All Star Analysts Portfolio: Ceridian, Electronic Arts, Lowe's and VERITAS.Business Editors CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 21, 2003 Zacks.com just released it's latest additions and deletions to the coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. All Star Analyst portfolio. This exclusive portfolio represents all stocks with a Strong Buy rating from at least five analysts with a 5 Star All Star ranking. These are the brokerage analysts whose stock recommendations proved to be the most profitable for investors. The newest member of the portfolio is Ceridian Corporation (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :CEN CEN - Conseil Européen pour la Normalisation. A body coordinating standardisation activities in the EEC and EFTA countries. ). Three current members of this portfolio are: Electronic Arts (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :ERTS ERTS Electronic Arts, Inc. (stock symbol) ERTS Earth Resources Technology Satellite (US NASA) ERTS Embedded Real Time Systems ERTS Enhanced Remote Transit Shed ), Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) and VERITAS Software Veritas Software Corp. was an international software company that was founded in 1983 as Tolerant Systems, renamed Veritas Software Corp. in 1989, and merged with Symantec in 2005. It was headquartered in Mountain View, California. Corporation (NASDAQ:VRTS VRTS Veritas Software (stock symbol) VRTS Verification Requirements Tracking System ). View the entire list of stocks on the All Star Analyst portfolio at http://asaportfolio.zacks.com Here is a synopsis of why these stocks are on the All Star Analysts Portfolio: Ceridian Corporation (NYSE:CEN) offers a broad range of managed human resource solutions designed to help companies maximize the value of their people by more effectively managing their work forces and the information that is integral to human resource processes. In April, CEN announced that quarterly earnings were $26.7 million, or 18 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , compared with $18.6 million, or 12 cents per share, a year earlier. The +50% increase in earnings had several All Star analysts stand up and take notice. Company-wide, CEN is aggressively controlling expenses while continuing to invest in product and service enhancements. Ceridian's outlook for 2003 revenue and earnings per share remains unchanged. For the second quarter, CEN expects earnings per share to be 17 cents to 18 cents, HRS revenue to be between $220 million and $227 million, and Comdata revenue to be between $78 million and $80 million. CEN looks to be on the right track. Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Recently the company announced that the unique and challenging experience of The Sims is now available on all next-generation console platforms. The Sims was the best selling PC game of both 2000 and 2001 and is now the best selling PC game of all time. ERTS reported net income in its March quarter of $9.24 million, or 6 cents a share, down from $47.3 million, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding asset impairment and restructuring charges related to its online division, the company said it earned $59 million, or 40 cents a share. By that measure, analysts had been expecting earnings of 34 cents a share, on average. For the full year, the company said it expects earnings to be between $3.10 and $3.25 a share, up 43% to 50% over the previous year. With hits like Sim City 4 Rush Hour on the horizon, several top All Star analysts are recommending ERTS to investors looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. solid long-term growth. Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) is a retailer serving the do-it-yourself home improvement, home decor and home construction markets. Although LOW's has been under some pressure of late after missing first quarter sales forecast Sales forecast A key input to a firm's financial planning process. External sales forecasts are based on historical experience, statistical analysis, and consideration of various macroeconomic factors. , the company did have some sort of explanation. Colder weather in some places that hurt both spring plantings and air conditioner sales along with the war in Iraq were major contributors to their disappointing sales numbers. The company was still able to eke out eke out Verb [eking, eked] 1. to make (a supply) last for a long time by using as little as possible 2. a healthy profit as gross margins improved by more than 1 percentage point in the first quarter. Lowe's earnings rose +22% to $421m in the three months ending May 2, with earnings per share climbing 53 cents per share. That number was 1 cent above the Wall Street consensus. Sales also grew +11% to $7.2 billion. A strong position in the market and better external conditions are just a couple of reasons so many All Star analysts are recommending LOW to investors looking for long-term growth. VERITAS Software Corporation (NASDAQ:VRTS) is the world's leading storage software company, providing data protection, storage management, high availability Also called "RAS" (reliability, availability, serviceability) or "fault resilient," it refers to a multiprocessing system that can quickly recover from a failure. There may be a minute or two of downtime while one system switches over to another, but processing will continue. and disaster recovery software to 86% of the Fortune 500. In late April, VRTS announced that GAAP GAAP See: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAAP See generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). net income for the quarter ending March 31, 2003 was $43 million, or 10 cents per share, diluted, compared to a GAAP net income of $44 million, or 11 cents per share, diluted, for the same period a year ago. However, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share diluted earnings per share An earnings measure calculated by dividing net income less preferred stock dividends for a period by the average number of shares of common stock that would be outstanding if all convertible securities were converted into shares of for the quarter ended March 31, 2003 was 17 cents, compared to 16 cents for the same period a year ago. Several top All Star analysts believe that VERITAS Software's ability to continuously deliver exceptional results is directly tied to their proven business model, outstanding product quality, and focused commitment to not only meet but also exceed their customers' expectations. A healthy balance sheet along with several new initiatives in the pipeline has many analysts excited about VERITAS Software's possibilities. It might be time to give technology a second chance. Discover all the current All Star Analyst rankings and top analyst recommendations at http://allstarrank.zacks.com About Zacks All Star Analyst Survey Do you want to know which brokerage analysts are the best in their field and what stocks they're recommending today? Find out with the Zacks All Star Analyst survey. This exclusive survey, created with Fortune Magazine, reveals the "Best-of-Breed" brokerage analysts. They are the select group of winners from the universe of brokerage analysts - the ones who consistently beat the street - the few you should be following now. Visit the Zacks All Star Survey to find the best analysts and their top stock recommendations at http://bestofbreed.zacks.com Top recommendations from All Star Analysts Highlighted in FREE Investment Newsletter Each week, Zacks.com highlights investment insight and favorite recommendations from All Star Analysts and other leading investment experts. 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