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Columbia Sportswear and YETI Holdings have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – March 1, 2022 – Zacks Equity Research shares Columbia Sportswear (COLM - Free Report)  as the Bull of the Day and YETI Holdings (YETI - Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Zoom Video (ZM - Free Report) , JPMorgan (JPM - Free Report) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - Free Report) .

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Based on Portland, OR, Columbia Sportswear is a specialty retailer that focuses on outdoor and active lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment throughout the U.S. and internationally. Columbia offers products under four well-established brands: Columbia, SOREL, Mountain Hardwear and prAna.

Q4 Earnings Impress Wall Street

Revenue spiked 23% to a record $1.13 billion compared to Q4 2020, while operating income increased 71% to $211.6 million, or 18.7% of total sales, another record. Columbia's strong sales growth can be attributed to high consumer demand, which helped fuel direct-to-consumer growth (up 33% year-over-year) and larger-than-expected Fall 2021 wholesale shipments.

Net sales for COLM's U.S. business grew 27%, and the company's international markets experienced favorable recovery trends in most regions.

Looking at brand performance, SOREL revenue moved 9% higher in Q4 and Mountain Hardwear's sales jumped 30% thanks to successful new product launches.

Columbia also said that it ended the quarter with $894.5 million in cash and short-term investments, with no borrowings; it also approved a 15% increase to its dividend, which now yields 1.1% on an annual basis.

Can COLM Take Off?

In the past year, shares of Columbia are down about 10% compared to the S&P 500's 15% gain. But earnings estimates have been rising, and COLM is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

For fiscal 2022, four analysts revised their bottom-line estimate upwards in the last 60 days, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate has jumped $0.43 to $5.76 per share. Earnings are expected to grow about 8% compared to 2021, and sales could see growth of almost 18% to $3.7 billion for the year.

Columbia has proved that it is well-positioned in the current market environment, and CEO Tim Boyle is confident about the strategies the company has in place to drive profitable growth. For 2022, Columbia forecasts full-year sales growth of 16% to 18% on top of the record growth it generated last year.

Even though inflation and supply chain issues persist, management has implemented a mid-single-digit percent price hike for its Spring 2022 collection, as well as a high single to low double-digit percent hike for its Fall 2022 product. Columbia has also been investing to enhance its supply chain capabilities.

All of these factors, plus COLM's enticing 16.3X 12-month price-to-earnings ratio, could mean the stock is ripe for a rebound.If you're an investor searching for a retail stock to add to your portfolio, make sure to keep COLM on your shortlist.

Bear of the Day:

YETI Holdings designs and distributes consumer outdoor and recreational products under the popular YETI brand. Its line-up is made for activities like hunting, fishing, and camping, and include premium coolers, drinkware, waterproof and everyday bags, and other outdoor gear.

Weak Outlook Weighs on YETI

Shares of YETI dropped after the company reported fourth quarter results back in February. Adjusted earnings and revenue of $0.74 per share and $443.1 million both topped expectations; profit increased 18% and sales grew 17.9% year-over-year.

Direct-to-consumer net sales were up 21% over the prior-year period to $263.9 million, driven by strong performance in both its Drinkware and Coolers & Equipment segments, and wholesale revenue moved 13% higher.

Additionally, cash increased to $312.2 million for the year compared to $253.3 million at the end of fiscal 2020.

Despite a solid fourth quarter, a lower-than-anticipated outlook for the 2022 fiscal year spooked investors. YETI said that adjusted earnings should be between $2.82 and $2.86 per share, lagging behind Wall Street's consensus of $2.94. Net sales are expected to increase 18% to 20%, with growth weighted towards the back half of the year.

Bottom Line

YETI is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Seven analysts have cut their full year earnings outlook over the past 60 days, and the consensus estimate has dropped nine cents to $2.87 per share. However, YETI's earnings are expected to grow about 11.7% for fiscal 2022, with sales increasing 19.6% for the same period.

Shares of YETI are down about 40% over the last six months as the stock got caught up in the broad-based tech and growth stock sell-off.

Adding to YETI's woes is bearishness from some on Wall Street.

Analysts at Citi, Raymond James, Cowen, and Baird all lowered their price targets. Citi analyst Wendy Nicholson said that 2022 looks like it will be "somewhat choppy" for YETI due to persistent input freight, input costs, and duties headwinds. But Nicholson thinks these setbacks are transitory, telling clients in a research note that "there could be upside to guidance since management assumed no alleviation of these pressures."

These warnings from Wall Street, coupled with a tough trading environment for high-flying growth stocks, have led investors to reevaluate YETI. After its recent slide, shares now trade at a forward earnings multiple of 21.3X.

YETI may continue to experience even more wild ups and downs as growth stocks continue to sell off, so potential investors who want to own the popular drinkware maker for the long term should proceed with caution..

Additional content:

Markets Bid Up from Session Lows Monday; ZM, HPQ Beat Estimates

Market indexes raced northward in the final minutes of regular trading today, with mixed results on either side of within 1%. The Dow, which had been -589 points at its intraday low, came in -179 points or -0.53%. Big banks with Russian exposure such as JPMorgan helped lead the index down. The S&P 500 came in -0.26% on the day. Both indexes finished lower for the first regular session in the past three.

The Nasdaq, on the other hand, gained +0.41% after wallowing in the red a little more than an hour before the close. The small-cap Russell 2000 was up +0.35% on the day. Both indexes are up for a third-straight day, although all four major indexes close their second month in a row in the red.

Treasury yields dropped, and the 10-year and 2-year track slightly closer together today — 1.83% and 1.45%, respectively. Russian banks being taken off the SWIFT program looks to be the biggest instigator in shakiness regarding financials; mostly, we see uncertainty planting the flag today — there doesn't seem to be a lot of clarity where things go from here. Much of it rests on what Russian leader Vladimir Putin decides to do as his invasion of Ukraine brings the impact of world sanctions against his country.

Energy was the only sector to gain yesterday, and clearly we've seen strength in oil & gas going back prior to the Ukraine invasion. But solar power companies also posted strong gains, as alternative sources of energy not only look increasingly viable these days, but increasingly necessary. Environmentalists have been sounding this horn for decades, of course; now geopolitical experts are weighing in on it, as well.

Zoom Video beat estimates on both top and bottom lines in its Q4 report: earnings of $1.29 per share on sales of $1.07 billion outpaced the $1.07 per share and $1.05 billion, respectively. Yet earnings guidance for Q1 is a big pullback to 86-88 cents ($1.03 per share had been the Zacks consensus), with downgrades in revenue and full-year guidance, as well. Zoom shares dropped as much as -11% in late trading; the stock is already down -28% year to date and -67.6% from a year ago.

Zoom did announce a $1 billion share buyback program, which certainly the company expects to stem the tide of selling. In fact, the late-session selling abated notably: ZM shares are now -4.5% after hours. The company has never missed an earnings estimate going back to the company's 2019 IPO.

Hewlett-Packard also reported earnings after the closing bell Monday: earnings of $1.10 per share beat the $1.04 estimate in the company's fiscal Q1, as revenues of $17.03 billion swept past expectations for $16.76 billion. Its PCs business outperformed expectations — $12.2 billion versus $11.6 billion anticipated — while its printing business lagged somewhat. Shares were relatively flat on the news after jumping initially. Shares are down -9.6% year to date but +16% from a year ago.

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