Skechers U.S.A. (SKX) is well positioned to benefit through a sustained focus on new products, opening of new retail stores and distribution channels, and a multi-brand strategy.

A healthy balance sheet and in-demand inventory position it to capitalize on future growth opportunities. Further, the company's international business provides an enormous second leg of growth, in our opinion. The company's domestic wholesale business also regained its lost momentum.

With strong sales growth and healthy gross margins in fourth-quarter 2009, management expects the growth to continue in fiscal 2010. We upgrade our recommendation to Outperform and set a target price of $37 per share.Zacks Investment Research

Skechers USA Inc. (SKX), the designer, marketer and distributor of footwear, recently reported fourth-quarter 2009 financial results that topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate.   Skechers’ quarterly earnings of 58 cents a share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 52 cents, and improved substantially from a net loss of 44 cents delivered in the prior-year quarter. Robust sales growth and effective cost management drove the bottom-line.   The quarterly earnings outdid the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.5%. Earnings for the second and third quarters in 2009 had outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 52.9% and 18.8%, respectively. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2010 is 82 cents.   Net sales for the quarter soared 30.4% year-over-year to $388.6 million driven by growth registered across wholesale, retail and online businesses.   The sustained focus on new lines of products, opening of additional Skechers retail stores and distribution channels, and ...

SAN ANTONIO, TX — (Marketwire) — 02/16/10 — Tootie Pie Company, Inc. (OTCBB: TOOT), a premium baker and seller of high-quality, handmade pies, reported a net profit of $29,771 on revenues of $910,837 for the period ending December 31, 2009 versus a net loss of $30,618 on revenues of $909,741 for the same period in 2008; a $60,389 or 6.6% improvement to the bottom line.

Gross profit held steady at $639,536 for the period, versus $625,257 for the same period in 2008. Gross margin after depreciation remained solid at 70% of net sales for the period, as compared to 69% for the same period in 2008.

“We improved our bottom line results, swinging from a loss to a profit; which coupled with an increase in unit sales, produced the best overall quarter in the Company’s history,” said Don Merrill, Tootie Pie Company’s President & CEO. “We made a strategic acquisition

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You know you’re doing something right when Fortune Magazine ranks you as one of their “Most Admired Companies” for the past two years. That honor continues to inspire United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) to better performance for their customers and shareholders alike. Headquartered in Dayville, Connecticut, United is the largest, publicly traded wholesale distributor to the natural and organic foods industry.

Trading on NASDAQ as part of the Food Wholesale business sector, they carry and distribute over 40,000 products to more than 17,000 customers in the United States. They serve traditional supermarket chains, natural products superstores, independent health food retailers, and the food service industry. In 2003, the company became the first and largest certified organic distributor in North America. Quality Assurance International, the industry’s underwriter of organic quality, certified all of their distribution centers.

United Natural Foods Inc.’s product lines include natural and organic groceries, nutritional supplements, personal care items,

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