Top Performer for Fri: Revlon (REV)

Revlon, Inc. (REV - Snapshot Report) had a very strong advance in its share price yesterday, which has continued into Friday - but to a much more modest degree. Shares are up approximately 5% Friday afternoon, which makes this cosmetics staple a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank company.

On Thursday, REV announced third-quarter results that included a sharp surprise in earnings per share. There's only 1 analyst covering the company at the moment and the profit outlook for this year hasn't changed since the announcement, but remains above the month-ago level.

Volume is also on the rise with nearly 713,000 changing hands, compared to the daily average of almost 241,000.

REV is part of the cosmetics-toiletries industry. There are 2 other companies from this space on today's Zacks #1 Rank List: Helen of Troy Ltd. (HELE - Snapshot Report) and Inter Parfums, Inc. (IPAR - Snapshot Report).

A Good-Looking Third Quarter

Revlon earned 44 cents per share in the third quarter, excluding items, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by practically 440%. This was the third straight quarter of better-than-expected earnings. It also reversed a year-ago loss.

Net sales declined by only 2.5% to $326.2 million from $334.4 million last year.

"We continued to execute our business strategy and delivered improved profitability and cash flow in the third quarter of 2009," said President/CEO Alan T. Ennis.

"The organizational restructuring that we fully implemented earlier this year is delivering cost savings in line with our expectations and is enabling us to continue to strengthen our brands and become a stronger, more financially sound company," Mr. Ennis continued.

Earnings Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year is 52 cents per share. That result is up 2 cents, or 4%, over the past month.

Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for next year is pegged at $1.11 per share, marking a year-over-year improvement of 113%. This guidance has been stagnant over the past 3 months.