Barron's Picks And Pans: Arista Networks, Northern Trust, 1-800-Flowers And More

• Featured stories this weekend in Barron's ponder the prospects for networking underdog and a former newspaper publisher.
• The prospects for a Midwest asset manager and a bright spot in retail are also examined.
• Another article suggests that a "death spiral" is coming for electric utilities.

"Arista Networks Takes Aim at Cisco" by Jack Hough suggests that cloud networking company Arista Networks Inc ANET, run by a former Cisco top executive, is making inroads on the networking giant. See why Barron's believes Arista's shares could climb 20 percent as its legal woes fade, and why Cisco investors may want to consider switching to the smaller rival.

In "Graham Holdings Could Have 35% Upside," Andrew Bary points out that the former owner of the Washington Post has undergone considerable change in the past few years, but Graham Holdings Co GHC now owns a valuable group of assets. Has this former publisher been consistently undervalued by investors? What has the new CEO brought to the table?

Sandra Ward's "Northern Trust: Midwest's Money Magnet" makes the case that asset manager and custodian Northern Trust Corporation NTRS is winning market share and posting profit gains in tough conditions. After the Chicago-based company scored two big deals in recent days, one money manager sees its shares rising as much as 25 percent.

Related Link: Barron's: What's Next For Mutual Funds?

Other Stories

Also in this week's Barron's:

• Whether low rates will keep lifting the markets
• A reason not to get too comfortable with stocks
• Why Netflix, Inc. NFLX could fall 40 percent
• Where to search for safe, high-yielding dividend stocks
• Why Synchrony Financial SYF looks cheap
• What has analysts gushing over CNOOC Ltd (ADR) CEO
• Reasons for investors to curb enthusiasm for refining
• A value manager's current 13 picks
• Whether the Hostess Brands IPO looks tasty
• Whether Boston Scientific Corporation BSX still looks reasonable

Bringing Harry & David into the fold has boosted revenue, profits and the chances for cross-selling gifts at 1-800-Flowers.Com Inc FLWS, according to "1-800-Flowers' Prospects Starting to Bloom" by David Englander. In time, investors will recognize the company's strong prospects, suggests Barron's, which sees it as a rare bright spot in retail.

In the Other Voices essay, "The Sun Will Set on Electric Utilities," the premise is that two technologies — better batteries and local distribution networks — threaten the legacy electric utilities. In fact, a trade journal reports that half of electric utility executives surveyed recently expect their industry to go into a "death spiral" within 10 years. Not even the coming of the electric car will same the industry.

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.

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