Zacks.com Announces that Dan Sullivan Highlights the Following Stocks: Avon Products, Ebay, Foundry Networks, Int'l Game Tech, and St. Jude Medical.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2004

January ended in positive territory for the market, which could be good news for the rest of the year according to Dan Sullivan. Take a reading from his 'January Barometer' and get follow-ups on five on his recent recommendations. Read about Avon Products (NYSE:AVP), Ebay (NASDAQ:EBAY), Foundry Networks (NASDAQ:FDRY), International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT), and St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE:STJ). Click here for the full story exclusively on Zacks.com: http://at.zacks.com/?id=84

Here are the highlights from the Featured Expert column:

The S&P 500 finished January with a 1.73% gain. Based on the January Barometer, which maintains "as goes January, so goes the year," this bodes well for the market's prospects. This historical pattern concludes if January is up, the odds favor a positive trend for the rest of the year.

Dan Sullivan remains in the bullish camp. However, as he pointed out in the Tuesday, February 3rd hotline, "we have several potential buy candidates for Traders but, given the lack of upside momentum being generated by the high relative strength stocks, we are holding off for the time being."

Follow-Ups on Recent Recommendations

Avon Products (NYSE:AVP): It was a beautiful fourth quarter for Avon Products, during which earnings rose 35%, beating expectations. Fourth quarter revenues increased 14% to $2.11 billion.

Ebay (NASDAQ:EBAY): Thanks to a strong selling season, Ebay posted a 64% jump in fourth-quarter income. The company reported net income of $142.5 million, or 21 cents per share, up from $87 million, or 14 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue was up 57% to $648.4 million from $413.9 million. Ebay expects a stellar year in 2004 as well.

Foundry Networks (NASDAQ:FDRY): Fourth-quarter revenues increased to $111.1 million, up 9% from $101.7 million the previous quarter and up 28% from the $86.7 million in the year-ago period. FDRY posted net income of $24.1 million, or 17 cents per diluted share, in the fourth quarter, compared to net income of $20.8 million, or 15 cents per diluted share, in the prior quarter.

International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT): Fiscal first-quarter net income nearly doubled for International Game Technology. IGT earned $176.3 million, or 50 cents per share, up from $91.6 million, or 26 cents per share, a year ago. First-quarter revenue rose 24% to $608.1 million from $489.6 million a year ago.

St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE:STJ) reported record fourth-quarter sales and earnings. Sales for the fourth quarter 2003 were $519 million compared to $410 million in the fourth quarter of 2002, an increase of 27%. Earnings for the fourth quarter of 2003 were $93 million, or 51 cents per diluted share, compared to $73 million, or 40 cents per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2002, an increase in earnings per diluted share of 28%.

Read Dan Sullivan's complete market commentary, along with more follow-ups on recommendations, by clicking: http://at.zacks.com/?id=85

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