The company has doubled on the stock market since 2010, and it has more than tripled since 2006.

This kind of stock market performance really is amazing. In just three years, a $12.5-billion company has become a $25.0-billion company.

From Oregon, Bill Bowerman and Phil Night created Blue Ribbon Sports with $500.00 each and a handshake.

In January of 1964, Bowerman and Night ordered 300 pairs of Tiger brand shoes from Onitsuka Inc. of Kobe, Japan for distribution in the U.S. market. Night began selling the shoes out of his Plymouth “Reliant,” and Bowerman began tearing them apart.

Bowerman took an idea from his wife’s waffle iron and created a new running shoe.

Jeff Johnson (a friend and the company’s first employee) came up with the NIKE name in 1971. Shoes were successfully tested and Carolyn Davidson, a graphic design student at Portland State University, created the “swoosh” logo. The company’s first shoes were sold at the U.S. Track & Field Trials held in Eugene, Oregon. The rest, as they say, is history.

As a stock market investment, NIKE has mostly been excellent. The position was flat between 1997 and 2004. The company signed Eldrick “Tiger” Woods in 1996.

In its latest quarter (ended February 28), the company’s comparable sales grew nine percent to $6.2 billion, up solidly from $5.7 billion. Comparable earnings grew from $560 million to $866 million, for a gain of 55%, while earnings from continuing operations were $662 million, up 16% from $569 million.

Sales growth was strongest in North America (18%), followed by Central and Eastern Europe (16%), then Western Europe (8%). Western Europe’s growth is uncharacteristic compared to other earnings reports from many global brands.

On February 1, 2013, NIKE sold its Cole Haan brand to Apax Partners for $570 million. The deal resulted in a gain on sale of $231 million. But on November 30, 2012, NIKE sold Umbro to Iconix Brand Group for $225 million. This resulted in a loss of $107 million, net of tax.

I consider NIKE to be fully valued on the stock market currently. With a price-to-earnings ratio of approximately 25, the company’s earnings growth combined with its dividend suggests it’s a little pricey.

NIKE is a shining example of how a business can still be very successful during tough times. Arguably, the position held up extremely well on the stock market through the financial crisis and the recession.

Wall Street estimates for the company have been going up for the next quarter, all of 2013, and all of 2014.

Realistically, I wouldn’t say the stock is a buy right now, simply because the ... Read More

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires a publicly traded company to file what’s called a “form 10-Q.” This is a more in-depth document that describes the quarterly performance of a company’s specific operations, along with a more thorough review of its earnings performance. While time-consuming, these reports are very much worth reading, even if you aren’t a shareholder.

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE/DIS) is a company that’s on my list of important benchmark stocks. Disney’s operations are representative of the media and entertainment industry which, for better or worse, is a huge portion of the global economy.

Disney hinted that business was getting better in its fiscal first quarter of 2013 (ended December 29, 2012) due to theme parks. The company’s latest 10-Q for quarterly earnings ended March 30, 2013 proved it.

According to the company, fiscal 2013 second-quarter sales grew to $10.6 billion, up solidly from $9.6 billion in the comparable quarter last year.

Earnings improved significantly to $1.5 billion, up from earnings of $1.1 billion. Fully diluted earnings per share were commensurate to $0.83 per share, compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.63 in the 2012 comparable quarter.

In the company’s recent quarter, what was notable was Disney’s strength in its operating division, which is broken down into several areas, including median networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive.

The previous quarter showed weakness in the studio entertainment area, but the company recently had a big hit with Oz the Great and Powerful.

Also notable in the company’s 10-Q was its share repurchases.

In the six months ended March 30, 2013, Disney bought back 37 million shares of its common stock, spending $1.9 billion. This is huge, and it is partially the reason why the company’s earnings per share, dividends, and share price performance have been so strong.

On the stock market, Disney has helped the Dow Jones industrials considerably. The company’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is approximately 21 and its dividend yield is 1.2%. (Read “How Did Walt Disney Just Double on the Stock Market?”)

A 10-Q, along with other SEC documents, is much more valuable than a company’s regular quarterly press release, or even a conference call.

Disney’s 10-Q describes segment performance, how seasonality affects the company, and more specifics regarding acquisitions, including Disney’s recent acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC for 37.1 million shares and $2.2 billion in cash.

Disney’s parks and resorts division saw revenues jump 14% to $3.3 billion. Earnings for this division leaped 73% to $383 million.... Read More