Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Esterline Technologies, Hibbett Sports, Akamai Technologies, DuPont and Zumiez

Business Wire, March 18, 2008

CHICAGO -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Esterline Technologies (NYSE: ESL) as the Bull of the Day and Hibbet Sports (Nasdaq: HIBB) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM), DuPont (NYSE: DD) and Zumiez (Nasdaq: ZUMZ). Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day: Esterline Technologies (NYSE: ESL)

Zacks Equity Research believe the Aerospace/Defense Sector - of which ESL is

part - is entering the sweet spot of this cycle. Commercial deliveries of new models (i.e., the A380, 787 & A350) have yet to start in earnest, while deliveries of more mature marks continue apace. Further, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of both commercial and military equipment is at a heightened level because of increased usage, which engenders a vibrant after-market. As robust levels of revenues and income are envisioned for ESL over the balance of the decade, Zacks Equity Research continues to believe that it should be considered for purchase, especially now that there are indications that its margins can improve, something hoped for by many investors.

Bear of the Day: Hibbet Sports (Nasdaq: HIBB)

Zacks Equity Research believes the difficult consumer spending environment will prevent the company from meeting its current guidance. We expect Hibbett's sales trends to remain weak and its profit margins to contract further. What's more, we are not positive on the company's decision to continue opening new stores (87 planned for FY09) in the current environment. As a result, Zacks Equity Research maintains our Sell rating and our $10 target price, which is about 11x our fiscal 2009 EPS estimate.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM)

Akamai Technologies, Inc. continues to post growth, as demand for bandwidth heavy applications and media grow, which should continue for the foreseeable future. Moreover, the company has a strong patent portfolio and has essentially eliminated a chief competitor through infringement litigation. However, with broadband access well penetrated into the online user base, traffic growth has begun to decelerate.

Given slower growth in content-delivery, increasing competition, pricing pressure is likely to continue. Akamai is currently trading at 25x our 2008 EPS estimates and 6.4x our 2008 revenue estimate. Although the valuation has fallen throughout the year, we would not yet be buyers of the stock given what we believe is risk of a decelerating growth rate. Revenue grew at 51.4% in 2006, slowing to 48.5% in 2007.

DuPont (NYSE: DD)

Du Pont is the world's second leading chemical company. Growth will be driven by non-G7 markets, agricultural chemicals and a focus on key customers and new products. Strong presence in the agricultural products and emerging markets is likely to outweigh increasing costs and weak auto and housing markets. The company is focusing on nearly doubling its earnings growth rate. Higher prices and lower costs will struggle to offset higher raw material costs.

Zumiez (Nasdaq: ZUMZ)

Zumiez, Inc.'s (ZUMZ) fourth-quarter results came in above expectations thanks to better-than-expected product margins. However, management's guidance for the first half of 2008 was cautious because of the weak consumer spending environment. We are cutting our estimates for fiscal 2008 and 2009 accordingly. The stock is now trading at about 17x our 2008 EPS estimate and 13x our 2009 EPS estimate. While this valuation looks cheap relative to its average forward P/E multiple of around 40x, we would prefer to wait for a better entry point before becoming bullish on the shares. That's because the headwinds facing consumers are not going away anytime soon.

Get the full analysis of all these 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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