Zacks' Discount Fundamental Strength Strategy Highlights American Woodmark Corp., Guitar Center, Inc., Quanex Corp. and Stein Mart, Inc

Business Wire, July 7, 2006

CHICAGO -- Combining strong underlying fundamentals with low valuations can lower risk and increase portfolio returns. Zacks' Discounted Fundamental Strength Profit Track strategy has generated double-digit returns for five consecutive years, including a 23.5% gain in 2005. This strategy has continued to handedly beat the S&P 500. Four stocks that currently have both fundamental strength and discounted valuations are American Woodmark Corp. (Nasdaq:AMWD), Guitar Center, Inc. (Nasdaq:GTRC), Quanex Corp. (NYSE:NX) and Stein Mart, Inc. (Nasdaq:SMRT). View the entire list of stocks for the Discounted Fundamental Strength Profit Track at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2142.

Here are details about four companies currently identified by the Discounted Fundamental Strength Profit Track:

American Woodmark Corp. (Nasdaq:AMWD), a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) company, offers a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt/equity level of 0.11. In early June, the manufacturer and distributor of kitchen cabinets and vanities posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 83 cents per share, topping the consensus estimate by about 84% and surpassing the previous year's 44 cents.

Guitar Center, Inc. (Nasdaq:GTRC) meets the requirements of this Profit Track with a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt/equity level of 0.23. The retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment announced financial results for the first quarter in late April. Guitar Center stated that its consolidated net sales and adjusted net earnings, excluding items, exceeded its expectations.

Quanex Corp. (NYSE:NX) reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $1.07 per share, while analysts were expecting $1.06. The company has topped analysts expectations over the past five consecutive quarters. Quanex Corp. has a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt/equity level of 0.18. The Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) company sports a PEG ratio of 0.67, which can be appealing to value investors. NX's price/sales multiple is 0.83.

Stein Mart, Inc. (Nasdaq:SMRT) recently announced total sales and comparable store sales for the month of June. Total sales were up 1.7% year-over-year and comparable store sales increased 0.9%. The company noted that best performances came from Ladies' dresses, social separates, special sizes and Men's sportswear. Financial results for the second quarter will be available on August 17, 2006. SMRT has no debt and a current ratio of 1.86.

Discover all the current stocks currently on the Discounted Fundamental Strength Profit Track at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2143.

About Profit Tracks

What is a "Profit Track"? Each Profit Track is a successful stock picking strategy with proven results through the Bear Market of 2001-2002 and the Bull run started in 2003. On Zacks.com we have created these nine unique screens to offer investors great strategies to potentially outperform the market in the years ahead. In 2005, the Low Price Stocks strategy was the top performing Profit Track with a return of 51.9% followed by the Recent Price Strength screen with a 35.5% return. To see all nine strategies along with philosophy, past performance, and current stocks, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=1838

All the Profit Track strategies were created and backtested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. If you like this screening strategy, but want to narrow down the list of stocks and even improve the performance, then you should start a free trial to this powerful stock picking tool. Learn more about the Research Wizard free trial offer and our new special report "Top 10 Stock Screening Strategies" at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2156

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