Online-review service Yelp Inc. is set to begin trading on the
New York Stock Exchange next Friday, the latest in a series of
social-media companies to go public.
Auto makers on Thursday are expected to report an increase in
U.S. new vehicle sales in February from a year earlier, while U.S.
retailers are also expected to report higher monthly sales on
Thursday.
Consumer confidence data and reports on personal income and
consumer spending are among the economic indicators to be released
next week.
Yelp Set To Debut Next Week
Yelp plans to sell as much as $100 million in stock in an
initial public offering that will begin trading late next week.
The company aims to sell 7.15 million shares at a price of $12
to $14 each. At the high end of the range, it would carry a market
capitalization of $838.6 million. It is scheduled to price Thursday
and trade the next day on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol YELP.
Yelp has become one of the Web's most popular sites in the U.S.,
with a free service that allows even anonymous users to read and
post reviews of restaurants, hardware stores and other
businesses.
The company has cautioned its soaring top-line growth rate is
likely unsustainable and probably will decelerate as the business
matures. Yelp already has settled into most major U.S. markets,
though the company plans to continue its international
expansion.
Home Loan Servicing Solutions Ltd., GCT Semiconductor Inc. and
Argos Therapeutics Inc. are also expected to debut next week.
Auto Makers' Sales Likely Rose In February
The auto industry will report its February U.S. sales on
Thursday. Online automotive-information provider Edmunds.com
projected new U.S. auto sales will rise 10% in February from a year
earlier, with most major auto makers except General Motors Co. (GM)
expected to report higher sales.
Edmunds estimates 1.1 million new cars were sold in February, a
20% increase from January's total. The site also projected a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 14.4 million units for the
month. February had 25 sales days, while the year-earlier month had
24 sales days.
Retailers Expected To Post Higher February Same-Store Sales
U.S. retailers will report their same-store sales results for
February on Thursday, coming off a 4% increase last year. Analysts
polled by Thomson Reuters estimate same-store sales among the 21
retailers tracked to climb 3.7%, with discounters like Costco
Wholesale Corp. (COST) and Target Corp. (TGT) expected to report
the strongest growth at 5.1%, on average. Apparel retailers are
expected to see the weakest growth at 1.2%, on average, and those
like casual apparel retailer Gap Inc. (GPS) and teen apparel
retailer Wet Seal Inc. (WTSLA) expected to post sales declines.
Consumer Data Among Slate Of Economic Reports
Next week presents another busy calendar for investors and
economy watchers. Much of the focus will be on consumers, but a new
look at year-end economic growth and factory orders are also on
tap.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index, to be released
Tuesday, is expected to rise to 64.9 in February, from 61.1 in
January. The Reuters/University of Michigan survey, reported this
week, already showed an unexpectedly large February gain in its
index of consumer sentiment, lifted by a better outlook for
jobs.
How consumers behaved in January will be reported Thursday.
Personal income is expected to have risen 0.4% last month, lifted
by solid job growth. Consumer spending is projected to post a
faster 0.5% gain.
The second reading of fourth-quarter gross domestic product,
scheduled for Wednesday, is unlikely to change perceptions of
growth at the end of 2011. The median forecast of economists
surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires calls for real GDP growth to be
revised to an annual rate of 2.7%, from 2.8% first reported.
A report on January's pending home sales will be released
Monday, while the durable goods report is due Tuesday.
Berkshire Hathaway To Release Annual Shareholder Letter
Warren Buffett will release his annual letter to Berkshire
Hathaway Inc.'s (BRKA, BRKB) shareholders on Saturday and is
expected to emphasize that his company's value increased faster
than the stock market last year, the first such performance in
three years.
The conglomerate's growth in book value per share--a measure of
net worth, and the performance yardstick Buffett favors--likely
beat the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index's 2.1% return last
year by a few percentage points, several analysts estimate.
Berkshire likely saw improved earnings at its railroad and
manufacturing businesses as well as stock-investment gains in 2011,
they said.
But the company, run by the 81-year-old billionaire, has by some
measures rarely been more ignored by the market. After dropping
4.7% in 2011 and rising only half as much as the S&P 500 index
this year, Berkshire shares are trading near their lowest valuation
in decades--close to 1.1 times book value, versus its average
valuation of about 1.6 times book value over the past two
decades.
Quarterly Reports Due From Staples, Office Depot
Office-supplies retailers Office Depot Inc. (ODP) and Staples
Inc. (SPLS) are due to report their latest quarterly results on
Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Office suppliers have faced
significant headwinds as consumers rein in personal spending and
governments trim budgets, leaving a large portion of growth to
businesses stepping up spending on office needs. Office Depot
expects its fourth-quarter sales in constant currency to be down
slightly from the prior year, while Staples has called for flat- to
low-single digits sales growth.
Smaller rival OfficeMax Inc. (OMX) reported on Thursday
fourth-quarter earnings fell 73% with severance charges and
write-downs weighing on the bottom line, though its adjusted profit
rose in a rare quarter of higher sales.
Home-improvement retailer Lowe's Cos. (LOW), natural-gas and oil
producer El Paso Corp. (EP), refiner HollyFrontier Corp. (HFC) and
supermarket company Kroger Co. (KR) are also among the major
companies reporting results next week.
Court To Take Up Revamped A&P Exit Plan
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (GAPTQ) returns Monday to
the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., for a second
attempt at getting out of Chapter 11.
The operator of A&P, Food Emporium, Waldbaum's, Super Fresh
and Pathmark grocery stores put its plan to pay creditors and exit
bankruptcy before a judge earlier this month. But after one day in
court, the grocer postponed future hearings as its $750 million
bankruptcy-exit financing package faltered and objections
loomed.
After lead lenders J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Credit
Suisse Group AG (CS, CSGN.VX) couldn't find enough investors to
help them fund the exit facility, A&P scaled down a $350
million term loan and a $400 million revolving-credit facility to
$270 million and $375 million, respectively. It also decided to
keep for itself the $40 million it had earmarked for unsecured
creditors, leaving them with nothing.
Still in place is a $490 million debt-and-equity financing
package from Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Cos., upon which A&P's
bankruptcy-exit plan depends.
Greece's Bailout Deal In Focus Next Week
Parliamentary votes in Germany, Finland and, perhaps, the
Netherlands to approve Greece's recently agreed EUR130 billion
($175 billion) bailout deal are a focus next week, along with the
European Central Bank's second three-year refinancing operation on
Wednesday, with markets hoping for another chunky injection of
liquidity into the euro-zone banking system.
A Group of 20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank
governors over the weekend could increase the pressure on the euro
zone to raise more funds to guard against a renewed crisis. The
meeting could also provide more steer on efforts to boost the
lending capacity of the International Monetary Fund.
Conferences
Among the significant conferences next week are the BMO Capital
Markets Global Metals & Mining Conference Sunday through
Wednesday in Hollywood, Fla.; the Citi Global Health Care
Conference Monady through Wednesday in New York; the Deutsche Bank
Media and Telecommunications Conference Monday through Wednesday in
Palm Beach, Fla.; the JPMorgan High Yield & Leveraged Finance
Conference Monday through Wednesday in Miami; the Morgan Stanley
Technology, Media & Telecom Conference Monday through Thursday
in San Francisco; the KeyBanc Capital Markets Consumer Conference
Tuesday through Thursday in New York; the Bank of America Merrill
Lynch Fixed Income Bank and Finance Conference Wednesday and
Thursday in New York and the Robert W. Baird and Co. Inc. Business
Solutions Conference Wednesday and Thursday in Boston.
-By Nathalie Tadena, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3287;
nathalie.tadena@dowjones.com
--Kathleen Madigan, Serena Ng, Jacqueline Palank, Jenny Paris,
William Kemble-Diaz and Dow Jones Newswires staff contributed to
this report.)
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