Top Performing Stocks for October

The five best performing stocks on the Zacks #1 Rank List last month were: TBS International Ltd. (TBSI), Baidu.com, Inc. ( BIDU - Snapshot Report ) , The Mosaic Company ( MOS - Snapshot Report ) , DryShips, Inc. ( DRYS - Analyst Report ) and The Shaw Group Inc. (SGR).

TBS International Ltd. (TBSI) was one of the top-performing Zacks #1 Ranks for all of October with a gain of 52%. The ocean transportation services company also made the list for the week ended Oct 12. Earnings estimates for this year are up 10.4% over the past three months and 2.2% in the past 30 days.

On Oct 31, TBSI International announced agreements to acquire two handysize bulk carriers for $26 million each, bringing its fleet to 39 vessels in total. They should be delivered between mid-January and mid-March 2008. The company will report its third quarter results next week. In the second quarter, adjusted earnings per share of 56 cents beat both the consensus and year-ago result, while total revenues jumped 31%.

Baidu.com, Inc. ( BIDU - Snapshot Report ) said increases in user traffic and active online customers led to a strong third-quarter performance. The leading Chinese Internet search provider announced it late October that total revenues surged more than 100% year over year to $66.3 million. Furthermore, earnings per share of 70 cents more than doubled from the third quarter 2006 and also topped the consensus by 9.4%. Highlights of the quarter included an 11.6% rise in the number of active online marketing customers to around 143,000 sequentially, an approximate 11% rise in revenue per online marketing customer from the previous quarter.

Shares of Baidu.com advanced 32% in October, making it one of the top performers for the month. Over the past three months, earnings estimates for this year and next are up 3.6% and 11.8%, respectively. Shares of the company have more than tripled in price this year.

Basic materials is one of the hottest sectors in the market right now, and The Mosaic Company ( MOS - Snapshot Report ) is set up nicely to capitalize. In early October, the company reported that fiscal first-quarter sales soared 55% to $2 billion as selling prices rose for phosphates and potash. Furthermore, earnings per share bettered both the consensus and year-ago result. Mosaic has taken advantage of strong agricultural fundamentals, and therefore expects strong earnings and cash flow for the rest of fiscal 2008.

Shares gained 30% for the month of October, which was more than enough to place Mosaic on the top-performing Zacks #1 Rank list. The company also made the list for the week ended Oct 12, which was the period when its strong quarterly results were released. Earnings estimates for the year ending May 2008 are up 19.2% in the past three months and 8.7% in the past 30 days.

DryShips, Inc. ( DRYS - Analyst Report ) experienced some volatility of late, including an almost 20% drop on Tuesday, but the company remains a Zacks #1 Rank and a leader in a prosperous industry. Shares of the company increased 30% in October, putting it in the top performers list for a third straight month. DryShips was also a top performer for the week ended Oct 12.

Third-quarter numbers will be released later this month. Earnings estimates for this year are up 35% over the past three months and 4.1% over the past 30 days. For its second quarter, earnings per share reached $1.59, excluding items, which topped the consensus by more than 16%. Voyage revenue advanced to $112.5 million from $54.5 million. For 2008, the company's outlook remains positive with fewer vessels being delivered from the shipyards and Chinese demand remaining strong.

The Shaw Group Inc. (SGR) announced last month fiscal third quarter earnings per share of 60 cents, excluding the Westinghouse segment, on revenue of approximately $1.6 billion. The earnings results trounced the year-ago performance while revenue improved from $1.2 billion. The company said its results were driven by continued strength in the global markets for power generation capacity and petrochemicals processing. As for fiscal 2008, The Shaw Group stated that its record backlog positions it well for the year, and believes the global markets it serves will remain strong throughout the year.

Shares of the company gained 28% last week. Earnings estimates for the year ended August 2007 and the year ending August 2008 are up 5.7% and 11.4%, respectively, over the past three months. More recently, The Shaw Group announced that its Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Group was awarded a study by the Ports Association of Louisiana to support that organization’s efforts of expanding the value added benefits of the maritime industry and related industrial sectors in the state.