CHICAGO, April 20, 2011 /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: IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM),
Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT),
Emerson Electric Co (NYSE: EMR) and Sanmina-SCI
(Nasdaq: SANM).
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101027/ZIRLOGO)
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Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:
IBM Beats, In Flux After-Market
IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) bested the 1st quarter Zacks
Consensus Estimates for both earnings and revenues. "Big Blue"
brought in $2.41 per share with a top
line of $24.6 billion, compared with
the expected $2.30 per share and
$24.0 billion in revenue.
As a result, IBM stock jumped about 2% immediately in
after-market trading before selling off just as sharply. So what
started after the bell as clearly an earnings surprise which
pleased the market, with Software sales rising 10% and Services up
6% in the quarter has turned into a bit of a head-scratcher at this
hour.
IBM said profits rose 10% year over year in the first quarter.
Its revenues gained 8% from the year-ago quarter; though adjusting
for foreign exchange rates takes that figure closer to 5%.
IBM also issued a statement from CFO Mark Loughridge, who said IBM enjoyed its best
first quarter of constant currency revenue growth in ten years. IBM
also raised its full-year earnings expectation from $13 per share to $13.15, above the $13.07 in the current Zacks Consensus.
Yahoo! Beats by a Penny
Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) reported first quarter EPS of
17 cents, a penny ahead of the Zacks
Consensus Estimate. This marks the company's fifth consecutive
positive earnings surprise. It was a 23% decrease from the same
quarter in 2010, however.
Revenue Beats
Revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs (revenue ex-TAC)
came in at $1.064 billion, a 9%
decline from the same quarter in 2010, but ahead of the Zacks
Consensus Estimate of $1.054
billion.
The decline was due in large part to the revenue share related
to the search agreement with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). Under
the terms of the deal, Microsoft receives $12 of every $100
in ad revenue generated from clicks alongside ads next to search
results.
Excluding this item and other special items, revenue ex-TAC for
the first quarter of 2011 was essentially flat year-over-year.
Overall, search revenue ex-tac was down 19%. Display revenue,
which accounted for 44% of total revenue, climbed 10%.
Meanwhile, operating income was up 1% over the same period.
Solid Cash Position
Free cash flow for the quarter was down 7% to $59 million. The company repurchased 8 million
shares in the quarter for $137
million.
Yahoo! had $3.528 billion in cash,
cash equivalents, and short-term investments at March 31, 2011.
Outlook
Management expects second quarter revenue ex-TAC between
$1.075 billion and $1.125 billion.
Total expenses less TAC are expected to be in the range of
$915 million to $935 million.
Operating income is expected to be between $160 million and $190 million.
It did not give specific EPS guidance, but the Zacks Consensus
Estimate for the second quarter is currently 17 cents.
Yahoo! is a Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) stock.
Emerson to Build Solar Inverters
Emerson Electric Co (NYSE: EMR) is entering a partnership
with Sanmina-SCI (Nasdaq: SANM) to build solar power
inverters at Sanmina-SCI's Ottawa,
Canada, manufacturing facility.
The Emerson grid-tie inverters to be built by Sanmina-SCI are
designed for utility and large-scale commercial purposes.
Production of the inverters will begin in 2011 and it may be
possible to supply to solar energy projects throughout North and
South America.
With a global workforce of more than 140,000 employees and 265
manufacturing facilities, Emerson is well positioned backed by
infrastructure, knowledge and experience to deliver its technology
and product solutions to customers around the world.
The company continues to invest in breakthrough technologies,
expand its geographic presence and improve the cost structure of
the business, both organically and inorganically.
We anticipate that emerging markets will continue to outperform
mature markets and could represent a significant portion of the
company's total sales. Furthermore, emrging markets could recover
faster compared to the U.S. and Europe.
The company's operations are at multiple locations spread across
the world, a majority of which are outside the United States and are therefore exposed to
disrupted production causing delays in shipment.
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