Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Discover, Visa, MasterCard, Southern and KBR

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: Discover Financial Services (DFS), Visa (V), MasterCard (MA), Southern Co. (SO) and KBR Inc. (KBR).

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Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Discover Surpasses Forecasts

Discover Financial Services’ (DFS) third quarter (ended Aug. 31, 2009) earnings came in at $1.07 per share, substantially ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. This compares to earnings of 37 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. The results were bolstered primarily by an antitrust lawsuit settlement and cost containment measures.

The antitrust lawsuit, which claimed that Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) harmed Discover’s business by preventing their member banks from issuing credit cards for Discover’s network, contributed $287 million (after-tax) to Discover’s earnings.

Net income available to common stockholders came in at $559.4 million, compared to $209.2 million in the prior quarter and $180.1 million in the prior-year quarter.

Southern Technology Enriches China

Southern Co. (SO) yesterday said that it has agreed with a Chinese utility for the first commercial use of the firm’s proprietary new low-emission coal-based electricity production.

The technology – known as the Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIG) – is an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology that produces electricity with lower emissions than traditional coal power plants. It converts coal to synthetic gas, from which pollutants can be removed before being burned in a combustion turbine to produce electricity. The technology can also be used with lower grades of coals that are plentiful in China.

TRIG has been developed at an Alabama research facility by Southern Co., in collaboration with KBR Inc. (KBR) and other partners, which include the U.S. Department of Energy.

Per the terms of the agreement, the developers of TRIG will provide Beijing Guoneng Yinghui Clean Energy Engineering Co. Ltd. with licensing, engineering services and proprietary equipment for the implementation of the technology at a 120-megawatt (MW) power plant operated by Dongguan Tianming Electric Power Co. Ltd. in Guandong Province of China.

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