Why Kroger Co (KR), Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) and Pharmacyclics, Inc. (PCYC) are 3 of Today’s Best Stocks

Advertisement

U.S. markets bounced back on Thursday after a couple of down days, as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi told reporters that the ECB will begin a 1 trillion euro bond-buying program on Monday.

Why Kroger Co (KR), Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) and Pharmacyclics, Inc. (PCYC) are 3 of Today's Best StocksDraghi’s news was somewhat positive, but was tempered by a report that U.S. factory orders fell 0.2% in January, although analysts had expected a gain. It was also the sixth consecutive monthly decline. Productivity declined 2.2%, but still slightly beat expectations.

Many traders sat on the sidelines, awaiting Friday’s important job report.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 0.2% the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite had gained 0.3%.

Several sectors were showing gains today, with healthcare and utilities among the strongest. As for individual issues, some interesting earnings and a buyout made Kroger Co (NYSE:KR), Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) and Pharmacyclics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCYC) three of today’s best stocks.

Kroger Co (KR)

KR stock rose more 6.7% after Kroger reported fourth-quarter EPS of $1.04 a share, easily beating the street estimates by 14 cents. Revenue, which grew 8.5% to $25.2 billion, also beat the estimate for $25.1 billion.

In addition, the Cincinnati-based supermarket chain announced forward guidance of $3.80 to $3.90 a share for 2015, trouncing the Street view of $3.72.

The company said that strong customer relationships were responsible for the excellent quarter. KR stock has been steadily climbing since last October, and is up 45% during that time.

Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ)

Sometimes you don’t even have to beat the analysts’ estimates for a stock to rise. CSIQ stock gapped up more than 14% today, despite the solar company recording fourth-quarter EPS of $1.28, missing expectations of $1.34 a share. It also projected full-year 2015 revenue of $2.8 billion to $3.0 billion, well below estimates of $3.4 billion.

So why exactly was CSIQ stock higher?

For starters, fourth-quarter revenue increased 84.1% from the previous year, to $956.2 million, and was higher than expected. In addition, CSIQ announced it will form a yieldco (asset-holding yield company), joining a handful of other solar companies, such as First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) and SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) which have also recently announced similar plans.

Pharmacyclics, Inc. (PCYC)

Pharmacyclics stock bolted more than 10% higher on 17.8 million shares after AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) announced it would buy the company for $21 billion.  AbbVie will pay $261.25 a share in both cash and stock for the biotech firm with the popular blood cancer treatment, Imbruvica. AbbVie is trying to lessen its reliance on rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, a drug which has done well but may begin to see sales decline after 2017.

Imbruvica sales are expected to be at least $5.8 billion by the year 2020.

As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

More From InvestorPlace


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2015/03/kroger-co-kr-canadian-solar-inc-csiq-pharmacyclics-inc-pcyc-3-todays-best-stocks/.

©2024 InvestorPlace Media, LLC