Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: American Medical Systems Holdings, Inc., Wilmington Trust Corp., Silicon Lab, Inc., NII Holdings, Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: American Medical Systems Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMMD), Wilmington Trust Corp. (NYSE: WL), Silicon Lab, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLAB), NII Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: NIHD) and Shaw Communications Inc. (NYSE: SRJ).

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Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

American Medical Fairly Valued

American Medical Systems Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMMD) reported second-quarter revenue at the top of its prior guidance. EPS met the top range of guidance when excluding the royalty payment and normalizing for changes in interest expense. After adjusting for these factors, EPS still exceeded the analyst consensus.

Strong performance is attributed to solid expense management as a result of the numerous cost saving initiatives, legacy Men’s health products. Laser Therapy continues to be weak, declining 11 percent in the quarter. Women’s health continues to underperform expectations although incontinence revenues were strong with MiniArc driving growth.

Wilmington Trust Under Pressure

Wilmington Trust Corporation’s (NYSE: WL) 2Q08 operating earnings of $0.47 per diluted share were two pennies short of consensus.

WL currently trades at 11.1 times the consensus forward estimate (versus 13.6 times at the time of our last full report), at 5% discount to the peer group median (versus at par at that time). On a price-to-book basis, the shares trade at 29% premium to the peer median, versus a 47% premium earlier. Relative pricing continues to look attractive on a P/E-to-growth (PEG) basis (using the consensus forward estimate and the consensus long-term growth rate).

Silicon Lab Rev Outlook Murky

Silicon Lab, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLAB) sold its Aero and power amplifier business to NXP for $285 million and therefore no longer competes in the ultra competitive wireless space. This has pushed gross margins in to the low 60% range.

Forward guidance calls for a 6-10% sequential revenue increase. A number of new products have the potential to grow at 30-50%. Consequently, we are maintaining the current Hold rating on SLAB shares.

NII Latin Growth Warrants Caution

NII Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: NIHD), formerly known as Nextel International, is licensed to provide wireless services in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Peru.

The company reported stronger than expected results in the recent quarter which were highlighted by improvement in profitability driven by robust subscriber growth. NIHD announced intentions of higher capital spending in 2008 to expand the geographic coverage of its iDEN network. Overall demand for wireless services in Latin America remains strong and key growth markets, including Brazil and Mexico, offer financial growth opportunities.

Shaw Comm Markets Maturing

We assumed coverage of Shaw Communications (NYSE: SJR) in February 2007. We think SJR can grow EPS at a CAGR of at least 15%-17% over the next five years, driven by the acquisition of cable systems, the rollout of digital telephony and the country’s fastest Internet service, coupled with continuing share buybacks.

Moreover, continued share buybacks, funded by free cash flow and coupled with the increased dividend, will boost total shareholder return. However, a mature market for high-speed Internet service and the uncertainty surrounding the sustainability of the positive trends in the Star Choice business, contribute to a high risk/reward ratio in the stock at its current high valuation multiples.

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