Acadia Healthcare, Verint Systems, Walt Disney, Twenty-First Century Foxand Sony highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
CHICAGO, Oct. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Acadia Healthcare (Nasdaq:ACHC-Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and Verint Systems (Nasdaq:VRNT-Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis onWalt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS-Free Report), Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (Nasdaq:FOXA-Free Report) and Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE-Free Report).
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Acadia Healthcare (Nasdaq:ACHC-Free Report) provides inpatient behavioral health care services, including psychiatric and chemical dependency services. The stock became a Zacks #1 Rank in July after significant bumps in analyst earnings estimates for this year and next, with 2014 EPS projections moving up to $1.44 from $1.30, representing 34% annual growth.
And 2015 estimates were lifted to $1.96 from $1.58 over the summer, equivalent to 37% annual EPS growth. But this was all before the company reported Q2 earnings in late July.
Since the company exceeded expectations in that report, including a 23% increase in year-over-year EPS on a 20% boost to the top line and an 11.5% jump in same-facility revenue, analysts have become much more optimistic about the company as its strategies of both organic and M&A-based growth are bearing fruit.
With a mix of inpatient psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers, outpatient clinics and therapeutic school-based programs Acadia Healthcare has a comprehensive approach to helping people overcome debilitating mental and substance abuse issues.
Clearly this is an area in our society that is seeing more patients and need for quality care, not less. And the tailwinds of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are supporting growth in this company's programs.
Verint Systems (Nasdaq:VRNT-Free Report) is a provider of analytic software-based solutions for communications interception, digital video security and surveillance, and enterprise business intelligence.
The stock fell to a Zacks #5 Rank Strong Sell because analysts dropped estimates substantially across the board in the past 30 days, taking the current quarter down a whopping 26% to $0.54 from $0.73 and the next fiscal year down 4.5% to $2.96 from $3.10.
In the company's own words, "Verint makes Big Data actionable for government and commercial organizations around the globe. Today, more than 10,000 organizations use our Actionable Intelligence solutions to improve enterprise performance and make the world a safer place."
The company provides "Security Intelligence Solutions" to Union Bank which uses Nextiva to deter threats and robberies in its 337 retail bank branch locations.
And Home Depot has standardized its more than 2,000 stores across North America on Verint's networked video solution to help ensure a safe and secure environment for its 300,000 employees and millions of customers.
Verint also creates "Enterprise Intelligence Solutions" that help New York Life and VSP Vision Services improve their customer service and engagement.
The current earnings momentum has been intercepted and until that turns around, the stock could be under more pressure since its 52-week high hit just above $57 this week. Stay tuned to the Zacks Rank for the all-clear sign.
Additional content:
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS-Free Report) has had an amazing run at the box office so far. Roaring success of the animated movie Frozen was followed by superb box office response to Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Maleficent.
These three movies currently are in the list of top 5 highest grossing films of 2014 (so far). Guardians of the Galaxy, from the Marvel Studios, tops the list with a domestic box office collection of nearly $315 million, followed by another movie from Marvel's stable, Captain America 2, occupying the no. 2 position with a collection of $259.8 million. Angelina Jolie starrer Maleficent with $240.1 million comes at no.5 position. Frozen has crossed the $1 billion mark to emerge as one of the top animated movies of all time.
Fiscal 2014 greatly benefited from the stellar performance of its movies helping Disney to post the better-than-expected results in all the three quarters. In the third quarter, Studio revenues grew 14% while operating income registered a substantial year-over-year gain.
Disney had acquired Marvel Studios in 2009 for $4 billion. Ever since, Marvel has churned out some highest-grossing movies of all time for Disney, validating its money-making ability.
These films include Avengers, the third highest grosser of all time, collecting $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office. Further, Iron Man 3 with a collection of $1.2 billion emerged as the sixth highest grossing movie. Avatar, distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a subsidiary of Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (Nasdaq:FOXA-Free Report), dominates the list with $2.8 billion.
However, 2014 deserves special credit as Marvel enjoyed unprecedented success. Marvel movies, including Sony Corp's (NYSE:SNE-Free Report) The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Twenty-First Century Fox's X-Men: Days Of Future Past along with Disney's Captain America 2 and Guardians, had record openings amassing over $90 million in their respective debut weekends. Though Disney owns Marvel Studio, some of the studio's popular characters like X-Men and Spider Man are owned by other film production companies.
Marvel has such a powerful appeal that even an obscure series like Guardians, without any popular star cast, catapulted to the no.1 slot. Cashing on this appeal, Marvel recently announced an impressive movie slate up to 2017.
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