Lithia Motors, DryShips, Yelp, Facebook and Twitter highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
CHICAGO, July 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD-Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and DryShips Inc. (Nasdaq:DRYS-Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis onYelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP-Free Report), Facebook (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR-Free Report).
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD-Free Report) beat again as both new and used car sales kept humming along. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is still expected to grow earnings by the double digits both this year and next as the auto market remains red hot.
Lithia is one of the largest automobile retailers in the United States with 101 stores in 12 states. It sells 28 brands of new and used cars as well as operates repair and maintenance.
It serves both urban and rural markets and is therefore a good barometer of the nationwide economy.
On July 23, Lithia reported second quarter results and beat the Zacks Consensus by 7%. Earnings were $1.34 compared to the Consensus of $1.25.
Anyone following the company shouldn't have been surprised by yet another beat because it has only missed once in the last 5 years and that miss was all the way back in 2010.
Are you one of the investors still in DryShips Inc. (Nasdaq:DRYS-Free Report)? This Zacks #5 (Strong Sell) still hasn't recovered from the Great Recession.
DryShips owns 42 drybulk carriers and tankers and ships worldwide. It also owns and operate 11 ultra deepwater drilling units.
Drybulk shipping was hot prior to the recession but the industry overbuilt and that pushed rates down. It is one of the few industries that has yet to recover.
It's been a tough couple of years for DryShips. The last time the company was profitable was in 2011 when it made $0.43.
Last year, it lost $0.28 per share.
While the analysts started out more hopeful for 2014, that hope has begun to fade.
The 2014 Zacks Consensus Estimate has sunk to just $0.04 from $0.20 ninety days ago. The story is the same for 2015 with the Zacks Consensus Estimate sliding to $0.27 from $0.45.
DryShips is expected to report earnings on Aug 5 after the market closes. It doesn't have a track record of beating the estimate, however. It's last beat was in 2011.
Additional content:
Yelp's Earnings Review: Awesome!
Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP-Free Report) continued the social media charge after Facebook's (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report), and Twitter's (NYSE:TWTR-Free Report) strong earnings performances in the second quarter.
Yelp beat the Zacks Consensus Earnings Estimate of $-0.03, by turning a profit for the first time in company history, posting an EPS of $0.04. More impressively, Yelp beat the Zacks Consensus Revenue Estimate of $86.3 million by posting revenues of $88.8 million.
Besides destroying the Zacks estimates for earnings and revenue, the company stated that they saw a 27% increase in monthly unique visitors up to 138 million, exceeding the expected 135 million. Moreover, sales increased 61% to $88.8 million, beating the expected $86.3 million. These amazing numbers caused Yelp to increase guidance for Q314, and FY 2014. Q314 revenue guidance was raised from $95.4 million to between $98 million and $99 million. Management also raised guidance for FY 2014 from between $363 million to $367 million to a range of $372 million to $375 million.
Another segment that was receiving a lot of attention was the growth of Mobile monthly uniques. Well, that was a smash hit too, rising 51% to 68 million.
During the regular trading day, Yelp rose 8.77%, and has continued to rise in after-hours trading. The stock is up over 5% on high volume in after-hours activity.
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