(Source: Business Wire)
Zacks Equity Research highlights GameStop (NYSE: GME) as the Bull of the Day and Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Marriott International (NYSE: MAR), Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HOT) and Intercontinental Hotels Group (NYSE: IHG).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Bull of the Day:
GameStop (NYSE: GME) reported strong results for the fourth quarter. Sales increased 22% year-over-year, and EPS grew 18% to $1.34, which was at the top end of the company's guidance.
In addition, GameStop's outlook for 2009 was equally bullish. The company expects total sales growth of 10%-12.0%, comp-store sales growth of 4.0%-6.0%, and EPS of $2.82-$2.92. We think the company's results demonstrate that video game sales will continue to hold up better than other areas of retail during this challenging environment.
Despite the continued strength of its results, GME shares trade at about 9x fiscal 2009 consensus EPS estimates. We maintain our Buy rating and $34 target price.
Bear of the Day:
Barbados-based Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR) conducts oil, gas, and geothermal land drilling operations and is the largest land-drilling contractor in the world. It is also one of the largest land well servicing companies and workover contractors in the U.S.
We are reiterating our Sell recommendation for Nabors shares in view of the grim outlook for the North American land drilling scene. The rapidly declining rig count in response to a combination of commodity-price weakness and credit market tightness is expected to weigh on the fortunes of all oilfield service players.
Being the largest onshore driller, Nabors remains particularly exposed to this uncertain macro backdrop. This, coupled with the company's relatively weak balance sheet in an environment of continued credit market turmoil, accounts for our continued bearish view.
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Challenges Ahead for Hotels
The hotel industry posted its best week of 2009 last week, with revenue per available room, or RevPAR, down "only" 12.3% versus the year-ago period. Looking behind the numbers, however, we find signs that could lead to more difficult challenges ahead for companies such as Marriott International (NYSE: MAR), Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HOT) and Intercontinental Hotels Group (NYSE: IHG).
