For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – May 4, 2010 – Zacks Equity Research highlights General Electric Co. (GE) as the Bull of the Day and France Telecom (FTE) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on UAL Corp.(UA), Continental Airlines (CAL) and Delta Airlines (DAL).
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 reaffirming our Outperform recommendation on General Electric Co. (GE) with a $23 target price.
GE Capital’s losses will be lower in 2010. The North American Retail Finance business earned $293 million, up 70% driven by lower credit losses. Real Estate losses were lower in the quarter compared to the year-ago quarter. Commercial Lending and Leasing, GECAS and Energy Financial Services had a great quarter.
Credit losses came down sequentially in the quarter. Global banking delinquencies were flat while reserve coverage went up in the most recent quarter. For commercial lending and leasing, the company continues to see improving portfolio quality metrics.
We reiterate our Underperform recommendation for France Telecom (FTE) based on the carrier’s lackluster operating results and lack of visibility for operational improvements in the near-term. The company remains significantly challenged by the weak economic conditions and unfavorable regulatory measures across its key European markets which continue to weigh on the top-line.
France Telecom’s wireline voice business is shrinking at a greater pace than its major European peers as recession-hit customers discontinue landline phones. Moreover, the company has suspended all restructuring actions due to significant pressure from workers unions.
Moving forward, revenue is expected to remain under pressure due to the prevailing economic, competitive and regulatory factors. Our price target of $20 is based on 8.3x our 2010 EPADS estimate.
Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:
United-Continental Merger Takes Off
U.S. air carriers United Airlines — a wholly owned subsidiary of UAL Corp.(UA) — and Continental Airlines (CAL) declared a merger of their operations.
This merger would give birth to the world’s largest airline by size, pushing Delta Airlines (DAL) back. The deal, which was announced today, will still have to gain approval from shareholders and clear an anti-trust review by the Department of Justice. The airlines resumed merger talks last month after negotiations collapsed in 2008.
The merger is reported to cost a whopping $3.2 billion (based on the current stock price) to United, which would involve compensating each Continental shareholder with 1.05 shares of the former company. This exchange will leave United owning 53% of the newly formed company, which will be christened as United Continental Holdings, with the rest owned by Continental. The airline will however retain the old name — United Airlines — but will carry Continental’s logo and will be headquartered in Chicago.
The board of directors of the newly formed company will seat 16 members and will comprise an equal number of members from both the combining companies. Though Glenn Tilton and Jeff Smisek the chairman, president and chief executive officer of United and Continental, respectively, will serve as non-executive chairman and executive chairman, respectively, along with being on the board of directors, the remaining names have yet to be finalized.
The deal will have no significant impact on the workforce of either United or Continental, which currently have 48,000 and 42,210 employees, respectively. The new company is expected to have a combined workforce of approximately 90,000 employees with a combined fleet of 693 planes.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.
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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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