Saturday, January 24, 2015

Top 5 Asian Companies To Buy For 2014

Peter Foley/Bloomberg Carson Block, founder of Muddy Waters LLC, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York on July 17, 2013.

Never before has the unveiling of a Carson Block short sale done less to sway investors.

American Tower Corp. (AMT) fell 1.1 percent to $73.87 yesterday, the smallest first-day drop ever in a stock after a report from Muddy Waters Research, which built its reputation with bearish calls on Asian companies. New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc., Focus Media Holding Ltd. and Sino-Forest Corp. lost at least 20 percent after previous Muddy Waters notes.

Investors in the operator of cell-phone antennas were unshaken by Block�� analysis and firms from Wells Fargo & Co. to Macquarie Group Ltd. said they disagreed. Block said yesterday that American Tower is worth 40 percent less than its share price because it overstated the value of its acquisitions and has poor corporate governance.

Top Life Sciences Companies To Buy For 2015: Informatica Corporation (INFA)

Informatica Corporation provides enterprise data integration and data quality software and services worldwide. Its software solutions include a set of technologies that enable various enterprise-wide data integration initiatives. The company offers PowerCenter, which integrates data virtually from business systems in various formats and delivers that data throughout the enterprise; PowerExchange that enables IT organizations to access the sources of enterprise data without having to develop custom data access programs; and Informatica Data Services for finding, integrating, and managing data across the enterprise. It also provides Data Quality, which delivers data quality to stakeholders, projects, and data domains; Master Data Management that provides consolidated business-critical data; and B2B Data Exchange software for multi-enterprise data integration. In addition, the company offers application information lifecycle management products to manage various phases of the data lifecycle, from development and testing to archiving and retirement; complex event processing to detect, correlate, analyze, and respond to data-driven events; Ultra Messaging products, which enables ultra low latency messaging; and Cloud that delivers purpose-built data integration cloud applications to allow business users to integrate data across cloud-based applications, and on-premise systems and databases. Further, it offers product-related customer support, consulting, and education services. Informatica Corporation serves aerospace, automotive, energy and utilities, entertainment/media, financial services, healthcare/life sciences, high technology, insurance, manufacturing, public sector, retail, services, telecommunications, and travel/transportation industries through its direct sales force, as well as through systems integrators, resellers, distributors, and original equipment manufacturer partners. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Red wood City, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Tim Beyers]

    Informatica (NASDAQ: INFA  ) also saw its shares jump after exceeding Q1 revenue targets, a nice switch for a company that had suffered stalling sales in the wake of the European debt crisis. During the quarter, the company signed 19 deals with more than $1 million.

  • [By Garrett Cook]

    In trading on Friday, technology shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.80 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ: SLAB), down 13.7 percent, and Informatica (NASDAQ: INFA), off 13.4 percent.

  • [By Luke Jacobi]

    Informatica (NASDAQ: INFA) was down, falling 12.3 percent to $30.65 after the company reported quarterly results and lowered its FY14 earnings forecast. Baird downgraded Informatica from Outperform to Neutral and lowered the price target from $45.00 to $36.00.

  • [By Lee Jackson]

    Deutsche Bank also listed Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) and Informatica Corp. (NASDAQ: INFA) as the three most controversial stocks. These three literally generated the most hallway, and probably bar-stool, debates at the conference.

Top 5 Asian Companies To Buy For 2014: StanCorp Financial Group Inc.(SFG)

StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides insurance products and asset management solutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Insurance Services and Asset Management. The Insurance Services segment offers group and individual disability, group life, group accidental death and dismemberment, group dental, and group vision insurance products, as well as absence management services to individuals and employers. This segment sells its group insurance products through sales representatives, as well as through independent employee benefit brokers and consultants; and individual disability insurance products through brokers and master general agents primarily to physicians, lawyers, executives, other professionals, and small business owners. As of December 31, 2010, it had approximately 31,000 group insurance policies in force covering approximately 6.8 million employees. The Asset Management segment provides 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, 457 plans, defined benefit plans, money purchase pension plans, profit sharing plans, and non-qualified deferred compensation products and services through an affiliated broker-dealer. This segment also offers investment advisory and management, commercial mortgage loan origination and servicing, and financial planning services, as well as individual fixed-rate annuity, group annuity, and retirement plan trust products. In addition, the company owns and manages real estate properties for sale; and operates an online financial life planning and management service. StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By David Merkel]

    The two stocks in question are Stancorp Financial (SFG) and National Western Life Insurance (NWLI). The short cases for both are based on a naive view of how insurance companies work.

Top 5 Asian Companies To Buy For 2014: United Natural Foods Inc.(UNFI)

United Natural Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, and specialty foods, as well as non-food products in the United States. It carries approximately 60,000 products, consisting of national brand, regional brand, private label, and master distribution products in 6 product categories: grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, nutritional supplements, bulk and food service products, and personal care items. The company serves approximately 17,000 customer locations primarily located across the United States, which include independently owned natural products retailers, supernatural chains, conventional supermarkets, and food service centers. Its other distribution channels include international mass market chains and buying clubs. The company also owns and operates natural products retail stores. As of August 1, 2009, it had 13 natural products retail stores located primarily in Florida. In addition, the com pany engages in the international importing, roasting, packaging, and distribution of nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and snack items. It sells these items in bulk in its own packaged snack lines, EXPRESSnacks, Woodfield Farms, and Woodstock Farms, as well as through private label packaging arrangements. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Laura Brodbeck]

    Monday

    Earnings Releases Expected: Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN), United Natural Foods, Inc (NASDAQ: UNFI), Hill International, Inc. (NYSE: HIL) Economic Releases Expected: �Spanish CPI, Italian industrial production, eurozone investor confidence

    Tuesday

  • [By Greg Harmon]

    United Foods International (UNFI), has run higher in fits and starts from a double bottom at 47ish. The movement since late May has been a harmonic deep crab. It achieved the potential reversal zone (PRZ) and is now pulling back in a broadening descending wedge. Or is it a bull flag? The crab calls for a target lower at the 38.2% Fibonacci level, while the bull flag suggests a MM to 62.50. Whichever it gives first is the one to play. I guess the world is right to think of Whole Foods first. Both of these stocks will be moving but not likely before Whole Foods reports.

Top 5 Asian Companies To Buy For 2014: Lionbridge Technologies Inc.(LIOX)

Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. provides language, development, and testing services. Its Global Language and Content segment provides product localization services, such as creating foreign language versions of its clients? products and software applications, including the user interface, online help systems, and documentation; and content translation services, such as translating and maintaining clients? Web-based content, eLearning courseware and training materials, technical support, and sales and marketing information. It also offers technical authoring, eLearning courseware development, and production and integration of content; and global language and content services delivery. The company?s Global Development and Testing segment develops and maintains on-premise, SaaS, and smart phone and tablet applications, as well as provides Web production services. This segment also offers various testing services under the VeriTest brand, including managed test teams, test proc ess design, test automation, functional testing, performance testing, globalization testing, and product certification. In addition, it provides specialized search relevance, online content editorial, keyword optimization, and related services. Its Interpretation segment offers interpretation services for government business and healthcare organizations that require experienced linguists to facilitate communication. It provides interpretation communication services, such as onsite interpretation, over-the-phone interpretation and interpreter testing, training, and assessment services in approximately 360 languages and dialects. The company serves the technology, mobile and telecommunications, Internet and media, life sciences, government, manufacturing, automotive, retail, and aerospace sectors in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jeff Reeves]

    Lionbridge (LIOX) is the kind of cheap, small-cap stock that investors love. This player has soared 60% in the last three months thanks to nice earnings and improving investor sentiment.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Calling all cash flows
    When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Lionbridge Technologies (Nasdaq: LIOX  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

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