THERMON GROUP THR

Nov 29, 2012

Apple (AAPL) may be facing some challenges in the near term, but it?s still one of the best companies in the world. The iPhone 5 and iPad mini will be big sellers this holiday season. Also, THR recently reported quarterly results. Both of these companies find themselves on the All Star Analyst Portfolio . This exclusive portfolio represents all stocks with a Strong Buy rating from at least three analysts with a 5-Star All Star ranking. Read about AAPL and THR.

Here is a synopsis of why these stocks are in the All Star Analysts Portfolio:

Apple (AAPL) missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the second consecutive quarter in fiscal 2012. In the fourth quarter, the company earned $8.67, $0.18 less than the consensus mark. Surprisingly, the company also missed the revenue consensus mark of $36.22 billion. Although we believe that Apple remains the biggest growth story over the long term based on its superior product pipeline, international expansion opportunities and recent shareholder friendly moves, the back-to-back misses will keep the shares range bound in the near term. Moreover, stiff competition from Google s Android-based products remains a major concern. Further, increasing product cost may hurt profitability going forward. Nevertheless, we believe that the new iPhone 5 and iPad mini will boost holiday season sales, thereby driving earnings.

Thermon Group Holdings, Inc. (THR) is engaged in providing engineered thermal solutions, known as heat tracing, for process industries, including energy, chemical processing and power generation. Its products provide an external heat source to pipes, vessels and instruments for the purposes of freeze protection, temperature and flow maintenance and environmental monitoring. While second quarter revenue was flat at $67.4 million, THR announced adjusted earnings per share of 26 cents that improved by 37% year over year. The company also had a strong gross margin performance and continues to enjoy a healthy backlog.

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