course of treatment. In addition, the company provides iTero scanners; iOC scanners; a nd iTero dual scanner, which includes both the iTero restorative software and the iOC orthodontic software, as well as services comprising iTero restorative and OrthoCAD services. Further, it offers CAD/CAM services, such as iTero Models and Dies; OrthoCAD iCast and OrthoCAD iRecord that provides a digital alternative to traditional stone cast models, which allows for simplified storage and digital record retrieval; and OrthoCAD iQ, a computer-guided system for optimal placement of traditional brackets and customized indirect bonding tray system. The company distributes its products primarily directly to orthodontists and general practitioner dentists, as well as restorative dentists, including prosthodontists, periodontists, and oral surgeons. Align Technology, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
What: Shares of Align Technology (NASDAQ: ALGN ) , a medical device and software design company for the dental and orthodontics industry, jumped as much as 12% after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Its braces might be invisible but Align Technology’s (ALGN) gains are not.
Getty ImagesThe maker of transparent braces and other dental products reported earnings of 42 cents a share, week above analyst forecasts for a 30 cent profit. Revenue, meanwhile, rose to $164.5 million, above the $158.6 million forecast.
William Blair’s John Kreger and team are impressed:
We are encouraged by the strong results, which stand in stark contrast to second half 2012 when volume growth and margins declined unexpectedly. Align’s Invisalign is clearly gaining market share, generating 16% unit growth in an environment where overall orthodontic procedures are essentially flat by our estimates.
Stifel’s Jonathan Block and Ethan Roth can barely contain their excitement. They write:
Our entire 2014 leverage thesis played out in 3Q13 as ALGN significantly beat EPS numbers…yet we were silly enough to make a cautious call in front of the quarter. That said, we think our 2014 $1.66 versus the Street�� $1.53 should no longer be viewed as an ��nrealistic expectation��and we believe consensus likely brings their estimates up to us��overnight. Align seems to be in the sweet spot as past investments (APAC, N.A. sales reps) are starting to pay off and new innovations (SmartTrack) are resonating with docs and helping to drive utilization higher. We are raising our 2014 and 2015 EPS estimates. Reiterate Buy and increase PT from $54 to $57.
Cantor Fitzgerald’s Jeremy Feffer upgrades Aligns shares to Buy from Hold:
After seemingly hitting bottom in 3Q:12, ALGN has taken concrete steps to revitalize its North American GP dentist segment, stabilize/improve pricing, and build a formidable O-U.S. sales and training operation, all of which are paying dividends. With better overall volume trends, the ClearCorrect ITC victory, and the Realine launch, we see plenty of runway for continued outperformance.
Hot Sliver Companies To Watch In Right Now: Zoetis Inc (ZTS)
Zoetis Inc, incorporated on July 25, 2012, is engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and commercialization of animal health medicines and vaccines, with a focus on both livestock and companion animals. The primary livestock species are cattle (both beef and dairy), swine, poultry, sheep and fish, and the primary companion animal species are dogs, cats and horses. In February 2014, Benchmark Holdings PLC purchased aquaculture vaccine and development assets from animal health company Zoetis Inc.
The Company�� more than 300 product lines include vaccines, parasiticides, anti-infectives, medicated feed additives and other pharmaceutical products. The Company�� product portfolio also includes businesses, such as diagnostics, genetics, devices and services, such as dairy data management, e-learning and professional consulting. The Company operates in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Carroll]
Other leading firms in the health-care field have caught on. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE ) has made some of the strongest moves to concentrate on its core recently, selling its infant nutrition business to Nestle and spinning off its former animal health business, Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS ) , in order to unlock shareholder value. These moves not only allowed Pfizer to concentrate on its high-growth, boom-or-bust pharmaceutical business, but also, as a secondary effect, made the stock attractive to growth investors by focusing the company's future around a core designed for growth.
Hot Sliver Companies To Watch In Right Now: SolarWorld AG (SRWRY)
SolarWorld AG is a Germany-based company, operating in the crystalline solar power sector. The Company's core business activity is the production and distribution of solar power applications and ready-to-assembly solar kits for roof installation and large-scale solar power plants. The Company operates in the area of on-grid and off-grid technology. It also provides recycling services. The Company divides its activities into four operational segments: Production Germany, which deals with wafer production; Production U.S., which deals with mono-crystalline modules production; Trade, which deals with products distribution; as well as Other, which deals with research and development. The Company operates through its subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States. As of December 31, 2011, the Company's subsidiaries included SolarWorld Innovations GmbH, Sunicon GmbH, Deutsche Solar GmbH, SolarFactory GmbH, SolarWorld Industries America Inc, SolarWorld Americas LLC, among others. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bruce Kennedy]
On Monday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced indictments against five officers in China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) for ��erious cybersecurity breaches��against six American firms: Westinghouse Electric, a division of Toshiba (OTC: TOSBF) , Alcoa (NYSE: AA),�Allegheny Technologies (NYSE: ATI), U.S. Steel (NYSE: X), the United Steelworkers Union and SolarWorld (OTC: SRWRY).
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