99 Cents Only Stores Inc. (NDN) reported fiscal second quarter results after the closing bell on Wednesday. The company recorded a net income of $9.6 million, compared to a net loss of $9.4 million in the year-ago period. Earnings per share came in at 14 cents, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7 cents. The company had reported a loss of 13 cents per share in the same period last year.   The deep-discount store operator’s sales posted a growth of 2.2% year over year to $324.7 million, as customers affected by continuing macroeconomic headwinds preferred to shop more in its stores. The City of Commerce, CA-based retailer’s same-store sales grew by 2.3% over the same period.   Non-Texas Operations   99 Cents revenues from non-Texas operations grew 4.0% year over year to $296.4 million driven by same-store sales growth of nearly 1% coupled with the effect of ...

Spartech Corp. (SEH) recently posted lackluster third-quarter results as recessionary conditions affected demand for its products. The company stated that GAAP net income plunged 66% year over year to $1.5 million. Excluding restructuring charges, earnings per share came in at 18 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.

Spartech is an intermediary processor of engineered thermoplastics. It converts base polymers or resins into extruded plastic sheet and rollstock, thermoformed packaging, specialty film laminates, acrylic products, specialty plastic alloys, color concentrates and blended resin compounds, injection molded and profile extruded products.

The Clayton, Missouri-based company said revenue fell 30% year over year to $241.7 million. Volumes shrank 25% due to sluggish demand in its end markets - automotive, building and construction and recreation and leisure. Moreover, sales were also hurt by a 5% drop in selling price as Spartech passed on lower resin prices to customers.

The

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China Biologic Products, Inc. has been gaining a reputation as one of the leading plasma-based pharmaceutical companies in the People’s Republic of China and has obtained great success operating through its indirect majority-owned subsidiaries, Shandong Taibang Biological Products Co. and Chongging Dalin Biologic Technologies Co. While the young company has been making strides across the globe, they obtained a major asset to their company with the announcement that they have appointed Dr. Vincent Yi-Wu Xie to become the new Director of Research and Development.

Dr. Xie brings a lot of experience and credibility to the China Biologic team. Dr. Xie is a veteran in the biopharmaceutical industry and has published several papers and articles related to the field of plasma-based research. He holds a number of patents related to his biopharmaceutical research, including research on plasma-derived hyperimmune globulins and alpha-1 proteinase inhibitor, and has received the Guangzhou City Science

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Providing a product and service mix to markets that rely on a basic concept is a sure way to build a profitable company. In most instances, these successful product and services mixes are less then sexy, but all too profitable; even in difficult economic times. Thinking about basic components in this sense is the trick, and one that will be a stable and profitable investment for the conservative investor.

Universal Power Group Inc., a cradle to grave supplier of battery products and services, works to offer a full range of battery products to a range of markets and industries. The company currently operates in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Canada and Australia.

To indicate that the company is a full service supplier to the battery marketplace would be an understatement. It services just about all aspects of the battery marketplace from warehouse logistics to the manufacture of several battery types.

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Warner Chilcott Ltd. (WCRX) reported second-quarter results Friday. The company’s GAAP net income came in at $56 million, or 22 cents per share, recording a robust 66.7% growth over the prior year quarter. Excluding certain non-cash items, earnings per share of 44 cents topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5 cents, or nearly 13%. Warner Chilcott, a leading specialty pharmaceutical company focused on women's healthcare and dermatology segments in the U.S. market, has manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico and Northern Ireland. The Rockaway, NJ-based company’s quarterly revenues expanded 7.1% year over year to $250.8 million, primarily driven by the sales of Doryx, Loestrin 24 Fe and Estrace cream products. Sales of Oral Contraceptive products rose 5.6% year over year to $75.5 million. The growth was driven by the company’s flagship product, Loestrin 24 Fe, which grew 15% to $58 million due to higher average selling prices ...

The Hershey Company (HSY) is expected to release its second-quarter results on July 23, 2009.

It expects annual earnings for fiscal 2009 to be below the long term range of 6% to 8%, due to unprecedented commodity and pension cost increases, higher levels of core brand investment spending, and current weak macroeconomic conditions. Management expects commodity costs to increase by $175 million in 2009; however, the increase could be lower if current market prices, particularly for dairy products, continue through the remainder of the year.

The aggressive competition in the confectionary category is also negatively-affecting Hershey's near-term prospects. In addition, the changing consumer habits, in part driven by the low-carb phenomenon, and the growing awareness of healthier snacking options, are also reducing incremental demand for confectionery and other snack products.

Furthermore, Hershey's has entered the high-margin single-serve cookie market. Although the focus on higher margin products is commendable, the viability of

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POSCO (PKX) recently announced that its Mexico CGL (Continuous Galvanizing Line) has started shipping its first products on June 25. The Mexico CGL, which will annually produce 400 thousand tons of high-end zinc-plated steel alloy plates and zinc-plated steel plates for automobiles, began its commercial operation on June 4. The company is focusing on rapidly increasing the proportion of value-added products, such as cold-rolled steel, automotive steel plates and electric steel sheets, in its product mix. POSCO expects demand for steel plates in South Korea to rise to 16 million tons by 2011 from 10.7 million tons in 2007. In July 2008, POSCO started the construction of a 2 million ton capacity steel plate plant at Gwangyang Steelworks in Korea. The company targets to complete the construction of this plant by October 2010. Upon completion of the plant, POSCO’s steel plate production will reach 7.25 million ...

Luminex Corp. (LMNX) posted revenue of $104.5 million in 2008, marking growth of 39% from 2007. Technology segment sales increased 34% to $83.6 million, while Assay segment sales grew 66% to $20.9 million. Through the first quarter 2009, Technology segment sales grew 13% to $21.1 million and Assay segment sales increased 2% to $4.5 million. Total revenue grew 11% in the first quarter to $25.6 million. Technology segment sales continue to be driven by growth in consumables and royalties.

EPS came in at $0.08 in 2008 and $0.04 (adjusted for litigation expense) in the first quarter 2009, compared to ($0.47) and ($0.03) in the year-earlier periods, respectively. Gross margins increased by 240 basis points in the most recent quarter as the company's product mix shifted towards higher margin consumables and royalties.

At the first quarter earnings release, management reduced 2009 revenue guidance to between $125 million and $135

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Flint Telecom Group, Inc., a fast growing next-generation IP communications products and services company, today reported its progress for the first five months of 2009 as well as provided a list of highlights. After acquiring six U.S. subsidiaries of China Voice Holding Corp. (CHVC) on January 29, 2009, the company completed an aggressive company integration which included extensive corporate personnel and network cost-cutting measures.

Flint Telecom CEO Vincent Browne stated, “We are now well positioned to take our integrated infrastructure to the next level for the benefit of our Shareholders. I feel that we have put together the right team, business plan and foundation to support significant growth as well as to realize increased profits during the coming months. We now have eight active and complementary subsidiaries currently generating more than $75 million in annualized revenues and have made great strides in developing new higher margin products to drive into

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 8, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research highlights Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) as the Bull of the Day and Central Garden & Pet Co. (CENT) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE) and MGIC (MTG).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), the largest integrated telecom operator in Taiwan, declared first quarter 2009 financial results below our estimates. This was mainly due to an increase in employee bonus payouts and lower revenue as a result of weak economic conditions.

However, Chunghwa commands a significant market share in Taiwan for traditional voice and dial-up services, VoIP, IPTV and

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