Devon Energy Corporation (DVN) has announced plans to divest all of its Gulf of Mexico and international assets for net proceeds of about $4.5-$7.5 billion, repositioning itself as a high-growth North American onshore company. The company believes that this repositioning will result in value optimization for its shareholders.  It believes that the value of these assets is not adequately reflected in the stock price. Furthermore, the divestitures would position the company to deliver high organic growth on a sustainable basis, funded entirely by internally generated funds. With the asset sales, we expect Devon to emerge with a stronger balance sheet and flaunt one of the lowest cost structures in its peer group.  Devon expects to begin the asset sale process by first half of 2010 and to complete them by the end of the year. The company plans to use the proceeds to develop its U.S. ...

We have upgraded Plexus Corp. (PLXS) to Outperform from our previous Neutral rating.  Year to date, Plexus’ shares are up 43.5%, outperforming the S&P 500 and the peer group.   Plexus’ fourth-quarter results and the guidance for the next quarter were above the Zacks Consensus Estimate. While year-over-year results were weak, hurt by recession, the company posted impressive sequential growth due to new customer wins and product mix.   Earnings per share fell 20.8% from the year-earlier profit of 48 cents but rose 65.2% from 23 cents reported in the previous quarter. Earnings benefited from a lower tax rate in the quarter. Revenues for the quarter came in at $393 million, a decrease of 17.4% from $476 million reported in the year-ago quarter but up 4% from $379 million reported in the previous quarter. The company witnessed the first sequential increase in revenue in the current quarter since

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Fourth-Quarter Results Beat Apple Inc. (AAPL) fourth-quarter beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.43 in earnings per share and $9.19 billion in revenue. Earnings in the quarter were $1.82 per share, which also surpassed the company’s own guidance. This increased 44% from $1.26 per share reported in the year-ago period. Strong earnings were due to higher sales in the quarter, which increased 25% to $9.87 billion, representing the second highest revenue growth in the company’s history. The tremendous revenue growth was due to higher iPhone sales and increased Mac shipments in the quarter. Apple continues to gain market share in the three major hardware sectors – computers (with very significant gains in portables), music players and smartphones. Apple's revenue increased in every region, including the U.S. and Europe. The company is currently benefiting from a positive mix shift to the higher-margin iPhones/iPod business from its ...

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is set to release its earnings on Oct. 19. We expect the company to report strong results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, and therefore raise our price target to $200. Apple has undergone a total turnaround. The first nine months of 2009 is evidence of this trend, as both revenue and earnings exhibited growth, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate and the company’s own guidance. For the fourth quarter of 2009, Apple expects revenue in the range of $8.7 – $8.9 billion. Earnings are expected to be in the range of $1.18 – $1.23 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.26 per share on sales of $7.9 billion during the fourth quarter of 2008.   Although the company provided a cautious guidance, we expect it to post upbeat results. The Zacks Consensus Estimate EPS of $1.42 on revenue of $9.2 billion ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 15, 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: Linear Technology (LLTC), Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM), Intersil Corporation (ISIL), Semtech (SMTC) and Altera Corporation (ALTR).

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Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Linear Tops, Guidance Conservative

Linear Technology’s (LLTC) first quarter earnings beat the Zacks consensus by 2 cents. Revenue beat the consensus by 9.4%. We currently expect the entire peer group, including Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM), Intersil Corporation (ISIL) and Semtech (SMTC)

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Allegheny Energy Inc. (AYE) yesterday scaled down its proposed rate hike in Virginia . Earlier, in April 2009, the company had asked for $22.6 million rate hike, which it has now scaled down by $3.2 million to a $19.4 million. Allegheny has proposed the hike before the Virginia State Corporation Commission to recover its cost of purchased power.  For a residential customer with a monthly consumption of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of power, Allegheny's original proposal would have increased the bill by $5.47 to $96. The scaled-down proposal would result in a monthly bill of $94. Headquartered in Greensburg , Pennsylvania , Allegheny Energy is an electric utility company with over $3 billion in annual revenues.  The company is engaged in both regulated electricity and natural gas distribution utility operations as well as in unregulated wholesale energy markets. It owns and operates generating facilities and serves electricity to ...

Allegheny Energy, Inc. (AYE) recently announced that its unregulated power generation subsidiary Allegheny Energy Supply Company, LLC (AE Supply) bagged a new $1 billion senior unsecured revolving credit facility with a three-year maturity. Allegheny plans to use the money from the new credit facility for general corporate purposes and capital expenditure for its unregulated plants. The new credit facility will increase and replace AE Supply’s existing $400 million revolving credit facility, which was scheduled to mature in May 2011. The withdrawals under this credit facility will bear interest that is calculated based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) along with a margin based on AE Supply’s senior unsecured credit rating. As of now the margin on LIBOR-based loans is 3.5%. Allegheny is focused on strengthening its liquidity position and improve its financial flexibility by reducing interest burden. The company in recent times has concentrated on ...

L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL) yesterday won a contract from the U.S. Army to provide power generators for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The bid, whose financial terms were undisclosed, was awarded to the company’s Combat Propulsion Systems and Magnet Motors units. The company has already started work on the contract and expects to deliver the initial lot of 10 prototypes by the next two fiscal years. L-3 Communications’ power generators are expected to supply higher electrical power, thereby increasing the vehicles mission loads apart from upgrading integration options for high-capacity auxiliary loads. This order will boost the dwindling order backlog of the company, which in the second quarter of fiscal 2009 fell 20% year-over-year to $3.3 billion. Headquartered in New York, L-3 Communications is a leading provider of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) systems and products; secure communications systems; aircraft modernization, training and government services; and ...

CarMax (KMX) will release its sales and earnings results for the second quarter of fiscal 2010 ended August 31, 2009 on September 22. The Richmond, VA-based used car retailer reported earnings of 11 cents per share, excluding special items, for the first quarter of the fiscal year. This was high above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 4 cents per share. For the second quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company is 16 cents per share, an improvement of 45% compared to the recorded earnings in the previous quarter.   CarMax, the largest retailer of used vehicles in the U.S., conducts its operations through its wholly owned subsidiaries -- CarMax Auto Superstores Inc., Virginia; CarMax Auto Superstores West Coast Inc., California; CarMax Auto Superstores California LLC, California; CarMax Auto Superstores Services Inc., Virginia; CarMax Business Services LLC, Delaware; and Glen Allen Insurance Ltd., Bermuda. The company operates ...

Southern Telecom, the telecommunications subsidiary of Southern Company (SO), has recently signed an agreement with the Florida-based 421 West Church Street to connect its Atlanta, Macon and Jacksonville metro dark fiber networks to the latter’s carrier neutral telecommunication facility. This will help Southern Telecom to expand its presence in the Southeast region as well as to offer better service to its existing customers.  Southern Telecom provides long-haul and metro dark fiber connecting Atlanta with other smaller cities throughout the Southeast region. The company also offers HVAC, power and other custom energy solutions for optronics at its operation hubs and in-line amplification sites on the long-haul routes and points of presence in the metro areas supporting the metro fiber rings.  Shares of Southern Company closed at $31.44 on Tuesday, trading at 13.7X trailing 12-month earnings per share versus 11.8X of the peer group. We maintain our Neutral recommendation ...