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Eddy Elfenbein submits: On Thursday morning Nicholas Financial (NICK) will release its fiscal first-quarter earnings. My view is that NICK will do pretty much what it’s been doing, only more so. My ballpark estimates are as follows:Complete Story »

Eddy Elfenbein submits: Thanks to Barron’s article, AFLAC (AFL) has been as high as $51.26 this morning. We’ll know a lot more after tomorrow’s close when the company reports Q2 earnings. Fiserv (FISV) and Wright Express (WXS) also report tomorrow. Fiserv, by the way, is a great example of a company that delivers consistently higher earnings. Here’s a look at their reported earnings in blue along with Wall Street’s projections in red.Complete Story »

Alex Bossert submits:Nicholas Financial (NICK) had a good first quarter because of a drop in loan losses. Nicholas is able to make highly profitable loans while a lot of its competition is hurt. The company has only a fraction of the debt to equity ratio of its peers but because of its unique lending strategy and its ability to make an ROE of 20%+ in a normalized environment, I believe the company is worth at least $12 per share. Nicholas Financial reported net income of $2.3 million for the three months ended June 30, compared to net income of $2.1 million last quarter and $1.6 million in the first quarter of 2008. Revenue for the just-ended quarter was $13.7 million, compared to $13.1 million a year earlier.Complete Story »