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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (25293)	12/15/2000 12:05:01 PM
From: Boplicity	Respond to of 65232

Captain Underpants I bought this one because my wife is reading Harry Potter now, so is her friends, it was an a Peter Lynch moment! LOL I should of bought it when my number two son started reading them, he is a fantastic indicator of trends. Harry Potter publisher's stock jumps on strong profits NEW YORK, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Shares of Scholastic Corp. <SCHL.O>, publisher of the smash-hit "Harry Potter" books, rose more than 10 percent in early trading Friday on the heels of better-than-expected earnings and plans for a two-for-one stock split. The company's stock jumped 7-1/4 to $78 in morning trading on the Nasdaq. The company has ridden the success of the Harry Potter phenomenon, and the stock is up more than 75 percent on the year from its 52-week low of $43-1/2 in early May. Late Thursday, the New York-based children's publisher and multimedia company said second-quarter earnings rose a better-than-expected 21 percent as demand for the adventures of the broom-flying Wizard-in-training continued unabated. It also got a boost from its newly acquired children's reference materials unit, Grolier. Scholastic, which also publishes the popular "Baby-Sitters Club" series and "Captain Underpants" books and is the top U.S. operator of school book clubs and fairs, also said on Thursday it would split its stock on a two-for-one basis and once again raised its earnings outlook for the year. Revenue rose 31 percent, led by better-than-expected sell-through of Harry Potter books and new revenue from Grolier, a top print and online publisher of children's reference materials. Friday morning, the company said in a conference call that it still expects healthy growth despite no new Harry Potter book in the pipeline until 2003. The latest installment of the adventures of Harry and his friends as they learn the ins and outs of magic at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," was released in July. The book had the largest initial print run in publishing history -- 3.8 million copies and rocketed to the top of U.S. best sellers lists. To help ensure continued earnings growth, the company said it intends to wring additional cost savings from its June purchase of Grolier. "The fact that we are moving to cost reduction is prudent because of the high growth from Harry Potter. But in no way does this suggest we are done being a growth company," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Robinson in a conference call. Cost savings from the purchase of Grolier would continue through 2002, the company said. Scholastic estimated it would save $25 million with lower manufacturing costs and increased purchasing leverage. The company, which cut 300 jobs after the purchase of Grolier, said it does not have any plans for future job cuts.