For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – February 3, 2010 – Zacks Equity Research highlights RightNow Technologies (RNOW) as the Bull of the Day and AES Corporation (AES) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on BP plc (BP), ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Bull of the Day:
RightNow Technologies (RNOW) is a leading provider of on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) software solutions designed to optimize customer service operations for businesses of all sizes.
Competition continues to increase with Oracle and SAP moving aggressively into the on-demand customer relationship management market. However, RightNow management also continues to expand the company's product reach. We also expect margins to improve along with the growth of top line.
Demand for the company's products remains strong despite the discontinuation of recurring revenues. Our long-term recommendation for RightNow is OUTPERFORM.
Bear of the Day:
Our Underperform recommendation on AES Corporation (AES) takes into account the significant international presence of its fossil fuel power plants in several emerging markets, thereby exposing it to both foreign currency and political risk.
The company's predominantly long-term contracts preempt any rate base growth in the near term for its regulated utilities. Also, with lower electricity demand due to a tepid global economy, the fate of spot wholesale markets is not encouraging.
As a result, we expect shares of AES Corporation to Underperform the broader equity markets in general and the utilities and merchant generators in particular.
Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:
BP Misses on Refining Weakness
BP plc (BP) reported its fourth quarter 2009 results of $1.37 per ADS (American Depositary Share), below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.49, but significantly above the year-earlier loss of $1.06. Weak downstream results, partly offset by upstream strength, accounted for the earnings miss.
More important than the earnings miss is the company’s relatively weak outlook for oil and natural gas production in 2010, which is weighing on the share price today in an otherwise positive day for the sector. The year-over-year improvement reflected increased production volumes, improved oil prices and stronger cost controls were the reasons behind the remarkable results. However, these positives were partially offset by tumbled natural gas prices.
BP’s quarterly earnings slipped by 8% in relation to the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company’s experience of earnings surprise for the preceding four quarters varies between a negative 34.9% and a positive 54.1%, with the average being positive of 9.6%.
While the company’s refineries were working at a significantly higher rate, the weak refining margin environment negatively affect BP’s results as with rivals like ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX).
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.
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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Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.
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