Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Cree, Inc., Pfizer, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Human Genome Sciences

Zacks Equity Research highlights Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) as the Bull of the Day and Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE: PFE) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR) and Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI). Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all four stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Our Bull of the Day recommendation is for Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE). Cree is one of the leading producers of SiC and GaN-based LEDs. September quarter results beat the consensus on both the top and bottom lines. Forward guidance is for a 1-5% growth in the December quarter. Near-term revenue growth is likely to come from the lighting space, and notebooks seem to be next in line. However, new product ramp up costs and low utilization rates are likely to keep the pressure on margins. The LED market is hot in our opinion, and the convenience, energy efficiency and eco-friendliness of LED devices should become more apparent over the next few years. We would not be surprised if the company is the subject of a lucrative takeover. Consequently, we are reiterating our BUY rating on CREE shares.

Bear of the Day:

Our Bear of the Day recommendation is for Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE: PFE). We continue to rate Pfizer a Sell based on a shrinking top-line and weak late-stage pipeline. Pfizers top- and bottom-line growth prospects beyond over the next few years do not look encouraging. The company announced (yet another) major restructuring and cost-cutting initiative in early 2007. We do not find cost-cutting and share buybacks as a viable long-term growth strategy. The company will probably seek to do multiple deals in the pharma and biotech industry in 2008. The risk of over-paying or failing to successfully integrate on these acquisitions is high. In our view, the stock does not become attractive until the low $20s.

Analyst Blog:

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR) is a growth company in a growth industry. The company has reported 20 consecutive quarters of double-digit sales growth. Over the next few years, management's financial goals are to grow both sales and EPS in the 20% to 25% range. The company is expanding geographically and by expanding the channels of distribution, including the Office Coffee Service (OCS) channel, the Supermarket channel, the Consumer Direct channel, the Convenience Store channel, and the Food Service channel. Geographically, the company's operations were concentrated in New England until 2003, when management began emphasizing a national sales program.

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering novel protein and antibody drugs through gene-based research and albumin fusion technology. The company has two candidates in late stage development. Albuferon is in phase III studies for hepatitis C and LymphoStat B is in phase III trials for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Both candidates have potential to become blockbusters, while we see LymphoStat B is a higher risk program. Although we believe Albuferon has a high success rate of development due to the existing interferon alpha safety and efficacy profile, we think LymphoStat B for lupus is a high risk program since lupus is a difficult disease to treat.

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

About the Analyst Blog

Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.

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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The performance of the Zacks Rank portfolios shown above for annual and year-to-date periods are the linked monthly total returns (price changes + dividends) of equal weighted hypothetical portfolios, consisting of those stocks with the indicated Zacks Rank, assuming monthly rebalancing and zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios. The hypothetical portfolios were created at the beginning of each month from Jan 1988 forward based on the values of the Zacks Rank available to Zacks' clients before the beginning of each month. The portfolios created monthly from 1988 through September 2006 exclude ADRS and are comprised of stocks that have the indicated Zacks Rank and were covered by at least two analysts at the time of the stocks inclusion in the portfolio. Starting in October 2006 and going forward, the portfolios are comprised of all stocks with the indicated Zacks Rank and do not exclude ADRs, which is more reflective of the list of stocks that customers will find on the Zacks web sites. 2007 returns are for the period of Jan 1 Jun 30, 2007. These performance numbers have been audited from 1995 through 2003 by Autschuler Melovan, a division of American Express Financial.

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