Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Burger King Holdings, Inc., McDonald's Corp., Allergan, Inc., AutoZone, Inc. and Hudson City Bancorp

Business Wire, Sept 24, 2008

CHICAGO -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Burger King Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BKC), McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Allergan, Inc. (NYSE: AGN), AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) and Hudson City Bancorp. (Nasdaq: HCBK).

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Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:

Burger King with Big Opportunities

We are maintaining our Buy rating on shares of Burger King (NYSE: BKC). The company has resumed unit growth after four years of negative or no growth, during which time it repurchased and/or closed more than 1,000 underperforming franchises while reinvigorating its brand.

Moreover, we think BKC shares offer investors an excellent opportunity to participate in the fast-growing economies of Asia and South America, which are central to the company's expansion plans and where it has a very small presence relative to McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), the category leader.

AGN's Wrinkles Need Smoothing

Allergan, Inc. (NYSE: AGN) recently announced that it has completed a top-line analysis of its two phase III clinical trials exploring the use of Botox for the prophylactic treatment of headache in adults suffering from chronic migraine.

Although the shares reacted positively to the recently released top-line results on Botox for the treatment of migraine, we believe that several issues are likely to keep a lid on the share price in the near-term. These issues include safety concerns surrounding the use of Botox and a subpoena from the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, related to promotional, educational and other activities for Botox. We maintain a Hold rating on the stock with a price target of $62.

AutoZone Sales Improve

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) is one of the nation's leading specialty retailers of automotive replacement parts and accessories, and operates in the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) retail, Do-It-for-Me (DIFM) commercial and other customer markets. As of August 30, 2008, the company operated 4,092 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and 148 stores in Mexico.

On September 22, AutoZone reported results for the fourth quarter ended August 30, 2008. Diluted earnings per share of $3.88 for the fourth quarter of 2008 were up 20.1% from the year-ago quarter. Net sales of $2.2 billion for the fourth quarter of 2008 increased 10.4% from the fourth quarter 2007. Sales were up 4.1%.

Hudson City Mired in Difficulties

Hudson City Bancorp (Nasdaq: HCBK) operates in a traditional thrift model; it is a community and customer-oriented retail savings bank offering traditional deposit products, residential real estate mortgage loans, and consumer loans. The firm is now the third-largest thrift in the nation, based on either assets or market capitalization. Hudson City now operates 121 branches throughout New Jersey, eastern New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut.

As a result of the meltdown in the housing and credit markets, the company's direct or indirect exposure to mortgages have suffered the greatest negative affects. Consumer lending, the bread-and-butter of many regional and local institutions, will continue to face significant headwinds to revenue growth, as the mortgage banking remains under pressure in 2008.

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