For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – February 19, 2010 – 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: Oracle Corp. (ORCL), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Skechers USA Inc. (SKX), NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) and O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY).

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Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Bullish on Oracle Long-Term

We remain positive on Oracle Corp.’s (ORCL) long-term growth and expect 2011 results to be strongly aided by the Sun Microsystems acquisition, which provides an impetus for growth in fiscal 2011 and beyond.

We expect increased accretive synergies strengthening its competitive position. The acquisition enabled Oracle to take out its number one competitor, Sun and better position it to compete against International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), its biggest database software rival, among others. If successful, Oracle’s new strategies would lead to higher top and bottom-line growth, with increased traction from the combined product portfolio.

Oracle reported second-quarter 2010 earnings that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate and provided encouraging guidance demonstrating that enterprise application spending is on the mend. We are highly positive on the company’s long-term earnings growth prospects due to its growing market share, incremental cost savings and robust cash flow.

Sketchers Beats Zacks Consensus

Skechers USA Inc. (SKX), the designer, marketer and distributor of footwear, recently reported fourth-quarter 2009 financial results that topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Skechers’ quarterly earnings of 58 cents a share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 52 cents, and improved substantially from a net loss of 44 cents delivered in the prior-year quarter. Robust sales growth and effective cost management drove the bottom-line.

The quarterly earnings outdid the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.5%. Earnings for the second and third quarters in 2009 had outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 52.9% and 18.8%, respectively. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2010 is 82 cents.

NVIDIA Profits Up on Higher Revenues

NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) reported fourth-quarter 2010 earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis (excluding one-time items) of 23 cents, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 15 cents per share. 10 out of 25 analysts have raised their estimates for the fourth quarter 2010 in the last 30 days.

Despite the upward revision, the quarterly profit beat the analysts’ expectation on higher than expected revenue, which has more than doubled in the quarter from the year-ago period.

NVIDIA reported revenue of $982.5 million, up 8.8% from the previous quarter and up 104.2% from the year-ago quarter, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of strong revenue growth. Revenue increased as a result of improvement in the company’s PC, professional solutions and workstation businesses.

O’Reilly Barely Exceeds Estimates

O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY) showed a 41% rise in profits to 52 cents per share (excluding special items) in the fourth quarter of 2009 from 37 cents (excluding special items) in the same period of 2008. This was a tad higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 51 cents. The company has attributed the results to the impressive consolidated comparable store sales experienced during the quarter as well as continued improvement in gross margin backed by improved purchasing power.

Sales for the quarter elevated 5% to $1.17 billion. Consolidated comparable store sales (change in sales for O’Reilly and CSK stores open at least one year) rose 2.7% during the quarter. Gross profit increased 11% to $570 million (or 48.5% of sales) from $515 million (or 46.2% of sales) in the fourth quarter of 2008.

In 2009, O’Reilly saw a 38% rise in profit to $2.26 per share (excluding special items) from $1.64 (excluding special items) in 2008. The profit was slightly higher then the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.24.

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