Taser International Shocks Wall Street; Marissa Mayer’s Having a Plentiful Year; Laboring Away

Zap to it…

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Nothing like accountability to drive earnings up. The big winner amongst the civil unrest that has been infecting our country is Scottsdale-based Taser International. The company just reported strong first quarter earnings that beat expectations. The company reported revenue of $44.8 million with earnings per share of 13 cents, while analysts only expected 7 cents on $40 million in revenue. News of the boffo earnings even sent shares of the company up nearly 10% at one point today. Maybe analysts haven’t seen the news lately, because a lot of that came from Taser’s Axon body cameras  – yeah, they make those too – which, given all the unfortunate events involving law enforcement, are rapidly gaining in popularity. It seems everybody wants law enforcement to don those body cameras from lawmakers to average citizens.Yes, it’s hard to believe it wasn’t just the zappers that led to those great first quarter earnings.  In fact, Taser’s products are so hot lately (no pun intended) that shares are up 83% for the year.

Going green…

Marissa Mayer had a very good year. Well, in her bank account anyway. However, it could have even been better. The Yahoo chief pulled down about $42 million for 2014, only getting a little more than half of her $2 million target bonus and and close to 70% of her stock awards. She could have made more. A lot more. Like way over $12 million more. Like more than $55 million in total. But, alas, the company stock didn’t do as well hoped. Oh well. Maybe next year. The way it works over at Yahoo, and presumably many other companies like it, is that folks like Ms. Mayer get paid according to how well they perform and if they are able to meet certain goals set by the board. She didn’t exactly meet them but she is not exactly hurting either. Since she took the helm at the company in 2012, Yahoo’s stock more than doubled. It also helps that Yahoo has a big chunk of Alibaba Group, which helped bring in some that $42 million. As for 2015, the Yahoo chief isn’t expected to take in as much since some of that bonus cash was from one time stock and option awards. But she’ll likely still have more than enough for a rainy day.

Labor gains…

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Looks like there are a lot less people filing for unemployment benefits, according to the Department of Labor.  In fact, it’s been 15 years since numbers like this have even graced our fickle little economy. The number of people collecting unemployment checks for the very first time fell 34,000 to 262,000 applicants.  Analysts expected that number to be closer to 290,000 people. Employers even added 126,000 people to the payroll. Even the number of people who collect unemployment checks took a nice welcome dive by about 74,000 to 2.25 million people. That’s another figure that hasn’t been this low in almost fifteen years. All that aggravation over March’s numbers that gave us such fiscal economic anxiety turned out to be much ado about nothing. Well, it wasn’t nothing, but at least we can relegate it to a bad, distant memory.

Nothing to Chirp About at Twitter; Lumber Liquidators Earnings Nearly Hit the Floor; Ben Bernanke’s Impressive Resume

Chirp…

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What’s worse? Having your earnings leaked prematurely or the fact that those earnings were so bad? Hmmm. This one’s a toss up. Either way, Twitter’s bummed on all ends. Earnings reports are released only after the closing bell or right before the opening bell giving traders/investors/wannabes a chance to study the numbers and figure out how to proceed. Twitter’s “inadvertently” pre-maturely released earnings, which occurred on its very own platform, sent the stock south 20% and even caused trading of the stock to be suspended for a period. But that was only Twitter’s second worst day ever.  As for the horrible numbers, sales are actually up 74% over the previous year but the problem – and it’s a big one – is that Twitter’s growth rate is not up. User growth grew 18% to 302 million active users. But last month it grew 20%. Those figures are only supposed to go up. Never down. And herein lies one of social media company’s many many problems. Another is that CEO Dick Costolo’s credibility has come under fire and here’s why: It seems he didn’t see the writing on the wall, namely that all signs were pointing to a major slowdown.

Floor-ed…

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Things at Lumber Liquidators keep getting worse as the company reported its first quarter earnings and to the surprise of no one, the company took a loss of $7.9 million and 29 cents per share on $260 million in revenue. I have to wonder if analysts didn’t hear about the scathing “60 Minutes” report that accused the company of selling formaldehyde-laced flooring because they expected the company to at least gain 15 cents a share. To give you an idea of just how bad those earnings really are, last year at this time the company took in a profit of $13.7 million and 49 cents a share. In case you were wondering how the company even made any money this quarter, most of it comes from January and February, before the damning piece even ran on March 1. Much of those losses are because of all those legal and professional fees the company has been shelling out to defend itself. But it’s safe to assume that people also are probably not buying from a company that would allow toxins to make their way into the company’s products. And the trouble just keeps coming. Lumber Liquidators says it is aware of the over 100 pending class action lawsuits against it. Even the Department of Justice has entered the fray seeking criminal charges against the company under the Lacey Act. Oh and one more thing, its CFO, Daniel Terrell, needs to brush up his resume as he’s leaving the company.

Ben…

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Ben Bernanke’s LinkedIn profile seems to be filling up nicely. First he took a position as a distinguished fellow in residence at the Brookings Institution. Then he picked up a consulting gig at hedge fund, Citadel. Now, the former Federal Reserve Chairman has some new West Coast digs, thanks to PIMCO, who just announced that Mr. Bernanke would be joining its ranks as a senior adviser. PIMCO could definitely use Mr. Bernanke’s guidance right about now as investors have pulled about $100 billion from the fund following the departures of Co-Chief-Investment Officers, Bill Gross and Mohamed El-Erians last year. The former fed chairman will still have plenty of cash to play with as PIMCO handles about $1.59 trillion and runs the world’s biggest mutual fund. He’ll even get to “engage” with clients, which should help win back some of that $100 billion and assuage the fears of those finicky investors.

Nothing Luxurious About Coach’s Earnings; Just Ship It; Can It Get Any Better for Apple?

Not on trend…

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Consumers just aren’t feeling the love for Coach, at least in the United States, as evidenced by its third quarter earnings. Those earnings can best be described as short on style and long on disappointment, as sales here took a nasty 24% dive to $493 million. Last year at this time sales hit $648 million in the U.S. As for the rest of the world, the company saw sales plunge 15% to $929 million, a far cry from the $949 million analysts were predicting. It wouldn’t be right not to put some of the blame on the strong U.S. dollar. After all, it’s the thing to do these days. But that excuse can only go so far. At least Coach managed to beat Wall Street’s profit expectations by a whole penny. Yeah you read that right. Coach’s net income came in at $81.1 million and 36 cents per share. That figure might have been somewhat impressive if not for the fact that last year at this time Coach saw a profit that was more than double at $191 million and 68 cents per share. The leather goods company better hope its $547 million Stuart Weitzman acquisition pays off as Coach has some very unflattering plans to shut down 43 shops and twelve outlets.

Brown paper packages tied up with string…

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You know whose earnings didn’t suck? Hint: Brown delivery trucks. Indeed, UPS delivered some very impressive digits, which is especially awesome considering the hit it took during the holiday season. Just how impressive were these earnings? Well, the company took in $14 billion worth of revenue, a 1.4% increase from last year. That’s a lot of packages. Actually, it’s about 1.1 billion packages, 2.8% more than last year, to be precise. Unfortunately, Wall Street analysts actually expected more from the shipping company and hoped it would reach $14.3 billion. But, oh well. No one seems to be too upset since UPS managed to score $1 billion in profits at $1.12 per share, easily taking down analyst estimates of $1.09 per share. Last year at this time UPS saw a profit of $911 million with 98 cents per share. The tricky part, however, is that even though the stock is up 14% from a year ago, it is still down 11% for the year. Strange how that works out.

Keeps getting better and better and…

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Apple has done it again. Yawn. The iPhone/iPad/Master of the Universe reported another epic quarter of earnings that leave just about every single other company – in the world – green with envy. With $58 billion in sales, Apple scored $13.8 billion in profits adding a very plump $2.33 per share. I guess that’s what happens when you sell 61 million iPhones. For those lucky enough to own shares of the company, their dividends went up too. The company is oozing money  – like, $194 billion of it – with $33 billion of it just in cold hard cash and the rest in investments, which, knowing Apple, will pay off handsomely. Oh, and did I mention the stock hit a new high? Well, I just did. All this, and the Apple watch barely hit the market. Have you ordered yours yet? They’re going for between $349 – $17,000. That ought to make Apple’s next earnings report a bit more interesting.

McDonald’s It Ain’t as Burger King Posts Whopper Earnings; Chipotle Crosses GMO Off Its Menus; WalletHub Gives You the Lowdown on Where to Start a Biz

Royal earnings…

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Looks like the Burger King-Tim Hortons merger paid off as the newly formed company, Restaurant Brand International Inc., the world’s third largest fast-food company, posted some very impressive earnings. Those earnings had a little help from some of those tasty chicken fries and the ever-popular Spicy BLT Whopper Sandwich. Pulling down $932 million in revenue and taking in 18 cents a share, the company beat analysts’ estimates by 3 cents. In fact, the home of the Whopper had its best quarter for growth in almost ten years, unlike fast-food chain rival, McDonald’s who can’t seem to do anything right these days to get its earnings on the uptown train. Burger King has 14,300 restaurants with about half just in North America. Sales at Burger King picked up 9.6% while Tim Hortons saw an 8.1% rise. The company is even giving out a 10 cent per share dividend. And who doesn’t like a dividend?  These earnings might not be sitting too well with the Department of the Treasury who is downright aghast at companies merging for tax inversion purposes. In case you don’t recall, that’s when U.S. companies merge with foreign companies in an effort to pay a reduced tax rate in the U.S. The Department of the Treasury has since been doing its super, very best to make those tax inversion mergers that much more difficult to complete.

I got 99 problem but GMO’s ain’t one…

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In case you get a yen for some GMO – as in, genetically modified  – nourishment, you needn’t bother getting your fix on at Chipotle. They’ve dropped that ingredient from its cuisine. At least in the United States. It seems like only yesterday that Chipotle was serving up genetically modified soybean oil and corn. Actually it was yesterday and those ingredients were actually found in a number of items at the eatery including its tortilla chips and taco shells. Perhaps you recall two years ago when Chipotle brought the issue of GMO’s to our attention and graciously began listing the offending items on its menu that contained such ingredients. Chipotle became the first restaurant to do such a thing and, in its own special way, passively-aggressively began menu-shaming other fast-food establishments who didn’t own up to their genetically-modified flawed menus. However the scientific community has yet to jump on the anti-GMO bandwagon, or even find anything alarming or problematic with using GMO’s. Even though Chipotle recently missed earnings estimates, with some of that owing to a pork shortage for its beloved carnitas, the stock seems to be holding steady at around $640 per share.

Location location location…

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If you like the idea of being your own boss, the question of where to set up shop might just be the most important decision you make in starting your own business. Good thing the fine folks over at WalletHub already did the research for you so you can focus on the fun stuff, like zoning permits and plumbing problems. Using a bunch of useful criteria, from space affordability to how educated a locale’s labor force is, WalletHub compiled a list of “2015’s Best Cities to Start a Business.” Of the 150 cities listed, some of the more notable gems from the study found that the South is where it’s at with Shreveport, Louisiana taking the top spot. In fact Southern cities dominate most of the top ten spots. Figures as they know a thing or two about hospitality. Thinking of starting your own business in California? Well, don’t. Several cities in the Golden State fall at the wrong end of the list. As for the 150th best city to start your business? That distinguished honor belongs to Newark, New Jersey.

GM Earnings Not So Revved Up; Wall Street Goes Dunkin’ DoNUTS ; Its Girl Scout Cookie Time – All the Time

Unstoppable?

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General Motors came out with its quarterly earnings and you’d hardly know all the fiscal trouble it was dealing with just a year ago. Except for the fact that it reported a glaring $1.7 billion drop in revenue, not to mention all those charges to compensate victims of the recall debacle. The auto company earned $945 million and 86 cents a share this quarter when a year ago GM was staring down the wrong end of a $1.2 billion recall and a paltry profit of just $125 million. GM, incidentally, missed expectations by 11 cents. Try not to get too worked up over that. The automaker did pretty well in the U.S. as fuel prices continued their downward trend sending subliminal messages to consumers that it’s okay to buy all those hunky trucks and SUV’s. But those numbers would have been much higher were it not for a pesky higher tax rate and a strong U.S. dollar. Of course, it wouldn’t be right not to mention Russia and all the fiscal problems it has been causing GM in that part of the world. So there, I mentioned it.

Sweet tooth…

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Dunkin’ Donuts also released earnings which were positively scrumptious. Well, duh. Have you been in one of their stores lately. I have. This morning, as a matter of fact. And, as usual, I had to wait on a long line. So there. Anybody who patronizes their donuts shops could have told you those donuts were gonna pull off some impressive earnings. So what were those magical numbers, you might be wondering. Dunkin’ Donuts pulled in 40 cents per share, easily topping analysts’ estimates of 35 cents per share. Not bad for a company that sells donuts for a little over a dollar each. As for revenues, well those sugary confections pulled down close to $186 million, once again beating predictions of $180.65 million. Apparently, much of that success was attributed to the wildly caloric and ridiculously tasty croissant donuts.  Dunkin’ Donuts Chief Nigel Travis said the chain managed to pull off these impressive digits despite a nasty winter. But I suspect, in my most humble, unprofessional opinion, that perhaps, those numbers were because of it. Think about it: a hot beverage and a sweet treat. What better way to spend a wintery morning? Well, flying to Hawaii is one way, but I digress. If its earnings weren’t sweet enough for you, then how about the fact that the donut chain also raised its outlook on revenue growth from a previously estimated 5% – 7% to a revised 6% – 8%. Can we say sprinkles on top?

Sweeter tooth…

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No need to wait anymore for one of your co-workers to hit you up to buy Girl Scout cookies from their daughters on the same day you start your diet. Now you can sabotage your diet goals all year round as the Girl Scout Organization has announced it will be offering a Do-It-Yourself version, easily accessible from your local Wal-Mart, Target or Toys R Us stores beginning this summer.  In fact, it’s so easy, 8 year olds can do it. By themselves. Literally. The Easy-Bake Oven it is not, as Hasbro has the licensing deal for that one. But this new toy is sure to give Hasbro a run for its money as the Girl Scouts of America teamed up with Wicked Cool Toys to offer the latest way for small children to learn the fine art of capitalism. And baking And just eating cookies. The oven toy will sell for about $60 a pop and and comes with one pack of cookies. But just how this new enterprise will affect the 200 million boxes of cookies sold each year remains to be seen.

March Goes In Like a Lion and Out With Impressive Housing Numbers; McDonald’s Earnings: Not Lovin’ It; Why Chipotle’s Not Very Chipper Today

Single homes, town homes, and condos, oh my!

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Don’t you just love it when good things happen in the economy? Today’s bearer of fiscal sunshine is brought to us by the folks over at the National Association of Realtors who have been very busy calculating some delightful numbers from March’s existing home sales. And wouldn’t ya know it? Sales of previously owned homes picked up well over 6%.That, number, by the way, is more than a 10% increase over the same time last year.  If that doesn’t put a smile on your Wednesday, than I don’t what does. Because there was so much more inventory and lots more from which to choose, 5.19 million transactions of several different types of abodes took place, definitely shadowing February’s underwhelming 4.89 million figure. March’s existing sales, believe it or not (though, why wouldn’t you), hit its highest levels in 18 months. Curious what the median price for a home was in March? How does $212,000 sound? If you don’t like it than you should have tried buying a house a year earlier because that $212,000 is a 7.8% increase over last year’s $196,700 median price tag.

Losing its luster…

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The numbers are in for the Golden Arches and well, and it ain’t pretty. After announcing yet another quarter of disappointing earnings, the stock actually went up today. That’s because McDonalds CEO Steve Easterbrook announced that on May 4 he will unveil initial details of a plan that ought to turn the tides of fiscal woe at the world’s biggest burger chain. McDonald’s needs it now, more than ever, as chains like Chipotle and Taco Bell also announced earnings that McDonald’s would kill for right about now. While a shortage of pork and a bummer of a winter did some damage to Chipotle, its earnings still  managed to climb over 10%. As for Taco Bell, who has been taking digs at McDonald’s in an effort to boost its breakfast offerings, saw a 6% increase in its earnings. All this while McDonald’s pulled in a whopper of a failure (no offense, Burger King) coming in with earnings of $812 million and 84 cents a share. But wait a minute, the chain made money, so what’s the problem? The problem is that last year at this time, McDonald’s made way more money, like 32.6% more. Like $1.2 billion worth adding $1.21 to its shares. But as of late, McDonald’s numbers just keep going down. To be fair, 9 cents of that loss can be blamed on the strong U.S. dollar. But the rest of the losses belong all to McDonalds.

Speaking of Chipotle…

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Chipotle, which has been happily stealing a nice chunk of McDonald’s clientele with its more wholesome offerings, could find itself in a similar pickle as the Golden Arches. While the Mexican Grill did do much better than McDonald’s, the chain still missed analysts’ estimates. Then to add hot sauce to the fiscal wound, the chain anticipates continued “rolling blackouts” until the end of the year, due to a shortage of pork, an essential ingredient in its beloved carnitas. Naturally, the news sent shares of the stock down over 8% at one point. Shares of the company, that has about 1,800 restaurants, are hovering around $640. Yes, per share.

William Shatner Wants $30 Billion for Water; Harley-Davidson’s Wall Street Hits and Misses; Under Armour Needs to Bulk Up Projections

Rain rain don’t go away…

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Leave it to Star Trek legend William Shatner to take California’s drought emergency straight to Kickstarter. The 84 year old actor and Priceline shiller wants people to beam him up some cash – $30 billion’s worth, to be exact – so that a  four foot above ground pipeline can be built from Seattle to Nevada’s Lake Mead. The fact that Seattle doesn’t have a surplus of water to really be giving out to California, which is in its fourth year of drought, doesn’t seem to bother Shatner much. I’m guessing he didn’t ask officials in Seattle their thoughts on the idea. California Governor Jerry Brown has already issued a drought emergency and apparently there is about a year’s supply of water left. Mr. Shatner isn’t entirely convinced himself that he can even raise the $30 billion needed to build the pipeline but he is hoping to raise awareness on the issue. “If I don’t make 30 billion, I’ll give the money to a politician who says, ‘I’ll build it.’ I don’t think that last part is the best idea Mr. Shatner has ever had, but its sure to get a few people talking.

Not so hog wild…

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Profits for iconic Hog maker, Harley Davidson, are up thanks to a somewhat reduced tax rate. So why the sad faces on Wall Street over the price of its shares? Because those very shares took a 6% hit today over revenue that fell 3.4% to $1.51 billion, down from $1.57 billion a year ago. The bike makers also revised forecasts that have less bikers getting on those legendary two-wheeled machines. Harley-Davidson initially expected to deliver between 282,000 – 287,000 Hogs this year. But now that range is looking closer to 276,000 – 281,000 orders. Some of that, of course, can be attributed to that annoyingly strong U.S. dollar that seems to be sucking the fun from just about every company’s earnings these days. But Harley-Davidson has also had to deal with competitors  – hard to believe that anyone can compete with a Harley – who have been offering better discounts and totally messing with the motorcycle company’s earnings. The good news is that the motorcycle brand still took in $270 million and $1.27 per share, even though analysts only expected $1.24 per share. Can someone please get those analysts on a Harley? A year ago the Hogs pulled in about $265 million at $1.21 per share.

Dude, what gives?

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Under Armour came out with earnings today and informed those that matter that it hit its revenue targets and raised its outlook. The Maryland-based athletic company even has PGA Masters Winner Jordan Spieth shilling for it. Under Armour also pulled in 5 cents per share on revenues of $805 million when analysts only called for $802.5 million. The apparel division grew 21% while the footwear division grew 41%. So why are investors still not satisfied with the athletic apparel company’s earnings? Here’s where things get dicey. Even though Under Armour raised its outlook for revenues from $3.76 billion to $3.78 billion, investors, analysts and others who throw large sums of money at the company expected higher projections of $3.82 billion in revenues. That $.o4 billion difference put a damper on the morning for many investors. Hence the stock took a bit of a hit this morning. Nothing major, just a few percentage points, but enough to put several Wall Street-ers in a bit of a snit.

Target-ing the Preppy; No Clowning Around, Cirque du Soleil Goes to Private Equity Firm; Former Fed Chief Wants Overhaul, But Does Anybody Care?

I guess that means it was a success…

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Things are looking up for Lilly Pulitizer (did they ever look down?) as the line of 250 pieces it made for Target  – from dresses to beach chairs – nearly sold out within hours, with many crowing the moment as “Preppy Black Friday.” Just darling. In fact, the line of merchandise was so successful that 16,000 of the line’s items even made it onto eBay, priced much much higher than Target’s prices. Target’s website nearly crashed because of the traffic caused by the hype for the Lilly Pulitzer merchandise. Good thing Target already learned its lesson the hard way back in 2011, when it launched a line with Missoni, which did, in fact, cause the site to crash. This time, however, Target just made the site inaccessible for 15 minutes to deal with the onslaught. Much to the annoyance and disappointment of many, Target has no plans to restock the line since that might make the 250 items not as precious. No doubt the opportunists selling the marked up merchandise on eBay aren’t too sad about this decision. You know who’s not disappointed, or even annoyed? Oxford Industries, that’s who. Parent company to Lilly Pulitzer, Oxford Industries’ stock surged 9% because of all the success and excitement surrounding the Lilly Pulitzer/Target merchandise.

Send in the clowns…

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There’s no clowning around at TPG, the private equity firm that just picked up a majority stake in the world-famous circus sensation, Cirque du Soleil. Its founder, Guy Laliberté, has decided to take on new creative challenges instead of grooming his five children to take over the family biz. TPG has already helped companies, including J. Crew, Neiman Marcus and Ducati. So it’s safe to assume they know a thing or two about how to grow a brand. Quebec pension fund manager the Caisse de depot, and Chinese investment firm, Fosum, will take on minority stakes in the entertainment company. While the price for the deal is being kept under wraps, some analysts have pegged the deal between $1.5 and $2 billion. Not bad for a guy who started a traveling show with a bunch of street performers back in 1984. Laliberté will stay on with the company and its 1,400 employees to continue to offer strategic and creative advice. It pays for him to do so as he’ll still be left with a 10% stake.  Cirque du Soleil sells 11 million tickets a year and has been seen by 160 million people in 330 cities and 48 countries.

I said Volcker! Not Vulcan!

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Way harsh words from former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker who slammed the current U.S financial regulatory system during a speech in Washington, D.C. The former chief and close financial advisor to President Obama said if we don’t revamp the current system, it will only “…make us more vulnerable to the next financial crisis.” Mr. Volcker wants a complete overhaul of a system he says was developed piecemeal over the last 150 years in response to fiscal emergencies. He says the Dodd-Frank financial reform act of 2010 is not enough to head off an even greater economic disaster and wants to see a smoother, streamlined regulatory system instead of the current one we have in place which he thinks is “…highly fragmented, outdated and ineffective.” Ouch. In his fiscal eden, banks and other select Wall Street firms would be centralized. Then he’d merge the SEC and CFTC into one big happy family. In case you haven’t guessed it by now, plenty of people on Wall Street don’t seem to care for what the former fed chief had to say.

Etsy is Full of Surprises on Wall Street; Party City’s Reason to Celebrate; Netflix Wants to do the Splits of

Profit shmofit!

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So what if Esty hasn’t made a profit. Why should that minor detail keep it from doubling its IPO? Wednesday night, the company was all set to make its big Wall Street debut with shares priced at $16 a pop. Many considered that to be at the high end of its range, but Esty offered up 16.7 million shares. Then, wouldn’t ya know it, the shares opens up at a whopping $31, giving the company a very robust $1.8 billion valuation. With that kind of money floating around you’d think there’d be some profit in there somewhere but…nah. The Brooklyn-based company pulled in some very crafty revenues, though, of $195.6 million in 2014, a 56% increase over the previous year. Too bad that came with a  $15.2 million loss. Some wonder about the company’s ability to pull in those big Wall Street-pleasing numbers considering its B-Corp status. That basically means it’s a company that truly cares about and promotes social and environmental business practices and causes. But shareholders tend to get a little worried that money-making takes a back seat to such practices. Potatoes puh-tatoes. In any case, the crafty company has about 1.4 million sellers with about 20 million active buyers. Esty makes its cash by charging their craft sellers a fee for all the nifty items they sell.

Raise the roof…

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Esty is not the only company to make its big board debut. Party goods retailer Party City joined the New York Stock Exchange today at $20.50. While it wasn’t nearly as impressive as Esty’s debut, it was still 21% higher than its IPO price of $17 a share and the company sold close to 22 million shares. The chain currently has 860 stores in North America with 40 more in Canada. And if that’s not enough partying for you, then look out because Party City has plans to open yet another 350 more superstores.  I guess that explains why Party City is the largest party supply store in the country.  Under the convenient ticker symbol “PRTY” the company has a very impressive valuation of $2 billion. If that’s not cause for celebration then I don’t know what is.

Green is the new black…

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And if anyone has a reason to party it’s Netflix whose shares jumped 15% after reporting it added a whopping five million new subscribers in the first quarter, giving the company a grand total of 62.3 million subscribers. Clearly analysts don’t watch House of Cards because they predicted the streaming entertainment subscribing service would only pull in 4 million new subscribers. The company also took in revenues of over $1.57 billion, up 24% from a year ago, while taking 38 cents per share and $23.7 million in profits. Incidentally, profits were down by more than 50% from a year ago when the company pulled in over $53 million at 89 cents per share. But it doesn’t seem like Netflix is too concerned about that since it is looking to do a 30:1 stock split. Got some shares of Netflix? How lucky for you, considering the stock is trading at around $560 a pop.

Wild Things at the ECB Conference; Google Gets Antitrust Slapped by EU; Smith & Wesson’s Shares Shoot Up

Think you’re having a bad day?

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Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank just might be having an even worse day than you, this April 15. And he didn’t even have to file his taxes. As Mr. Draghi was speaking at a conference in Frankfurt, Germany today when a female protester literally jumped onto the table from which he spoke and threw a stack of papers and confetti at him screaming, “End ECB dictatorship!” Now folks have been known to take intense issue with what they consider to be measures that are just a bit to harsh for fiscally challenged European countries, especially Greece and Spain, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d say Ashton Kutcher was somewhere in the room telling Mario Draghi he’d just been punk’d. But…Ashton wasn’t there. Alas, if only the rest of the conference had been as exciting. Instead the ECB President went on to discuss the less riveting topics surrounding the state of the European economy, how it’s allegedly improving and that the $1.2 trillion quantitative easing program is apparently working. In case you were wondering just what on earth is quantitative easing, or QE, as the cool kids call it, it’s a super special type of monetary policy used when the regular one doesn’t seem to be working properly (the details of which I will not delve so as to maintain my audience). As for the protester, Josephine Witt, who managed to pass through multiple security checks posing as a journalist, she gleefully tweeted: “I would say, the #ecb ‘s security service is just as good as putins.”

Speaking of Europe…

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Google’s not having the best day in Europe either. The all-mighty search engine is getting called out by the European Union for abuses of power. The EU is handing Google a “Statement of Objections,” with an antitrust complaint that accuses the company of favoring and promoting its own services and products over competitors in user search results and comparison shopping. Google has a 90% share in Europe’s search engine market and 35% of Google’s ad revenue comes from Europe. The United States also began a similar investigation but dropped it after Google graciously agreed to make some changes. The changes, however, weren’t enough for companies like Microsoft, Yelp, Expedia etc., who are happy about this probe since they feel that Google’s search engine dominance is making for a very uneven playing field. The EU is also investigating whether Google forces mobile device companies to use them and whether or not those companies are even allowed to tweak Android software.

Shoot ’em up…

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Firearms: Love ’em or hate ’em matters not when there’s money involved. Shares of gun maker Smith & Wesson saw a 13% increase on shares today as the company announced that orders for firearms are picking up.  In fact, the stock hit a high today of $14.75 and is up over 50% since the beginning of 2015. Last year the company took in over $626 million in sales, a record for the company. Even though sales aren’t expected to come close to that figure this year, Smith & Wesson is still expected to rake in between $546 – $550 million dollars –  and no one seems to be taking issue with that. Well, at least not on Wall Street.