We are lowering our six-month price target on ValueClick Inc. (VCLK) to $11.00 but maintaining our Neutral rating on the stock. The company provided disappointing guidance for the coming quarter, which was much below Zacks Consensus Estimates. The unexpected weakness in the Comparison Shopping segment and slower international business, particularly in Europe, will have a negative impact on revenue growth going forward. Thus we are lowering our revenue estimates for the fourth quarter and full year 2009. The Comparison shopping segment is expected to decline in the mid-to-high teen percentage range in the coming quarter, affected by Yahoo!'s (YHOO) new ad quality ranking system. Moreover, large Web portals such as Google (GOOG), Yahoo! and MSN will increase competition for ValueClick’s display ad business. ValueClick’s third quarter earnings were above Zacks Consensus Estimates as well as above management’s expectations, as Comparison Shopping remained strong ...

ValueClick Inc. (VCLK) third quarter pro forma (excluding stock-based compensation expenses and tax-impact only) earnings per share were 15 cents, unchanged from the previous quarter but beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. Excluding stock-based compensation expenses, discontinued operations, amortization of intangibles and the tax impact on one-time items, non-GAAP net income from continuing operations for the quarter came in at 34 cents per share, same as in the year-ago period. Earnings were above management’s guidance of 19 cents to 20 cents per share, demonstrating the company’s focus on driving bottom-line growth. Operating expenses in the quarter fell to $68.3 million (52.5% of total revenue) from $106.9 million (72.2% of total revenue) in the year-ago period. This was one of the major reasons the company was able to maintain profit levels, even in the face of the significant fall in revenue. Total revenue for ...

ValueClick Inc. (VCLK) is set to announce its third quarter results on Oct 27. We expect the company to report in-line third quarter results, if not higher than the guidance, due to the continued deterioration in the lead generation business.   Headquartered in Westlake Village, California, ValueClick is a diversified provider of Internet advertising solutions and online marketing services for online advertisers and website publishers.   ValueClick directly competes only with Marchex (MCHX) for placing web advertisements on affiliate networks. However, large Web portals such as Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO) and MSN continue to increase competition for ValueClick’s display ad business. Over the long-term, we are very positive on online advertising growth; however, current economic conditions are creating significant headwinds for ValueClick and others in the industry. We have a neutral rating on ValueClick.   Revenue Outlook   For the third quarter, the company expects ...

Headquartered in Westlake Village, California, ValueClick Inc. (VCLK) is a diversified provider of Internet advertising solutions and online marketing services for online advertisers and website publishers.

ValueClick is one of the largest online display advertising network operators in the industry. We believe the rebound in the company’s Comparison Shopping and Search segment and positive display ad trends in the U.S. will drive growth in the near-term.   The company’s second quarter earnings were above expectations, demonstrating its focus on driving bottom-line growth. However revenue was down year over year in the most recent quarter, impacted negatively by weakness in the lead generation business, which pulled down the Media segment’s revenue significantly. The lead generation business continues to deteriorate and has been taken into account in the subdued outlook for the third quarter.   ValueClick directly competes only with Marchex (MCHX) for placing web advertisements on affiliate networks. Moreover large

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Most recently, the Board of Directors of Marchex Inc. (MCHX), a search and media company focused on vertical and local advertising, declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share on its common stock. The dividend is payable on August 17, 2009 to shareholders on record as of the close of business on May 4, 2009. The current dividend yield is 1.9%.   Despite lower-than-expected first quarter 2009 results, Marchex has impressed us by continuing to pay a dividend to return more value to its shareholders. Most of its peers such as Akamai Technologies (AKAM) and ValueClick Inc. (VCLK) have not paid dividends as they have been hurt by the current economic recession and reduced consumer spending.   Meanwhile, to increase shareholders wealth, Marchex’s Board of Directors increased its stock repurchase program. During the first quarter of 2009, Marchex increased its stock repurchase plan by 2 million

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - April 1, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research picks China Life (LFC) as Bull of the Day and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (RRGB) as Bear of the Day. In addition, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research discuss the latest on ValueClick, Inc. (VCLK), General Motors Corp. (GM) and Web.com (WWWW).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678

Bull of the Day

Headquartered in Beijing, China, China Life Insurance Company Ltd. (China Life, LFC) is China's leading life insurance company. As of December 31, 2008, China Life had about 716,000 exclusive agents, over 12,600 direct sales representatives, and nearly 94,000 non-dedicated agencies throughout China.

LFC's FY08 results were disappointing, stemming from a combination of external negative factors -- snow, earthquake, and the global financial crisis. However, despite growing competition as well

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ValueClick, Inc. (VCLK) is feeling the impact of declining advertising spending as consumer confidence wanes. This has been reflected in the company's subdued outlook for Q109.Despite a weak macro economic environment, ValueClick delivered strong Q408 results with improved margins, beating Wall Street as well as our expectation. In the long-term, we believe there is still significant growth opportunity ahead for the Internet advertising industry, but we don't expect meaningful improvement over our six month time frame.Given the current economic situation, we maintain a Hold rating on the shares of VCLK but raise our price target to $8.50. VCLK is currently trading at a P/E multiple of 8.7x our 2009 earnings per share estimate of $0.90, a discount to the industry and S&P 500. Our price target represents a multiple of 9.4x our 2009 EPS estimate.Priyanka Poddar contributed to this report. Read ...

We maintain a Hold rating on the shares of ValueClick, Inc. (VCLK), a Westlake Village, California-based online marketing services company.

VCLK is currently trading at a P/E multiple of 13.5x our 2008 earnings per share estimate of $0.71, a discount to the industry median. Although over the long-term we are very positive on online advertising growth, current economic conditions are creating significant headwinds for ValueClick and others in the industry.

Rising energy prices and falling housing prices have caused consumer confidence to drop, and consumer spending has fallen as a result. With decreased consumer spending, advertisers are cutting back budgets. This has caused what we consider a cyclical decline in Internet advertising dollars.

Although there is likely upside to VCLK shares over the longer-term, we believe it is too early to get involved with the stock for our six month time frame. We lower our target price to $10.00, a multiple

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