Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers: Perrigo, Coca-Cola FEMSA, Calgon Carbon, Netflix and Western Digital

Business Wire, Feb 12, 2008

CHICAGO -- Zacks.com announces the latest list of top performing Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") stocks. The stocks on the prestigious list with the highest returns last week were Perrigo Company (NASDAQ: PRGO), Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: KOF), Calgon Carbon Corporation (NYSE: CCC), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC). Each of these stocks easily outperformed the S&P 500.

Stocks ranked #1 (Strong Buy) by Zacks have produced an average annual return of +32% since inception in 1988. During the 2000-2002 bear market, Zacks #1 Rank stocks gained 43.8% while the S&P 500 tumbled 37.6%. To learn more about the Zacks Rank, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=3172.

Here is a synopsis of the last week's best performing Zacks #1 Rank stocks.

Perrigo Company (NASDAQ: PRGO) raised its earnings per share guidance for the full year on Feb 5, making the healthcare supplier a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank last week. EPS is now expected between $1.50 and $1.60, marking growth of 69% to 80% over the previous year. PRGO said the new outlook reflects the continued strong performance of its existing portfolio, along with additional volume gains from ongoing quality issues at a competitor. Earnings estimates for the year ending June 2008 are up 4.2% in the past seven sessions.

Perrigo's raised guidance came during a strong fiscal second-quarter report. EPS reached 36 cents on net sales of $435.5 million. The earnings results advanced easily from the previous year and marked a positive surprise of almost 6% above the consensus, while revenue jumped 17%. PRGO was also featured as an Aggressive Growth Stock of the Day at Zacks.com on Feb 11.

Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: KOF) was a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank company last week with a gain of more than 11.5%. The company was also highlighted as a Momentum Stock of the Day at Zacks.com on Feb 11. Shares of the bottler of Coca-Cola trademark beverages in Latin America went on a strong run recently and broke out of a long-standing trading range.

KOF will report its fourth-quarter results on Feb 22. For its third quarter, the company reported earnings per share of 93 cents, which beat the consensus by almost 41%. Total revenues advanced 6%.

Calgon Carbon Corporation (NYSE: CCC) reached a fresh 52-week high last week and also made the top performers list with a gain of 9.2%. Earnings estimates for the year ended December 2007 moved forward approximately 3.3% in the past seven sessions. The company - which provides services, products and solutions for purifying water and air - has an excellent record of meeting or surpassing Wall Street's quarterly earnings expectations. In fact, in the first three quarters of 2007, CCC has an average EPS surprise of more than 193%.

In its most recently-reported quarter, CCC announced earnings per share of 10 cents, which reversed a year-ago loss while topping the consensus by as much as 100%. Revenue advanced 6.5%. Other recent news included a $1.5 million contract from Huntsman Textile Effects Co. Ltd. to supply wastewater treatment equipment and services at a facility in China.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) gained almost 6.9% for the week ended Feb 8, which was enough to put the online movie rental service on the top-performing Zacks #1 Rank list. In its fourth-quarter report, the company announced an earnings per share surprise of more than 57% and revenue growth of 9% to $302.4 million. Netflix has now topped Wall Street's quarterly expectation for three consecutive quarters, with an average surprise of more than 36%. NFLX gained 451,000 customers during the quarter and expects to bring in approximately 1.4 million more subscribers this year.

More recently, NFLX announced that it will stock high-def DVDs exclusively in the Blu-ray format. The company had been stocking both Blu-ray and HD DVD, but will now phase out the latter by roughly year's end. The decision was make after four of the six major movie studios decided to publish their high-def DVD titles in the Blu-ray format.

Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) was not only a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank for the period ended Feb 8, but was also the Timely Buy of the Week on Zacks.com. The hard disk drive maker made the list with a more than 6.6% gain in shares. WDC is getting help from strong demand for consumer gadgets, including notebook computers. Over the past month, earnings estimates for the year ending June 2008 are up approximately 12.4%.

In its fiscal second quarter, Western Digital reported earnings per share of $1.35, which beat the consensus by almost 30% while easily surpassing the prior year's performance. Revenue increased year over year to $2.2 billion from $1.4 billion. The company also raised its outlook for the third quarter.

About the Zacks Rank

Since 1988, the Zacks Rank has proven that "Earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices." Since inception in 1988, #1 Rank stocks have generated an average annual return of +32%. During the 2000-2002 bear market, Zacks #1 Rank stocks gained +43.8%, while the S&P 500 tumbled -37.6%. Also note that the Zacks Rank system has just as many Strong Sell recommendations (Rank #5) as Strong Buy recommendations (Rank #1). Since 1988, Zacks Rank #5 stocks have underperformed the S&P 500 by 129% annually (+5 % vs. +12%). Thus, the Zacks Rank system allows investors to truly manage portfolio trading effectively.