Bill Martin and Matt Ragas Highlight the Following Stocks: Pepsi, Yahoo, Synaptics, VeriSign, Gemstar, and Comcast.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 9, 2003

Earnings season is back, and Bill Martin and Matt Ragas can make it an exciting time for your investments by uncovering several points of profit from across the marketplace. Learn about Pepsi (NYSE:PEP), Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO), Synaptics (NASDAQ:SYNA), VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN), Gemstar (NASDAQ:GMST), and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSK). Click here for the full story exclusively on Zacks.com: http://featuredexpert2bw.zacks.com/

Here are the highlights from the Featured Expert column:

Earnings Season Approaches from October 7th, 2003

Following a relatively painless preannouncement window, the start of the third quarter earnings season is now upon us. Pepsi (NYSE:PEP) kicked off the festivities by reporting its earnings on Tuesday, while Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) reports Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how the market reacts to earnings this quarter. YHOO's earnings set the tone in Q2, and Bill Martin and Matt Ragas bet YHOO will be a trendsetter again. They believe we'll see a mixed reaction to earnings. On the one hand, stocks have rallied hard, yet stronger earnings and improved visibility into 2004 should please investors. Even if there's no second half 2003 recovery, investors can now start looking forward to the first half of 2004, assuming the weak dollar or Middle Eastern instability don't spoil the party.

Shares of touchpad maker Synaptics (NASDAQ:SYNA) made a nice move again on Tuesday. There's been no new news out on the tape in the past week to explain the recent buying in SYNA and the company doesn't report its fiscal Q1 earnings results until after the market close on October 23rd. Bill and Matt suspect the recent buying in SYNA is in reaction to more investors looking for ways to play the increasingly strong growth in notebook computer sales recently. Bill and Matt wouldn't look to add to a SYNA position heading into earnings, as they want more clarity on SYNA's margins/growth plans, but they're confident enough in its new products and market position to continue happily holding their existing position.

On Tuesday, Bill and Matt purchased 275 shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN). Why buy VeriSign? After several tough years, VRSN has stabilized its business and is churning out cash flow. More importantly, Bill and Matt think the company is on the verge of growing again. Looking forward, Bill and Matt think new products and growing momentum in the telecom and Internet units, combined with stabilization at the Network Solutions business, will reignite Wall Street's interest in VRSN as we head into 2004. VRSN's strong cash generation capabilities and balance sheet should help limit any downside risks.

Let there be no doubt that Gemstar's (NASDAQ:GMST) new management team, led by CEO Jeff Shell, has significantly improved the company's relations with the cable and electronics industry in the past year and that this move is starting to pay dividends. GMST announced on Tuesday a long-term licensing and distribution agreement with Time Warner Cable, the nation's second largest cable operator, to use GMST's intellectual property and technology, as well as its TV Guide brand and content in interactive program guides (IPG's) throughout Time Warner's digital subscriber base. GMST already has long term IPG licensing deals with U.S. cable giants, such as Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSK). While financial terms of this deal weren't disclosed, given the size of TWC and the scope of this announcement, this is clearly a big positive for GMST shareholders, particularly since Bill and Matt have long viewed the firm's IPG business as simply an upside wildcard for the stock.

Learn more about the above-mentioned companies, and make sure to get Bill Martin and Matt Ragas' unique perspective on a daily basis by clicking: http://featuredexpert3bw.zacks.com/

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