Murphy USA, Viacom and Jamba highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – March 15, 2016– Zacks Equity Research highlights Murphy USA (MUSA) as the Bull of the Day and Viacom ( VIAB) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Jamba Inc (JMBA ).

Here is a synopsis of all three stocks:

Bull of the Day:

The price of crude oil has been a very popular topic in the last several months. As crude has continued to slide, gas prices have dropped and consumers have rejoiced at the pump. But now that we’ve seen what most people believe is the worst of the dip, everyone is wondering when things will turn around for oil. You can imagine how often I get asked about crude prices. Everyone asks me for my thoughts on diamonds in the rough or the best crude oil stocks they can get into.

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What I believe is that you can benefit from crude prices today rather than wishing for them to go back up. There are stocks out there that benefit from consumers having a few extra bucks at the pump. These are companies that own and operate the gas stations and convenience stores which are the easiest, most likely place for those extra dollars at the pump to go. I talked about the benefit to gas stations in a video late last year.

Today my Bull of the Day is Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) Murphy USA ( MUSA). Murphy USA operates a chain of retail stores in the US. The company’s retail stores offer motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. As of the end of 2015, the company operated 1,335 retail stores located primarily in the Southwest, Southeast and Midwest US.

A big reason for the favorable Zacks Rank is the aggressive earnings estimate revisions the company has seen over the last sixty days. Analysts have increased estimates for the current quarter and current year, pushing up our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year from 27 cents to 71 cents and increasing the current year number from $3.86 to $4.25.

Bear of the Day :

A lot has been said about the mass migration from traditional, packaged cable TV services to ala carte, stand-alone services like HBO Go and Netflix. Big cable and other large media companies are scrambling to make up for the lost revenue. It seems like the is just the beginning of a large change in consumer behavior. I’ve talked about it in the past in my light-hearted infotainment Trending Stocks videos.

While this distruption in media is great for the new content providers, it’s tough on the old guard like today’s Bear of the Day Viacom (VIAB). Viacom creates television programs, motion pictures, games, and other entertainment content. It operates through two segments, media networks and filmed entertainment. It’s the media network side of the business that has come under fire in recent years. Viacom operates several popular cable channels including Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Spike,BET, CMT, TV Land, Nick at Nite and Nick Jr.

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A rash of negative earnings estimate revisions saw our Zacks Consensus Estimates tumble. Over the last sixty days, fifteen analysts have dropped their current year estimate while seventeen have done so for next year. The bearish attitude has brought the current year consensus from $5.83 to $5.26 and dropped next year’s number from $6.26 all the way down to $5.53.

Additional content:

Jamba (JMBA) Misses on Earnings, Beats on Revenues

Jamba Inc ( JMBA ) just released their fourth quarter fiscal 2015 earnings results, posting an earnings loss of $-0.28 per share and revenue of $19.5 million.

Currently, JMBA has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but it is subject to change following the release of the company’s latest earnings report. Here are 5 key statistics from this just announced report below.

Jamba:

1. Missed earnings estimates. The company posted $-0.28 per share, missing our Zacks Consensus Estimate of $-0.07. This number excludes $0.27 from non-recurring items.

2. Beat revenue estimates. The company saw revenue figures of $19.5 million, beating our estimate of $18.4 million.

3. Company-owned comparable store sales decreased 5.4% for the quarter. System-wide comparable sales increased 3.9% and Franchise comparable store sales increased 3.7% for the quarter.

4. Franchisees opened 27 new Jamba Juice stores globally for during the quarter. As of December 29, 2015, Jamba's global store base consisted of 70 Company Stores, 748 Franchise Stores, and 75 International Stores.

5. JMBA was down $0.05, or 0.40%, to $12.39 as of 5:04 PM ET in after hours trading shortly after its earnings report was released.

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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.

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MURPHY USA INC (MUSA): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
VIACOM INC-B (VIAB): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
JAMBA INC (JMBA): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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