Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Zumiez, Avnet, Allied Irish Banks and Companhia Siderurgica Nacional

Business Wire, August 24, 2007

CHICAGO -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Zumiez, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZUMZ) as the Bull of the Day and Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Allied Irish Banks, Plc (NYSE: AIB) and Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (NYSE: SID). Full analysis of all four stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all four stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Our Bull of the Day recommendation is for Zumiez, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZUMZ). Zumiez reported stellar second quarter results with year-over-year sales growth of 47% and earnings growth of 106%, which were ahead of our estimates. The company continues to exceed lofty expectations, and we expect this business momentum to remain strong throughout the important back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons. We are increasing our fiscal 2007 EPS estimate by $0.04 and our fiscal 2008 EPS estimate by $0.05. Given the stock's recent gains, we expect to see it sell-off in the near term. A pullback would be buying opportunity. We reiterate our Buy rating and increase our six-month target price from $49 to $58, which is based on a P/E-to-growth multiple of 1.5x our 2008 EPS estimate.

Bear of the Day:

Our Bear of the Day recommendation is for Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT). Weak component sales in the quarter were largely offset by aggressive cost control and seasonal strength from the rapidly growing computing business. However, weaker component sales, mainly in Europe, impacted gross margins negatively and we expect the trend to continue in the upcoming quarter. Forward guidance is for flat revenue growth in Q1 and significantly lower EPS range of $0.65-$0.69, reflecting seasonal weakness in EM in Europe and North America. In the absence of a catalyst in the near-term and concerns related to the high level of debt, we are maintaining our Sell rating.

Analyst Blog:

We are changing our current recommendation on Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (NYSE: SID) from Hold to Buy. We are encouraged by the company's better-than-expected second quarter 2007 results. Despite the threat of the lower economic growth in the U.S. and increasing steel production in China, the short-term business environment for the steel industry remains quite positive, and SID has been able to take advantage of this situation. Additionally, the economic environment in Brazil remains encouraging, and we believe Brazil will reach investment grade within the following 12 months, leading to a multiple expansion for Brazilian stocks. Also, Brazilian steel producers are the most competitive in the world, and SID in particular is highly competitive, with a slab production cost around US$260 per ton.

We are raising our recommendation on Allied Irish Banks, Plc (NYSE: AIB) to Buy from Hold as the stock has been hammered and is now trading near its 52-week low, representing an attractive value. AIB posted first-half adjusted net earnings of 951 million euros, up 17% year over year and above our estimate, largely due to higher net interest income growth and lower impairment provisions than we had expected. We are significantly increasing our diluted EPADS [earnings per American Depositary Share] estimates to $5.50 from $5.07 for 2007 and to $6.10 from $5.72 for 2008, partly reflecting depreciation of the US$ against the euro. AIB's results should benefit from strong loan growth offset, in part, by increasing loan loss provisions and declining net interest margins due to slow deposit growth and increased competition.

Get the full analysis of all four stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

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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