A Lot of Stocks Getting Thrown Out with the Bathwater (MA, CLX, CMCSA, SFSF, CSGS)

It was another topsy-turvy day on Wall Street, but in the end, stocks broke their long losing streak. Given that the market was in a very near-term oversold position after taking a pounding, the small gain isn’t exactly something to cheer about. However, we still think a lot of the recent economic weakness is in large part due to the aftershocks of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and that the economic recovery is still on track, albeit at a very gradual pace. We think a lot of stocks are being thrown out with the bathwater.

The Human Resources and Talent Management Software Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by SuccessFactors (SFSF) with a 14% gain. The Telecom Customer Care Stocks Index was the day’s worst performing tickerspy Index, with CSG Systems International (CSGS) down -6%.

Stocks rose on the day, led by a 24-point, or 0.9%, gain in the Nasdaq to 2,693. The Dow rose 30 points to 11,896, while the S&P rose 6 points to 1,260. Oil fell -$1.86 to $91.93 a barrel, while gold continued to climb, jumping $21.80 to $1,666.30 an ounce.

In economic news, the ADP employment report released today showed private payrolls rose by 114,000 in July, above the 85,000 economists were expecting, but below the downwardly revised 145,000 June reading. Elsewhere, the Institute for Supply Management said its services index for July fell to 52.7% from 53.3% in June. Economists were expecting an increase to 53.5% for July.

Shares of MasterCard (MA) surged 13.4% after the company said its second-quarter profit jumped 33% to $608 million, or $4.76 per share, from $458 million, or $3.49 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 22% to $1.67 billion. Analysts were expecting a profit of $4.22 on revenue of $1.55 billion. Seventy pros held MasterCard in their portfolios at the end of Q1 and nearly 850 tickerspy members own the stock in their portfolios.

Consumer products giant Clorox (CLX) said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell -1% to $169 million, or $1.26 per share, from $171 million, or $1.20 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 4% to $1.48 billion. Analysts were expecting a profit of $1.19 on sales of $1.47 billion. For fiscal 2012, Clorox forecast EPS of $4.00-$4.10 on revenue growth of 1-3%. Shares of Clorox fell -2.0%. Twenty-one pros held Clorox in their portfolios at the end of Q1 and more than 360 tickerspy members own the stock in their portfolios.

Comcast (CMCSA), the nation’s largest provider of cable television services, said its second-quarter profit rose to $1.02 billion, or 37 cents per share, from $884 million, or 31 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue surged 51% to $14.3 billion. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 42 cents a share. Analysts were expecting a profit of 41 cents on revenue of $13.7 billion. Shares of Comcast edged up 0.2%.

Shares of SuccessFactors, the provider of cloud-computing services, soared 14.1% after the company topped analyst estimates. For Q2, it reported a loss of -$7 million, or -9 cents a share, compared with a loss of -$1.9 million, or -3 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, SuccessFactors earned 3 cents a share as revenue climbed 48% to $73.2 million. Analysts were expecting breakeven on revenue of $69.6 million. The company forecast full-year revenue of $310-$315 million, above the consensus estimate of $283.4 million. SuccessFactors also expects a full-year profit of 3 cents. Analysts were expecting breakeven.

Tags: CLX, CMCSA, CSGS, MA, SFSF