Hello Friends! Thanks so much for visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice. As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor sharing with you my observations on the market and stocks in particular. Please consult with a professional investment advisor prior to making any decisions based on information on this website. I shall not ask for any credit for your profits earned through stock picks on this site, nor can I accept any blame for your own decisions using similar information!
One thing that I do like to do on weekends, is to review past stock selections. In that way, hopefully, I can tell whether my philosophy even works! And how it does or doesn't succeed in picking stock winners.
These reviews assume a "buy and hold" strategy for assessing returns. In practice, I actually use a far more disciplined system of selling my losing stocks quickly and selling portions of my winning stocks slowly. Also, when I review selections, I have been using a "thumbs-up" and a "thumbs-down" on latest earnings reports. Stocks only get a "thumbs-up" when both earnings and revenue are growing. This should not be construed as a comprehensive buy or sell recommendation on this or any stock, just my take on whether the report would still fit into my own philosophy of picking stocks!
I posted Total System Services (TSS) on Stock Picks on March 8, 2004, when it was trading at $22.30. TSS closed at $24.58 on 4/29/05, for a gain of $2.28 or 10.2%.
On April 19, 2005, TSS reported 1st quarter 2005 results. l For the quarter ended March 31, 2005, total revenue came in at $350.0 million, up 22.7% from $285.2 million in the same quarter in 2004. Net income grew 41.7% to $46.1 million from $32.6 million the prior year. On a diluted eps basis this was up 41.7% to $.23/share up from $.17/share in 2004. TSS went on to raise guidance for 2005 with net income growth to be in the range of 22-25%, and revenue growth in the 30-33% range.
On 3/9/04, I posted ResCare (RSCR) on Stock Picks when it was trading at $11.01. RSCR closed at $14.29 on 4/29/05, for a gain of $3.28 or 29.8%.On April 27, 2005, RSCR reported 1st quarter 2005 results. Revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, grew 5% over the prior year to $258.7 million. Net income for the quarter increased 28% to $5.7 million or $.18/diluted share from $4.4 million or $.17/diluted share the prior year. In addition, the company raised guidance, another positive development, for 2005.
Finally, on March 14, 2004, I posted Somanetics (SMTS) on Stock Picks when it was trading at $11.50. SMTS closed at $13.30 on 4/29/05 for a gain of $1.80 or 15.7%.On March 15, 2005, SMTS reported 1st quarter 2005 results. For the quarter ended February 28, 2005, net revenues jumped 51% to $4.0 million. Net income increased 192% to $854,433 from $292,744 in the first quarter 2004. A provision of $290,507 for income taxes, reduced net income down to $563,926, which was still ahead of 2004. On a diluted, per share basis, this worked out, even with the tax allocation to $.05/share, up 66% from $.03/share the prior year. The company also raised net revenue guidance in 2005 to between 47 and 52% over the 2004 results. So how did we do that week a bit over a year ago? Assuming a buy and hold strategy, we had three picks that week (I didn't buy any of those issues), with an average gain of 18.6%. Really not too bad at all!
Thanks so much for visiting! If you have any comments or questions please feel free to leave them right here on the blog or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.
Bob