For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – February 24, 2010 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Ameriprise Financial (AMP) as the Bull of the Day and Tetra Tech, Inc. (TTEK) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Target Corporation (TGT), Macy’s Inc.(M) and Sears Holdings Corp.(SHLD).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
We are upgrading our recommendation on Ameriprise Financial (AMP) to Outperform from Neutral. The company’s fourth quarter earnings came in substantially ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate, aided by strong top-line growth and expense management.
The company continues to benefit from its re-engineering and cost-control initiatives. Additionally, improvements witnessed in retail client activity will drive operating leverage in the upcoming quarters.
The company continues to work on capturing greater assets by improving its product solutions and expanding its distribution reach. Also, the prospective acquisition of Columbia Management will significantly shore up the inorganic growth in the medium to long term.
We are downgrading our recommendation on Tetra Tech, Inc. (TTEK) from Neutral to Underperform with a $19 target price.
The company believes that back-end construction management services will weaken in the second quarter and remain soft in the remainder of FY2010, driven primarily by the commercial market downturn and the continued slow pace of stimulus spending.
Due to the forecasted reduction, the company has lowered revenue and earnings guidance for FY2010. The company, however, believes that it will have strong order book for front-end consulting and engineering services in FY2010.
Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:
Target Beats Zacks Consensus
Target Corporation (TGT) reported fourth quarter results with earnings of $1.24 per share. Earnings were well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 77 cents and were up a robust 53.3% year-over-year. Profits were driven by better-than-expected holiday sales.
Total revenue for the quarter increased 3.2% to $20.1 billion, primarily driven by Retail segment sales. Retail sales grew 3.7% year-over-year to $19.7 billion However, revenue from the Credit Card segment fell 14.0% to $462 million.
Comparable-store sales for the quarter grew 0.6%, an improvement over a decline of 1.6% posted in the prior-year quarter. The number of transactions rose to 2.0%, but the average transaction amount dropped 1.3% in the quarter.
Overall gross margin for the quarter expanded 139 basis points (bps) to 30.7% versus 29.3% in the comparable prior-year quarter. The operating margin grew 212 bps to 8.0% from 5.9% in the year-ago period.
The company ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of $2.2 million, total long-term debt of 15,565 million.
Macy’s Tops Expectations
Macy’s Inc. (M) recently posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter 2009 results buoyed by effective inventory management, division consolidation and the customer-centric localization initiative called ‘My Macy’s’ aimed at improving sales and reducing operating expenses.
Quarterly earnings of $1.40 per share outdid the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.32, and exceeded its own guidance of $1.35 to $1.37. The earnings rose 32.1% from $1.06 per share delivered in the prior-year quarter.
Macy’s now expects fiscal year 2010 earnings per share in the range of $1.55 to $1.60. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal year 2010 is $1.58. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has risen 6.8%, with 14 out of 17 analysts covering the stock raising their estimates, and one analyst lowering his expectation.
Sears Beats Zacks Estimates
Sears Holdings Corp.’s (SHLD) fiscal 2009 fourth-quarter GAAP earnings more than doubled to $430 million from $190 million in the year-ago period. Excluding special items, adjusted earnings per share came in at $3.69 per share, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.54 per share.
The better-than-expected performance was primarily driven by growth in Kmart, improved gross margin and lower overheads. Shares of Sears Holdings have gained more than 1% to $97.09 in pre-market trading on the Nasdaq after the positive news.
Total revenues reduced marginally by 0.2% to $13.2 billion, compared to $13.3 billion in the year-earlier quarter. The decrease was primarily the result of lower same-store sales and fewer stores, partially offset by the favorable impact of foreign currency translations. Total comparable-store sales decreased 2.5% during the quarter, mainly due to a 6.1% decline in Sears Domestic, partially offset by a 1.7% growth in Kmart.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.
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