Over the past two weeks, America’s largest and most successful companies have released their Q1 2015 earnings reports. First quarter earnings reports are a decent indicator of how a company will perform during the remaining fiscal year. This first quarter, as is typical, has failed to impress traders. A much strengthened U.S. dollar has weighed on revenues, costing multinational corporations billions in foregone profits.
Read MoreRonald McDonald Is Dying
It’s 3 a.m. and you’re “Ubering” home from a late night out with the bros. Your stomach rumbles in search of something greasy to satisfy your monstrous appetite. Lucky for you, there is a McDonald’s at the upcoming intersection. In your heart of hearts, you know that dollar-menu cheeseburger will make you happier than any one-night stand, but then you realize the satisfaction of the fatty burger isn’t worth a morning run.
Read MoreToday's Most Important Apple Article
For the fourth consecutive quarter, Apple (AAPL) surpassed Wall Street's earnings expectations. In what has become habitual for America's largest company, Apple beat both earnings-per-share (EPS) and revenue estimates. After Monday's close, Apple reported Q2 EPS of $2.33 (vs. analyst expectations of $2.16) and reported Q2 revenue of $58.01B (vs. analyst expectations of $56.06B). Shares of Apple are already up over 20% YTD, and increased 1.5% in after-hours trading.
Read MoreFacebook To Dethrone Google
Last week marked the 10-year anniversary of the first video ever uploaded to Google’s (GOOGL) popular video sharing service, YouTube. As one of the most popular websites on the Internet, and the second leading search engine behind Google, YouTube clearly has a lot to celebrate. However, as a profitless Google subsidiary, YouTube’s future could prove quite volatile, especially as its main competitor continues to invest in an entirely new video-sharing platform.
Read MoreLumber Liquidators' Big Gamble
of the most popular analyses include quarterly growth projections, P/E ratios, cash flows, debt/earnings balances, enterprise value (EV), and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). Because of this, analysts spend innumerable hours deciphering what they believe to be the true market value of public entities.
Read MoreWall Street Hammers Chipotle
One of the most popular (and most traded) fast food restaurants, the Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), reported that its same-store sales (defined on a Y/Y basis) missed analyst expectations for Q1 2015 by 1.4%, thereby offsetting the company's otherwise impressive earnings results of $3.88/share on revenue of $1.09 billion. Although Chipotle’s same-store sales rose 10.4%, this metric fell far short of Wall Street’s expected 11.8% growth rate.
Read MoreInvestors Interested In "Breastaurants"
In 1983, six businessmen incorporated a new type of restaurant under the brand name “Hooters.” Since first opening in 1983, the Hooters franchise has experienced rapid growth, amassing peak revenues of $960 million in 2007. Now, while I won’t call the founders of Hooters “revolutionary” geniuses, they did nonetheless introduce a new form of dining experience to the restaurant industry, one based on greasy bar food and beautiful young women in crop tops.
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