Integrated Device Technology, Bridgepoint Education, Liberty Global, Comcast and News Corp. highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
CHICAGO, June 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Integrated Device Technology (Nasdaq:IDTI-Free Report)as the Bull of the Day and Bridgepoint Education (NYSE:BPI-Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis ontheLiberty Global Inc. (Nasdaq:LBTYA-Free Report), Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq:CMCSA-Free Report) and News Corp. (Nasdaq:NWSA-Free Report).
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Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Integrated Device Technology (Nasdaq:IDTI-Free Report) Has put together a number of positive earnings surprises and that stock has risen to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). It is the Bull of the Day.
The company is selling off some old business lines, including the recent sale of PCI Express to PMC for $100M in cash. That deal follows a March transaction with Atmel for smart meter business. Some would say the shrinking down and getting to a laser focus on the core is simply the company cleaning itself up for an acquisition. I could not agree more, but I also like the business lines, wireless power and the big move in estimates.
Integrated Device Technology is a timing chip company that allows the processor and switches. Rapid IO switches are key to their communications product set and sees China Mobile as being a huge customer in the coming year. RF or radio frequency is also another area of expertise as is the wireless power segment. So they have a lot of things going on in some interesting areas that are going to be seeing growth for some time.
Looking to the earnings history, I see a stock that has beaten the number 5 of the last 6 reports, with the exception being a time when the company met estimates. The most recent quarter was a loss of $0.02, but that was two cents better than the loss of four cents that analysts were expecting. I expect the company to swing back to profitability in the coming quarter.
Bridgepoint Education (NYSE:BPI-Free Report) Has put together a number of positive earnings surprises and that stock has risen to a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). It is the Bear of the Day.
The stock has run up quite dramatically over the past six weeks. The stock is up more than 20% since the start of May, but at the same time, earnings estimates have been moving in the opposite direction.
Bridgepoint Education provides postsecondary education services. Its academic institutions, Ashford University and University of the Rockies offer associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs in the disciplines of business, education, psychology, social sciences, and health sciences. The company was formerly known as TeleUniversity, Inc. and changed its name to Bridgepoint Education, Inc. in February 2004. Bridgepoint Education, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
Looking to the earnings history, I see a stock that has missed the number in two of the last three reports and posted an earnings meet in the other instance. The September 2012 quarter came in 17% below expectations and the following quarter was a negative earnings surprise of 3.3%.
Additional content:
Liberty Global Gets Virgin Media
Liberty Global Inc. (Nasdaq:LBTYA-Free Report) finally completes the acquisition of the British cable MSO, Virgin Media. On Feb 2013, Liberty Global decided to acquire a 100% stake in Virgin Media in a cash and equity deal. The deal is worth around $15.8 billion or an enterprise value of nearly $23.3 billion.
On Jun 7, the company declared that it has finally received shareholders' approval, regulatory approvals including both the U.S. and European and completed other customary closing conditions to acquire Virgin Media.
The acquisition makes Liberty Global the largest cable TV MSO (multi service operator) in the world, surpassing Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq:CMCSA-Free Report), the largest cable MSO of the U.S. Together, Liberty Global and Virgin Media will have approximately 25 million subscribers compared with nearly 22 million subscribers of Comcast.
In the U.K., the merged entity will become a formidable challenger to British Sky Broadcasting Group plc., which is the largest pay-TV operator in the U.K. and is partially controlled by News Corp. (Nasdaq:NWSA-Free Report).
Liberty Global is gradually establishing a strong foothold in the European cable TV market. On Apr 2013, Liberty Global acquired a 12.65% ownership of Ziggo, the largest cable MSO in the Netherlands. Ziggo also competes with telecom operators
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