Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Watson Pharmaceuticals, Carnival Corporation, Waste Management, Casella Waste Systems and Republic Services

On Thursday July 14, 2011, 7:48 am EDT

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 14, 2011 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI – News) as the Bull of the Day and Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL – News) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM – News), Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NasdaqGS: CWST – News) and Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG – News).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Based on its first quarter performance and increased guidance, we are upgrading Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI – News) to Outperform. The copmany posted first-quarter 2011 earnings of $ 0.89 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $ 0.03 and the year-ago earnings by $ 0.08 per share. Revenues increased 2% to $ 876.5 million, mainly driven by higher generics sales.

Watson Pharma increased its 2011 earning guidance range to $ 3.95 – $ 4.20 per share from $ 3.85 – $ 4.15 per share. Following the earnings announcement, we raised our 2011 earnings estimate by 14 cents to $ 4.29 per share.

We believe that the company’s cost saving initiatives and new product launches, both branded and generic, will help drive growth. Our target price of $ 82 is based on 19.1x our 2011 EPS estimate

Bear of the Day:

We are downgrading shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL – News)from Neutral to Underperform. Political disturbances in some geographies and the earthquake in Japan are currently acting as the major hindrance to the company’s growth. Moreover, surging fuel prices and a greater exposure to a sluggish European market will be headwinds for the company.

Carnival decreased its projections for net revenue yields from the range of 2.5%-3.5% to 1.5%-2.5% for fiscal 2011 on a constant dollar basis. The company lowered its guidance due to route changes resulting from political disturbances in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the earthquake in Japan.

A greater-than-expected slowdown in the European economies could also threaten the company’s profitability, given its increasing exposure to Europe in terms of revenue generation and capacity expansion compared with the industry. Our six-month target price of $ 33.00 equates to about 13.5x our estimate for 2011.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

1000 Green Trucks at WM

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM – News) has become the largest owner and operator of clean-running, heavy duty refuse trucks in North America by adding the 1000th natural gas truck to its fleet. The trucks are powered by clean-burning natural gas.

This is in line with the company’s efforts to develop the cleanest fleet of heavy duty trucks in the industry. The trucks that Waste Management runs out of its Carson service yard, as well as a third of its California clean fleet, are powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is derived in-house from the decomposition of organic waste at its Altamont Landfill in Livermore, California.  Since November 2009, the landfill has been generating as much as 13,000 gallons of LNG per day, a virtually zero-carbon transportation fuel.

In a year, Waste Management’s 1000 natural gas trucks are expected to displace eight million gallons of petroleum and eliminate 45,100 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The natural gas fleet is part of the company’s environmental sustainability initiative to direct capital spending of up to $ 500 million per annum over a 10-year period to reduce its fleet emissions by 15% and increase the fuel efficiency of its fleet by 15% by 2020.

Waste Management also has CNG and LNG fueling stations at 17 of its facilities throughout North America with more under the anvil.  The company hopes to develop a new landfill-gas-to-LNG facility at its Simi Valley, California, landfill.

We appreciate Waste Management’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through increased recycling, the use of alternative transportation fuels, and the beneficial use of landfill gas.

Houston, Texas-based Waste Management provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services to nearly 20 million residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. The company is also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the U.S. Waste Management competes in niches with Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NasdaqGS: CWST – News), Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG – News) and privately held Safety-Kleen Inc. The shares of Waste Management currently retain a Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold recommendation).

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 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 by visiting http://at.zacks.com/?id=7158.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD from MIT Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment

Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it’s your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=4582.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Follow us on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com

http://www.zacks.com

Zacks Investment Research

Yahoo! Finance: Waste Management Industry News