All Star Analysts Portfolio highlights: Capital One Financial, EMC Corporation, IBM and QUALCOMM.

CHICAGO -- Zacks.com just released its latest additions and deletions to its proprietary All Star Analyst portfolio. Members on this exclusive list include Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF), EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC), IBM (NYSE:IBM) and QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM). View the entire list of stocks on the All Star Analyst portfolio at http://at.zacks.com/?id=510

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. In 2003 this portfolio gained 46.6% nearly doubling the rise of the S&P 500. Here is a synopsis of why these stocks are in the All Star Analysts Portfolio:

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) recently attributed a strong second quarter performance to the continued strength of its diversified consumer financial services company. Earnings per share reached $2.03 for the quarter, which was a positive earnings surprise of almost 17%. The result also improved on a year-over-year basis from $1.65. COF said it delivered solid credit quality, loan growth, and profitability while planning for the acquisition of Hibernia and integrating its new auto and home loan businesses. The company said it remains on track to deliver earnings per share between $6.60 and $7 in 2005, and expects the Hibernia acquisition to close on September 1, 2005. Capital One Financial remains on the lists of several All Star Analysts.

EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) disappointed some with its third-quarter forecast, despite a solid second quarter, but the world's leading information storage and management company remains a top pick with several All Stars. For its second quarter, EMC posted earnings per share of 12 cents on total consolidated revenue of $2.34 billion. The earnings result matched the consensus and topped last year's eight cents, while revenue jumped 19%. The quarter marked the 8th straight with double-digit revenue growth. EMC said the quarter's growth was driven by its market-leading mid-tier storage systems, increasingly popular virtual infrastructure software from its VMware subsidiary, and an expanding services business.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) rebounded from a tough first quarter with a solid-second quarter performance. Earnings per share of $1.12 topped the consensus by almost 8%. Total revenue of $22.3 billion was down 4% from the prior year, but up 6% without the impact of the divested PC business. IBM stated that it made several strategic and important transitions in the quarter. Those transitions included seamlessly moving its PC business to Lenovo, implementation of a streamlined management system in Europe, and the restructuring of important parts for future growth. Several All Stars are impressed with the company's turnaround and continue to keep Big Blue high on their lists.

QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) not only put together a strong fiscal third quarter, but also increased its fiscal year earnings projections. The company recently posted pro forma earnings per share of 28 cents, which marked a positive surprise of 12%. Revenues rose year-over-year to $1.36 billion. QUALCOMM stated that volume shipments of WCDMA and 1xEV-DO MSMs have increased substantially year-over-year and sequentially and the company looks forward to further increases in the quarters ahead.

Discover all the current All Star Analyst rankings and top analyst recommendations at http://at.zacks.com/?id=511

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To learn which brokerage analysts are the best in their field and what stocks they're recommending today, see 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://at.zacks.com/?id=512

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