Lannett, SodaStream International, VerizonCommunications, AT&Tand China Mobile highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
CHICAGO, March 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE:LCI-Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and SodaStream International Ltd. (Nasdaq:SODA-Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis onVerizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ-Free Report), AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T-Free Report) and China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE:CHL-Free Report).
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE:LCI-Free Report) is cashing in on generic drugs as it recently reported record sales and gross margins. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to grow earnings by 329% in fiscal 2014.
Lannett is a $1.5 billion market cap company that makes thyroid, cardiovascular and pain management generic drugs.
On Feb 6, Lannett reported its fiscal second quarter result and beat the Zacks Consensus for the 8th quarter in a row. Earnings were $0.46 compared to the Zacks Consensus of $0.39.
Net sales rose 84% to a record $67.3 million from $36.6 million in the year ago quarter. It was the fifth straight quarter of record sales. Gross profit more than tripled to $41 million.
Sustainable price increases and strong sales of existing products boosted the quarter.
Lannett expects the strong second quarter to continue through the rest of fiscal 2014. It raised its full year revenue guidance by 12% to a range of $275 million to $285 million from the prior guidance of $245 million to $255 million.
The analysts also went ahead and raised estimates for fiscal 2014. The Zacks Consensus jumped to $1.85 from $1.52 just 60 days ago.
SodaStream International Ltd. (Nasdaq:SODA-Free Report) is expected to struggle to grow earnings in 2014. This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) saw its gross margins fall 10.6% in a promotional fourth quarter.
SodaStream makes beverage carbonation systems which transforms tap water into soft drinks. Its products are available in 45 countries worldwide.
On Jan 13, SodaStream pre-announced its fourth quarter results so the weak quarter was already known when the company reported actual numbers on Feb 26.
SodaStream actually beat the Zacks Consensus by 2 cents but the beat was largely irrelevant given the previous earnings warning.
Gross margins fell to 42.4% from 53% in the fourth quarter of 2012. The quarter was hit by lower selling prices due to a weak holiday season, especially in America. Heavy promotions also weighed.
SodaStream also gave its first look at 2014 guidance. It guided sales up just 15% which is under what the analysts had been modeling.
Earnings are expected to be flat to down modestly from 2013. Analysts, who had been much more bullish, despite the earnings warning on the fourth quarter, now had to cut 2014 estimates.
Additional content:
LTE Network Flourishes Worldwide
Long-Term Evolution (LTE), the most sought after next-generation (4G) super-fast wireless communications technology, is rapidly gaining global momentum. The 4G wireless network aims to cope with substantial demand for high-speed wireless data services and mobile video.
The Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) recently reported that currently 274 LTE networks are commercially available in 101 countries. The GSA estimated that more than 350 LTE networks will be commercially functional by the end of 2014.
In Nov 2013, The GSM Association's research wing, GMSA Intelligence, forecasted that there will be more than 1 billion LTE connections globally by 2017. Also, around 465 live LTE networks are projected to be present across 128 countries by 2017.
Recently, GSA reported that currently there are approximately 200.1 million LTE subscribers globally. Out of this, North America region has highest numbers of subscribers, around 101 million (50.5%), Asia-Pacific region boasts 77.8 million (38.8%) and Europe has around 16.4 million (8.2%) LTE subscribers.
In 2013, LTE added a net 125 million subscribers globally. This was the highest addition after 279 million net subscribers for WCDMA/HSPA technology. Currently, there are about 1.47 billion WCDMA/HSPA subscribers throughout the world.
GSMA Intelligence further reported that LTE users consume an average of 1.5GB data per month, two-fold the amount consumed by non-LTE users. In developing countries, LTE users are likely to generate 20 times higher average revenue per user (ARPU) for carriers than non-LTE users, whereas in developed countries ARPU can be 10%-40% higher for LTE users than non-LTE users.
In the U.S., two major wireless operators, namely, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ-Free Report) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T-Free Report) are gradually expanding their respective LTE networks. In China – a major emerging market – leading wireless operator China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE:CHL-Free Report) has decided to initiate a significant LTE-TDD network deployment plan in 2014.
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