Skechers, GNC Holdings, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Snapple Group highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
CHICAGO, May 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Skechers (NYSE:SKX-Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and GNC Holdings (NYSE:GNC-Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis onCoca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO-Free Report), PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP-Free Report) and Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (NYSE:DPS-Free Report).
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Although many retail names were hit hard by the cold weather, a few have managed to post strong results. Interestingly, the footwear segment has been an especially strong performer with a number of companies in this space beating out results.
One such company that is a great example of this trend is undoubtedly Skechers (NYSE:SKX-Free Report), a California-based firm that is now up nearly 100% over the past year. Yet with such a strong performance, investors might we wondering if the good times can continue for SKX, especially given the rocky trading in a number of other surging names.
Fortunately, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about this stock for the long haul, though investors may first want to look at the recent earnings from SKX to get a better picture of the trends in place.
For the most recent earnings report, SKX absolutely crushed the consensus estimate. Earnings came in at 61 cents a share, far better than the 33 cent per share profit that analysts were expecting. This follows up a strong beat for SKX to close out 2013, and it actually helped to push the average beat over the last four quarters to a truly impressive 125%.
Thanks to terrible weather, many names in the retail space have been underperforming. We most recently saw this with the giant of the space, Wal-Mart which disappointed investors with its most recent earnings report.
Other, smaller companies have also seen weakness lately, and especially so in the drug store space. These companies have not only been hit hard by the weather, but also intense competition for drugs and supplements among a variety of companies which is dragging down one of the more famous names in the space, GNC Holdings (NYSE:GNC-Free Report).
GNC focuses on health and wellness products for its sales, specifically in the vitamin, mineral, and supplement segments. The company has over 8,600 locations around the globe and it has become pretty ubiquitous in strip malls and the like across the U.S.
While this has been a solid business for GNC for quite some time, the company has run into a bit of trouble lately. The stock has lost over 37% of its value in just the past six months as heavy competition and lower demand have rocked shares of this retail name. And worst of all, the pain may just be getting started as evidenced by the most recent earnings report for GNC.
In the company's most recent report, it just missed analyst estimates of 76 cents a share, posting earnings of 75 cents instead. This follows up a miss in the previous quarter as well, suggesting that GNC is having great difficulty in meeting analyst expectations.
Additional content:
Will Coke Do Better in 2014?
On May 15, 2014, we issued an updated research report on The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO-Free Report).
The Coca-Cola Company started 2014 on a positive note — beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter revenues (results announced on Apr 16) while meeting earnings expectations on slight volume gain.
In fact, this is the first time in the past six quarters that Coca-Cola has beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales helped by better pricing and volume growth. Earnings grew 5% year over year on a constant currency basis as positive price/mix gains, strong developing market volumes and cost control made up for higher marketing costs.
Changing consumer preferences, increasing health consciousness, rising obesity concerns, possible new taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages and growing regulatory pressures are affecting the sales of carbonated beverages of Coca-Cola as well as other soft drink makers like PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP-Free Report) and Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (NYSE:DPS-Free Report). In fact, CSD category headwinds resulted in lower-than-expected volume at Coca-Cola in 2013. Overall, the company's revenues and profits in 2013 fell short of management's expectations.
Despite the 2013 headwinds, management aims to accelerate growth in 2014 — "the year of execution". In 2014, the company plans to accelerate growth of sparkling beverages, especially the Coca-Cola brand. The company has increased marketing investments and is driving package and product innovation to boost its sparkling beverage volumes. Moreover, the company will expand its still beverage portfolio and increase its brand building investments to enhance volume growth. In fact, management announced at the first-quarter conference call that only 5% of its total incremental marketing spend for 2014 was deployed in the first quarter. It expects to ramp up both quality and quantity of its marketing spend in the remaining quarters which should drive better volumes.
Coca-Cola enjoys sound long-term fundamentals with its global reach, strong brand power, expanding international presence, powerful global bottling network and solid cash position. Moreover, its increased focus on product/packaging innovation and marketing strategies bode well for additional market share gains.
About the Bull and Bear of the Day
Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.
About the Analyst Blog
Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous analyst coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Click here to subscribe to this free newsletter today.
About Zacks
Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.
Get the full Report on SKX - FREE
Get the full Report on GNC - FREE
Get the full Report on KO - FREE
Get the full Report on PEP - FREE
Get the full Report on DPS - FREE
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
[email protected]
http://www.zacks.com
Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101027/ZIRLOGO
SOURCE Zacks Investment Research, Inc.
Share this article