Asia’s Expanding Nuclear Program to Benefit UEC

Uranium prices are hovering just under $40 a pound amid slighted supply and anticipation of even more demand as Asia, particularly China, expands its nuclear program and Japan prepares to restart its Sendai reactors. The uranium spot price has increased 11.3% so far this year, and many energy analysts remain bullish on the commodity for the year ahead.

As the only producer in the world that doesn’t hedge against price movements, U.S.-based Uranium Energy Corp. puts itself in an “elite class” that it expects will benefit from rising prices.

“A once-in-a-generation opportunity may be in development here, and I want you to know that our Company is uniquely prepared and positioned for the turnaround in uranium prices and the global expansion in nuclear power,”

UEC president and CEO Amir Adnani stated in a recent letter to shareholders. UEC’s fully licensed Hobson processing facility is the core of all its South Texas projects, including the Palangana in-situ recovery (ISR) mine, the permitted Goliad ISR project, and the development-stage Burke Hollow ISR project.

In total, UEC has six wholly owned ISR projects surrounding its Hobson processing plant, which has a 2 million pound per year physical capacity. Palangana is operating on a small scale pending ramp-up when the price of uranium is in a viable range; Goliad is fully permitted for production with its first production area; and Burke Hollow is in the permitting and expansion phase. In the last 12 months the company has drilled more than 200 holes as it works to expand its resources in South Texas.

Additionally, the company has 20 projects in the southwestern U.S., including a pipeline of advanced-stage projects in Arizona and Colorado. In Paraguay UEC maintains one of the largest ISR property positions in the world with approximately 1 million acres of prospective area.

As the number of nuclear plants coming online around the world continues to increase and the spot price moves higher, UEC appears well-positioned for a strong year ahead. The company relies on the guidance of its senior management team, several of which are advisors, speakers and/or board members with domestic and global industry organizations including the International Atomic Energy Agency, World Nuclear Fuel Market and the Uranium Producers of America.

Target, MasterCard Close-in on $20M Settlement

Target is nearing a settlement with MasterCard, Inc. to cover the approximately $20 million in costs that banks incurred in the aftermath of the retailer’s massive 2013 data breach, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the terms of negotiations.

The hefty settlement comes after months of negotiations to determine how much Target should reimburse financial institutions for reissuing credit and debit cards as a result of the breach, as well as some fraud that resulted from the exposure of customer information.

Target’s data breach triggered quick action from card-issuing financial institutions as they took measures to minimize consumer damage by sending new cards to customers and even reissuing cards to others even if no fraudulent activity had been detected.

Once particular hang-up in negotiations is due to a wave of other breaches, including an even larger breach at Home Depot, which followed Target’s breach. According to the Wall Street Journal’s report, Target representatives content they shouldn’t have to reimburse banks for reissuing cards that would need to be reissued due to the other breaches.

While it’s a pricey settlement, the $20 million is a mere speck compared to the $252 million Target incurred after at least 40 million credit cards were compromised in the 2013 holiday shopping season.

The deal could be announced as soon as this week and MasterCard will divvy the reimbursed funds to the financial institutions that issue credit and debit cards under its brand, including Citigroup, Capital One Financial and J.P. Morgan, the newspaper reported. Target is in separate negotiations with Visa.

U.S. Builder Sentiment Climbs 4 Points to Year High

Homebuilder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes in April rose 4 points, reaching the highest level of the year thus far, The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported Wednesday.

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) increased to a level of 56, higher than predictions the index would rise to 55. With the spring buying season in full swing, homebuilders are confident that low interest rates and job growth will keep the market moving.

“The HMI component index measuring future sales expectations rose five points in April to its highest level of the year,” NAHB Chief Economist David Crow said in a statement. “This uptick shows builders are feeling optimistic that the housing market will continue to strengthen throughout 2015.”

Based on its monthly survey, NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” Readings above 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

All three HMI components registered gains in April. The component charting sales expectations in the next six months jumped five points to 64, the index measuring buyer traffic increased 4 points to 41, and the component gauging current sales conditions rose three points to 61.

Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the South rose one point to 56 and the Northwest held steady at 42. The Midwest fell by 2 points to 54 and the West dropped three points to 58.

Market Review for Smith & Wesson, Delta and BoA

Shares of Smith & Wesson (SWHC) jumped 13% in Wednesday’s morning trade after the gun maker said it received stronger-than-expected firearm orders and raised its Q4 guidance accordingly.

The company now sees fiscal Q4 2015 sales of between $175 million to $179 million, up 8% from its projections six weeks ago, and GAAP EPS between $0.34 and $0.36. On a non-GAAP basis, the company expects EPS to be between $0.39 and $0.41.

For full 2015 fiscal year, the company expects GAAP EPS between $0.84 and $0.86. On a non-GAAP basis, the company expects EPS to be between $0.96 and $0.98.

While the Smith & Wesson’s fiscal 2014 sales won’t match its record of $626.6 million last year, its latest forecast for full-year sales of between $546 million and $550 million are on track with 2013 sales of $587.5 million. 2013 net income was $78.7 million, more than four times 2012 results. Smith & Wesson’s fiscal year runs through the end of April.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) shares ticked higher after the airline carrier posted an adjusted Q1 profit of $372 million, or $0.45 per share, beating analyst estimates by a penny. Revenues of $472 million were roughly in line with estimates.

"Delta's business is performing well, producing the best March quarter, both operationally and financially, in Delta's history," Delta CEO Richard Anderson said in a statement. "While the strong dollar is creating headwinds with international revenues, it also contributes to the lower fuel prices which will offset those headwinds with over $2 billion in fuel savings this year. We are looking at June quarter operating margins of 16-18 percent with over $1.5 billion of free cash flow—these record results and cash flows show that the strong dollar is a net positive for Delta."

The company said it benefited from lower fuel costs but felt the crunch of a strong dollar. Due to foreign currency issues, Delta said it will cut its international flights by 3% in the winter.

Bank of America (BAC) posted a year-over-year bottom-line improvement and turned to profit in Q1, $0.02 short of analyst estimates.

Shares of Bank of America slipped lower in Wednesday’s trade as the bank reported Q1 net income of $3.4 billion, or $0.27 per diluted share, compared to a loss of $276 million, or $0.05 per share, in the year-ago period. The Charlotte, North Carolina, bank’s 2013 loss was due to legal reserves of $6 billion, a move that was followed by a $16.65 billion mortgage-securities settlement with the Justice Department a few months later.

Despite a swing to profit, the 2014 figure was below analyst expectations for earnings of $0.29 per share.

Net revenue amounted to $21.2 billion in 2014, down 6% from $22.7 billion in the prior-year quarter and just shy of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $21.5 billion. Bank of America attributed $211 million of the revenue decline to market-related adjustments on its debt securities portfolio due to the impact of lower long-term interest rates.