Always blown away when a company that's consistently awesome, a company like Express Scripts (ESRX), says that estimates are too aggressive and that the economy's softness is going to hurt its business.
Huh?
The economy? What does that have to do with the price of Express Scripts? Yet, there it was, plain a day, and it's got the stock sliding down hideously in anticipation of a slew of downgrades by people like me who watched Express hang in like a champ even during the most recent downturn.
It is a real head-scratcher, and I know that I would be tempted to buy this one if I didn't believe that everyone in it felt immune to the vicissitudes of the economy.
Alas, not all is lost tonight, though. We got a quarter from EOG Resources (EOG) that reminds us why we like oil companies -- not nat-gas companies but oil companies -- that can be overly aggressive even in an environment where the price of crude is declining. EOG has the best production growth of any of the independents, and it did nothing to put a rest to that claim by upping its crude oil forecast growth target from an amazing 37% to an astounding 40%. That's surreal.
And it said it didn't need to issue any equity.
Two highfliers. One blowing away expectations, the other just blowing up. Neither expected. Both reminders of what can go right and what can go wrong in this business.
