For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 21, 2015– Zacks Equity Research highlights Photronics (PLAB) as the Bull of the Day and Jamba (JMBA) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (KBIO), Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMPH) and Mylan N.V. (MYL).

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Photronics (PLAB) has beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters. On top of that beats, analysts have also been increasing estimates. Positive estimate revisions has helped push the stock to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and today it is the Bull of the Day.

Increase In Leverage

The most recent quarter saw the company a big improvement in its margin profile. Gross margins improved to 31.5% in the quarter, a big move from the 21.4% level we saw in the year ago period. Operating margin expanded to 19.2% compared to the 7.5% seen in the year-ago period.

Description

Photronics makes and sells photomasks which are high precision photographic quartz plates containing microscopic images of electronic circuits. It offers photomasks for the use in the manufacture of semiconductors and flat panel displays (FPDs), as well as for use as masters to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers and flat panel substrates during the fabrication of integrated circuits. Photronics was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Brookfield, Connecticut.

Earnings History

When I saw the last four quarters I thought to myself “how odd” – but oddly satisfying. Let me list out the last four quarters beats starting with the Jan 2015 quarter. That quarter was a beat of $0.01, then a beat of $0.03. The July quarter was a beat of $0.05 and the most recent beat, well it was the next odd number in the sequence, $0.07.

Sometimes odd is a good thing.

The positive earnings surprise percentages were 16%, 27%, 41% and 39%. Maybe even more importantly, the last two quarters have seen the company post beats on the topline too.

Estimates

With the most recent earnings beat and guidance increase, we see the 2015 Zacks Consensus Estimate move from $0.75 to $0.84. That is nice and all, but this is December and there is only one more quarter to be reported and only a few weeks left in that quarter.

Bear of the Day :

Jamba (JMBA) recently reported earnings and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EPS and sales. JMBA is now a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and it is the Bear of the Day.

Description

Jamba owns, operates, and franchises Jamba Juice stores. Its restaurants provide beverage and food offerings, whole fruit smoothies, fresh squeezed juices and juice blends, whole fruit and soymilk or fresh Greek yogurt, and hot teas. As of September 29, 2015, there were 884 stores in the US, including 790 franchise-operated and 94 company-owned stores under the Jamba brand. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.

Recent Miss

On November 9 the company reported earnings of $0.10 when the Zacks Consensus Estimate was calling for $0.21. The elevan cent miss translates to a - 52% negative earnings surprise. Revenue of $35M was also below expectations (4.7% negative revenue surprise) and as a result the stock fell about 2% in the session following the release.

Valuation

JMBA saw its stock price fall about 14% YTD, yet it still trades at a very rich multiple. The trailing and forward PE of ~65x is more than triple the trialing and forward PE that is shown for the industry average. The price to book and sales multiple are also much higher the industry average as well.

Additional content:

What’s Next for KaloBios as Shkreli Faces Fraud Charges?

It’s been a roller-coaster ride for California-based biopharma company, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ( KBIO), with the company seeing major ups and downs over a short period of one month. From being close to winding down its operations in November, the company found a savior in the form of Martin Shkreli.

With a 70% investment being announced by a Shkreli-led investor group, KaloBios’ shares shot up 402.4% (Read more: KaloBios Soars on Investment by Martin Shkreli-Led Group ). Shkreli also took on the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KaloBios. Since then, shares have been on an upswing (shares touched a 52-weeek high of $45.82 on Nov 23) until yesterday when the company’s shares plunged 53.2% in pre-market trading with Shkreli being arrested.

Ironically, Shkreli who has been in the news mainly due to his price gouging tactics, did not get arrested due to pricing issues. His arrest is related to fraudulent practices committed during a 5-year period when he was also working as a hedge-fund manager.

While many on social media expressed delight at Shkreli’s arrest, KaloBios’ shareholders do not have much to be happy about. Trading in the company’s shares was halted yesterday at 06:48:07 ET at a last price of $23.59 with the company being asked to submit additional information. Details regarding the information requested by Nasdaq were not available.

Trading in KaloBios’ shares will remain halted until the company has fully satisfied Nasdaq's request for additional information.

Shkreli has since been released after having posted bail. Meanwhile, KaloBios will be looking to recover some of the lost value. The company is focused on the development of cancer treatments including for both hematologic malignancies and potentially solid tumors.

Currently some well-ranked stocks in the healthcare sector include companies like Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMPH) and Mylan N.V. ( MYL), which are both Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>

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 analyst 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.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today. Find out What is happening in the stock market today on zacks.com.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
PHOTRONICS INC (PLAB): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
JAMBA INC (JMBA): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
AMPHASTAR PHARM (AMPH): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
MYLAN NV (MYL): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.