Shares of Blue Nile, Inc. (NILE) have moved up by almost 11% today after receiving its second brokerage upgrade in a week.
Volume for this online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry is currently at about 234,000 shares, which is heavier than its daily average of nearly 211,000.
This Zacks #1 Rank Top Performer is 1 of 3 companies from the Electronic Commerce industry on today’s Zacks #1 Rank List, which includes 229 stocks. The other 2 from this space are travel services companies Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (CTRP) and Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (OWW).
A Couple Upgrades
Today, a major brokerage firm boosted its rating on NILE to “Buy” from “Hold”. This comes only a few days after another firm upgraded the stock to “Outperform” from “Market Perform”, stating that the company has potential to capitalize on opportunities of growth in the U.S. and internationally.
Meanwhile, earnings estimates are another positive for the company. Expectations for this year are up 1.3% over the past 2 months to 78 cents per share. Looking a little further back, the guidance is 18% better than the 3-month ago target of 66 cents.
For next year, ending December 2010, analysts are pegging 99 cents per share, or 27% atop this year’s guidance. That outlook is up 4.2% in 2 months and nearly 21% in 3 months.
NILE Beat in Q1
A sharp economic downturn is not exactly the best environment for jewelers, and NILE certainly felt the pinch of this uncooperative environment in its first quarter. However, all things considered, the company was able to beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations.
EPS totaled 13 cents in the quarter, which was off of the year-earlier performance of 16 cents, but ahead of the consensus of 10 cents by 30%.
Net sales, though, were down more than 11% at $62.4 million, versus $70.5 million.
Due to the difficult environment, NILE did not provide a specific financial guidance. But it did offer a general overview of its situation.
“Sales trends improved in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2008, and we anticipate further improvement as we progress through 2009 with an expectation that the fourth quarter will post a year-over-year sales increase,” stated CFO Marc Stolzman.
