Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: PerkinElmer, NYSE Euronext, Ford Motor, General Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroen

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Nov 09, 2012, 09:30 ET

CHICAGO, Nov. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE:PKI) as the Bull of the Day and NYSE Euronext, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) and PSA Peugeot Citroen (OTC:PEUGY).

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Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day: http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/PKI

We upgrade our recommendation on PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE:PKI) to Outperform based on its third quarter results. Earnings per share of $0.45 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. PerkinElmer is a leader in several life science segments.

It has added new related areas as part of its reorganization and divested unrelated businesses. As a consequence, it has emerged as a higher-growth, higher-margin company. Its operations, both sales and manufacturing, are diversified on a geographic basis. The company has implemented cost containment measures. Growing recurring revenue stream and operating margin expansion are its pillars of strength.

In the end, our Outperform recommendation is supported from a valuation perspective and a favorable risk-reward tradeoff. Based on the company's recent performance, we upgrade our price target to $38.00, which is based on a P/E of approximately 18.4x our 2012 EPS estimate.

Bear of the Day:

NYSE Euronext, Inc.'s (NYSE:NYX) third quarter earnings breezed past the Zacks Consensus Estimate but plunged year over year based on weak volumes and pricing across trading venues, which led to a reduced top line and lower operating margin. A low cash position and high debt raised the concerns of rating agencies.

NYSE has a bigger debt burden compared to its prime peers, which poses a competitive threat to the fundamental growth of the company. Higher debt and lower working capital in the first half of 2012 also impelled ratings agency S&P to downgrade its outlook to negative from stable, in August 2012.

Our six-month target price of $22.00 equates to about 11.7x our earnings estimate for 2012. With an annual dividend of $1.20, this price target implies a negative total return of 6.9% over that period. This is consistent with our long-term Underperform recommendation on the shares.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Ford Considers Downsizing in Europe

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) revealed that it would opt for production capacity cuts in Europe on top of its recent downsizing in the continent if the market conditions deteriorate further. At the end of last month, the automaker announced that it would trim production capacity in the continent by 18% or 355,000 vehicles.

Ford had revealed that it would retrench 6,200 jobs and close three facilities in Europe. The company plans to shut down a van factory in Southampton, Britain and an associated stamping and tooling facility in Dagenham, east London in 2013 as well as a major plant in Genk, Belgium the following year. These production cutbacks are expected to save about $450 million to $500 million in annual costs.

Ford saw a broader operating loss of $468 million in the third quarter of the year in Europe compared with $306 million a year ago. The decline was attributable to lower volume, offset partially by lower costs and favorable exchange rates. Further, the company expects to lose $3 billion in the region considering both 2012 and 2013.

The present Euro zone financial crisis has affected the operations of many global automakers, especially Ford and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM). Both the automakers have a significant exposure to the market.

In order to reverse the 12 years of losses in Europe, particularly from the Opel brand, GM formed a global alliance with PSA Peugeot Citroen (OTC:PEUGY). The pact will help both the automakers reduce at least $2 billion in costs. In order to strengthen the market position, GM also plans to expand Opel's lineup by introducing 23 models by 2016.

Ford, a Zacks #3 Rank (Hold), posted a 17.6% rise in earnings per share to 40 cents in the third quarter of the year from 34 cents a year ago, driven by impressive results in its North American operation and, to some extent, its Asian operation. With this, the company has also beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10 cents per share. Total profit rose 15.6% to $1.6 billion from $1.4 billion a year ago.

However, total revenue in the quarter slid 3.0% to $32.1 billion due to lower revenues in South America, Europe and Financial Services operations that offset the marginal improvement in revenues in North America and Asia. However, revenues were higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $31.0 billion for the quarter.

Ford plans to restore profitability in its European operations by mid-decade and aims to achieve a long-term operating margin between 6% and 8%. The company continues to anticipate 2012 market share in Europe to be lower than 8.3% in 2011.

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

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.

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