For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 29, 2014– Zacks Equity Research highlights Boise Cascade Company (BCC-Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and Cree, Inc. (CREE-Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Facebook (FB-Free Report) and Twitter (TWTR-Free Report).

Here is a synopsis of all four stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Earnings estimates have been soaring for Boise Cascade Company (BCC-Free Report) after the company delivered strong Q3 results on October 23. Analysts unanimously raised their estimates for both this and next, sending the stock to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

While the share price has soared too, valuation still looks reasonable at 15x forward earnings.

Boise Cascade Company manufactures engineered wood products, plywood, lumber, and particleboard and distributes a wide variety of building materials as a wholesaler. It has a market cap of $1.4 billion.

Boise Cascade delivered strong third quarter results on October 23. Earnings per share came in at 82 cents, crushing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 17 cents. It was more than double the EPS in the same quarter last year.

Sales soared 12% year-over-year to $983.3 million, driven by a 26% increase in Wood Product sales. Building Materials Distribution sales rose 7%. The company benefited from a 15% increase in total U.S. housing starts in the quarter, which drove higher sales prices and volumes for its products.

Operating income surged 84% year-over-year as the operating margin expanded from 3.5% to 5.7%. This was due largely to a decline in materials, labor and other operating expenses (excluding depreciation) as a percentage of sales from 86.5% to 84.2%.

Bear of the Day:

Cree, Inc. (CREE-Free Report) recently delivered disappointing fiscal 2015 Q1 results. Not only did the company miss on both the top- and bottom-lines, it guided Q2 EPS well below consensus. This prompted analysts to revise their estimates significantly lower for Cree - a trend that has been occurring for quite some time now.

Investors should consider avoid this stock at least until its earnings momentum turns around.

Cree, Inc. manufactures lighting-class light emitting diode (LED.V) products, lighting products and semiconductor products for power and radio-frequency (RF) applications for indoor and outdoor lighting, video displays, transportation, electronic signs and signals, power supplies, inverters and wireless systems.

It reports its results in three segments:

• LED Products (51% of total revenue in fiscal 2014)

• Lighting Products (43%)

• Power and RF Products (6%)

Cree reported its fiscal 2015 first quarter results on October 21. Results came in below expectations. Adjusted earnings per share (but including stock-based compensation expense) was $0.13, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11 cents. It was a 57% decline from the same quarter last year.

Net revenue rose 9% year-over-year to $428 million, but this was also below the consensus of $435 million. Revenue in the 'LED Products' segment, which consists of LED components, LED chips and silicon carbide (SiC) materials, dropped 20% due to weak global demand. However, revenue in the 'Lighting Products' segment, which makes LED lighting systems and bulbs, jumped 51%.

Profit margins declined in both the 'LED Products' and 'Lighting Products' segments. The consolidated gross profit margin fell from 38.6% to 31.8%. This was due to lower units sold and lower pricing in the 'LED Products' segment and due to higher sales of LED bulbs in the 'Lighting Products' segment, which have lower gross margins.

Additional content:

Facebook Beats, Traders Sell the News

Facebook (FB-Free Report) announced earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday, and once again the company topped estimates. Revenues in the quarter reached $3.2 billion on earnings of 33 cents per share (final, actual, before non-recurring items), beating the Zacks consensus estimates of $3.1 billion and 32 cents per share, respectively.

Far from suffering the user concerns and leveling-off growth trajectories of Twitter (TWTR-Free Report), Facebook continues to make strong improvements in ad revenues and active usership, especially in mobile. Daily Active Users (DAU.V) of 864 million was a nice jump from the 852 million expected and 19% higher than a year ago. Monthly Active Users (MAU.V) has now hit 1.35 billion, up 14% year over year.

As was the case a quarter ago, Facebook's mobile DAU numbers continue to impress: 703 million daily active users on average for the September quarter represents 39% growth from the same quarter a year ago. Importantly, mobile total ad revenue now makes up 66% of Facebook's sales. This is how Facebook has posted 59% revenue growth year over year.

Yet Facebook shares are selling off slightly in the aftermarket following the earnings announcement, and after a modest gain in regular Tuesday trading. But keep in mind Facebook has traded up more than 6% over the past week, and shares are up nearly 48% year-to-date.

Further, Facebook's conference call will bring into focus forward guidance, as well as some articulation regarding the development of its vast array of recent acquisitions, such as WhatsApp and Oculus. How CEO Mark Zuckerberg relates his outlook for the company may dictate market moves in a more significant way than after-hours trading has done thus far.

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