Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI): Q3 Earnings Preview 2010

Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is scheduled to release its third quarter earnings before the opening bell on Thursday, November 4, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report breakeven per share on revenue of $718.69 million. In the year ago quarter, the company reported breakeven per share on revenue of $629.61 million. 

Sirius XM Radio Inc. provides satellite radio services in the United States and Canada. The company offers a programming lineup of approximately 135 channels of commercial-free music, sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather, and data services to 19.9 million subscribers in cars, trucks, boats and aircraft, and through a wide range of mobile devices. 

In the preceding second-quarter, the New York-based company's net income was $15.3 million or breakeven per share, compared to a loss of $159.6 million or 4 cents a share in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed to $700 million from $591 million in the same quarter last year. Adjusted revenue increased 16% to $705.6 million. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report breakeven per share on revenue of $689.36 million. 

At its last earnings call in August, the company raised its revenue guidance for the full year 2010. The company now anticipates adjusted revenue to approach $2.8 billion. Previously, the company expected pro forma revenue to be about $2.75 billion. 

Recently, the company announced that it added 334,727 net subscribers in the third quarter of 2010, compared to a net subscriber gain of 102,295 in the third quarter of 2009. In the first three quarters of this year, Sirius XM added 1,089,417 net subscribers compared to a loss of 488,126 net subscribers in the first three quarters of 2009. The company ended the third quarter with a record-high 19,862,175 subscribers, an increase of more than 1.3 million subscribers from September 30, 2009. Self-pay churn improved to 1.9% for the third quarter of 2010 from 2.0% for the third quarter of 2009; andThe conversion rate from a trial subscription included in the sale of a vehicle to a self-pay subscription improved in the third quarter of 2010 to 48.1%, up from 46.2% for the third quarter of 2009. The company expects to end the year with approximately 20.1 million subscribers, implying net additions of approximately 1.3 million in 2010.

Last month, Karmazin expressed optimism that Sirius XM would be able to renew its deal with Howard Stern. The shock jock' five-year deal with Sirius expires at the end of December. Karmazin also indicated that Sirius XM was close to renewing its deal to carry NFL broadcasts. Meanwhile, the recent refinancing of some of its debt has left the company in a much more favorable position going forward with significantly reduced interest on its debt. Sirius XM has also benefit from a rebound in auto sales.

Among other developments, Sirius XM Radio's next broadcasting satellite was successfully put into orbit recently by a Russian Proton-M carrier rocket. Sirius XM Radio plans to launch another satellite, Sirius FM 6, in late 2011.

In terms of stock performance, Sirius XM shares are up nearly 139% since the beginning of the year.

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Fortinet Spikes On Buyout Rumor

Shares of Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) soared more than 13%  on Monday after Bloomberg reported that the network- security systems maker has received a takeover offer from International Business Machines Corp (NYSE: IBM).

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Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR): Q3 Earnings Preview 2010

Evergreen Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: ESLR) is scheduled to release its third quarter after the closing bell on Monday, November 1, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report a loss of 11 cents a share on revenue of $87.48 million. In the year ago quarter, the company posted a loss of 40 cents per share on revenue of $77.66 million.

Evergreen Solar, Inc. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of solar power products primarily in the United States and Europe. It utilizes its proprietary String Ribbon technology process to produce multi-crystalline silicon wafers by growing thin strips of multi-crystalline silicon that are then cut into wafers.

In the preceding second quarter, the Marlborough, Massachusetts based-company's net loss was $3.3 million or 2 cents per share, compared to a loss of $20.59 million or 11 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue jumped 24% to $84.5 million from $62.70 million. Analysts, on average, expected the company to post a loss of 11 cents per share on revenue of $7, to Wuhan, China.

The company is likely to benefit from geographically diversified contractual backlog, improving operating efficiencies, ongoing expansion programs and shifting a part of its manufacturing process to China. 

The company is shifting production of solar fabrication and assembly from its factory in Devens, Masachussets, to  China in order to lower manufacturing costs. The company expects to achieve a cost of about $1.20 per watt by the end of 2011 with a hybrid Devens/China model.  Improvements from oits current cost of $1.94 per watt will come through further operating efficiencies, additional reductions in material costs, including silicon, and the transition of its Devens panel assembly to China. During the second quarter, small quantities of cells produced in Devens were shipped to China to begin fabricating panels. The company expects to gradually increase the number of cells sent to China through the rest of this year and into next year and complete the transition of Devens’ panel fab to China by mid-2011. Evergreen Solar expects to reach a manufacturing cost of sub-$1 per watt by the end of 2012.

In near-term, the company faces significant headwinds due to start-up costs, capital expenditures and subsidy cuts in Germany, the world's largest market. The company generates bulk of its revenue from key European markets like Germany and Spain. In the second quarter, Evergreen Solar sold approximately 84% of its product in Europe, 14% in U.S. and 2% in Asia.

In September, the company announced the appointment of Michael El-Hillow as President and Chief Executive Officer. He replaced Richard Feldt, who accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer with a privately-held company.

In terms of stock performance, Evergreen Solar shares have lost almost 47 percent over the past year.

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Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN): Q3 Earnings Preview 2010

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) is scheduled to release its third quarter earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 39 cents per share on revenue of $990.83 million. In the year ago period, the company reported earnings of 33 cents per share on revenue of $773.07 million.

Wynn Resorts, Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, ownership, and operation of destination casino resorts. The company owns and operates Wynn Las Vegas casino resort in Las Vegas, which includes 22 food and beverage outlets comprising 6 dining restaurants, 2 nightclubs, 1 spa and salon, 1 Ferrari and Maserati automobile dealership, wedding chapels, an 18-hole golf course, meeting space, and foot retail promenade featuring boutiques.

In the preceding second quarter, the Las Vegas, Nevada-based company's net income was $52.4 million, or 42 cents a share, from $25.5 million, or 21 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 52 per share in the latest quarter. Revenue surged to $1 billion from $723.3. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 42 cents per share on revenue of $992.29 million. 

Wynn is also seeing success in Asia with its Wynn Macau operation. Wynn's best news came from Macau, the Chinese gambling enclave, where revenue spiked to $714.4 million from $410.4 million. Wynn Macau's average daily room rate spiked to $287 in the second quarter, up from $263 even as occupancy fell to 81.3% from 86.7% largely due to the addition of hundreds of new rooms and villas. Revenue per available room, a key industry metric known as RevPAR, was $234, up 2.5% above 2009 levels of $228. 

Macau's August gambling revenue rose 40% from a year earlier, slowing from July's 70% because of a higher base effect. August revenue totaled MOP15.8 (US$2.0 billion), nearly flat from July's MOP16.3 billion, but up significantly from MOP11.3 billion a year earlier, according to data from Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. August's revenue figure is the third highest so far this year after the record MOP17.1 billion hit in May and July's total.

Las Vegas Strip — which accounts for more than half the total — gambling revenue spiked a whopping 21% to $544 million on brisk table volumes and stabilizing slot-machine play.

Revenue collected on Las Vegas' main strip of casinos surged 21% to $544.4 mil in Aug., and revenue for all Nev. casinos climbed 12% to $944.5 mil, signaling a possible rebound from a two-year slump. 

We hope for continued improvement in Las Vegas or -- let me put it different, we hope that we'll get smarter in Las Vegas in dealing with the peculiarities of this market, and this very, very mercurial, national economic market we're living wit

In terms of stock performance, Wynn shares have gained nearly 81 percent since the beginning of the year.

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