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Carbonite, comScore, Micron Technology, Guess and Williams-Sonoma highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – March 21, 2019 – Zacks Equity Research Carbonite as the Bull of the Day, comScore (SCOR - Free Report) asthe Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) , Guess (GES - Free Report) and Williams-Sonoma (WSM - Free Report) .

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Carbonite is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and it has a Growth Style Score of A, so you know that it is on my radar screen.  I am like aggressive growth stocks and this one fits the bill.  Let's see why in this Bull of the Day article.

Description

Carbonite Inc. is a computer service company which provides online backup solutions for consumers and small and medium sized businesses to retrieve files if lost on the internet. The Company's backup solutions work automatically and continuously uploading encrypted copies of its customer's files to the servers known as Carbonite Personal Cloud. Carbonite Inc. is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Recent Earnings

CARB beat expectations back on Feb 7, when the company reported EPS of $0.45 which was $0.03 ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate.  Revenues were just a little shy of expectations at $77M but that was still good for nearly 25% annual growth.

Guidance was soft, with next quarter looking at $77M - $78M when the consensus was calling for $80.4M.  That is the sort of thing you don't want to see.

The end result was the stock was crushed following the report, down as much as 19% that day and  more than 16% for the week of the earnings report.

Buy That Dip

So here is the rub, the stock gets beat up and the estimates for this quarter fall by four cents and by a penny for next quarter.  That is basically all the damage as the 2019 number fell by 5 cents.

The 2020 number, however, is up from $1.90  60 days ago to $1.99.  So in the short term we have some falling estimates but the long term has them rising.

That sets up for a perfect dip for investors to be confident to buy.

Bear of the Day:

comScore is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and checks in with an F for the Value Style Score and a D for the Growth Style Score.  The company posted a beat of the Zacks Consensus Estimate on  February 28, but it is now the Bear of the Day.  Let's take a look at why that is the case.

Description

comScore, Inc. is a global leader in measuring the digital world. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than two million consumers who have given comScore permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions.

Through its proprietary technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. comScore analysts apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. comScore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestle, MBNA, Starcom USA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia.

Recent Earnings

Although the chart show that SCOR beat earnings, I see other data that suggest that SCOR missed in a big way.  I see a loss of $0.46 compared to an expected loss of $0.21 on the bottom line.

Revenue of $109M was good for 6% growth and topped the $104.8M estimate.

Prior to this report, Zacks shows that SCOR missed the prior three quarter with an average negative earnings surprise of 52%.

Estimates

The estimate data on the detailed estimate page is not fully functioning at the moment, but I do see that there were negative revisions over the last 30 and 60 days.

If you look at the agreement section, you can see there were negative earnings estimate revisions for this quarter, next quarter and for the full year.

Valuation

Without a positive earnings number, there is no PE, but I do see a 2.3x book multiple which is where value players should be happy.  They tend to like a book multiple below 3x.  A price to sales multiple of 3x is fairly rich considering the low growth profile.

Margins are negative, but they are moving in the right direction.  That said, SCOR will likely not post positive earnings this year or next.

Additional content:

Micron (MU - Free Report) Posts 1st Miss in Years; Plus GES, WSM

Boise, ID-based semiconductor producer Micron Technology posted fiscal Q2 2019 earnings results after the closing bell Wednesday. And, for the first time since we re-calibrated earnings surprises going back to Q2 2015 (accounting for stock-based compensation), Micron missed estimates on the bottom line: earnings of $1.71 per share was shy of the Zacks consensus by 2 cents, while revenues in the quarter of $5.84 billion was beneath the $5.92 billion analysts were looking for.

There was some concern that Average Sale Prices (ASPs) would be weaker in the quarter, especially with economic weakness being experienced in Asia over the time period.

Shares have not been negatively impacted in late trading following the earnings release, up roughly 0.30%, but considering MU stock has traded up about 30% from the beginning of the year and didn't get hammered on the miss, I'm sure they'll take it. Micron had been a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell)-rated company with a Style Score (Value - Growth - Momentum) of A.

Guess? shares are getting hammered in off-hours trading following its Q4 earnings release where the company also missed on top and bottom lines: earnings of 70 cents per share missed the Zacks consensus of 76 cents, while quarterly revenues brought in $837 million, under the $840 million and changed we were predicting. Shares are down 7% at this hour, to the lower part of the company's medium-term range.

Williams-Sonoma also posted Q4 earnings results Wednesday afternoon, taking out both estimates on both top and bottom lines: $2.10 per share (adjusted) topped the $1.97 we had been expecting, on $1.84 billion that beat the $1.80 billion consensus. The company also announced a quarterly dividend hike of 11.6%, to 48 cents per share, and a $500 million share buyback program.

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