Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: ADTRAN Inc., Eastman Kodak Co., Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Manpower Inc.

CHICAGO, Feb. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights ADTRAN Inc. (NYSE: ADTN) as the Bull of the Day and Eastman Kodak Co.  (NYSE: PHM) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A), BP plc (BP) and Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN).

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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 are upgrading our recommendation on ADTRAN Inc. (NYSE: ADTN) to Outperform based on strong fundamentals. Fourth quarter earnings strongly outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate and year-ago results on record high revenue.

ADTRAN's three growth products are constantly delivering record revenues and are expected to do so continuously in future. We believe the company is well positioned for strong growth in 2011 driven by mobile backhaul demand, TA 5000 rollouts, market share gains, new product offerings, continued Internet-working momentum, strong international ramp and growing service revenue.

Additionally, ADTRAN has a strong balance sheet with no long-term debt and is committed to return value to shareholders through dividends. These positive factors will offset the major risk pertaining to the company's largest customer, Qwest.  

Bear of the Day:

We downgrade our recommendation on Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) from Neutral to Underperform based on the recent loss of lawsuit against Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Limited for infringement of patent upon initial determination.

Zacks reduced its fiscal 2011 and 2012 estimate being pessimistic on the final decision to be released on May 23. Moreover, Kodak operates in a highly competitive market, where it encounters aggressive price competition for all its products and services from numerous companies globally.

The company's huge exposure to volatile products is also a matter of concern. Kodak's huge dependence on third party manufacturers and external suppliers might also remove its product reliability.

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Shell Profit Rises, but Misses View

 Europe's largest oil company Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A) reported weaker-than-expected fourth quarter 2010 results, pulled down by volatility in downstream marketing margins (due to rising oil prices), higher taxes, and lower trading contributions.

Earnings per ADR (on a current cost of supplies basis), excluding one-time items and gains or losses from inventories, came in at $1.34, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.63. Earlier this week, rival BP plc (BP) – still battling to recover from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill – also missed earnings forecasts.   

However, compared with the year-ago period, Shell's adjusted earnings per ADR improved 48.9% (from 90 cents to $1.34), while revenues were up 24.2% to $100.7 billion, reflecting rising output and higher oil prices.

For full year 2010, Shell earned $5.89 per ADR (on a current cost of supplies basis) on revenues of $368.1 billion.

Manpower Tops Estimate

Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN), the global leader in the employment services industry, recently posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter 2010 results that topped Zacks' expectations on the heels of revenue growth across all geographies with Europe performing remarkably well.

Manpower also witnessed a surge in demand for information technology employees with a gradual recovery in the economy. The companies are reluctant to hire permanent staff until they witness complete recovery in the economy, and are still resorting to temporary workforce to guard against economic hiccups should they happen. 

Despite the recent economic downturn and unemployment rate hovering around 9%, the company's U.S. operations have registered revenue growth.

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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