(Source: Business Wire)
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: Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ: CENT), Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: PLXS), New York & Co. (NYSE: NWY), Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI), and 3Com Corporation (NASDAQ: COMS).
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Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:
Sell Central Garden & Pet
Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ: CENT) produces, innovates, and markets pet, lawn, and garden products under leading brands. The company operates in a highly competitive environment and faces significant competition from Spectrum Brands and The Scott's Miracle-Gro Company.
Management is addressing a difficult environment of weak retail sales, adverse weather and higher costs, which have affected the company's sales and profitability. The benefits from the strategy of expanding the operating margin through a positive mix shift towards higher margin products and the optimization of the supply chain have been delayed as higher grain costs have negatively impacted demand and profitability.
Plexus Corp. Well Positioned
Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: PLXS) has posted several quarters of strong results, with significantly higher-than-expected revenue and bookings. However, macro-economic headwinds are expected to result in a reduced top-line growth in 2009.
We believe that PLXS is among the best positioned in the industry and is poised to grow with a strong pipeline and new customer wins in 2009 and beyond.
New York & Co.: No Guidance
New York & Co.'s (NYSE: NWY) 4th quarter came in as expected, but it did not provide EPS guidance for 2009. We continue to expect weak sales trends throughout this year, but its sales should finally bottom out for this cycle.
Meanwhile, NWY will continue to implement its restructuring and cost reduction plan, which is expected to reduce operating costs by $30 million in 2009 and $175 million over the next 5 years. While that is a step in the right direction, it does very little to help spur the company's sales growth which is the real problem at this point.
Telecom Italia Misses Estimates
Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI), the leading communications provider in Italy, delivered tepid 2008 results (below our expectations) with decreased revenue due to weaker contributions from its European broadband and Brazilian mobile operations.
