Cisco, (CSCO) not the food services company and not the "Thong Song" rapper, but the router company. Those shares are rising, giving the Dow Jones Industrial a boost (^DJI), after reporting what management described as the best first quarter ever. Analysts were so stunned by earnings growth that they may not have noticed revenues improving only 1.3% year over year. Never one to be sheepish after 15 years of under performance, CEO John Chambers took a break from guiding lower to point out that the macro environment is concerning and President Obama better not come out in favor of net neutrality. For those of you new to investing in Cisco that "net neutrality" stuff was foreshadowing for a potential quarterly warning Chambers has penciled in for next year.
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DreamWorks (DWA) is ripping higher on rumors that Hasbro (HAS) may purchase the studio that gave us Shrek and Kung Fu Panda. Deadline.com was first to report the news which is helping the stock return to the levels it hit in September when it was supposedly Japan’s SoftBank (SFTBY) taking a look. Either way someone at DreamWorks is leaking stuff to the New York Times (NYT) and trying to set a price of anywhere from $30 to $35. The acquisition does not make much sense for Hasbro which is why that stock is tanking but that doesn't mean it won't happen. DreamWorks clearly needs a partner; at this point it's just a matter of price.
Finally, J.C. Penney (JCP) shares are off more than 9%. The reality is the heavily hyped turnaround is not happening fast enough for investors based on third quarter results. Same-store sales were flat, revenue was $2.6 billion, down slightly from a year ago and the retailer posted a per share loss of $0.62 cents albeit that's better than the $1.94 it lost a year ago. CEO Mike Ullman says the quarter shows progress but investors don't seem to share his view. The stock is down over 20-percent this year.
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