CHICAGO, May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Dean Foods Co. (NYSE:DF) as the Bull of the Day and RadioShack Corp. (NYSE:RSH) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq:FB), NASDAQ OMX Group Inc (Nasdaq:NDAQ) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).
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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:
Dean Foods Co. (NYSE:DF) first-quarter 2012 earnings of $0.31 per share came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.21 and jumped over two-fold from the prior-year period, primarily driven by a recovery in its fluid milk business with continuous growth at its WhiteWave-Alpro business. The company's net sales grew 5.4% due to better pricing strategy coupled with robust segmental performance.
The company now forecasts full-year 2012 adjusted earnings in the range of $1.10 to $1.20 a share, up from $0.87-$0.95 forecasted earlier. The company has taken initiatives to restructure operations in an effort to reduce costs while expanding its branded product business through acquisitions.
Moreover, in a move to optimize its capital allocation and concentrate on core business activities, Dean Foods intends to divest underperforming businesses. Currently, we are maintaining a long-term Outperform recommendation on the stock.
RadioShack Corp.'s (NYSE:RSH) difficulties persists as the company's first-quarter 2012 financial results were pathetic. The company's core consumer electronics retail business is on a secular downtrend and is unlikely to be revived in the near future. Customers increasingly prefer online purchase instead of visiting brick-and-mortar retail stores.
Loss of footfall is taking a toll on RadioShack's mobility business, on which the company is banking for its future growth. Further, instead of computers and cameras, majority of consumers prefer tablets and smartphones, which are less profitable for the retail industry.
In the last quarter, comparable store sales for the company-operated stores and kiosks decreased 4.2% year over year. This is a key retail performance indicator measuring growth from existing sales locations. We do not find any immediate growth catalyst and thus reaffirm our Underperform recommendation.
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NASDAQ Faces Facebook Investor Wrath
Following the Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq:FB) initial public offering (IPO) debacle, NASDAQ OMX Group Inc (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is facing the wrath of one of the IPO investors, who questioned NASDAQ's failure to process orders to buy, sell or cancel requests for Facebook shares on time, causing losses to investors.
The investor hopes to obtain a class action status for a case he filed against the company regarding the same. The concerned investor had tried to both order and then cancel requests for Facebook shares but was unable to do so, owing to the technical glitch in the trading platform.
NASDAQ was confronted with a surge of order cancellations and updates on the very first day Facebook started trading, leading to technical problems and a delay in trading for 30 minutes. However, the solution deployed by the exchange to save the blushes was inadequate and led to delays in order confirmations for another two and a half hours.
Nevertheless, NASDAQ has already taken initiatives to rectify the procedures for IPOs following the hiccups faced during the Facebook IPO. For future IPOs, the exchange has decided to employ the software used for regular opening and closing trading, rather than persisting with the software that it used for the Facebook IPO.
However, the IPO remains a burning issue with both investors and regulatory authorities. The Securities and Exchange Board and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have decided to review the events surrounding the IPO, thereby increasing the pressure on both the companies involved as well as the underwriter of the issue – Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).
The review was prompted by certain media reports that disclosed Morgan Stanley had reduced its revenue guidance prior to the IPO, while Facebook advised many of its underwriters to do the same. However, the information was provided only to select institutional investors and not made public.
This selective disclosure breaches the fair disclosure regulation, which requires public companies to make all material information available to all investors at the same time.
The state of Massachusetts is also set to conduct an investigation into the matter. The Secretary of Commonwealth of the state issued a subpoena to Morgan Stanley regarding the issue. However, Morgan Stanley maintains that it followed the same procedure for the Facebook IPO as it does for other IPOs and that these procedures are in compliance with relevant regulations.
NASDAQ currently carries a Zacks #4 Rank, which translates into a short-term Sell rating, while Facebook carries a Zacks #3 Rank (a short-term Hold).
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.
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