Chicago, IL – October 17, 2012 – Zacks.com releases details on a group of stocks that are currently members of the exclusive Zacks #5 Rank List – Stocks to Sell Now. These stocks are currently rated as a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell): Guess?, Inc. (GES) and Big Lots, Inc. (BIG). Further, Zacks announced #4 Rankings (Sell) on two other widely held stocks: Staples, Inc. (SPLS) and Gold Fields Limited (GFI).To see the full Zacks #5 Rank List - Stocks to Sell Now visit: http://at.zacks.com/?id=92
Since inception in 1988, the S&P 500 has outperformed the Zacks #5 Rank List of Stocks to Sell Now by 80% annually (+2% vs. +10%). While the rest of Wall Street continued to tout stocks during the market declines of the last few years, Zacks told investors which stocks to sell or avoid.
Here is a synopsis of why GES and BIG have a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) and should most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #5 Strong Sell rating is applied to 5% of all the stocks in the Zacks Rank universe:
Guess?, Inc. (GES) announced second -quarter profit of 49 cents per share on August 24 which came behind the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1 cent. The diluted earnings per share also fell by 41.67% on a year-over-year basis. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year slipped 41 cents per share to $2.19 in the last 60 days. Next year’s estimate also dipped 39 cents per share to $2.55 per share in that time span.
Big Lots, Inc. (BIG) posted a second -quarter profit of 36 cents per share on August 23, which came in 5 cents wider than the average forecast. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2012 fell to a profit of 42 cents per share from $3.25 over the past two months with none out of 13 covering analysts slashed forecasts. Next year’s forecasts slipped 48 cents to $3.15 per share in the same time span.
Here is a synopsis of why SPLS and GFI have a Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) and should also most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #4 Sell rating is applied to 15% of all the stocks ranked by Zacks;
Staples, Inc. (SPLS) second-quarter profit of 18 cents per share, posted on August 15, lagged analysts projections by nearly 18.18%. For 2012, the Zacks Consensus Estimate moved down 1 cent in the last 60 days as 3 out of the 16 covering analysts cut back on forecasts. The forecast for next year slid 3 cents to $1.44 per share in the same time span.
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About the Zacks Rank
Since 1988, the Zacks Rank has proven that "Earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices." Since inception in 1988, #1 Rank Stocks have generated an average annual return of +28%. During the 2000-2002 bear market, Zacks #1 Rank stocks gained +43.8%, while the S&P 500 tumbled -37.6%. Also note that the Zacks Rank system has just as many Strong Sell recommendations (Rank #5) as Strong Buy recommendations (Rank #1). Since 1988, Zacks Rank #5 stocks have significantly underperformed the S&P 500 (2.8% versus +9.7%). Thus, the Zacks Rank system allows investors to truly manage portfolio trading effectively.
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