Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Barrick Gold Corp., Signet Jewelers Ltd., Soapstone Networks Inc., OmniVision Technologies Inc., and National Semiconductor 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: Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE: SIG), Soapstone Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: SOAP), OmniVision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) and National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM).

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Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Barrick Must Work to Shine

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) is the largest gold mining company in the world. Profitability is being helped by rising gold prices and synergies from the Placer Dome acquisition. The 100% acquisition of the Cortez mine will boost gold production. Also, the company's financials are solid.

However, Barrick expects lower production for the full-year 2008 on the back of rising energy and gold prices. This forces us to rate the shares a Hold with a target of $25.

Signet Jewelers Upped to Hold

Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE: SIG) is the world’s largest specialty retail jeweler and operates leading operations in both the US and UK. The company’s position in the specialty jewelry retail business should enable it to deliver solid growth over the long term.

However, the stock is down over 50% in the last twelve months and is discounting continued weakness in the jewelry retail business. The challenging economic conditions will continue to pressure its sales and profits in the near term.

Soapstone Being Held Onto

Soapstone Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: SOAP) is now a developer of emerging, software-based service and control solutions for service providers’ next-generation networks. The company is primarily focused on developing and marketing its Soapstone PNC (Provider Network Controller) framework.

Without meaningful current revenues and limited visibility into future revenue, our price target on SOAP is based on the company’s cash balance. We estimate that Soapstone will have approximately $6.33 per share in cash in six months, the horizon of our target price. Although the stock is likely to trade below its cash value until Soapstone shows traction from its PNC business, we believe its strong cash balance will provide some support given that it will not burn through all its cash for years.

OmniVision Seen as a Hold

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) is an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] of CMOS image sensors and support circuitry used within handsets and applications in other mass markets. Second quarter results were short of consensus estimates. Higher resolution sensors grew in the mix, with a corresponding positive impact on the gross margin.

Competition continues to intensify at the low-end. Forward guidance is for revenue decline of -39% to -51% in the third quarter. The company's exposure to the cell phone and notebook markets makes it particularly sensitive to the soft spending environment.

Nat'l Semi Misses, Stays a Buy

National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM) is an OEM of analog and mixed signal integrated circuits. On December 8, the company reported results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009. Revenue for the second quarter was $421.6 million, down 9.5% sequentially and down 15.5% year over year. Both the top and bottom lines fell short of consensus estimates and management expectations of $470-480 million range.

Forward guidance is for a revenue decline of 30% in the next quarter. But new higher-margin products continue to grow in the mix, and management has refocused R&D into areas that should sustain margins. However, similar to others in the analog space, National has been negatively impacted by the recession.

All told, we are reiterating our Buy rating on NSM shares. Based on our current valuation, our six-month target price is $15 per share.

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