Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL) reported results for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 with earnings of $1.10 per share. Earnings were ahead the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.00 and were up 4.8% year-over-year. The better-than-expected performance was primarily driven by higher gross margin.

However, the company warned that results during fiscal fourth quarter is expected to reduce by 8 cents to 10 cents per share due to costs associated with the decision to assume direct control of Asia-Pacific operations from its licensee.

The warning has surprised investors as analysts, on average, were increasing earnings expectations for the quarter, sending the Zacks Consensus Estimate up by 3 cents over the past month to 78 cents per share. Shares of Polo Ralph Lauren have slipped more than 8% to $78.60 in Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, net revenues for the fiscal third quarter declined marginally by 0.6% year-over-year to $1.2

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – February 1, 2010 – Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week’s list includes Gannett (GCI), Polo Ralph Lauren (RL), Whirlpool (WHR), FMC Corp (FMC) and Sunoco (SUN). To see more earnings analysis, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=3207.

Every day, Zacks.com makes 4 stock picks available, free of charge. To see them, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5612.

Heart of Earnings, Jobs in Focus

Historically, the best indicators of firms likely to report positive surprises are a recent history of positive surprises and rising estimates going into the report. The Zacks Rank is also a good indicator of potential surprises. While normally firms that report better-than-expected earnings rise in reaction, that has not been the case so far this quarter. Some of the companies that have these characteristics include:

Gannett (GCI) is expected to report EPS

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Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) recently upped its quarterly dividend to 10 cents per share, doubling the previous quarter's payout. The company's dividend yield of 0.5% is a competitive one in an industry that virtually offers no income.

Company Description

Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation designs, markets and distributes premium lifestyle products in four categories: apparel, home, accessories and fragrances.

The Company's brand names include Polo by Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Ralph Lauren Collection, Black Label, Blue Label, Lauren by Ralph Lauren, RRL, RLX, Rugby, Ralph Lauren Childrenswear, American Living, Chaps and Club Monaco.

Rewarding Shareholders

Polo Ralph Lauren recently upped its quarterly dividend to 10 cents per share, doubling the previous quarter's payout. The dividend is payable on January 8 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 24.

The company's dividend yield of 0.5% is a competitive one in an industry that virtually

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The Institute for Supply Management’s survey of manufacturing purchasing managers was stronger than expected in December, coming in at 55.9 -- up from 53.6 in November and better than the consensus expectations for a rise to 54.3. The ISM index is constructed from 10 sub-indexes and is set so 50 is the dividing line between the economy expanding and contracting.

This is the 5th straight month that the overall index has been in positive (over 50) territory.  In January of 2009, it was all the way down at 35.6. Seven of the 10 sub-indexes saw improvement, and eight of the ten are at of above the 50 mark. The only two that are below the mark are the ones that deal with inventories, and low inventories provide a potential snapback effect for the economy.

Key Sub-Indexes

The most forward-looking of the sub-indexes is the one for new orders, which rose 5.2 points to

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Ralph Lauren’s outperforming of earnings estimated for the 9-months ended September got the company and stock a lot of attention; RL beat S&P’s earnings estimate of $1.25 by $0.50, a 40% surprise, while still suffering a 4% decrease in sales (also above average expectations of -8%). Considering the recession we’ve been in, Polo Ralph Lauren’s premium lifestyle brand has shown the kind of inelasticity in its product offerings that show investors a durable competitive advantage.

Especially in a time when consumers are conscientious towards quality/value, RL is there with a diverse brand portfolio that uses its core brand to dominate across markets, price points, distribution channels and geographies. This was exhibited by the 8th consecutive EPS outperformance – a positive sign of undervaluation you don’t

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Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL), a leading global designer and distributor of premium lifestyle products, has decided to relocate some of its distribution business from West Virginia to Piedmont Triad in order to consolidate its operation in the region.  The company plans to close a warehouse and distribution center in Martinsburg, West Virginia in Dec 2010 and shift its children wear distribution operations to Piedmont Triad. The decision is likely to affect approximately 100 employees. Ralph Lauren intends to offer either relocation packages to the retrenched employees or severance-related benefits.  The relocation of the facilities is primarily based on the decision to consolidate the distribution operations of the company. Ralph Lauren already has two facilities in High Point, a city in Piedmont Triad. These include a retail distribution center that was opened in 1991, and a 300,000 square feet distribution and facilitation center opened in 2008. ...

Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) reported results for the second quarter of fiscal 2010 with earnings of $1.75 per share. Earnings were well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 96 cents and were up 10.8% year-over-year. Net sales for the quarter declined 3.4% year-over-year to $1.3 billion, primarily due to lower domestic wholesale sales, a reduction in same-store sales at the company’s retail segment and approximately 1% unfavorable impact of foreign currency translation. These were partially offset by the wholesale contribution of formerly licensed childrenswear and golf apparel products in Japan, and low single-digit currency growth in Europe. Gross margins for the quarter expanded 189 basis points (bps) to 59.1% versus 57.3% in the comparable prior-year quarter. The increase was attributable to improved wholesale and retail segment margins, particularly in international markets, and supply chain cost savings initiatives. The operating margin for the quarter also expanded ...

By now we’ve all heard of Amazon’s near-billion dollar acquisition of Zappos which provided a tremendous return to Zappos’ original investors – Sequoia Capital and Venture Frogs. In fact, they only invested $60 million in the company over seven rounds. And, now, they’re sitting on a billion dollar return. How’s that for IRR?

Obviously, this is the magic of venture capital and outside of investing in a publicly traded venture BDC like Harris and Harris (Ticker: TINY), there’s not much we at home investors can do to get in on the ground floor. But, with up and coming retailers, we can still win! Heck, everyone remembers when Zappos was a low-price retailer instead of just a “customer service focused” retailer. Those were good days weren’t they?

Well, it seems a new trend is hitting the web. “Private” members-only luxury sample sale sites.  These retailers focus on getting limited quantities of

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Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL) has recently launched an Apple, Inc. (AAPL) iPhone application that allows users to customize the Rugby brand of shirts. The move is an extension of the so-called "merchantainment" program of the company that blends its merchandising efforts with entertainment. Polo Ralph introduced the Rugby brand in 2004 to primarily target young adults. The new application enables iPhone and iPod touch device users to personalize the Rugby line of shirts including varsity sweaters, rugby shirts, polo shirts and hooded sweatshirts. Customers can now add patches that feature numbers and letters on their shirts, and upload their photos with chosen hairstyles, skin tones and backgrounds. The strategic move is aimed at utilizing popular networking sites to augment sales and establish direct communication with end users. Similar moves had already been taken by diverse companies such as Dell Inc. (DELL) and Starbucks ...

div style="text-align: justify;"Merrill Lynch/BAM is out with span style="font-weight: bold;"cautious comments on Apparel players /spansaying following easy sales and weather comparisons in March, underlying momentum may still be weak (adjusting for the Easter shift) as retailers continue to face traffic and ticket pressures.br /br /Firm also notes relative outperformance of retail stocks (vs. SP500) usually ends in May as Retail stocks typically outperform the SP500 starting in Jan / Feb, peaking in Mar, and then underperform in May/Jun until Aug/Sep. Branded Apparel stocks typically start to underperform the SP500 in Jun and July.br /br /They are downgrading span style="font-weight: bold;"Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL)/span to Underperform from Neutral (with a $42 tgt) noting that after benefiting from the upward mobility in customer spending patterns (as key dep’t stores customers focused on up-scaling merchandise assortments through ‘06-’07), dep’t stores shift away from a higher AUR strategy and emphasis onsharper price points, coupled with ...