Health & Fitness
Health and Fitness
Health and Fitness
Mon, October 18, 2010
Sun, October 17, 2010
Sat, October 16, 2010
Fri, October 15, 2010
CHICAGO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--[ Zacks Equity Research ] highlights: Align Technology (Nasdaq: [ ALGN ]) as the Bull of the Day and FTI Consulting (NYSE: [ FCN ]) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Google, Inc. (Nasdaq: [ GOOG ]), Safeway Inc. (NYSE: [ SWY ]) and Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: [ GCI ]).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at [ http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678 ].
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
[ Bull of the Day ]:
Strong performance by Align Technology (Nasdaq: [ ALGN ]) during the last quarter was driven by robust growth of the Invisalign system, which led to growth in revenues and case shipments.
Although the tough competitive scenario has led to decline in product prices, we believe that the company is well placed to take advantage of the under-penetrated malocclusion market. However, Align has witnessed greater penetration, leading to market share gain in the teenage market, which holds immense potential.
Given these factors, we upgrade the stock to Outperform. Viewing the advantages associated with Invisalign and the strong untapped potential of the malocclusion market, we set a target price of $24.00, which is based on 27.3X our 2011 EPS estimate of $0.88.
[ Bear of the Day ]:
FTI Consulting's (NYSE: [ FCN ]) second quarter 2010 earnings were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company's corporate/restructuring segment remains a drag on its growth due to softer trend in bankruptcy work and a slowdown in larger cases. The Technology segment is also struggling due to pricing.
Moreover, the company is experiencing a tepid pace of recovery in the mergers & acquisitions markets. Additionally, progress in its other segments such as Economic Consulting, Strategic Communications and Forensic and Litigation Consulting businesses is slower than expected.
Overall, the near-term visibility remains unclear, as demand environment for practices remains uncertain given the current market volatility and clients cautious aggregate spending. Going forward, we remain skeptical about the growth prospects of the company. Hence, we downgrade the stock from Neutral to Underperform.
Latest Posts on the Zacks [ Analyst Blog ]:
Google Slams Homerun in the 3rd
Internet search giant Google, Inc. (Nasdaq: [ GOOG ]) posted a huge 3rd quarter earnings surprise after the closing bell Thursday, with GAAP earnings of $6.72 per share on net revenues of $5.48 billion. These results far outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimates of $5.93 per share on $5.285 billion in revenue, respectively. We rely on the GAAP earnings since it accounts for the companya™s stock-based compensation, the same as in the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
GAAP net income in the quarter increased to $2.17 billion in the 3rd quarter of 2010 from $1.64 billion in the year-ago quarter for a very impressive 32% gain. GAAP EPS of $6.72 beat 3rd quarter 2009's $5.13 per share by 31%. Google-owned websites grew 22% year over year, generating $4.83 billion in the quarter, up from $3.96 billion.
Analysts had shown increased positivity regarding Google's 3rd quarter within the last week, as 5 analysts (17% of those covering GOOG) had upwardly revised earnings estimates over the past 7 days. This bumped up the Zacks Consensus Estimate 5 cents to $5.93, but was still shy of the initial 3rd quarter consensus of $6.06. Google's positive earnings surprise in the quarter was 11%, the biggest beat from Google in the past 5 quarters.
Leading up to the earnings report, investors had been a tad trepidatious before the bell, sending shares down 0.44% to $540.93. But after the big homerun, GOOG shares released the fireworks and have shot up over 9% in the after-market -- a more than $50 per share increase.
Safeway Beats Estimates
Safeway Inc. (NYSE: [ SWY ]) reported third quarter fiscal 2010 earnings per share (EPS) of 33 cents beating both the Zacks Consensus Estimate and year-ago quartera™s EPS of 31 cents. The third quarter of 2010 EPS included employee severance charges of 2 cents, offset by a lower tax rate as compared with the year-ago quarter.
The company reported sales of $9.4 billion, which matches the Zacks Consensus Estimate, though is marginally down from the year-ago quartera™s $9.5 billion. The effect of a higher Canadian exchange rate and higher fuel sales were partially offset by a 2% decline in identical-store sales (excluding fuel).
Gross margin of 28.14% for the quarter was 13 basis points lower than the third quarter of 2009. In the second half of 2009, Safeway reduced its prices to address competition, which has affected its gross margin. It was partially offset by decreased advertising expenses, though fuel sales had a 13 basis point impact.
Operating and administrative expenses were flat at $2.4 billion as compared with the year-ago quarter. Moreover, as a percentage of sales, expenses (including the 14 basis points impact of higher fuel sales) increased to 25.56% from 25.33% in the year-ago quarter due to increase in wages and benefits.
Safeway opened 2 new stores, completed 9 Lifestyle remodels and closed 12 stores during the quarter, and targets opening 15 Lifestyle stores and completing 60 Lifestyle remodels. For the year, the company plans to invest $900 million in capital expenditures.
Earnings Preview: Gannett Co.
Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: [ GCI ]), a diversified media conglomerate, is scheduled to report its third-quarter 2010 financial results before the bell on Friday, October 15, 2010. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter is currently pegged at 49 cents a share.
Second-Quarter 2010, a Synopsis
Gannett Company, the publisher of the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper USA Today, posted better-than-expected second-quarter 2010 results, buoyed by effective cost-cutting measures, lower newsprint expense and gradually improving advertising environment.
The quarterly earnings of 61 cents a share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 52 cents and soared 32.6% from last year's 46 cents. Gannett's total revenue slid by 1.6% to $1,365.1 million in the quarter under review, following a decline of 4.1% witnessed in first-quarter 2010.
Third-Quarter 2010 Consensus
Analysts surveyed by Zacks expect Gannett to post third-quarter 2010 earnings of 49 cents a share. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate represents a year-over-year growth of 11.4%. The estimates in the current Zacks Consensus for the quarter range from a low of 46 cents to a high of 51 cents.
The current Zacks Consensus Estimate has remained stagnant over the last 7 days, with none of the 6 analysts covering the stock revising their estimates.
With respect to earnings surprises, Gannett has topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate over the last four quarters in the range of 14.3% to 22%. The average remained at 17.3%. This suggests that Gannett has outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by an average of 17.3% in the last four quarters.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to [ http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649 ].
About the Bull and Bear of the Day
Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.
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