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Genomic Health, Plum Creek Timber, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and PNC Financial Services Group

^{Published on 2010-11-17 07:10:45 - Market Wire}
 

CHICAGO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--[ Zacks Equity Research ] highlights: Genomic Health (Nasdaq: [ GHDX ]) as the Bull of the Day and Plum Creek Timber (NYSE: [ PCL ]) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: [ BAC ]), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: [ JPM ]) and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: [ PNC ]).

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 ]:

The third quarter of fiscal 2010 turned out to be the second consecutive profitable quarter for Genomic Health (Nasdaq: [ GHDX ]) with an EPS of $0.12, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of breakeven earnings.

The company's lead product, the Oncotype DX breast cancer test, recorded annualized growth of 17%. Although the colon cancer test launched earlier this year has yet to make a significant contribution to the top line, the situation could improve gradually as the company tries to receive reimbursements.

We are also encouraged by the NCCN guidelines, which could lead to growing awareness among patients and further increase the acceptance of the test. Given these factors we have raised our estimates and upgrade the stock to Outperform.

[ Bear of the Day ]:

We are changing our long-term recommendation for Plum Creek Timber (NYSE: [ PCL ]) from Neutral to Underperform as we anticipate it to perform well below the broader market.

In the last 30 days, fiscal earnings estimates have been lowered by nearly all analysts covering the stock, driven by the cyclical nature of the business, cut-throat competition, and strict environment policies. However, Plum Creek is the largest publicly-held timber REIT, with a diversified timber and land base that enables it to benefit from large economies of scale.

The stock, however, is trading at a premium to the peer group based on forward earnings estimates. Our target price of $34.00, 25.6X 2010 EPS, reflects our belief that PCL will perform well below the broader market.

Latest Posts on the Zacks [ Analyst Blog ]:

Foreclosure Renewal: A New Housing Mess?

Are the major banks looking at housing troubles and billions of dollars of losses yet again? That is what a new report from the Congressional Oversight Panel seems to warn.

According to the report, the chaos resulting from foreclosure paperwork flaws could result in massive losses for banks and a new quandary for the housing market.

Rampant paperwork lapses in evaluating the authenticity of information provided in the mortgage documents have embroiled major lenders including Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: [ BAC ]), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: [ JPM ]) and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: [ PNC ]) in a number of lawsuits by homeowners in the second half of September. As a result, these lenders temporarily suspended foreclosures.

According to the new report, financial firms that service a total of $6.4 trillion in mortgages are involved in the foreclosure mess. However, after the Obama administration cited that foreclosure suspension is not required in all 50 states, the affected lenders started resuming foreclosed properties sale.

Perhaps the continuation of the foreclosure suspension was required as the mess was not wiped out from the root. We think the recurrence of the paperwork flaws and the torrent of resulting lawsuits could make it difficult to find home buyers in the years to come. This could stretch out the U.S. housing crisis for several years.

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to [ http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649 ].

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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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