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: Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS), Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX), Vivo Participacoes S.A. (NYSE: VIV), Telemig Celular Participacoes S.A. (NYSE: TMB) and Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX).
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Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Agilysys Tries to Keep Footing
Agilysys (Nasdaq: AGYS) posted disappointing first quarter results as a result of weakness in its TSG group as customers deferred purchase decisions.
We are not surprised that AGYS is facing greater pressure than its peers given its exposure to the retail and hospitality industries, but are puzzled as to why the portion of its business not exposed to these two verticals is performing the weakest.
Becton, Dickinson Upped to Buy
Becton, Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) operates three business segments that provide disposable/consumable products to the medical community. We believe the majority of these product markets should remain relatively insulated from the current economic turmoil.
The company's focus on safety-engineered products has gained momentum as healthcare providers seek to reduce hospital-acquired infections and governments require tighter operating standards. This has provided Becton, Dickinson with a strong position in the industry.
Vivo Participações Called a Buy
We are keeping our Buy recommendation on Vivo Participações (NYSE: VIV). The company has a dominant position and a strong brand in the fast-growing Brazilian wireless business. Second quarter net income was lower than expected; nevertheless, there were other positive developments like continued subscriber growth and the leadership in post-paid new additions.
The short-term outlook remains encouraging due to positive industry trends in Brazil. The acquisition of Telemig (NYSE: TMB) and the new bands in all the regions where the company was not authorized to operate rendered positive news.
Xilinx (XLNX) Has the Hook-Up
Xilinx (Nasdaq: XLNX) designs and manufactures a broad range of high-performance, high-density programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as field-programmable gate arrays and complex-programmable logic devices. A programmable logic device is an integrated circuit that can be programmed in a laboratory to perform complex functions. These logic devices are used to direct signal traffic within a digital system. Equipment manufacturers across a wide range of industries employ PLDs in their devices.
Operating margin improved to 25.8% from 21.2% in the 2nd quarter of fiscal year 2009 (ended September) and 21.9% in the previous quarter. For Q3 of fiscal 2009, gross margin is expected to be in the range of 63%-64%. We have adjusted our FY2009 estimates accordingly. We continue to rate Xilinx a Buy with a target price of $26.
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