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EARNINGSWATCH
Updates, advisories and surprises
By MarketWatch.com
Wednesday, Aug. 29

Pandora shares jump; CEO touts listener growth(4:21 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Pandora Media Inc. (P: news, chart, profile) shares climbed more than 11% in after-hours trading Wednesday following the Internet radio company's upbeat second-quarter results and forecast. "Our growth continues unabated," said Pandora Chief Executive Joe Kennedy, in an interview. During its fiscal second quarter, Pandora reported active listeners rose 48%, to 54.9 million, while its 3.3 billion total listener hours rose 80% from the same period a year ago. Kennedy noted that the company also raised its full-year forecast to a loss of between 4 cents and 8 cents a share, on revenue in a range of $425 million to $432 million, up from an earlier estimate for a loss between 7 cents and 11 cents a share, on $420 million to $427 million in revenue.

TiVo loss widens on higher costs (4:14 pm ET)
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- TiVo Inc. (TIVO: news, chart, profile) said its second-quarter loss widened on greater expenses in the period. The digital video-recording technology provider said it lost $27.74 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with a loss of $19.55 million, or 17 cents, in the same quarter a year ago. Service and technology revenues rose 10% to $54.1 million. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting a loss of 24 cents a share on service and technology revenues of $54.5 million. In the third quarter, TiVo projects that it will take a loss in the range of $27 million to $29 million on service and technology revenues in the range of $57 million to $59 million. Respondents to the FactSet survey were expecting service and technology revenues of $57 million for the third quarter. The shares were up 9.5% in after-hours trading.

Pandora loss grows, but results top forecasts(4:08 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Pandora Media Inc. (P: news, chart, profile) on Wednesday reported a fiscal second-quarter loss of $5.4 million, or 3 cents a share, on revenue of $101.3 million. During the same period a year ago, the online-radio company lost $1.8 million, or 4 cents a share, on $67 million in sales. Excluding one-time items, Pandora would have broken even on a per-share basis. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast Pandora to lose 4 cents a share on $100.4 million in revenue. Pandora said that during the quarter its total listener hours climbed 80% from a year ago to 3.3 billion hours. For its third quarter, Pandora estimates it will break even, or earn a penny a share, excluding one-time items, on revenue in a range of $115 million to $118 million. Analysts had forecast a profit of a penny a share on $114.3 million in sales.

Jos. A. Bank rallies 16% on earnings report(2:07 pm ET)
BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Jos. A Bank Clothiers Inc. (JOSB: news, chart, profile) rallied 16% to $48.44 Wednesday afternoon after the retailer released a better-than-expected quarterly earnings report, helped by strong direct-marketing sales. The company added that it also expects to open between 45 and 50 stores, along with ten factory stories, per year for fiscal 2012 and 2013. The stock has climbed 13% over the last 30 days, but is down 0.7% year-to-date.

Joy Global slumps on weak mining outlook(10:14 am ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Joy Global (JOY: news, chart, profile) shares were the leading decliner on the S&P 500 (SPX: news, chart, profile) Wednesday morning after the mining equipment company cuts its fiscal 2012 outlook due to a slowing Chinese economy and tepid demand for U.S. coal. Shares slid 5% to $50.16. "Although there is evidence that both the U.S. and China markets have bottomed, we expect a recovery to be sluggish," Joy Global CEO Mike Sutherlin said in a statement. Bookings fell 25% to $1.1 billion during the quarter ended July 27 compared with the same 2011 period. Joy Global said commodities demand has slowed forcing its customers to cut capital expenditures, reduce overhead and trim production. Joy Global shares have been hard hit this year, trading down 48% from a 52-week high of $96 touched on Jan. 26.

http://finance.yahoo.com/marketupdate/update

4:10 pm : Today's lackluster session saw equities hover within points of the unchanged line for the majority of the day. Economic data was mostly positive, but did little to inspire investor confidence. As a result the S&P 500 ended higher by 0.1% on light volume.

The Federal Reserve has released its August Beige Book which aggregates economic condition reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts. The Book suggested "economic activity continued to expand gradually in July and early August." It also noted an improvement has taken place in credit conditions and the housing market. Sales and construction continue to rise gradually while employment is holding steady or showing only marginal improvement. Several Districts cited declining demand for staffing services while most Districts indicated that retail activity, including auto sales, had increased since the last Beige Book.

Healthcare stocks were higher as a handful of names advanced on upgrades. Genetic Technologies (GENE 3.93, +0.81) soared 26.0% after positive comments were made by boutique firm Lodge Partners. PROLOR Biotech (PBTH 4.88, +0.19) ended higher by 4.1% following the initiation of coverage at Oppenheimer where the stock was given an ‘outperform' rating with a $7.00 price target. Elsewhere, Cyberonics (CYBX 49.67, +3.31) advanced 7.1% as the shares were upgraded from ‘hold' to ‘buy' at Canaccord Genuity. In addition, analysts at Piper Jaffray elevated the price target for Cyberonics from $44.00 to $52.00.

For-profit education stocks slumped after Lincoln Educational Services (LINC 4.27, -0.09) was downgraded from ‘outperform' to ‘perform' at Oppenheimer. The downgrade was attributed to slowing enrollment as well as seven campus closures. As a result, shares of Lincoln slid 2.1%. Other for-profit education stocks were also lower as slowing enrollment will likely affect all providers. Career Education (CECO 3.22, -0.11) and DeVry (DV 18.60, -0.52) slipped 3.3% and 2.7%, respectively.

Yelp (YELP 22.37, +4.11) surged 22.5% as the share lock-up expired today. The event was anticipated by short sellers as it often leads to insider selling. However, Yelp was able to buck the trend and instead made an advance. Other social media names were mixed as Groupon (GRPN 4.31, -0.06) fell 1.4% and Pandora Media (P 10.08, -0.10) slipped 1.0% ahead of its earnings release after the close.