Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Ingersoll-Rand plc, Caterpillar Inc., Dover Corporation, Immucor and Equinix Inc.

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 27, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Ingersoll-Rand plc (IR - Analyst Report), Caterpillar Inc. (CAT - Analyst Report), Dover Corporation (DOV - Analyst Report), Immucor (BLUD - Analyst Report) and Equinix Inc. (EQIX - Analyst Report).

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Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Ingersoll-Rand Doesn’t Disappoint

Earlier today, Ingersoll-Rand plc (IR - Analyst Report), a diversified manufacturer of industrial equipment and components, reported its second quarter results. The company reported EPS of $0.50 for the quarter, which is at the high-end of its guidance range of $0.30–$0.50. However, earnings were down 51% compared to the second quarter of 2008 due to weaker volumes.

Net sales in the quarter declined 19% year-over-year to $3,474.2 million. This was within the company’s guidance range of $3.4–$3.5 billion. The second quarter sales included $1,776 million of revenues from Trane, which was acquired in June 2008. Excluding the acquisition, the company sales were down 23% compared to the last year.

IR’s competitors, Caterpillar Inc. (CAT - Analyst Report) and Dover Corporation (DOV - Analyst Report) also reported better-than-expected earnings through their cost reduction and restructuring initiatives.

Immucor: Record Revenues

Immucor (BLUD - Analyst Report) reported net income of $19.4 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of FY 2009, compared to $18.3 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, a year ago. Revenues grew 15.2% to $79.0 million on higher price and volume. Revenues include a negative forex impact of around $3 million y-o-y.

Gross margin contracted to 69.9% from 72.0%, mainly due to $1.8 million of expense incurred on the Quality Process Improvement Project. Operating expenses grew 22.9% to $26.1 million, primarily resulting from the takeover of BioArray and direct marketing initiatives in France and United Kingdom. R&D grew 117.9% to $3.1 million (4.0% of revenues) and SGA grew 11.1% to $21.9 million (27.6% of revenues).

Equinix Delivers

Equinix Inc. (EQIX - Analyst Report) reported second quarter results that exceeded our estimate on both the top and bottom lines. Revenue of $213.2 million exceeded our estimate by 1.9% as well as company guidance of $206.0 to $210.0 million. This was a 7.0% increase from the previous quarter and 24.0% increase from the same quarter last year.

This reflected the continued benefit of strong demand across all three geographic regions, and weak US dollar against operating currencies. The company experienced, better than forecasted bookings for the quarter, across the regions. U.S. booking strength was partially offset by the extension of lead time at key customer. Recurring revenues, consisting primarily of collocation, interconnection and managed services, were $205.3 million, a sequential increase of 7.0% and a 26.0% increase over the year-ago quarter. Non-recurring revenues were $7.9 million in the quarter, a sequential decrease of 1.1% and a year-over-year decrease of 9.2%. Geographically, the company generated 60.8% of its total revenue from the U.S., 13.2% from Europe and the remaining 26.0% from the Asia-Pacific.

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