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Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Royal Philips Electronics, Sony Corporation, General Electric Company, Panasonic Corporation and Nucor Corporation – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:23:09 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 13, 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: Royal Philips Electronics (PHG), Sony Corporation (SNE), General Electric Company (GE), Panasonic Corporation (PC) and Nucor Corporation (NUE).

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Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Philips Misses Zacks Consensus

Royal Philips Electronics (PHG) reported earnings of 27 cents per share for the third quarter of 2009, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 38 cents.

Sales amounted to $8.04 billion, a decline of 11% on both nominal and comparable bases.

Healthcare sales declined by 4% on a comparable basis due to declines at Clinical Care Systems, Imaging Systems and Healthcare Informatics.

Consumer Lifestyle sales fell by 15% on a comparable basis, due to declines in all businesses except Health & Wellness.

Lighting sales declined by 13% on a comparable basis, led by double-digit declines at Professional Luminaires, Lighting Electronics and Automotive Lighting.

In mature markets, double-digit declines at Lighting and Consumer Lifestyle were offset by a mid-single digit decline at Healthcare.

Sales in emerging markets showed sequential improvement although it remained 11% below the level achieved in the corresponding prior-year quarter.

The Group cash balance increased by €145 million to €3.7 billion, driven by free cash inflow of €353 million, partly offset by €172 million in payments for acquisitions. Operating activities generated cash inflow of €470 million compared to €210 million in the corresponding quarter of prior year.

Inventories as a percentage of sales rose by 70 basis points to 14% at the end of the quarter. Net debt at the end of the quarter amounted to €0.6 billion compared to €1.5 billion at the end of the prior-year quarter. Group equity remained stable at €13.4 billion.

Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in the Netherlands, integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of “sense and simplicity". Major competitors include Sony Corporation (SNE), General Electric Company (GE) and Panasonic Corporation (PC).

High-Cost Inventory Hurts Nucor

Helped by increased sales volumes, Nucor posted a second quarter loss narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Net loss in the quarter was $133.3 million or 43 cents per diluted share. This was against a net loss of $189.6 million or 60 cents per diluted share in the prior quarter of 2009, an improvement of 30%.

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About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

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Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

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High-Cost Inventory Hurts Nucor – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:45:15 +0000

U.S.’s largest recycler of steel scrap, Nucor Corporation (NUE), has announced its guidance for its third quarter ending Oct. 3, 2009. Nucor expects losses of 15 cents to 20 cents per share in the quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate expects a loss of 15 cents.

Helped by increased sales volumes, Nucor posted a second quarter loss narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Net loss in the quarter was $133.3 million or 43 cents per diluted share. This was against a net loss of $189.6 million or 60 cents per diluted share in the prior quarter of 2009, an improvement of 30%.

However, the results are dismal compared to net income of $580.8 million or $1.94 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2008. This was attributed to a fall in both pricing and sales volume. The company suffers from continued low operating rates and the consumption of high-cost pig iron inventories. Moreover, a slowdown in demand from the automobile sector and increased production in China are matters of concern.

Nucor expects high-cost pig iron inventory to continue to weigh on earnings. For the third quarter, the company expects this negative impact to be about $180 million, or about 37 cents per share. Through the first nine months of 2009, the impact has been about $420 million, or more than 85 cents per share. However, Nucor claims to consume all of the high-cost pig iron inventories by the close of the quarter.

While order entry and operating rates at most of Nucor’s steel mills have improved in the third quarter to rates of about 70% on average, the increases were mostly due to the end of customer destocking. Our view remains that there has been little improvement in real demand and the uncertainty in the economy is still very high. However, Nucor expects fourth quarter results to benefit from significant improvement in raw material costs.

Nucor is scheduled to report third quarter results on Oct. 22. We have a Neutral recommendation on the stock.
Read the full analyst report on "NUE"
Zacks Investment Research

The CRB Index: What Commodities Can Tell Investors About Stocks

Investment U — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:29:02 +0000

The CRB Index: What Commodities Can Tell Investors About Stocks by Dr. Scott Brown, Advisory Panelist In 1933 and 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was doing the same thing Obama is working to do today - reduce the corruption in our capital markets by increasing transparency and regulation. Most investors know that the SEC and our key securities [...]

Nucor Faces Rising Prices – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:04:15 +0000

Nucor Corporation (NUE) is the nation's largest recycler of steel scrap. Long-term contracts, constant cost-reduction efforts, higher steel prices, lower interest rates, strong cash flow position and a dominant acquisition strategy inspire our optimism with respect to the stock's performance in the coming quarters. The company's third-quarter 2008 profit nearly doubled, mainly because of robust sales from recently acquired steel and scrap-metal companies.

However, the company expects a 40% decline in steel shipments for the fourth quarter of 2008, which will result in lower earnings. A slowdown in steel demand from the automobile sector and increased production in China are matters of concern.

Rising prices of raw materials such as scrap and natural gas are serious issues facing the company. Thus, we maintain our Hold rating.

Read the full analyst report on NUE

"NUE" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Zinc to Shine from 2-year Doldrums: featuring Donner Metals – John Lee

John Lee — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:16:48 +0000

Centuries before zinc was discovered in the metallic form, its ores were used for making brass and zinc compounds, its ores were used for healing wounds and sore eyes.

Continue reading

Nucor Feeling Auto Slowdown

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:36:32 +0000

Long-term steel contracts, constant cost-reduction efforts, higher steel prices, lower interest rates, strong cash flow position and a dominant acquisition strategy inspire our optimism with respect to the nations largest recycler of steel scrap Nucor Corp.s (NUE) performance in the coming quarters. However, a slowdown in steel demand from the automobile sector and increased production in China are matters of concern. Thus, we rate the stock a Hold and raise our six-month target price to $55.00.

Nearly 55% of Nucors steel sheet volumes are under long-term price contracts, which will provide the company a cushion against higher raw material costs. It had been able to successfully pass on higher raw material costs through a mechanism of steel surcharges, which helped the company maintain or even improve its operating margins. Going forward, we believe long-term price contracts will help Nucor to maintain its near-term profitability.

Nucors Castrip technology will structurally lower its cost of production and lead to meaningful long-term savings. This process also reduces the overall environmental impact of producing steel by generating significantly lower emissions.

The company had successfully implemented three raw material projects which are expected to put at Nucors disposal over 2.5 million metric tons of high-quality scrap substitutes per year. Recently, Nucor upgraded its furnace at its steel recycling mill in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Subsequently, production from the plant increased 15%.

In the first quarter, the company commenced operations at the Utah building system facility, which has an annual capacity of 30,000 tons. Nucor increased its presence in the steel mills segment through greenfield projects including special bar quality mill in Memphis, Tennessee, which will have an estimated annual capacity of 850,000 tons.

Read the full analyst report on NUE

"NUE" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Scrap Metal Prices on the Rise

Jim Kingsland — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:42:16 +0000

There are a variety of media reports this weekend exploring the issue of thieves who are absconding with beer kegs and taking them to scrap metal yards where they can receive upwards of $50 for an empty keg. One report discussed how some manhole covers have even disappeared. Manhole covers fetch around $20. Thefts of [...]