Chicago, IL – February 19, 2015– Zacks Equity Research highlights Rudolph Technologies (RTEC-Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and Bunge Limited (BG-Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Starbucks Corporation (SBUX-Free Report).

Here is a synopsis of all three stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Rudolph Technologies (RTEC-Free Report) is worldwide leader in design, development, manufacture and support of defect inspection, advanced packaging lithography, process control metrology, and data analysis systems and software used by semiconductor device manufacturers.

Rudolph provides a full-fab solution enabling microelectronic device manufacturers to drive down the costs and time to market of their products. Their equipment and software solutions are used in both the wafer processing and final manufacturing of chips and in adjacent markets.

Headquartered in Flanders, NJ, the company has offices in six U.S. states as also in Asia and Europe. The company was founded in 1940 and went public on 1999.

The company reported its Q4 results on February 2. Revenues for the quarter were $49.6 million, up 6% sequentially and ahead of the company’s guidance. Asia accounted for 52% of the revenues, U.S. 43%, and Europe 5%. Front-end sales were 61% of sales, while back-end sales were 39%.

Gross margin was 52% (53%excluding the impact of the restructuring); making it five years of 50%plus margins for the company. Excluding special items, non-GAAP net income was $4.5 million, or $0.13 per share, compared to $3.5 million, or $0.10 per share, in the previous quarter.

Bear of the Day:

Bunge Limited (BG-Free Report) is a leading agribusiness and food company with integrated operations in about 40 countries. It is a global leader in oilseed processing, and grain & oilseed marketing. The company has four business segments 1) Agribusiness, 2) Sugar & Bioenergy 3) Food & Ingredients and 4) Fertilizers.

The company had its IPO in 2001 and has expanded though many significant acquisitions since then.

Net sales for the quarter were $13.9 billion, down from $16.4 billion in the same quarter, a year ago. Adjusted total segment EBIT was $409 million, which included ~$80 million negative mark-to-market hedging impact.

Adjusted earnings were $1.20 per share, down from $1.35 a share in the previous year quarter and significantly below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.51 per share. This was the third quartrely miss by the company in 2014; the average quarterly negative surprise being 41.5%.

The results were negatively impacted by $80 million in mark-to-market charges related to their North American oilseeds business and hedge bunker fuel positions related to their ocean freight contracts.

The results were also hurt by soybean processing performance in China. While demand grew in the country, industry capacity also increased, leading to margin pressures. Foreign exchange volatility also impacted results.

These negatives more than offset the benefits the company derived from a large harvest in North America. Disappointing results led to a steep sell-off in shares.

Additional content:

Starbucks Bringing Coffee Door to Door

Starbucks Corporation (SBUX-Free Report), on Tuesday, announced the launch of a subscription service under which freshly roasted premium coffees straight from its newly opened Seattle roastery will be delivered to customers’ homes.

Through this service, upscale coffee lovers will get Starbucks’ select small-batch premium Reserve coffees only available at the Seattle Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room or through monthly subscriptions.

The coffee giant will deliver the coffee beans within three to five days of being roasted. While a one-month subscription costs $24, a 12-month subscription is priced at $288.

Starbucks opened the Seattle Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in December last year. With the roastery, Starbucks expects to double its small-batch roasting capacity of these unique super-premium arabica Reserve brand coffees and expand their availability to 1,500 stores globally. Moreover, the company plans to open 100 upscale Reserve Roastery stores over the next five years.

Starbucks plans to introduce full-fledged food and beverage delivery either through a third party or its own employees in select urban markets in the second half of 2015.

In Dec last year, Starbucks launched its “Mobile Order & Pay” initiative in 150 stores Portland, OR and plans to launch it nationwide by 2015-end. This initiative will allow customers to order before arriving at a Starbucks cafe. This initiative is expected to quicken service, increase convenience and improve customer loyalty, thereby driving mobile payment transactions and spurring traffic.

Starbucks carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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