Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Methanex Corp., Grupo Televisa SA de CV, HSBC Holdings, Plc, AAR Corp and Centennial Communications Corp.

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: Methanex Corp. (NASDAQ: MEOH), Grupo Televisa SA de CV (NYSE: TV), HSBC Holdings, Plc (NYSE: HBC), AAR Corp (NYSE: AIR) and Centennial Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: CYCL).

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Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Methanex Pressured from Chile

Methanex Corp. (NASDAQ: MEOH) is the world's largest producer and marketer of methanol. The Menlo Park, California-based company is benefiting from improving fundamentals and lower costs, along with declining average gas costs. It also has strong cash flow that drives dividend increases and stock buybacks. However, problems with the company's Chilean facilities force us to rate the stock a Hold.

The company is hard hit by elimination of natural gas supplies from seven Argentine suppliers as well as an increase in export duty for gas by the country to 100%. However, the company may have found a way out by seeking alternative sources of natural gas or by directly participating in exploration projects. It is now anticipating increasing quantities of Chilean gas and expects to spend about $100 million in capital over the next 3 years. About 62% of the natural gas for the Chilean facilities is currently sourced from suppliers in Argentina.

Grupo Televisa Lowered to Hold

Grupo Televisa SA de CV (NYSE: TV) has been posting great operating results in recent years. New investments in the telecom sector and the gambling business are quite encouraging and should keep on growing in the following quarters. However, the economic crisis in the U.S. and Europe will affect not only the media company's international business, but also its Mexican operations in the very short term.

A considerable share of the company's income comes from its U.S. operations, including the sale of content, website and cable television. We believe TV is in a better position to face the economic crisis if compared to other Mexican companies, since it has a strong cash position. However, it will be hard to avoid the effects of the adverse scenario. We are changing our current recommendation on TV from Buy to Hold.

HSBC Not Joining U.K. Bailout

We are continuing our Hold on HSBC Holdings, Plc (NYSE: HBC). The company will report its third quarter trading update on November 10. We are maintaining our EPADS estimates at $6.75 for 2008 and $7.50 for 2009.

Earnings should reflect strong loan and deposit growth, especially in emerging markets, and improved productivity, partially offset by increased impairment charges due to problems in credit markets. Importantly, HSBC announced that it does not intend to take part in the UK government’s recapitalization program for banks as it already has sufficient capital.

AIR Overleveraged and Sinking

AAR Corp (NYSE: AIR) provides goods & services to commercial airlines and the defense establishment. On the commercial side, demand for he Wood Dale, Illinois-based company’s product offerings moves with the size of the fleet -- which is declining -- while requirements for its services may grow as the airlines outsource more maintenance, repair and overhaul work.

For defense, AIR designs and manufactures mobility products, aircraft internal cargo loading/unloading systems and composite structures. AIR has leveraged its balance sheet to support its commercial aircraft leasing activities, which, at this point, is not considered a positive.

Centennial Down to Fair Value

We maintain our Hold rating for Centennial Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: CYCL), a regional provider of wireless and integrated communications, based on the company’s recent operational performance driven by stronger than expected revenue and earnings, along with sustainable subscriber growth.

New initiatives in fiscal 2009, including network infrastructure upgrades in the U.S. and new unlimited tariff plans in Puerto Rico, are expected to accelerate overall business performance.

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