Munster thinks new markets like these offer the potential for the company to grow iPhone sales faster than the consensus view.

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Toyota spokeswoman Sona Iliffe-Moon said the company won't comment about any potential hit to sales or market share before its scheduled release of January sales on February 2.

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Shapiro, who maintained a "buy" rating on Cablevision shares, also said potential asset sales, including all or part of the company's Rainbow media property, could generate future cash.

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On the flip side, growth investors are said to be more interested in the growth potential of a security whose underlying company has above-average sales or profit expansion prospects.

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At the time, sales were booming, and Mr. Ringel thought the company had the potential to soar even higher, if it implemented systems and processes that would better organize and dispatch the contractors.

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An additional reason for close scrutiny was the likely effect of holiday sales results on a potential bid by Richard Schulze to take the company private.

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Besides the potential new sellers, the company stands to gain on the increased sales as the sellers can list more items with more capital at their disposal.

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The company's new in-house system can track every piece of HP hardware and project its sales potential from a factory in Thailand to a store in Biloxi, Mississippi.

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Still, Wal-Mart's size, together with the longtime acceptance of same-store sales as a yardstick of a retailer's health, makes for potential fireworks every time the company's executives put out the latest monthly number.

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