Flowserve Corp. (FLS) received an order worth more than $15 million from State Nuclear Power Engineering Company Ltd. (SNPEC) in China for ASME Section III safety-related globe and gate valves and Flowserve Limitorque actuators.

Flowserve said it will book the order in the first quarter of 2010.

The Flowserve valves and actuators will be utilized at the Westinghouse design AP1000(TM) Sanmen and Haiyang Unit 2 nuclear power plants located in Zhejiang and Shandong regions. The plants, representing the first Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants to be constructed in China, are expected to be operational in Jun 2014 and Jan 2015, respectively.

Valves, which are a part of the order, will be sourced from Flowserve's Raleigh, N.C., facility. Limitorque actuators will be manufactured in Lynchburg, VA.

The company recently won a pump and solutions order, valued in excess of $31 million, from LUKOIL Neftochim Burgas AD for Flowserve proprietary pumping systems and heavy-duty high-energy

...

Flowserve Corp. (FLS) reported fourth-quarter earnings per share from continuing operations of $2.41, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.87.

Earnings per share, excluding realignment charges, was higher primarily due to an improvement in gross margin of 70 basis points and a reduction of 210 basis points for SG&A expenses as a percentage of sales.

Order bookings decreased to $939 million, down $85 million, a decrease of 8%, or 13% excluding currency benefits. The decrease was primarily attributable to the chemical, oil and gas and general industries markets. It reflected customers' responses to some lingering disruptions in the credit and capital markets, challenging global economic conditions generally and the re-evaluation of customer budget assumptions for particular projects, thereby delaying certain expected orders.

Sales improved to $1.20 billion, up $30 million, an increase of 3%, or a decrease of 3% excluding currency benefits of approximately $70 million. Increased sales growth reflected strong conversion

...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Atlas Pipeline Holdings LP (AHD) British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY) Central Garden & Pet Co (CENT) Cohen & Steers Inc (CNS) Companhia Paranaense de Energia (ELP) CPFL Energia SA (CPL) Diamond Management & Technology Consultants Inc (DTPI) Drew Industries Inc (DW) Encore Capital Group Inc (ECPG) EnerSys (ENS) Flowserve Corp (FLS) GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) Ixia (XXIA) Jo-Ann Stores Inc (JAS) Life Time Fitness Inc (LTM) Macquarie Infrastructure Company LLC (MIC) ...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Amkor Technology Inc (AMKR) AutoNation Inc (AN) Avery Dennison Corp (AVY) Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBV) Banco Santander SA (STD) Brush Engineered Material (BW) Cabela's Inc (CAB) Capella Education Co (CPLA) Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG) Churchill Downs Inc (CHDN) CNOOC Ltd (CEO) CPFL Energia SA (CPL) Drew Industries Inc (DW) Dynamics Research Corp (DRCO) Encore Capital Group Inc (ECPG) Expedia Inc (EXPE) F5 Networks Inc (...

Flowserve Corp. (FLS) performed well on Thursday, a day after the fluid motion and control company announced solid fourth-quarter results. A share price advance of more than 11% made FLS one of the best-performing S&P 500 companies.

However, the company remains a Zacks #4 Rank ("sell") due to reduced earnings estimates. (The Zacks Rank is a quantitative, short-term indicator.) The possibility of its recent performance reversing the estimates trend and, therefore, improving its Zacks Rank will depend on how analysts compute the info in the coming days and weeks.

On a longer-term basis, though, FLS has a Zacks Equity Research recommendation of "Hold".

On Wednesday, FLS reported earnings per share of $2.03, which beat the consensus of $1.90 by more than 6.8%. Despite its poor Zacks Rank, FLS has a solid record of beating Wall Street's quarterly expectations, amassing a surprise of 27% in the past 4 quarters.

...

As the economy deteriorates, one of the first casualties will be corporate profits.  Earnings estimates have been falling very fast for 2009.  Recently estimate cuts for 2009 have been running at about 8x the number of estimate increases.  P/E-based valuations become tricky in such an environment -- you are shooting at a moving target.  One way around this is to focus on the low (or most pessimistic) estimate, rather than on the mean estimate.  Assume that everyone else will move to where the biggest pessimist is now. This is not to say that the most pessimistic analyst today can't be too optimistic, but at least he will be closer than most. On this basis, there are some very compelling values out there. 

Below we present a list of the cheapest S&P 500 companies based on 2009 low estimates.  Since I simply do not trust the numbers, I have excluded from

...

Furmanite (FRM) is an industrial services company offering online repairs of leaks in valves, pipes, and other components of piping systems and related equipment used in flow-process industries; and on-site machining, bolting and valve testing, valve repair, product distribution, heat treating, and repair on such systems and equipment. Furmanite also provides hot tapping, fugitive emissions monitoring, passive fire protection, concrete repair, heat exchanger design and repair, and manufacturing, as well as diagnostic services on valves and motors.

The company’s financial prospects appear rosy as its second quarter earnings more than doubled. For the quarter, Furmanite earned $7.7 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with $3.9 million, or 11 cents per share, for the same quarter last year. Sales rose 21 percent to $90.2 million from $74.7 million a year earlier. Furmanite’s major competitors include Flowserve Corp., Team Inc. and privately held T.D. Williamson Inc. Only one sell-side analyst currently

...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

AZZ Inc (AZZ) Celadon Group Inc (CLDN) China BAK Battery Inc (CBAK) Citi Trends Inc (CTRN) Cleco Corp (CNL) CMS Energy Corp (CMS) CTS Corp (CTS) Curtiss-Wright Corp (CW) The Walt Disney Co (DIS) Flowserve Corp (FLS) FX Energy Inc (FXEN) GulfMark Offshore Inc (GLF) Huntington Bancshares Inc (HBAN) Interleukin Genetics Inc (ILI) Kirkland's Inc (KIRK) The Laclede Group Inc (LG) NeurogesX Inc (NGSX) Nicor Inc (GAS) Powerwave Technologies Inc (PWAV) Progress Energy Inc (PGN) SeaChange International (SEAC) Shenandoah Telecommunications Co (SHEN) ShengdaTech Inc (SDTH) TravelCenters of America LLC (TA) Universal Stainless & Alloy Products (USAP) View the entire Zacks #1 Rank List.

"AZZ" ...

Kansas City Southern (KSU) dodged a bullet and announced that it did not sustain any major damage to infrastructure after hurricane Ike. The company will be able to repair the minimal damages to rails and facilities as soon as flood waters retreat.

Kansas City Southern is confident that it and its customers in the gulf region will be able to resume business as usual soon. In addition, analysts predict that most of the lost revenue for the third quarter will be re-captured later in the year.

The consensus estimates for the current year are up 12.5% within the past two months. The company has also seen estimates for the current quarter, next quarter, and next year increase as well.

Current estimates are forecasting a 38% increase for full-year 2008 and a 29.7% year-over-year increase for the current quarter.

Psychiatric Solutions Inc (

...

Stocks stared into the abyss, again, and finally jumped in, as the financial crisis that has been percolating for weeks finally overwhelmed Wall Street. The Dow posted its largest one day drop since just after the September 11 attacks.

The day started with an orderly sell-off that picked up steam in the second half of the session. No sector escaped the carnage.

The Dow lost 504 points, or 4.42%, to 10917. The Nasdaq Composite Index fared slightly better, giving up 81.36 points, or 3.60%, to 2179. The S&P 500 Index now finds itself below its July lows, shedding 59 points, or 4.71%, to 1192.

There were historic deals, and non-deals, all weekend long, as two of Wall Street’s most revered investment banks threw in the towel. Lehman Brothers (LEH) declared bankruptcy after it couldn't find a partner who would take on its problems. Merrill Lynch (MER) fared

...