For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 20, 2009 – 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: Toyota Motors (TM), Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PBR), ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A).

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Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Toyota’s 1st Sales Gain in 15 Months

Toyota Motors (TM) has posted its first year-over-year monthly sales gain across the globe in 15 months during October. The company’s sales rose 4% to more than 630,000 vehicles. In the U.S., the company’s sales fell 3.5%.

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Brazilian energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PBR), or Petrobras S.A. announced encouraging third quarter results, helped by strong performance from the Supply segment. Earnings per ADR came in at R$1.66 (96 cents), comfortably beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 80 cents. However, on a year-over-year basis, Petrobras’ earnings per ADR was down approximately 28.7%, hurt by lower prices of oil and natural gas. Still, they were better than the high double-digit earnings decline suffered by other majors such as ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), Chevron Corp. (CVX), and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A).   Upstream   Total oil and gas production during the third quarter of 2009 reached 2,534 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, from 2,524 million in the previous quarter and 2,437 million in the same period of 2008. Compared to the third quarter of 2008, Brazilian oil and natural gas liquids production increased 4.8%, while ...

Yesterday before market opened, Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo - SABESP (SBS), one of the largest water and sewage service providers in the world based on the number of customers, announced encouraging results for the third quarter of 2009.  During the quarter, net operating revenue totaled R$ 1.6 billion, a 2.3% increase compared to the same quarter in 2008. Costs and expenses stood at R$ 1.2 billion, 11.1% higher than the same period in the previous quarter.  EBITDA dropped 11.5% year over year to R$ 617.1 million from R$ 697.4 million in the third quarter of 2008. Earnings before financial expenses (EBIT) decreased 30.2% year over year, from R$ 662.5 million to R$ 462.6 million in the quarter. During the quarter, gross operating revenue grew R$ 31.9 million, or 1.9%, from R$ 1.72 billion in the same period of 2008 to R$ ...

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (UGP) reported its third quarter results yesterday after market close. The company reported earnings of R$1.00 per share for the third quarter of 2009, which was 9% up from last year’s earnings of R$0.91 per share. Quarterly revenue increased 25% to R$9.7 million from R$7.7 million in the third quarter of 2008. The company’s EBITDA was up 39% year-over-year at R$371 million. The double digit growth in sales and EBITDA were primarily a result of the consolidation of Texaco revenues from second quarter 2009. Also, the company said that it witnessed a gradual recovery in both the retail and the manufacturing sectors, particularly in segments linked to the domestic demand. Moreover, Ultrapar benefited from the continued IPI tax breaks on vehicles sales and increased credit availability in the region. Ultragaz's net sales in the quarter were R$929 million in 3Q09, up 1.3% ...

GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL) has announced encouraging results for the third quarter of 2009. The company posted net income of R$77.9 million, with a net margin of 5.2%, versus a net income of R$353.7 million in the previous quarter and a net loss of R$510.7 million in the same period of 2008.  Reflecting the optimization of its cost structure and the focus on more profitable markets, GOL's operating results were positive for the fifth consecutive quarter, totaling R$99.1 million, with an operating margin of 6.6%.  The EBITDAR was R$298.7 million with a margin of 20.0% versus R$258.8 million in the previous quarter (18.6%) and R$253.7 million (14.2%) in the same quarter of previous year.  During the quarter, GOL announced a global share offering designed to strengthen its financial position and reclaim its status among the most competitive airlines in the world, with a ...

Sabesp (SBS) is seeing revenue growth as it expands its infrastructure. The stock is cheap. SBS is trading at just 6.8x forward earnings.

Company Description

Sabesp supplies water services and sewage collection services to 60% of the State of Sao Paulo in Brazil. It services 366 out of 645 cities.

Since 2007, Sabesp has been expanding into new services related to environmental sanitation and energy.

From 2009 to 2013, the company expects to spend R$ 8.6 billion to expand infrastructure to cover the entire population of cities it currently services. By 2013 it expects to be treating 100% of water in cities it services.

Zacks Consensus Estimates Rise

Sabesp is scheduled to report third quarter results on Nov 18. Analysts have been bullish about the third quarter and 2009.

The third quarter Zacks Consensus Estimate is up 22 cents to $1.73 in the last 30 days.

The

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On Friday, GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL) announced that its global offering of 38,005,000 preferred shares, including preferred shares in the form of American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), by the company and ASAS Investment Fund, the company's controlling shareholder was priced on October 8, 2009.  The offering of preferred shares in Brazil has been registered with the Comissao de Valores Mobiliarios (CVM), the Brazilian securities commission. ASAS Investment Fund will invest the entire the proceeds (excluding proceeds from the sale of any preferred shares upon the exercise of the over-allotment option) received from the sale of preferred shares in common shares newly issued by the company.  ASAS Investment Fund has granted the international and Brazilian underwriters an option to purchase up to 5,182,500 additional preferred shares, including preferred shares in the form of ADSs.  The ADSs were offered to the public at a price of ...

Spain’s incumbent telecom carrier Telefonica SA (TEF) has reportedly made an all-cash bid to acquire Brazilian telecom operator GVT Holding SA in an effort to expand its presence in the lucrative Brazilian telecom market. The Spanish operator’s Brazilian fixed-line subsidiary Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo (Telesp) has offered BRL48 (US$27.2) per share of GVT to acquire atleast 51% of the company, equating to a total investment of €2.55 billion (US$3.75 billion). This offer, which is subject to regulatory and shareholders approvals, has outbid the BRL42 (US$23.8) per share offer made by France-based media company Vivendi SA in September 2009. Telefonica targets to eventually acquire 100% stake in GVT. Large telecom carriers across the US and Europe are increasingly focused on expanding their foothold in under-penetrated markets given the limited growth prospects in their matured domestic markets. With its vast population and relatively low wireless and broadband penetration, ...

Banco Santander, S.A. (STD) has raised $8.1 billion (14.1 billion Brazilian reals) in a record initial public offering (IPO) of its Brazilian operations as the bank seeks growth away from the ailing Spanish economy. The Brazilian arm sold 600 million shares for 23.50 reals ($13.43) per share, to the public through a concurrent offering in Brazil and New York. The price was in the middle of the expected range of 22 reals to 25 reals. Santander had initially filed to sell 525 million units, with each representing 55 common shares and 50 preferred shares, but the offering was increased by 75 million units to meet demand from investors. In the U.S., the new stock will trade on the Big Board under the ticker symbol "BSBR." Trading of the units will begin on the New York and Sao Paulo stock exchange begins today. The IPO ...

Pandora’s Box of rate hikes is opened! Is the dollar being removed from oil trades? Deficits do matter, eh? Gold heads toward its all-time high…And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… And a Terrific Tuesday to you! A Tuesday morning that is seeing a HUGE currency rally VS the dollar on the news that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) opted to go ahead and hike rates now, and not wait for November’s meeting,

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