April 25, 2012

Hess Corporation (HES)

Hess isn't feeling like the Beverly Hillbillies striking it rich with oil, down 6.98% at $51.20 today. Hess went down nearly $4.00 today on a lower than expected earnings report. The company reported adjusted first quarter earnings of $1.50 per share, compared to analysts' estimates of $1.53. Along with this total revenue declined 7.3% year over year, however Hess beat analyst expectations by over $1 billion. Another reason for the decline today was that the company told Wall Street analysts it won't meet its target of 60,000 barrels of oil per day of production from the Bakken oil shale field in North Dakota. "Progress in the Bakken has been the key underpinning for optimism of a turnaround in Hess share price in 2012," analyst Edward Westlake of Credit Suisse said in a note to clients. Hess is "drilling certain acreage to capture leases as opposed to focusing just on the sweet spots" Westlake said.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)

Buffalo Wild Wings is a spicy stock today, on fire up 9.16% at $85.33. Buffalo Wild Wings went up today due to better than expected earnings. The company reported it earned $0.98 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $0.95 per share. Lynne Collier, from Sterne, Agee & Leach, raised Buffalo Wild Wings' price target to $102 from $90 after recently boosting the company's adjusted earnings estimate to $192.6 million from $182.8 million. Furthermore, Collier stated that the company has a solid balance sheet and an attractive price compared to its peers. Other analysts have questioned if Buffalo Wild Wings can continue to keep its profit margin up, with chicken prices increasing. The company addressed this issue by raising its prices for wings, but still maintaining a competitive price at around $0.50 per wing. Buffalo Wild Wings is flying high today.