Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Hanesbrands, Inc., CEMEX, S.A. de C.V., ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Chevron

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 31, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Hanesbrands, Inc. (HBI - Analyst Report) as the Bull of the Day and CEMEX, S.A. de C.V. (CX - Analyst Report) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on ConocoPhillips (COP - Analyst Report), ExxonMobil (XOM - Analyst Report) and Chevron (CVX - Analyst Report).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Hanesbrands, Inc. (HBI - Analyst Report) management's business model requires only modest sales growth to create substantial EPS growth. Earnings are being driven by brand-building and cost-reduction initiatives.

Since the spin-off in September 2006, the company has reduced debt by $511 million, lowering interest expense from the post spin-off financial structure. However, management is reporting non-GAAP EPS, which excludes unusual actions, which may be distorting perceived earnings.

The Buy rating is maintained due to valuation. Currently, our six-month target price is $20.50 per share.

Bear of the Day:

We are keeping our Sell rating on CEMEX, S.A. de C.V. (CX - Analyst Report). The company posted weak results in the second quarter of 2009 with more than 50% decrease in net income year over year.

The continued weak cement volumes in Spain and the U.S. are problematic. The short-term outlook for the company remains highly uncertain based on the prolonged downturns in the residential sector and tight credit conditions coupled with fall in the real estate prices throughout the world.

Moreover, the continuous increase in net debt is extremely concerning. Our six-month target is $8 per share.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Conoco Beats Despite Slump

ConocoPhillips (COP - Analyst Report) reported second-quarter earnings of $0.87 per share, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.83 per share.

However, earnings per share were well below from the year-earlier figure of $3.50. This significant downfall was mainly due to significantly lower commodity prices and a steep decline in worldwide marketing margins, which more than offset production improvements and lower costs.

While turnaround in crude oil prices is beneficial to the entire sector, we are maintaining our Hold recommendation on ConocoPhillips shares given the company’s competitive disadvantages relative to its super major peers. These disadvantages include a high-cost OECD-centric asset base and heavy exposure to the relative tentative outlook for U.S. natural gas (more than a third of total volumes) and refining markets. Our preferred names in the integrated space remain ExxonMobil (XOM - Analyst Report) and Chevron (CVX - Analyst Report).

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.

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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