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In the first quarter, Buffalo Wild Wings [stckqut]BWLD[/stckqut] reported a 19.8% increase in sales. Both new store and existing stores sales were quite strong. Same-store-sales at company-owned restaurants were up 7% while franchised restaurants grew by 6%.

While sales were up nearly 20% however, earnings were only up 2.6%. Operating margins were down by 170 basis points to 9.9%. Labor costs rose by 100 basis points to 29.6% of total sales. Cost of sales meanwhile rose by 200 basis points points to 28.5% sales, driven by a 40% increase in chicken wing prices following strong demand. Wing prices for the company were $1.92/lb versus $1.36/lb a year ago.

However, there is reason to believe that margins will return. Management reaffirmed its EPS growth guidance for the year of 18%. One could argue that management had already accounted for the impact of chicken prices given their previous estimates typically targeted around 24% growth.

Additionally, BWLD struggled to manage its labor costs as they staffed all locations with Guest Experience Captains. If this proves to improve sales enough to warrant the cost, the company can reasonably expect to keep it. If it is still a cost drag, it wouldn’t be too difficult to scale back down to historical levels.

… and later in the article…

While margin pressures are a primary factory to the current weak share price, these headwinds look temporary, or at least fixable. Now trading at a valuation not seen for some time, investors would be wise to consider BWLD for their portfolio.

Source: Buffalo Wild Wings Still a Great Value – GuruFocus.com

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Under Armour [stckqut]UA[/stckqut] has performed exceptionally well in the last five years. Its revenue growth trend has been remarkable with last twenty quarters posting growth of at least 20%. Lately, the company has also shown good performance in international markets with revenue crossing $100 million for the first time in the recently concluded quarter. And more importantly, for a fast-growing company, its debt is at reasonable levels.

Nonetheless, shares have been under some pressure following the fiscal first-quarter results. UA parred some earlier gains following the quarterly results as it EPS declined 16.7%, year-over-year, mainly due to unfavorable foreign exchange environment and costs related to recent fitness based app acquisitions.

The stock now trades $7 below its 52-week high. But in my opinion the stock has potential to scale higher. I see further 10% to 15% upside in the mid-term.

Source: Under Armour Is Gaining Traction In The Sneaker Market

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Skyworks Solutions [stckqut]SWKS[/stckqut] is the top performing S&P 500 company over the past year, as its stock rose 131%. The company, together with its subsidiaries, produces high reliability analog and mixed signal semiconductors.

Skyworks Solutions Inc stock is currently trading 8.32% below its 52-week-high, 132.23% above its 52-week-low. The 1-year stock price history is in the range of $44.06 – $111.6. Skyworks Solutions Inc has a price to earnings ratio of 30.56 versus Technology sector average of 24.67. SWKS stock price has outperformed the Nasdaq by 36.4%. The Electronic Components company is currently valued at $19.55 billion and its share price closed the last trading session at $102.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $100.13 and a 200-day moving average of $87.09.

Source: Technical Report on Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS) | Markets Wired

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Jim Cramer is a big fan of Apple Inc. [stckqut]AAPL[/stckqut], but that doesn’t mean the investor thinks they will be a success in every market. On Mad Money on Wednesday, Jim Cramer expressed doubt about Apple CarPlay, the firm’s in-car iOS platform. Cramer says that Apple will not dominate the market.

The comment came in response to a user question about Harman International Industries Inc. [stckqut]HAR[/stckqut]. The firm makes in-car systems right now and has a market cap of $8.7 billion. Shares have fallen by more than 13% in the last month, and one investor was looking to find out why. Cramer said it all came down to Apple.

“Problem is the Apple car play. People think Apple will take over car infotainment. They are wrong and you should stick with Harman,” he told the caller. That’s far from negative on Apple’s CarPlay, but it does present some lack of faith.

Source: Jim Cramer Doesn’t Believe Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) Will Take Over Car Infotainment

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In his latest blog post for the Brookings Institution, the former Federal Reserve chair said the easy-money policies deployed during his tenure at the central bank have arguably only returned stock prices to “normal” levels.

Mr. Bernanke crunched the numbers and found that the S&P 500 rose by about 1.2% each quarter from the end of the 2001 recession through the fourth quarter of 2007–the pre-crisis business cycle peak. If the S&P had continued to climb by that same rate, Mr. Bernanke’s math tells him the S&P 500 would have sat at about 2123 in the first quarter of this year. That’s three points above its first-quarter top of 2120 in February and 55 points higher than where the index finished the first three months of the year at 2068.

While the former Fed head says there are of course many ways to calculate the normal level of stock prices, he thinks most would lead to a similar conclusion.

Source: Janet Who? Ben Bernanke Says Stocks Aren’t Expensive