Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Energy Conversion Devices, Assurant, Intel, Texas Instruments and Dell

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 31, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Energy Conversion Devices (ENER - Analyst Report) as the Bull of the Day and Assurant (AIZ - Analyst Report) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Intel (INTC - Analyst Report), Texas Instruments (TXN - Analyst Report) and Dell (DELL - 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:

We remain optimistic about Energy Conversion Devices’ (ENER - Analyst Report) long-term potential success in the high growth alternative energy industry, given increased activity in solar power projects, federal incentives, and extension of the federal ITC.

The company does face ongoing challenges, however, and the company's Q4 2009 earnings results fell short of Zacks' expectations.

Our existing price target of $20.00 reflects a multiple of approximately 28.5x our 2010 earnings estimate. The shares are currently trading at approximately 17.9 our 2010 earnings estimate.

Bear of the Day:

Assurant’s (AIZ - Analyst Report) second-quarter earnings were worse than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, reflecting weak performance of all its business segments, a trend that is expected to remain in place for some time.

The company's leading position in specialty markets, solid balance sheet and conservative investment approach are the clear positives in Assurant s business model.

These positives are more than offset, however, by the significant downside risks including the loss of a major distribution or client relationship, higher-than-normal catastrophe losses, greater healthcare competition, irrational pricing, and deterioration in the manufactured housing industry. Since the negatives outweigh the positives, we have downgraded the shares to Underperform from Neutral.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Intel Guides Higher – Recovery in Chips

This morning, Intel (INTC - Analyst Report) raised its third-quarter guidance. The company now anticipates revenues to be about $9 billion, versus its previous forecast of $8.5 billion. Gross margins are expected about 53%, with more upside than downside likely to the projection.

This was the second piece of bullish news about the semiconductor industry released this week. On Wednesday, Gartner Inc. raised its forecast for worldwide semiconductor sales. The consulting firm now expects a 17.1% decline, a huge improvement from its previous forecast for a 22.4% drop. Gartner credited lower prices on LCD TVs and computers as well as China's stimulus package for helping the industry.

Given today's announcement, I think it is likely that Texas Instruments (TXN - Analyst Report) will raise its guidance when it provides a third-quarter update on September 9th.

Though semiconductor stock prices have risen, more upside is possible. Dell (DELL - Analyst Report) said last night that corporate spending won't truly start to rebound until next year -- sentiment echoed by other tech companies. Furthermore, the economy is just now starting to bottom. Finally, the introduction of Windows 7 could provide corporations the impetus to replace computers that are at or near replacement age.

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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