Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Pozen, Inc., Rite Aid Corporation, Hasbro Inc., Mattel Inc. and JAKKS Pacific Inc.

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 20, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Pozen, Inc. (POZN - Analyst Report) as the Bull of the Day and Rite Aid Corporation (RAD - Analyst Report) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Hasbro Inc.(HAS - Analyst Report), Mattel Inc. (MAT - Analyst Report) and JAKKS Pacific Inc.(JAKK - 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:

Pozen, Inc. (POZN - Analyst Report) is one of our top-picks for small-cap biotech. We see the fundamentals as strong and the valuation as low.

We are pleased to see the NDA for Vimovo (PN-400) filed and now accepted by the U.S. FDA. FDA acceptance earned Pozen a $10 million milestone from AstraZeneca in August. We expect sales of Treximet to ramp in the coming quarters now that the groundwork has been laid. And finally, phase III trials on the very exciting PA program should start in the fall.

The company is financially well positioned and fundamentally strong with respect to the pipeline. We recommend being buyers at this level.

Bear of the Day:

Management at Rite Aid Corporation (RAD - Analyst Report) was executing a turnaround strategy centered on increasing the profitability of the existing store base. However, the acquisition of Brooks Eckerd prior to a convincing turnaround in profitability has increased the debt burden and interest expense.

Moreover, Wal-Mart's foray into the retail generic drug market has pressured the company's pharmacy margin. Given the weakness of front-end sales and management's continual lowering of EPS guidance (for larger net losses), the stock's rating remains Underperform.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Hasbro Surpasses Zacks Estimate

Hasbro Inc.’s (HAS - Analyst Report) third quarter earnings of 99 cents per share were well ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 91 cents, reflecting a drop in costs and demand for its movie-based toys. The company had earned 89 cents per share in the year-ago period.

Net revenues for the quarter decreased 1.7% to $1.28 billion from the prior-year quarter. Excluding the adverse impact from a stronger dollar, revenues were up 1% in the quarter. Results reflected challenging economic environment, though the Transformers and G.I. Joe experienced strong demand.

Regarding the impact from its joint venture investment with Discovery Communications, the company now expects that the dilution to the fourth quarter earnings will be in the range of 4 to 5 cents per share. For 2010, the company expects dilution of 25 to 30 cents per share.

The economic slowdown has severely impacted discretionary consumer spending, which has deteriorated sharply in the U.S. and in many other countries around the world. As a result, the balance sheets of toy manufacturers such as Hasbro, Mattel Inc. (MAT - Analyst Report) and JAKKS Pacific Inc.(JAKK - Analyst Report) have been impacted significantly.

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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