Sony Corp., Kohla?s Corp., Santarus, Inc., Merck and Depomed

Published in House and Home on Friday, May 14th 2010 at 14:10 GMT by Market Wire
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CHICAGO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Zacks.com Analyst Blog features: Sony Corp. (NYSE: [ SNE ]), Kohla�s Corp. (NYSE: [ KSS ]), Santarus, Inc. (Nasdaq: [ SNTS ]), Merck (NYSE: [ MRK ]) and Depomed (Nasdaq: [ DEPO ]).

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Here are highlights from Thursdaya�s Analyst Blog:

Sony Loss Narrows

Sony Corp. (NYSE: [ SNE ]) reported a narrower fiscal 2009 fourth-quarter net loss of 56.6 billion ($608 million), compared to 165.1 billion in the year-ago period. The improved performance was primarily driven by strong Financial Services revenue, robust performance by PC and gaming businesses as well as strict cost containment initiatives.

During the quarter, consolidated revenue grew by 12.5% year-over-year to 1.7 trillion ($18.4 billion). The growth was mainly attributable to strong growth in Financial Services and Networked Products & Services segments. Operating loss narrowed to 56.0 billion ($603 million) from 294.3 billion in the in the year-ago period primarily due to higher sales, improved gross margin and cost containment initiatives.

Kohla�s Beats, Price Tumbles

Kohla�s Corp. (NYSE: [ KSS ]) reported fiscal 2010 first-quarter results with a net income of $199 million or 64 cents per share, compared to $137 million or 45 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter. Quarterly earnings also topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0.62 cents per share.

Quarterly net sales grew by 10.9% to $4.0 billion from $3.6 billion in the prior-year quarter, primarily due to a 7.4% growth in same-store sales. Gross margin increased 49 basis points (bps) to 38.1%, mainly due to prudent inventory management and effective merchandising.

Total operating expenses increased by 39.8% to $3.5 billion from $2.5 billion in the year-ago period. The increase was primarily caused by a 7.3% rise in selling, general and administrative expenses to $1.0 billion. However, growth in the top-line and gross margin more than offset the increase in operating expenses.

During the quarter, Kohla�s had opened 9 new stores. At quarter end, the company had 1,067 stores across 49 states in the U.S. During the year, the company expects to open an additional 21 stores. In addition, the company completed remodeling in 17 stores during the period, and expects to remodel another 68 stores during the year.

Santarus Beats Expectations

Santarus, Inc. (Nasdaq: [ SNTS ]) reported first-quarter earnings of 5 cents per share, well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss ofone cent and the year-ago earnings of 2 cents. Total revenues, consisting of net product sales, promotion revenues and license and royalty revenues came in at $39.7 million, up 14% from the year-ago period.

Product-related revenues, which consist of net product sales and promotion revenues, increased 18% to $37.8 million during the reported quarter. Zegerid net product sales were $29 million, up 5%. However, total prescriptions declined 19% in the reported quarter following Santarusa� decision to exit from non-performing government and managed care contracts.

We believe that Zegerid prescriptions will remain slightly down to flat in the first half of 2010.

Zegerid over-the-counter (OTC) was launched recently by Merck (NYSE: [ MRK ]). Merck has launched a significant consumer advertising campaign for Zegerid OTC, which should increase awareness and help educate consumers about Zegerida�s features and benefits.

Promotion revenues of $8.8 million increased significantly from the prior-year perioda�s $4.5 million in promotion revenues, mainly due to those associated with the co-promotion of Depomeda�s (Nasdaq: [ DEPO ]) Glumetza. Glumetza total prescriptions increased 28% year over year.

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Sony Corp., Kohla?s Corp., Santarus, Inc., Merck and Depomed