Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Telesp S.A., Sears Holdings, Research In Motion, Apple and Google

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – June 27, 2011 – Zacks Equity Research highlights: Telesp S.A. (VIV - Analyst Report) as the Bull of the Day and Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD - Analyst Report), as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM - Analyst Report), Apple Inc. (AAPL - Analyst Report) and Google Inc. (GOOG - Analyst Report).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

We are upgrading our recommendation to Outperform from Neutral on Telesp S.A. (VIV - Analyst Report) following its merger with the mobile phone provider Vivo Participacoes. We believe the merger will boost its existing operations and its competitive position. The combined entity is now a full-service operator offering competitive bundled (fixed-line and wireless) services.

Vivo reported a solid first quarter, with net income soaring 270% year over year. The company gained 1.7 million subscribers, bringing its total customer base to 62.1 million. On the other hand, Telesp's fixed-line operation is struggling with disappointing first quarter net income, which was down 13% year over year. The company lost 38,000 customers bringing the total subscriber base to 15.06 million.

Thus, we believe the Vivo integration would bring back the company's profitability through its strong mobile service business. Hence, we are recommending an Outperform rating with a price target of $34, based on 12.6x our 2011 EPADS estimate.

Bear of the Day:

Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD - Analyst Report) disappointed with its overall first-quarter 2011 results. The company posted a quarterly loss of $1.39 per share that plunged drastically from the prior-year quarter earnings of $0.16 primarily due to sluggish top-line performance. Management's cost cutting initiatives for enhancing profits were of no use.

Moreover, intense competition and exposure to adverse foreign currency translations may undermine the company's future operating performance. Furthermore, rising debt and declining cash and equivalents may adversely impact the company s future expansion and operational activities.

Currently, we are maintaining a long-term Underperform recommendation on the stock. Our target price of $62.00 is based on P/CF multiple of 6.3x.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Research In Motion to Underperform

The nightmare of Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM - Analyst Report) continues and so far the company has failed to provide any specific time frame when its free fall will come to an end. Ever since Apple Inc.’s (AAPL - Analyst Report)  iPhone hit the market, Research In Motion started losing its leadership position. For the last couple of years, the company failed to launch any device that could capture the market from iPhone or developed Android-based high-end smartphones.

After experiencing weak financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, the company reported a highly disappointing future financial guidance. It seems management is doing research in slow motion as the company failed to understand how the tastes and preferences of the consumers are changing. Meanwhile, the market becomes intensely competitive with the emergence of several low-cost Asian phone developers. We do not find any immediate catalyst and therefore downgrade our recommendation to Underperform.

Research In Motion is facing severe problems from several fronts. The company is continuously delaying new products introduction, facing an ever increasing competitive landscape, a stagnant product portfolio, and an unfavorable product mix. Revenue, in the previous quarter, was way below the company’s own guidance. Research In Motion shipped just 13.2 million BlackBerry smartphones in the first quarter of fiscal 2012. Management estimated that the company will ship a mere 11 million – 12.5 million BlackBerry smartphones in the ensuing second quarter of fiscal 2012.

What is most concerning is an even disappointing financial outlook for the rest of fiscal 2012. The new EPS guidance for fiscal 2012 declined 25% from the company’s previous guidance. Research In Motion has failed to cope up with the next-generation market trend, which is rapidly changing in terms of technology, price, and data plan provided by the wireless carriers.

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

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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Read the full analyst report on VIV

Read the full analyst report on SHLD

Read the full analyst report on RIMM

Read the full analyst report on AAPL

Read the full analyst report on GOOG