Zacks Bull & Bear of the Day Highlights: VistaPrint, Trimeris, Newmont Mining, Kinross Gold and Gilead Sciences

Business Wire, Jan 29, 2009

CHICAGO -- Zacks Equity Research picks VistaPrint Limited (Nasdaq: VPRT) as Bull of the Day and Trimeris, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRMS) as Bear of the Day. In addition, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research discuss the latest on Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678

Bull of the Day

VistaPrint Limited (Nasdaq: VPRT) is a leading online supplier of high-quality graphic design services and customized printed products to small businesses and consumers. The company reported very impressive second-quarter results, boosted by strong holiday sales, lower material costs, and improved efficiency. GAAP earnings of $0.42 per share were up 75% year-over-year, and were $0.13 above our expectation.

VistaPrint has generated significant organic growth over the last several years, and we expect the trend to continue. The company has several competitive advantages that we expect will enable it to outperform its peers and take market share during this economic downturn.

The fact that VPRT posted such an impressive quarter in the midst of extremely challenging economic conditions bodes well for the company's potential ability to weather the recession, in our opinion. We reiterate our Buy rating and $25 price target.

Bear of the Day

Trimeris, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRMS) develops therapeutic agents for the treatment of viral diseases based on its fusion inhibition technology that blocks viral entry into host cells. Sales of its lead drug Fuzeon has been declining dramatically since 1Q08 due to fierce competition from Selzentry and Isentress.

The collaboration amendment with Roche and several management changes further cast a shadow on the company's future. We maintain our Sell rating on Trimeris with a $0.50 price target.

At this point, it's very difficult to value the stock. We believe qualitative factors prevail currently. There are many uncertainties about Trimeris due to the management change and collaboration amendment with Roche. The company is profitable but will find it tough to stay so if Fuzeon sales continue their downward slide.

Recent Analysis from the Analyst Blog

Potential "Raid" for Gold Bugs

The "Raid" for gold bugs has several active ingredients in it now. It is getting potent, and could kill them off.

These ingredients are:

1) An increase in stock offerings - Both Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) and Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) have announced sizable stock offerings in recent days. They are not dumb, and know when the gold market and their stocks have peaked.

2) Slowdown in the Indian economy - GDP growth has slowed from 9% to 5% (and falling) in India. Nearly 45-50% of world production is consumed in India. That's right folks -- not the US, Japan, Europe or China -- but India. Gold is a luxury item in this rapidly slowing economy, and the slowing is most rapid in large cities where gold is consumed the most.

3) Gold has no value and has spiked recently - It is just another metal like copper and lead. Its luster is in name only. It is economically sensitive. Most, if not all, other commodities have collapsed in recent months. Gold historically has correlated with oil, which has collapsed as we all know.

Gilead a Core Biotech Hold

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) is a biotechnology company that develops and markets drugs for infectious diseases, including viral, fungal and bacterial infections. The company also has specialized focus on developing drugs for patients suffering from HIV/AIDS.

We remain optimistic about growth of HIV/AIDS franchise drugs Truvada and the recently approved Atripla. Earnings over the past few quarters have been above expectations specifically on strong sales of the HIV franchise products.

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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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