For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 25, 2014 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Visteon Corporation (VC-Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and ANN Inc (ANN-Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Intel Corporation (INTC-Free Report), ARM (ARMH-Free Report) and Qualcomm (QCOM-Free Report).

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Visteon Corporation (VC-Free Report) delivered strong results and provided bullish guidance for 2014 and 2015, leading analysts to revise their estimates upwards. Positive earnings momentum sent the stock back to Zacks rank #1 (Strong Buy) earlier this month.

Visteon is a leading global automotive supplier of climate, electronics and interiors products for vehicle manufacturers. It serves original equipment vehicle manufacturers with its technical, manufacturing, sales and service facilities located in 29 countries.

It has corporate offices in Van Buren Township, Michigan; Shanghai, China; and Chelmsford, UK and employs about 24,000 people worldwide.

The company has been transforming from a US centric company with only one major customer to a predominantly Asia-based, multi-customer global enterprise.

On August 6, Visteon reported its Q2 2014 results. Sales for the quarter totaled $1.78 billion, up 11% from the same quarter last year. Adjusted EPS of $1.76 per share was much better than consensus.

Bear of the Day:

Ann’s shares slumped on Friday after weak results and guidance. Analysts have started cutting their estimates further for this Zacks Rank # 5 (Strong Sell) stock.

ANN Inc (ANN-Free Report), the parent Company of the Ann Taylor and LOFT brands, is a specialty retailer for women’s clothing. They serve clients through 1,040 stores in the U.S. and Canada, and online in more than 100 countries worldwide.

On August 22, the company reported its results for the fiscal second quarter of 2014. Earnings for the quarter were $0.70 per share, down from $0.76 earned in the same quarter last year but they met the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Total net sales were $648.7 million, compared with $638.2 million in Q2 of 2013 while gross margin declined to 52.4% from 54.7% a result of higher-than-expected promotions.

Results were slightly better than the lowered guidance provided earlier this month. According to the company, “while the quarter had started on a positive note with solid momentum through mid-June, the second half of the period proved challenging, as softer traffic levels and a highly promotional environment pressured sales and margin”.

Earlier on August 7, the company had revised down its guidance for the quarter, based on preliminary results.

Additional content:

Would Intel Buying Mediatek Be a Boost for Wireless?

Chipmaker Intel Corporation (INTC-Free Report) should consider acquiring Taiwanese wireless chipmaker MediaTek within the next three years for $27 billion, insists RBC Capital Markets analyst Doug Freedman. Per Freedman, ARM (ARMH-Free Report) chipmaker MediaTek could enable Intel to ramp up its mobile chip business.

Freedman reckons that the deal would create more shareholder value for Intel by increasing its share of the mobile system-on-a-chip (SoC) market by up to 16%. Intel currently holds a 4% market share in the mobile chips market. It will also be immediately accretive to Intel’s earnings per share and would help curtail the investment losses that the chipmaker has been incurring to grow its mobile and wireless business.

Intel is investing more than $1 billion per quarter to grow its ambitious mobile and communications business. But it has been suffering heavy losses in the process. That’s because its chips are based on x86 architecture that is less energy efficient than ARM designs.

MediaTek, a global fabless semiconductor company has grown rapidly in the last few years by offering its SoCs and reference designs to smaller handset manufacturers in China and other Asian countries, thus enabling them to compete at the entry level. Its product line includes cheap mobile and tablet chipsets, including Bluetooth, WLAN and GPS chips and NFC SoCs. It is currently the world’s second largest supplier of ARM-based processors.

Media reports indicate that both Qualcomm (QCOM-Free Report) and MediaTek have grown their shares of the baseband market.

Get today’s Zacks #1 Stock of the Day with your free subscription to Profit from the Pros newsletter:

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.

About the Analyst Blog

Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous analyst coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Click here to subscribe to this free newsletter today.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.

Get the full Report on VC - FREE
Get the full Report on ANN - FREE
Get the full Report on INTC - FREE
Get the full Report on ARMH - FREE
Get the full Report on QCOM - FREE

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339*
support@zacks.com
http://www.zacks.com

Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Read the analyst report on VC

Read the analyst report on ANN

Read the analyst report on INTC

Read the analyst report on ARMH

Read the analyst report on QCOM


Zacks Investment Research