Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Nordstrom, Avici Systems, Williams Companies and FormFactor.

CHICAGO -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) as the Bull of the Day and Avici Systems (Nasdaq: AVCI) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) and FormFactor (Nasdaq: FORM). Full analysis of all four stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all four stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Our Bull of the Day recommendation is for Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN). We are upgrading Nordstrom shares from Hold to Buy. While we have been positive on the retailer for several months, we waited for a pullback in its stock price to up our rating. The pullback never materialized. With the company firing on all cylinders, we think the stock will continue to outperform the market over the next six months. Thus, we are recommending purchase of JWN shares ahead of its fourth quarter report, which we believe will be above market expectations. Our new target price is $70, which is 21 times our fiscal 2008 EPS estimate.

Bear of the Day:

Our Bear of the Day recommendation is for Avici Systems (Nasdaq: AVCI). Avici Systems has benefited from AT&T's upgrade of its data network to MPLS over the past year. Although this business looks to be stronger in 2007 than we initially expected, the peak is clearly behind it and Avici has done nothing to diversify its revenue base. We therefore believe that the stock will not trade at an industry level multiple and maintain a Sell rating with a $5.00 target price on AVCI's shares.

Analyst Blog:

Our continued positive outlook for Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) shares reflects the steady progress that management has made in repositioning the company. We think that Williams has clearly moved beyond the asset-restructuring phase and remains well positioned to capitalize on attractive growth opportunities in its relatively low-risk exploration and production [E&P] business. The company also enjoys strong leverage to continued strength in natural gas liquids margins in its midstream business. We will review our estimates and price objective after the company's fourth quarter results, which are scheduled to be released before the market on February 22nd.

FormFactor (Nasdaq: FORM) is the market leader in advanced wafer probe cards used to test semiconductor wafers during the manufacturing process. The company has a very strong growth profile. December quarter revenue and EPS [earnings per share] were above expectations. Bookings were up 1% sequentially. The company is no longer capacity constrained, and we expect margins to expand from here. The company's technology is leveraged towards leading-edge 300mm and sub-110nm nodes, which are ramping quickly throughout the industry. We envision a strong 2007 for FORM, and consequently, are maintaining our BUY rating on FORM shares.

Get the full analysis of all four stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

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.

About the Analyst Blog

Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.

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