Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, a world leader in products and technologies to treat advanced cardiovascular disease, announced recently that its board of directors has authorized a new share repurchase program to acquire up to $250 million of the company's outstanding common shares. Edwards recently completed a $250 million share repurchase program that its board of directors approved in September 2007. The company also raised its full-year profit outlook Tuesday after it reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results. The company boosted full-year guidance by 5 cents per share to between $2.50 and $2.58 per share, while tightening its revenue outlook by $25 million to between $1.24 billion and $1.28 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect profit of $2.50 per share on revenue of $1.23 billion. In the third quarter, the company expects profit between 53 cents and 57 cents per share, while analysts forecast 56 cents per share.

Standard Parking Corporation, one of the nation's leading providers of parking management, ground transportation and other ancillary services, announced that its Board of Directors has approved a $60 million increase in its stock repurchase authorization. As of June 30, 2008, the Company had $10 million remaining under its authorization prior to the increase. The stock trades for 10x cash flow.

Retailer Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. said Thursday its board authorized a plan to buy back up to an additional $50 million in stock from time to time. During fiscal 2008, the company bought back 5 million shares at an average price of $10.05 per share for about $50.5 million. The company also recently posted a surprise 3 percent rise in June sales at stores open at least a year as increased promotions attracted more shoppers to its stores. Analysts on average had expected the surf-inspired clothing chain's June same-store sales to fall 1.8 percent, according to Thomson Reuters Estimates. "Geographically, comps (comparable store sales) were strongest in Texas and the Midwest and remained weakest in the Desert Southwest, California and Florida," Chief Financial Officer Michael Henry said in a pre-recorded call. Apparel sales rose 17 percent in June and accounted for 81 percent of total sales, Henry said. In the junior's category, Pacific Sunwear saw strength in Bullhead denim, tops, swimwear and dresses this month. The young men's category was helped by higher sales of Bullhead denim, shorts and tops. The company said total PacSun sales for the five weeks of fiscal June ended July 5, rose 5 percent to $127.2 million from the year-ago period. Pacific Sunwear, which has been closing its underperforming demo stores, separately said it plans to buy back $50 million common shares. Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Liz Dunn said she was "impressed" with the retailer's same-store sales' performance in June as well as its buyback activity. She raised her second-quarter earnings estimates to 8 cents a share from 5 cents. The stock trades for 5x cash flow.

Business software company Lawson Software Inc. said recently that its board approved another $200 million to repurchase shares of the company's common stock. That brings its total available buyback authorization to $239.5 million. The board had authorized another $200 million by April 2007, and so far the company has spent $160.5 million to repurchase 18 million shares. The stock trades for 10x cash flow.

The Winona, Minn.-based maker of industrial and construction supplies said its board approved the repurchase of up to 1 million shares of common stock. This new repurchase will be in additional to its previous buyback plan, bringing the total repurchase amount up to 1,800,000 shares. The company has about 149 million shares outstanding. On July 11th, Fastenal reported great second quarter earnings with net income surging 26% to $76.2 million, or 51 cents a share, from $60.3 million, or 40 cents a share in the same period last year. Revenue rose from $519.7 million to $604.2 million, a 16% jump. In the first half of 2008 the company opened 112 new stores bringing the total to 2,272 stores. At its existing stores, sales increased at an average of 8%. On top of the impressive quarter, it’s also good to see analysts at Robert W. Baird upgraded the stock to outperform from neutral. The analysts mentioned that second quarter sales and EPS beat their estimates and they foresee impressive sales growth in 2009 coming from the impact of its "Pathway to Profit" program. They also lifted the price target from $55 to $58.

The provider of security products announced a buyback plan worth up to $1 billion in common stock. This buyback will be added to its previous $1 billion buyback plan which began last September and is near termination. “This new program is consistent with our plan to return a portion of our excess cash flow to shareholders through share repurchases,” said Ed Breen, Tyco Chairman and CEO. “To this point in fiscal 2008, we have repurchased approximately 4% of our outstanding shares and this new program provides us with the flexibility to purchase additional shares in the future." The Bermuda-based company will announce third quarter results on Thursday, July 31, 2008 before the opening bell. Analysts at Deutsche Bank have a buy rating on the TYC. After a meeting with Tyco's CFO, Chris Coughlin, they noted the following key points. "ADT residential is largely unscathed by the bulge in foreclosures and the general malaise in the housing market.” The analysts continued, “We remain attracted to TYC's more defensive characteristics, the portfolio restructuring story and the discounted valuation of 6.3x EBITDA and 12.9x EPS. We reiterate buy and $54.”

Las Vegas' operator of luxury hotels said it will add $500 million to its previously announced $1.2 billion buyback plan. The repurchases will be made from time to time pending on market conditions. News of the buyback sent shares soaring 15% in extended trading. Wynn pre-announced second-quarter earnings last Thursday and Wynn Macau stole the show. Macau, a special region of China and the world’s foremost gambling destination, has experienced strong growth in recent years and Wynn stands to benefit even further. In Macau, Wynn expects EBITDA in a range of $152-158 million, which represents growth of 64% to 70% year over year. VIP table games grew over 75% to $16.3 billion and mass market table games increased 25% to $627 million. After Wynn’s pre-announced earnings, Jefferies & Company issued a positive note. The analysts said, “We are maintaining our buy rating and $138.00 price target on WYNN shares. WYNN is down 38% since year-end, and we believe the sell-off is unwarranted. As shown by 2Q08 results, Wynn's fundamentals remain intact and its future is encouraging.” We also take notice when the people running the company buy shares for their own accounts. Director John A. Moran bought 20,000 shares of Wynn stock at prices between $84.52 and $85.07, worth nearly $1.7 million.

The global leader in soft-drink sales said they repurchased $1 billion in common stock through the first half of the year and they plan to repurchase a total of $1.75 to $2 billion for the full year. The Atlanta-based soda giant announced this in their second-quarter earnings report, which also revealed a 23% drop in profit. This sent KO share plunging, landing 18 cents shy of the 52-week low. During the quarter, worldwide unit case volume increased 3%, not as impressive as the 9% growth achieved last year. However, net revenue jumped 17% to $9.05 billion from $7.73 billion in the same period last year. Coca-Cola also sells Vitamin Water, Dasani, and Powerade, which have been growing faster than the traditional carbonated beverages. The numbers show that carbonated drinks rose 1% this quarter, while still beverages (like the ones mentioned above) increased 13%. President and CEO Muhtar Kent said, "Our results were once again led by our international operations, which delivered 5% unit case volume growth, and we maintained volume in North America despite significant challenges. Analyst Ann H. Gurkin from Davenport & Company commented, "We believe KO will navigate successfully despite short-term challenges. The company’s balanced model, both in terms of geography and brands, is driving consistent strong growth." She has a buy rating on the stock and a price target set at $65.