CHICAGO, Nov. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 the OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE:OMX-Free Report), Staples Inc. (Nasdaq:SPLS-Free Report), Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN-Free Report), Office Depot (NYSE:ODP-Free Report) and Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HTZ-Free Report).
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Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:
Office Max Readies for Holiday Season
In order to make the most of the busy holiday season, OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE:OMX-Free Report) announced that it will open at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving night, armed with attractive deals. Also the company will give saving offers on Black Friday at its online shopping site 12:01 a.m. EST onwards.
On Thanksgiving Day, the store will host door buster events starting at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., and a door buster event at 5 a.m. on Nov 29, to kick off its in-store specials till the stock is available. Moreover, from Nov 27–Dec 2, customers can avail free shipping on most orders worth $20 and above.
Last year, many enthusiasts started shopping on Thanksgiving evening, driving sales for the retailer stores. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company has been hawk eyed this season and based on consumer preferences, it adopted the strategy of opening just a day before the most celebrated shopping festival of Black Friday. This strategy is expected to draw cautious, budget-constrained consumers to its stores by offering them alluring schemes and giving them an early bird advantage.
OfficeMax distributes office supplies and paper, print and document services, technology products and solutions as well as office furniture to business enterprises, government offices and consumers.
OfficeMax is repositioning itself to keep afloat in a difficult consumer environment. The company is containing costs, closing underperforming stores and focusing on providing innovative products and services. All these will expectedly lead to margin improvement.
The company, in order to compete with industry bellwethers like Staples Inc. (Nasdaq:SPLS-Free Report) and online rivals such as Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN-Free Report), has decided to merge its business with Office Depot (NYSE:ODP-Free Report). This venture is expected to generate annual savings up to $400–600 million by the end of the third year of the deal, reflecting saving, supply-chain, advertising efficiencies and cost synergies.
55 New ExpressRent Kiosks for Hertz in NYC
Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HTZ-Free Report) now boasts 24X7 55 ExpressRent kiosk locations in New York City to satiate car rental demand. These kiosks offer services in addition to the company's existing 15 retail outlets in the city. The company intends to take the count to more than 100 kiosk locations by 2014.
New York City has a steady demand for rental vehicles. With the establishment of such kiosks, Hertz will be providing customers with faster, cheaper and easily available rental options. Its top line will expectedly get a boost as well.
Currently, Hertz has nearly 725 ExpressRent kiosks located over 535 airports and off-airport areas across the U.S. and Europe.
Hertz Global is aggressively expanding its operations by opening facilities at new locations and collaborating with other companies to grow business. As per one deal, the card holders of Sentient Jet will have the option to become members of Hertz Platinum. Apart from this, the members will have access to Hertz Dream Cars from 2014.
Hertz Global is the leading airport car rental brand in the United States. Of late, the company's Hertz brand in the U.S. airport car rental market has been generating weaker volumes, thereby limiting revenue growth.
Hertz is expected to announce third quarter fiscal 2013 results on Nov 5, 2013.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
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