Futures Higher on Earnings Momentum. Stocks to Watch: AMZN, ABX, BG, FSLR, FCX, GENZ, POT, SNY, and V

Published on Thursday, 29 July 2010 08:49 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, July 29^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures pointed to higher open, as earnings provided early momentum. Weekly jobless claims edged down, but provide little guidance on the state of the labor market.

The Labor Department reported that weekly jobless claims dropped 11,000 to 457,000, but the continuing claims ramped up to 4.57 million.

Exxon (NYSE:XOM), the largest U.S. energy producer and largest company in terms of market capitalization, reported a profit of $1.60 per share, which was better than expected, but missed on the revenue side. Nevertheless, shares gained close to  1%, providing market participants with early momentum.

Today’s stocks to watch: Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX), Bunge (NYSE:BG), First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR), Freeport McMoran (NYSE:FCX), Genzyme (NASDAQ:GENZ), Potash (NYSE:POT), Sanofi Aventis (NYSE:SNY), and Visa (NYSE:V)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), the largest online retailer, announced the introduction of its new Kindle with Wi-Fi for $139. The new model is 21% smaller and 15% lighter design, with 50% better contrast, 20% faster page turns and up to one month of battery life, with double the storage. Prices for the e-book readers are coming down as companies rush to add new features in what is becoming a highly competitive market place. Amazon announced earlier this month that its sales of e-books surpassed hard covers for the first time. Amazon gained 0.38% in pre-market trading.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX), the Gold miner based in Toronto, Canada, gained close to 1% in pre-market trading after announcing a 20% dividend increase to $0.12/share.

Bunge (NYSE:BG), the integrated global agribusiness firm, reported earnings that missed on revenues and issued full year 2010 guidance below consensus. Bunge posted a profit of $11.15 per share, including the $2.4 billion gain on the sale of fertilizer nutrients assets, not comparable to consensus of $1.28; revenues fell 0.2% year over year to $10.97 billion versus consensus of $12.17 billion. The company issued downside guidance for FY2010, it sees EPS of $3.25-3.50, which is significantly below consensus of $5.33.Bunge shares plunged more than 8% in pre-market trading.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR), the largest maker of thin film solar modules in the world, will be in focus as its schedule to report its quarterly results today after the close. On average analysts expect the company to report a profit of $1.60 per share on revenue of $541.5 million. However, Kaufman Brothers believes there is significant upside to First Solar's earnings in both the current quarter and for the full year. The firm notes that while European macro and government subsidies remain a concern, it believes the industry and the company were sold out in the quarter. Pricing in the quarter was flat to up slightly in local currencies. Firm is forecasting earnings of $1.96 per share.

Freeport McMoran (NYSE:FCX), the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, might have an upside bias, as copper prices gained for the second day on the London Metals Exchange. Copper climbed 0.5% to a 12-week high as the Dollar weakened and on reports that inventories tracked by the exchange are at the lowest levels since November.

Genzyme (NASDAQ:GENZ), the Cambridge based Biotechnology Company, and Sanofi Aventis (NYSE:SNY), the French, drug giant, will be in focus after reports that Sanofi is preparing its formal offer for Genzyme for $70 a share. Bloomberg is reporting that Sanofi’s board supports the $70 a share offer, as the company is preparing its formal approach and plans to send a letter to Genzyme. Analysts speculate that Genzyme will likely push for $75 a share, as the deal is for about 36 times earnings, giving room to move higher as other biotechnology deals have been done at 38 time earnings.

Potash (NYSE:POT), the largest fertilizer company in the world, reported better than expected profits on revenues that were higher than estimates. But the company issued in-line guidance for the current quarter and below consensus for the full year. Potash posted a profit of $1.38 per share, $0.19 better consensus; revenues surged 68.0% year over year to $1.44 billion, which was above consensus. The fertilizer company issued downside guidance for FY2010, it sees EPS of $5.00-5.30 vs. consensus of $5.31 consensus. Shares of Potash climbed 0.83% in pre-market.

Visa (NYSE:V), the retail electronic payments network operator, reported a strong quarter yesterday after the close. The company posted a profit of $0.97 per share, a jump of 49% year over year, and above the Steet consensus of $0.93 per share. Oppenheimer noted that uoside was driven by lower than expected volume/support incentives, which is likely timing-related. Management remains confident it can navigate the debit interchange legislation and does not see a near-term "storm on the horizon," and affirmed its EPS growth expectations through FY11. Processed transactions and cross-border volumes remain steady through July while US purchase volume moderated a bit due largely to moderation of gas price/volume tailwinds. The firm lowered its target price on Visa to $100 from $110 to reflect US debit uncertainties.