TSC Ratings' Updates: Gannett

We initiated a sell rating as a result of a number of negative factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared with most of the stocks we cover. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its feeble growth in its earnings per share and unimpressive growth in net income. Spreadtrum earnings per share declined by 14.3% in the most recent quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago. Analysts expect earnings to continue to contract for its upcoming fiscal year by 4.8% to 40 cents a share.

The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed compared with the semiconductors and semiconductor equipment industry average, but is greater than that of the S&P 500. The net income has decreased by 6.0% when compared with the same quarter one year ago, dropping to $2.61 million from $2.78 million.

We do find Spreadtrum's gross profit margins to be quite strong, currently at 45.20%. We cannot be completely bullish on the fact Spreadtrum has a high gross profit margin since the firm has managed to decrease it from the same period last year--the company's net profit margin of 6.5% has also declined lower than the same period one year prior. When compared with other companies in the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment industry and the overall market, Spreadtrum Communications' return on equity is below that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.

Looking at the price performance of SPRD's shares over the past 12 months, there is not much good news to report: The stock is down 67.11%, and it has unperformed the S&P 500. In addition, the company's earnings per share are lower today than in the year-earlier quarter.

Additional ratings changes from Aug. 15 are listed below.

Ticker	Company Name	Change	New Rating	Former Rating
BAM	BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
CHEV	CHEVIOT FINANCIAL CORP	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
COBT	C2 GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES INC	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
DEWY	DEWEY ELECTRONICS CORP	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
FSS	FEDERAL SIGNAL CORP	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
GCI	GANNETT CO	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
HLX	HELIX ENERGY SOLUTIONS GROUP	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
HTH	HILLTOP HOLDINGS INC	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
MNRO	MONRO MUFFLER BRAKE INC	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
NPSP	NPS PHARMACEUTICALS INC	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
NWSB	NORTHWEST BANCORP INC	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
ORBC	ORBCOMM INC	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
PDGI	PHARMANET DEVELOPMNT GRP INC	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
ROCK	GIBRALTAR INDUSTRIES INC	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
SPRD	SPREADTRUM COMMUNICATNS -ADR	Initiated	Sell
TIN	TEMPLE-INLAND INC	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
TTGT	TECHTARGET INC	Initiated	Sell
UDRL	UNION DRILLING INC	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
UFI	UNIFI INC	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
VAL	VALSPAR CORP	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
WPL	STEWART (W P) & CO LTD	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
WSFS	WSFS FINANCIAL CORP	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
WYNN	WYNN RESORTS LTD	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
YTBLA	YTB INTERNATIONAL INC	Downgrade	Sell	Hold