The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Target, Hewlett-Packard, Computer Sciences, IBM and Salesforce.com
CHICAGO, Nov. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT-Free Report), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ-Free Report), Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE:CSC-Free Report), IBM (NYSE:IBM-Free Report) and Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM-Free Report).
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Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:
Target Looks to Cash In for Holidays
Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT-Free Report) announced that it will open at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving night, armed with attractive sales and other deals. Also, the company will have savings offers in the form of Cartwheel and REDcard, through which customers can avail special gifts such as toys, home appliances, decorative items, electronic gadgets, apparels, etc.
This season, the Minneapolis-based discount retailer will offer various Black Friday doorbuster offers, which will be available on its website and stores from Nov 28, 2013 to Nov 30, 2013.
New Saving Offers
Cartwheel, the latest digital savings plan introduced by Target, will promote deals on chosen items throughout the Thanksgiving week, with exclusive offers from Nov 24 – Nov 27.
Customers using the REDcard will get an additional 5% discount on most buys during the week. On Black Friday, from midnight till the store shuts, shoppers spending $75 and above at Target stores will win a 20% discount coupon usable at all stores early in December.
During the Cyber week sale, online buyers will receive fresh deals everyday on the company's website. Over 100,000 items including toys, clothes, big brands like Canon, Kitchen-Aid, LG and many more will be put on sale throughout the week. Free shipping of goods is expected to further enhance its Cyber week sales.
Also, for early shoppers, there will be 15 online-only offers commencing Nov 24, 2013 and continuing for two weeks with free shipping for REDcard users.
This year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) holding company will keep its stores open for extended hours on occasions like Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas, Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas, to make the most of the holiday season.
H-P Expands Medicaid Deal with AHCA
Hewlett-Packard's (NYSE:HPQ-Free Report) Enterprise Services arm signed a 2-year service renewal deal related to the Medicaid program with Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). Per the $109 million contract H-P will manage Florida's Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) through Jun 2018.
H-P already serves 114k healthcare providers of the state and processes in excess of 150 million claims per year valued at approximately $24 billion. Moreover, as a fiscal agent, H-P reviews and processes all medical claims, and also manages finances, provides call center support and upgrades call center technology.
H-P's services help the state to improve Medicaid programs, deliver more critical health information to a larger number of healthcare providers and keep pace with nationwide healthcare reforms in a cost effective manner.
H-P acts as the fiscal agent or the IT provider to 19 other states' Medicaid programs. The need for an efficient Medicaid program arises from the enactment of the U.S. Healthcare Reforms Bill which aims to make healthcare more affordable for Americans. We believe that H-P, with its strong position, would be able to capitalize on these government initiatives
Per the Act, beneficiaries are expected to join Medicaid through a registration process, which requires exchange of information regarding health. Medicaid is a joint endeavor of state authorities and the Federal government, designed to provide medical care to those under the federal poverty level, including expectant mothers and children.
However, H-P has to compete with Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE:CSC-Free Report) in the Medicaid service space. H-P's growing focus on new business segments, such as electronic medical records, cloud computing and the recently-added analytics segment will help the company grow in the ensuing quarters.
Nonetheless, H-P is still reeling under pressure from the declining PC business and sluggish macroeconomic environment. The company has also hinted at muted revenue growth in 2014. Moreover, competition from other technology bellwethers such as IBM (NYSE:IBM-Free Report) and Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM-Free Report) makes it even more difficult for the company to gain market share in the cloud and security space.
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