TM Toyota Motor Corporation

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – January 3, 2012 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Ventas (VTR) as the Bull of the Day and Guess? (GES) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Ford Motor Co. (F), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) and Honda Motor Co. (HMC).

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:

We have changed our long-term recommendation for Ventas (VTR) to Outperform driven by its strong third quarter 2011 results. Recurring FFO for the reported quarter exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.06 primarily due to the accretive effect of the acquisitions of Nationwide Health Properties and Atria.

Ventas is one of the largest healthcare REITs in the U.S., with one of the most diversified portfolios and exposure to nearly all types of facilities. The healthcare sector is relatively immune to the downturn in the economy, and provides a steady source of income that insulates the company from short-term market volatility.

Our target price is $66.00, implying a multiple of 19.9X 2011 FFO/share.

Bear of the Day:

We downgraded our recommendation on Guess? (GES) from Neutral to Underperform as its third-quarter 2012 core earnings of $0.71 per share missed both Zacks Consensus Estimate as well as year ago earnings by 28% and 5%, respectively. The current global economic headwinds and the diminishing disposable income of the consumers were responsible for the earnings miss.

Same store sales also declined in the quarter. In the wholesale segment, reorders for the fall collections as well as spring/summer orders were weak. Channel mix was more than offset by accelerating operating expenses to maintain more stores and planned infrastructure expenses.

The potential slowdown in Europe, which has actually been one of the company's few bright spots, also creates a major risk for shares of GES. Our six-month target price is $27.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Ford's Turkish Partner Invests $3.4B

Koc Holding AS, the joint venture partner of Ford Motor Co. (F) in Kocaeli, Turkey, announced that it will invest 6.5 billion liras ($3.4 billion) in 2012. The investment will be focused both on Ford’s joint venture, Otomotiv Sanayi AS (Ford Otosan), and Tupras Turkiye Petrol Rafinerileri AS, the country’s sole crude oil supply and refining company.

Ford Otosan started production in 1965, with each company holding a 41% share in the venture. It operates four facilities in Turkey, two in Kocaeli, one in Eskisehir and one in Istanbul. The joint venture has a share of about 15% in the domestic market. Its share in the passenger car market is roughly 10%, while the share is nearly 20% in the light commercial vehicle segment.

A few months back, Ford Otosan revised its sales forecast upward to 351,000 units from 345,000 units for 2011. The forecasted sales reflect a 16% increase from the sales in 2010. The guidance included domestic sales of 135,000 units, up from the previous forecast of 131,000 units and 126,000 units in 2010, and exports of 216,000 units, up from the prior guidance of 214,000 units and 177,000 units in 2010.

Ford Otosan plans to produce 292,000 units in 2011, up 21% from 242,000 units in 2010. The joint venture will invest $300 million this year compared with $56 million a year ago. Turkey is one of the most important markets for the automobile in Europe. It occupies the sixth position in the continent in terms of automobile production. The country’s light vehicles market expects to grow 11% to 882,000 units this year from 792,000 in 2010.

As a result, it attracted the attention of many global automakers, including Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Honda Motor Co. (HMC), Opel, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and MAN AG. The companies mostly produce vans, buses and trucks in the country.

Ford, a Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) stock, posted a 3.5% drop in profits to $1.85 billion in the third quarter of the year from $1.91 billion in the same quarter of prior year. However, on per share basis, earnings were 46 cents versus 48 cents a year ago, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 44 cents. The decline in profits was attributable to a drop in commodity prices and anticipated reductions in Financial Services results.

Total revenues in the quarter went up $4.1 billion or 14.1% to $33.1 billion. This compared with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $29.8 billion.

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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FORD MOTOR CO (F): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
GUESS INC (GES): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
HONDA MOTOR (HMC): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
TOYOTA MOTOR CP (TM): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
VENTAS INC (VTR): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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