St. Joe, Bon-Ton Stores, Himax Technologies, Google and Apple highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
CHICAGO, Sept. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE-Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and Bon-Ton Stores (Nasdaq:BONT-Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis onHimax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:HIMX-Free Report), Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOGL-Free Report) and Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report).
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE-Free Report) is a Florida-based real estate developer with approximately 182,000 acres of land, concentrated primarily in Northwest Florida. Over the years, the company has developed successful residential and commercial projects and related infrastructure. The Company is currently focused on growing its resorts, leisure and leasing operations.
They have four operating segments--residential real estate, commercial real estate, resorts, leisure and leasing operations & forestry. During FY 2013, about 39% of revenues came from resorts, leisure and leasing operations.
JOE reported its second quarter results on August 7. Total revenue for the quarter was $68.2 million. During the quarter, the company completed its previously announced sale of the RiverTown community.
Residential real estate revenue increased from $5.5 million in the same quarter last year to $47.8 million. The RiverTown sale accounted for $43.6 million of the revenue in the quarter.
The leisure and leasing operation revenue increased $1.2 million, thanks mainly to increased number of room nights rented in vacation homes. Timber harvesting decreased to approximately 60,000 tons in the quarter compared to 340,000 in Q2 of 2013 due to sale of timberland in March.
Results were in general better than street estimates.
Bon-Ton Stores (Nasdaq:BONT-Free Report) is one of the largest regional department store operators in the country, offering a broad assortment of fashion apparel and accessories, as well as cosmetics, fine jewelry and home furnishings.
Founded in 1898, the company currently operates 270 stores, including furniture galleries.
On August 21, the company reported operating results for Q2 of fiscal 2014. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $5.1 million, compared with $8.7 million in the same quarter last year. Net loss was $36.2 million, or $1.86 per diluted share, worse than the Zacks Consensus Estimate for a loss of $1.43 per share. This was the second consecutive quarterly earning miss for the company.
Gross margin contacted to 36.6% of net sales from 37.0% of net sales in the prior year period, mainly due to increased net markdowns and increased delivery costs. The positive part of the report was the 1.6% increase in comparable store sales, for the first time in five quarters.
The management also revised down their fiscal 2014 guidance. They now expect adjusted EBITDA to be in a range of $165 million to $175 million and earnings to be in the range of $0.25 to $0.55 per share.
Additional content:
Himax Joins French Firm to Create Advanced Smart Glasses
Taiwanese chipmaker Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:HIMX-Free Report) announced that its subsidiary, Himax Display Inc. will team up with Optinvent SA, a leading French producer of disruptive ORA Smart Glasses. The partnership will develop technologically-advanced next-generation augmented reality glasses to address the budding smart glass market.
The two companies have successfully collaborated on several technological initiatives in the past. Through the smart glasses, which are poised to set new standards in image quality and performance, the two companies are hoping to capitalize on the phenomenal growth expected in the niche wearable technology market.
Himax also collaborated with Lumus recently to boost its efforts to develop next generation smart glasses.
The Initiative
Optinvent's patented ORA Smart Glasses feature a "see-through" display that does not impede regular vision. The collaboration will attempt to integrate Himax's advanced microdisplay panel with Optinvent's patented see-through display technology.
Himax's micro-display is a vital element in the display-centric smart glasses model, and works flawlessly with the retinal projection engine in Optinvent's ORA Smart Glasses, resulting in panel performance and power consumption optimization.
The companies expect the new product to be one of the most technologically advanced products in the smart glass market.
Himax's Forte
The company manufactures liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) chips and modules, which project images inside head-up displays, pico-projectors and head-mounted devices like Google Glass eyewear.
Himax Display has been Google Inc.'s (Nasdaq:GOOGL-Free Report) partner for quite some time and supplies micro-display panels to this technology behemoth. It also provides a critical component for the much-touted Google Glass.
In July last year, Google announced its intention to take up a 6.3% stake in Himax Display, to propel its Google Glass initiative, thus showing promising growth potential in Himax's technology.
Wearable Technology Market
The wearable technology market, with products ranging from smart glasses to fitness bands to watches, is currently at a nascent stage with radical implications for a number of sectors, like fitness, healthcare, medical, industrial and military. A growing number of technology giants, like Google and Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report), are betting high on this market's potential and are developing wearable technology products.
Per a report from Transparency Market Research, the wearable technology market is poised to reach $5.8 billion by 2018. We believe that with this collaboration, Himax stands to capitalize on the significant growth potential of this nascent market as mainstream demand for such products gather strength.
Himax presently sports a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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