Strong Second-Quarter Results Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS) reported better-than-expected second-quarter results with a steep rise in net earnings and growth in revenue. Net income, excluding non-recurring items of 6 cents per share increased 200% from the year-ago loss per share of 6 cents. Earnings also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 6 cents. Effective cost management and a lower tax rate have driven earnings growth. Due to the higher cost of sales, gross margin on a non-GAAP basis declined to 48% from 51% in the year-ago period. However, lower operating expenses in the quarter resulted in a better-than-expected operating margin, which improved to 2% from -3% in the year-ago period. The company continues to experience a rise in the top-line. Total non-GAAP net revenue, adjusted for deferred revenue of $359 million related to certain online-enabled packaged goods and digital content, increased ...

Panasonic Corp. (PC) plans to restructure its division, Motor Company in April 2010 to enhance growth potential and strengthen its management structure. Upon completion of the restructuring, the motor company will be dissolved.   Panasonic will reorganize and integrate its Home Appliance, Automotive Motor and Industrial Motor Businesses to form the Home Appliances Company (HA) and transfer the Information Equipment Motor Business to Minebea Motor Manufacturing Corporation.  The company will liquidate Panasonic Motor Matsusaka Co., Ltd., which is Panasonic's subsidiary company, for accelerating manufacturing at other optimal locations after transferring compact AC geared motors and industrial brushless motors to Panasonic Motor (Zhuhai).  Panasonic’s organizational restructuring and its ability to target resources to growth areas have enabled the company to withstand the weak economy. The company aims to strengthen both finished product manufacture and device businesses through company-wide cost reduction efforts, including material costs and fixed costs. ...

For the second quarter of fiscal 2010, Audiovox Corp. (VOXX) reported net income of $2.8 million or earnings per share of 12 cents, compared to a net loss of $2.3 million or a loss per share of 10 cents in the corresponding prior-year period. This exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 cents per share. Net sales for the quarter were $124.9 million, compared to net sales of $147.2 million in the prior-year period, a decrease of 15.2%. Accessories sales were $45.9 million, an increase of 29% compared to $35.5 million in the same quarter, a year ago. This increase is primarily due to the addition of new customers and higher sales of antennas as a result of the switch from analog to digital TV, remote controls and other accessory lines under Terk, Acoustic Research and RCA. Electronics sales, which include both mobile and consumer ...

The U.S. smart-phone market is growing at a rapid pace despite the ongoing global economic slowdown. A recent analysis by CTIA Wireless has revealed that the country’s wireless service providers have generated a massive $19.4 billion of data revenues from smart-phone users during the first half of 2009. This is an improvement of 31% year over year. This is primarily due to a shift in consumer preference towards feature-enhanced high-end PDA devices from ordinary mobile handsets used primarily for voice telephony. The PDA market size is likely to approach $200 billion by 2012, according to various industry sources.   This grand opportunity provides massive scope for telecom service providers, equipment manufacturers, chipset developers, and wireless tower operators to retain new users and grow revenues moving forward. According to the CTIA Wireless report, at present, the U.S. has more than 246 million data capable devices with 40 million smart-phones or ...

Sony Corp. (NYSE ADR: SNE) is facing the first consecutive annual loss of its 63-year history.

The Tokyo-based company lost $1.1 billion (98.9 billion yen) last year, and it expects to lose another $1.4 billion (120 billion yen) in its fiscal year ending March 31.  That would be Sony’s first back-to-back annual loss since the company went public in 1958.

And despite renewed optimism within its ranks, Sony still faces a plethora of challenges, including a questionable direction, cost-conscious consumers and a strengthening yen.

The onetime bellwether of the electronics industry has seen its market share crumble in almost every category: Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s (OTC ADR: NTDOY) Wii game console has supplanted Sony’s PlayStation brand, Sony has given up its lead in portable media players to Apple Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPod, and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is now the world’s largest seller of televisions.

Hoping to turn the

...

Disney’s Spidey Sense is Tingling

by Louise Harris, Investment U Research Team

The entertainment world is changing, and companies in the business know that all too well… hence the reason why The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) just announced its acquisition of Marvel Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: MVL)

Comic book fans might hate the move, but in order to survive in today’s climate, Disney has to look outside the box office to the whole entertainment package.

Gone are the days when movies made all their money at the box office. And with DVD sales shrinking, Hollywood has no choice but to bring in more revenue by delving into toys, videogames, clothing, rides, digital copies of movies and Internet streaming.

Naturally, Disney hopes to milk the merger for all its worth, exploiting Marvel’s 5,000 characters across the entire spectrum over the

...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 2, 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: Google (GOOG), Sony Corp. (SNE), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL) and Hewlett Packard Co. (HPQ).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Google Ropes in Sony

Google (GOOG) recently struck a deal with Sony Corp. (SNE), according to which the latter will ship the Chrome browser pre-installed on some of its PC models. The financial or other details of the transaction were not disclosed. A Google spokesperson said that

...

Google (GOOG) recently struck a deal with Sony Corp. (SNE), according to which the latter will ship the Chrome browser pre-installed on some of its PC models. The financial or other details of the transaction were not disclosed. A Google spokesperson said that the deal was in the nature of a first step and agreements with other leading PC-makers are expected to follow.   We think this is an interesting move and could be leveraged to boost sales of its Chrome operating system to be launched next year. Microsoft’s (MSFT) domination of the web browser space is largely attributable to its strategy of bundling the Internet Explorer with its operating system. Since MSFT operating systems continue to be the most commonly used, this is an obvious advantage. While Microsoft, being the market leader, is hindered by anti-trust actions from smaller players, Google Chrome is not likely to face ...

Research In Motion (RIMM) yesterday announced that it acquired Torch Mobile, a web-based software and application developer. Torch Mobile uses the open-source web browser layout engine WebKit to develop web applications for mobile phones.  The company’s flagship Iris Browser product is a web browser for mobile phones with a customizable interface and touch-screen control.  Iris browser can be used on many devices and platforms. The browser contains software components for web services compatible with Google (GOOG) gadgets, Yahoo (YHOO) widgets, and several other web platforms.

RIMM has been able to successfully differentiate its BlackBerry products from other offerings in the communications market. BlackBerry smart-phones are admired globally for their best e-mail functionality. However, its web browsing capability is not as powerful as iPhone of Apple Inc. (AAPL), Pre of Palm Inc. (PALM) and Google Android. All of these browsers are based on the WebKit ecosystem. In

...

An investigation has been launched by U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), on several NAND flash memory chip making companies. A complaint filed in July by West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based BTG International prompted ITC to initiate this investigation against companies like Samsung (SSNLF), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Research In Motion (RIMM), Dell Inc. (DELL), Sony Corp. (SNE), PNY Technologies and Transcend Information.   The complaint filed by BTG states that chips used by Apple, Research In Motion, Samsung and others violate the patents that the company holds on the NAND flash memory chips. BTG has requested ITC to ban Samsung from using the patented chips and on products using the Samsung chips to be shipped to the U.S.   This apart, BTG asked ITC to issue a cease and desist order on any of the companies’ business relating to those devices. We believe this might have a negative ...