For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – March 4, 2010 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) as the Bull of the Day and Western Union (WU) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Pozen (POZN), AstraZeneca (AZN) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is one of the largest software companies in the world. The company’s operating systems are installed on nearly all computers anywhere in the world. Therefore, the recovery in the PC market is encouraging.
The huge core business, management’s acquisition strategy and cost reduction initiatives are driving strong cash flows and earnings growth. While we recognize that competition continues to increase and the company’s dominant position in the PC market could erode, we note that attach rates of the new OS are increasing.
We believe that Microsoft is poised to benefit from new product cycles in both the enterprise PC and server markets. Hence, we are upgrading MSFT shares to Outperform.
The Western Union Company’s (WU) fourth quarter earnings narrowed compared to the prior-year quarter as a result of lower transaction volumes due to ongoing market challenges and the dilutive effects of recent acquisitions.
However, we believe that the company’s strong brand name, network expertise and financial strength will position it well for long term profitability. Moreover, the company is experiencing gradual recovery of transaction, revenue and pricing trends.
Then again, given the slow pace of economic recovery, we would have to wait for some time to see any significant improvement. Our current target price is $15 per share.
Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:
Bullish on Pozen
Pozen (POZN) remains one of our top picks in the small-to-mid cap biotechnology industry. We view the company as financially sound, exiting 2009 with over $46 million in cash on hand and another potential $20 million coming in April 2010 from AstraZeneca (AZN) for the U.S. approval of Vimovo.
The company is also well diversified, with one product on the market in Treximet, one product nearing FDA approval in Vimovo, and one product in phase III trials in PA-325. All three products offer significant catalysts in the near-term.
Sales of Treximet in the fourth quarter 2009 totaled $22.7 million at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). This resulted in a royalty payment from Glaxo to Pozen of approximately $1.1 million. Treximet sales have been tracking below our expectations since the launch almost two years ago.
Sales in 2008 were hampered by the lack of approved marketing material. Sales in 2009 were hampered by significant sampling and widespread misconception that the product had poor reimbursement or offered no real advantages over generic sumatriptan. The truth is that over 90% of managed care plans list Treximet on their formulary, with over 50% in tier-2 status.
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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