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Fri, January 30, 2009
Zacks Bull & Bear of the Day Highlights: AmBev, Canon, Bookham, Avanex and Oplink
CHICAGO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Zacks Equity Research picks AmBev (NYSE: [ ABV ]) as Bull of the Day and Canon, Inc. (NYSE: CAJ) as Bear of the Day. In addition, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research discuss the latest on Bookham (Nasdaq: [ BKHM ]), Avanex (Nasdaq: [ AVNX ]) and Oplink (Nasdaq: [ OPLK ]).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at: [ http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678 ]
Bull of the Day
We are maintaining our Buy recommendation on Companhia de Bebidas das Americas, otherwise known as AmBev (NYSE: [ ABV ]). The company posted positive results for the third quarter of 2008 with excellent results in Brazil and in Argentina.
InBev's desire to acquire Anheuser-Busch appears to be positive for the company (at the beginning of 2004, AmBev announced a billion dollar merger with the Belgian beer maker, Interbrew, creating InBev). Despite the difficult economic environment throughout the world due to the global [ credit ] crunch, the company, which is focusing on low-cost, daily-use products, is not tied directly to the international economic cycle.
Moreover, a more relaxed monetary policy in Brazil is very positive for the company. we consider that the current discount over the industry mean is excessive, mainly considering that Brazil, which is the company's key market, has a huge room for [ interest rate ] cuts and will be less affected by the crisis.
Bear of the Day
Based in Japan, Canon, Inc. (NYSE: CAJ) is one of the leading designers, manufacturers, and marketers of office equipment, cameras, and optical products in the world. Canon is a high-technology-oriented company with strategies to develop innovative, value-added products that incorporate advanced technologies.
We believe the sharp appreciation of the yen is eroding Canon's revenue and profits. Canon's results for fiscal 2008 were hurt by weak consumer spending and falling demand amid a global economic slowdown. The company's Q4 of 2008 results were disappointing and CAJ cut its forecast for the full year 2009.
We believe the company will struggle to meet expectations with its Q1 being extremely tough with a probable increase in losses. We therefore downgrade CAJ shares to Sell with a six-month target price of $25.00.
Recent Analysis from the Analyst Blog
Avanex & Bookham Merger: Long Time Coming
Bookham (Nasdaq: [ BKHM ]) announced its fiscal Q4 results recently. Although there was nothing encouraging in the release per se, the bigger news was the prospective combination of it and Avanex (Nasdaq: [ AVNX ]).
Note that Avanex attempted a merger with Oplink (Nasdaq: [ OPLK ]) back in 2002, which didn't go through because the Boards of the companies couldn't come to terms. This time around, the Boards of Directors of both BKHM and AVNX have agreed to a merger.
Question is: Is it going to be synergistically incremental to the merged entity in terms of potential shareholder benefits, or is it a result of dire times?
The answer probably is: Both. Undoubtedly, the combination will create a larger optical component company with higher revenues and better margins and a line of product that will have significant breadth to make it more competitive. Given that both companies have already undergone significant restructuring in the past few years and have achieved relatively leaner cost structures, the emphasis for further restructuring should be minimal.
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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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