Bank of America (BAC) ($38.41)
by Kevin P Parke
Bank of America is a large and growing organization with a well diversified range of business functions. They have weathered the sub-prime mortgage crisis to this point and have been able to continue their operations while keeping pace with the declining market.
Read the full report here.
Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) ($39.76)
by Jerel H. Novick
Carnival Cruise Line is the world’s largest cruise operator with about 50% of the world market (the next two players have 25% and 15% market share). They have 11 brands that range from economy (Carnival) to luxury (Cunard). Carnival currently operates 85 ships with a total passenger capacity of 158,352. Between ’08 and ’12 they are set to take of 22 ships with a passenger capacity of 51,338, an increase of 32.4% over current capacity.
Read the full report here.
Kaydon Corporation NYSE: KDN ($43.80)
by Mark Hokanson
Kaydon Corporation (KDN) is a leading designer and manufacturer of custom-engineered, performance-critical products that offers a baseline EPS growth of 13% 18% in 2008 and 2009 respectively. With a net cash position of $87mm (net debt/cap of -13%) and with the option to call $200mm of the in the money 4% subordinated convertible notes (strike price $29.16) due 2023 on May 30th, 2008, KDN offers investors substantial financial firepower for M&A and cash redeployment opportunities.
Read the full report here.
Kraft (KFT) ($34.10)
by Jerel H Novick
Kraft is the world’s second largest drink and food manufacturer. They have a strong international portfolio of brands (Ritz, Oreos, Kraft Cheese, A1 Steak Sauce, Jello). They are currently working aggressively to restructure/realign their business and increase their global footprint.
Read the full report here.
Western Digital NYSE: WDC ($29.05)
by Scott Schoen
Western Digital (WDC) is the world's second largest hard drive manufacturer, behind Seagate (STX). Owning about 22% of the overall disk market, WDC has a "half-spectrum" of data storage products which spans the market from small consumer devices up to corporate products, but not yet in the largest enterprise market (they are exploring entry). They are currently working to increase margins and expand product sets as they work to outperform their competitors Seagate and Hitachi.
Read the full report here.