Replies to post #157 on Earning Plays

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Adobe beats estimates with strong profit, sales
Adobe Systems Inc. on Monday posted strong fourth-quarter profit and sales that generally topped analysts' expectations, and reassured Wall Street that the positive trend should continue into 2008.
Still, shares of the design and document software maker slipped nearly 2% in after-hours trading, to $40.15.
San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe said net income for the period ended in November rose to $222.2 million, or 38 cents a share, from $183.2 million, or 30 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile revenue rose 34% to $911.2 million.
Excluding certain items, Adobe said fourth-quarter earnings were 49 cents a share. Analysts had estimated Adobe would post earnings of 48 cents a share for the quarter, and $887 million in revenue, according to Thomson Financial.

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Emcore Slips To A Loss In Q4 On Higher Costs, Revenues Up 33%; Expects To Reports Profit In FY08 [EMKR]

12/17/2007 12:28:01 PM Monday before the bell, Emcore Corp. (EMKR), a manufacturer and marketer of compound semiconductor-based products, announced preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter, reporting a loss, compared to profit in the prior year quarter, hurt by rise in other expenses.

Emcore's net loss for the fourth quarter was $16.2 million or $0.32 per share, compared to earnings of $75.0 million or $1.48 per share in the same quarter of the earlier year.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported a net loss of $6.4 million or $0.13 per share, compared to profit of $71.1 million or $1.40 per share in the previous year quarter. On average, eight analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial projected a loss of $0.08 per share.

Emcore's operating loss for the fourth quarter narrowed to $15.3 million from $16.3 million in the same quarter a year before. Adjusted operating loss was $5.5 million or $0.11 per share, narrower than $12.7 million or $0.25 per share in the year-ago quarter.

The company reported that its fourth quarter gross profit of $8.3 million was higher than $4.2 million in the same quarter of the prior year.

Emcore's net revenues for the fourth quarter were $47.0 million, up 33% from $35.4 million in the corresponding quarter of last year. Eight analysts, on average, expected revenues of $47.46 million.

The company's total operating expenses increased to $23.7 million from $20.5 million in the same quarter a year ago. Cost of revenue grew to $38.7 million from $31.2 million in the preceding year quarter.

Emcore's other expenses for the fourth quarter was $841 thousand in the recent quarter, compared to other income of $85.6 million in the same quarter of the previous year.

For the fiscal year 2007, the company's net loss was $57.3 million or $1.12 per share, compared to net income of $54.9 million or $1.11 per share in the earlier year.

Emcore's adjusted net loss for the fiscal year 2007 was $21.5 million or $0.42 per share, compared to net income of $53.6 million or $1.08 per share in the prior year. Five analysts, on average, anticipated a loss of $0.46 per share.

The company's total revenues for the fiscal year 2007 improved to $170.1 million from $143.5 million in the preceding year. Eight analysts' average revenues estimation was $170.06 million.

Reuben Richards, Chief Executive Officer of Emcore said, “Our primary objective for the coming year is to achieve positive earnings per share in 2008. We are well positioned in each of our core product markets and foresee continued improvement in our competitive position across all segments.”

In a separate press release, Emcore said that it has received a purchase order to supply 5.7 Megawatts, or MW, of its Concentrating Photovoltaic, or CPV, systems for alternative energy projects in South Korea, along with a letter of intent for follow-on projects of 14.3 MW, expected to be released within the next 6 months.

The company also signed an agreement with DI Semicon, a semiconductor packaging company in Seoul, Korea, regarding the formation of a joint venture among DI Semicon, Emcore and other parties.

EMKR is currently trading at $12.64, down 15 cents or 1.17% from its previous closing of $12.79.

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CalAmp Reveals Settlement With EchoStar - Update [CAMP]

12/17/2007 12:26:47 PM Friday, CalAmp Cop. (CAMP), a wireless communications products company, revealed an agreement with EchoStar Technologies Corp. settling matters related to a product performance issue affecting Direct Broadcast Satellite - DBS equipment, manufactured by CalAmp. The issue resulted in the EchoStar returning the product and putting orders on hold pending the re-qualification of products.

The Oxnard, California based CalAmp said it would issue EchoStar one million shares of its common stock along with a three year warrant to purchase an additional 350,00 shares of common stock as part of the agreement. CalAmp will also issue a $5 million non-interest bearing promissory note to this customer.

CalAmp has also agreed to rework certain DBS products previously returned to CalAmp or to be returned over a 15 month period and will provide extended warranty periods of 18 months or workmanship and product failures.

Fred Sturm, President and Chief Executive Officer, CalAmp, said, "In reaching this agreement, we have reaffirmed our commitment to stand firmly behind our products and regain the confidence of this key customer. This customer has accounted for a substantial portion of CalAmp's revenues during the last three fiscal years, so a successful resolution of this matter and retention of this customer were important for our Company. The settlement addresses the customer's claims in a manner that mitigates the cash flow impact on CalAmp. Furthermore, we believe this agreement aligns the interests of both companies to expeditiously resume our commercial relationship and we will work closely with the customer to finalize re-qualification of our products."

CalAmp believes that its previously established reserves as of August 31, 2007, the end of its most recently reported fiscal quarter, will be adequate to cover the total costs of this settlement agreement. However, it is possible that the final charges could be materially different from the amount of existing reserves.

CAMP is gaining $0.19 or 7.42% and currently trades at $2.75 on a volume of 61,250 shares on the Nasdaq.

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Calpine to reduce bankruptcy exit financing by $400M
Dow Jones/AP
Article Launched: 12/17/2007 11:33:10 AM PST

WASHINGTON - Calpine will lower its bankruptcy-exit financing package by $400 million to $7.6 billion, under a deal with its lenders that gives the power company an extra week to emerge from Chapter 11 and loosens some of the loan's financial covenants.

Calpine said it agreed to amend the financing after its lenders, Goldman Sachs Credit Partners, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., raised concerns that it wouldn't be able to meet all the conditions to access the financing "including, most significant, as to financial covenants."

The company said it disagreed with the lenders' interpretation but reached a deal to preserve the loan, which is "among the most valuable assets of the estates" and the "bedrock" upon which Calpine's bankruptcy-exit plan is built.

The changes, approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan Monday, give Calpine "additional room" to meet certain financial conditions and extend the closing deadline on the financing pact to Feb. 7 from Jan. 31.

Calpine had cautioned that it could lose its financing if it couldn't exit Chapter 11 protection by the end of January. Confirmation hearings on the company's reorganization plan were slated to begin Monday but have been pushed back to Wednesday.

"Put simply, the amended and restated exit facility contains far more favorable terms than (Calpine) would be able to obtain if requires to solicit an entirely new exit financing in current market conditions," the company said in court papers filed Friday.

Calpine negotiated the $8 billion exit loan before a recent credit crunch, fueled by a crisis in the subprime-mortgage industry, made it more difficult for companies to secure financing to exit bankruptcy protection. Tight credit markets forced auto-parts supplier Delphi Corp. to slash its proposed exit financing by $2 billion and has delayed Dura Automotive Systems Inc.'s emergence from Chapter 11.

Calpine, based in San Jose, Calif., supplies electricity to 27 million U.S. households and operates natural-gas-fired power plants.

Also Monday, an attorney for Calpine said the company has reached a tentative settlement with its shareholders and unsecured creditors on the power company's post-bankruptcy value, a deal that would head off a fight that threatened to delay Calpine's exit from bankruptcy.

Richard Cieri said the settlement would set the company's post-bankruptcy value at $18.95 billion. That's down $400 million from the company's previous estimate of $19.35 billion.

The tentative deal would give Calpine's existing shareholders warrants to buy up to 10 percent of the reorganized company's shares, in spite of the drop in the company's anticipated post-bankruptcy value.

The shareholders, who've insisted the company will be worth about $24.4 billion, wouldn't have recovered anything under the Calpine's reorganization plan if the bankruptcy court had agreed with the company's valuation.

Cieri, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan Monday that Calpine would push back until Wednesday confirmation hearings on the Chapter 11 plan to give the company more time to resolve remaining objections.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7743771?nclick_check=1