CONCEPTUS INC (CPTS) - Profit Tracks

Since inception in 1988, the S&P 500 has outperformed the Zacks #5 Rank List - Stocks to Sell Now by 80% annually (+2% versus +10%). While the rest of Wall Street continued to tout stocks during the market declines of the last few years, Zacks told investors which stocks to sell or avoid.

Here is a synopsis of why USNA and CPTS have a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) and should most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #5 Strong Sell rating is applied to 5% of all the stocks in the Zacks Rank universe:

USANA Health Sciences, Inc.? (USNA ) fourth-quarter earnings of 75 cents per share, reported on Feb 9, missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by nearly 10%. The last month has seen downward revisions by all the 5 covering analysts, pulling the full-year average forecast down by 43 cents to $2.92 per share. Moreover, the following year?s estimate fell 20 cents to $3.45 per share during that time.

Conceptus, Inc. (CPTS ) announced fourth-quarter earnings of 14 cents per share on Feb 24, which was 4 cents short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Gross profit margin was 81.9% of net sales for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with 82.2% for the fourth quarter of 2009. The year-over-year decrease in gross profit margin was primarily the result of lower international average selling prices due to foreign currency. The full-year average forecast slid 13 cents to 14 cents per share in the last 30 days as 6 analysts out of 10 cut estimates.

Here is a synopsis of why TPCG and SCL have a Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) and should also most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #4 Sell rating is applied to 15% of all the stocks ranked by Zacks;

TPC Group, Inc. (TPCG ) posted a second-quarter profit of 7 cents per share on March 3 that was 70% behind the average forecast. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2011 decreased 36 cents to $1.97 per share over the past week as the only covering analyst cut back on projections.

CStepan Company (SCL) On Feb 8, the company reported earnings per share of $1.02, which fell 12% short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. For the current year, the average forecast moved down 16 cents to a profit of $6.51 per share in the last 30 days as the only covering analyst lowered expectations.
 
CONCEPTUS INC (CPTS): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
STEPAN CO (SCL): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
USANA HLTH SCI (USNA): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Zacks Investment Research