Barnes & Noble, Guess?, Alcoa, Boeing and United Technologies highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
CHICAGO, Oct. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS-Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES-Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis onAlcoa (NYSE:AA-Free Report), Boeing (NYSE:BA-Free Report) and United Technologies (NYSE:UTX-Free Report).
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS-Free Report) was left for dead by investors a few years ago on fears that the retail-store book business was collapsing. But this Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to grow earnings by 142% in fiscal 2014 proving that it may be down, but it's not out.
Barnes & Noble operates 658 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states and its website BN.com. It also operates a NOOK Media LLC subsidiary which specializes in digital reading and education. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers operates 705 bookstores nationwide, servicing 5 million students and faculty members at colleges across the country.
On Sep 9, Barnes & Noble reported first quarter fiscal 2015 results and beat the Zacks Consensus by 10 cents. It still saw a loss of $0.56 however.
Total revenue fell 7% to $1.2 billion with retail revenue, its largest division, falling 5.3%. Same store sales fell 5.1%.
But retail had some bright spots.
Gross margins improved to 29.9% and Toys & Games saw sales rise 19.5%.
The company has a new website set to launch after the holidays and is partnering with Google Shopping to offer same day delivery services in 3 cities.
Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES-Free Report) is still fighting the heavily promotional environment in North America. This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) recently lowered full year earnings guidance.
Guess? operates 488 retail stores in the United States and Canada and 349 retail stores in Europe, Asia and Latin America. It also licenses a lifestyle collection of handbags, watches and footwear which are sold in department and specialty stores around the world.
On Aug 27, Guess? reported its second quarter results and missed on the Zacks Consensus by 2 cents. It was the first earnings miss since 2012.
The North American retail environment remained rocky. Revenue in North America fell 4% and comparable sales, including e-commerce, actually declined 5%.
Additional content:
Alcoa Posts Strong Earnings Yet Again
America's top aluminum producer Alcoa (NYSE:AA-Free Report) reported Q3 earnings after the bell, and once again the company blew the doors off expectations. Both sales and earnings were big positive surprises: 31 cents per share beat the 21 cents of the Zacks Consensus Estimate, and revenues of $6.24 billion in the September quarter sailed past the $5.74 billion we had expected.
Alcoa's story has been an overwhelmingly positive one for the past several quarters, save a disappointing Q4 2013 where the company took a major one-time charge. Including today's earnings beat of 48%, Alcoa is averaging a 43% positive surprise on its bottom line over the past 5 quarters. What's more, analysts had been ratcheting up their estimate revisions all quarter, making today's big beat even more impressive.
It is the second-straight quarter Alcoa has produced 7% growth sequentially. Aluminum prices take partial credit, as they peaked last month at north of $2100 per ton (on a 3-month contract with the London Metal Exchange) before tacking down a bit.
But the company's strategic move to purchase jet engine component maker Firth Rixson is already paying off. Between a Boeing (NYSE:BA-Free Report) deal worth $1 billion and a $1.1 billion deal with Pratt & Whitney -- which is owned by United Technologies (NYSE:UTX-Free Report) -- to supply jet engine parts has already made back more than two-thirds of Alcoa's nearly $3 billion investment in Firth Rixson. In addition, several car manufacturers are converting to lighter-weight bodies such as aluminum, so Alcoa's fortunes may continue looking bright for some time.
Year-to-date, Alcoa shares are up over 50% (and continue to climb in the after-market, post-earnings announcement). In the past year, AA has grown more than 100%, even though the stock is down over the past month. Of course, Alcoa still has a long way to go to reach its valuation heights prior to the Great Recession, but clearly the company is pointed in the right direction.
Alcoa is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock.
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