Hoover’s today announced the latest edition of “The Hoover’s 100,” a monthly list of the companies most searched on Hoover’s Web site (http://www.hoovers.com). Derived by tracking the search requests of Hoover’s subscribers, The Hoover’s 100 company list provides insight on which companies are being watched most closely by corporate executives, as well as sales, marketing, and business development professionals, who represent a large portion of Hoover’s customers seeking business intelligence.

Austin, TX -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/12/2007 -- Hoover's, Inc. today announced the latest edition of "http://www.hoovers.com/global/hoov/index.xhtml?pageid=15370&cm_ven=HOT&cm_cat=Free&cm_pla=Landing_Page&cm_ite=Landing_Page [The Hoover's 100]," a monthly list of the companies most searched on the company's Web site. Hoover's is the leading provider of proprietary business insight to U.S. businesses.

Derived by tracking the search requests of Hoover's subscribers, The Hoover's 100 provides insight on which companies are being watched most closely by corporate executives, as well as sales, marketing, and business development professionals, who represent a large portion of Hoover's customers seeking http://www.hoovers.com/global/hoov/index.xhtml?pageid=15370&cm_ven=HOT&cm_cat=Free&cm_pla=Landing_Page&cm_ite=Landing_Page [business intelligence].

"The biggest movers in this latest edition of The Hoover's 100 represent three newcomers to the list who are leaders in the food, biotech and communications equipment industries," said Tim Walker, Hoover's industry analyst. "The news behind the biggest movers ranged from executive moves and new company strategies, to acquisitions and restructuring."

http://www.hoovers.com/avaya/--ID__101196--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml [Avaya Inc.] (From #131 to #84)

Under Louis D'Ambrosio, who became Avaya's CEO in mid-2006, the maker of enterprise phone systems has been working to execute on a new strategy, especially by trimming its operating expenses. Although the quarterly earnings it reported in January failed to excite Wall Street, the company did make a small flurry of executive moves, naming a new CFO, a new CIO, and a new SVP in charge of its communications products. Also in January, Avaya announced that it would acquire Ubiquity, a U.K.-based company that makes software used to run the big servers of network service providers.

http://www.hoovers.com/sara-lee/--ID__11323--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml [Sara Lee Corporation] (From #115 to #94)

For a company that makes so much food, Sara Lee certainly has slimmed down lately. During the past two years, the big food and apparel maker has radically reorganized its business, in part by selling off some of its famous brands, including Hanes underwear, as well as its European meats business. Leading the charge in all of this has been CEO Brenda Barnes, who has served in that role since 2005. In January, the company revealed further steps to remake itself when it announced that it would close two U.S. plants (with an attendant layoff of 1,700 workers) and open a huge new R&D facility at its Illinois headquarters.

http://www.hoovers.com/amgen/--ID__12623--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml [Amgen Inc.] (From #116 to #96)

For most companies, strong sales numbers are the best medicine. In January, biotech giant Amgen bore this out when it announced record revenues and profits for 2006. The numbers were supported by strong sales of anti-anemia drugs Aranesp and EPOGEN, as well as Neulasta and NEUPOGEN, which boost white blood cells in chemotherapy patients. Because the search is constant for new drugs to keep up revenues and growth, Amgen also announced an alliance with Cytokinetics. In the deal, Amgen acquired options to a heart failure treatment under development by Cytokinetics – the first time Amgen has licensed a cardiovascular treatment.

To see the entire list of The Hoover's 100, click http://www.hoovers.com/global/hoov/index.xhtml?pageid=15370&cm_ven=HOT&cm_cat=Free&cm_pla=Landing_Page&cm_ite=Landing_Page [here].

Click here to see the latest "http://www.hoovers.com/global/hoov/index.xhtml?pageid=15460&cm_ven=HOT&cm_cat=Free&cm_pla=Leadership&cm_ite=Leadership [Hoover's Leadership 100]," a corresponding monthly list that highlights the biographies, company affiliations and salaries for the leaders of the most-searched companies.

Click here to see the latest "http://www.hoovers.com/global/hoov/index.xhtml?pageid=15619 [Hoover's APAC 50]" and the latest "http://www.hoovers.com/global/hoov/index.xhtml?pageid=15618 [Hoover's EMEA 50]," corresponding monthly lists that highlight the most searched companies in the Asia-Pacific region and the Europe-Middle East-Africa region.

Hoover's combines insightful editorial expertise, proprietary data collection technologies and a smart, engaging presentation to give its customers easy access to the most enlightening business information available.

About Hoover's, Inc.
Hoover's, a D&B company, gives its customers a competitive edge with insightful information about industries, companies, and key decision makers. Hoover's provides this up-to-date business information for sales, marketing, business development, and other professionals who need intelligence on U.S. and global companies, industries, and the people who lead them. This information, along with powerful tools to search, sort, download and integrate the content, is available through Hoover's, the company's premier online service. Hoover's http://www.hoovers.com/global/hoov/index.xhtml?pageid=15370&cm_ven=HOT&cm_cat=Free&cm_pla=Landing_Page&cm_ite=Landing_Page [business intelligence] is also available through corporate intranets and distribution agreements with licensees, as well as via Hoover's books. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

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Business Intelligence Provider Hoover’s Releases Mid-December Look At Top Holiday Retailers, As Taken From Latest Edition of “The Hoover’s 100”

Austin, TX -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/19/2006 -- With the holiday shopping season in full swing and less than two weeks to go till the new year, Hoover's, Inc. today announced a mid-December look at the performance and marketing tactics of the Top Retailers from the latest edition of The Hoover's 100 (available at Hoovers.com/retail), a monthly list of the companies most searched on the company's Web site. Hoover's is the leading provider of proprietary business insight to U.S. businesses.

"The biggest retailers on the latest edition of The Hoover's 100 should come as no surprise to anyone, with most having been on the monthly list since its inception eight months ago," said Tim Walker, Hoover's industry analyst. "The news about these big retailers in the last couple of weeks ranges from pricing pressures, to web site redesigns, to new online sales and marketing tactics."

[Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.]
True to its bellwether nature, Wal-Mart is the only retailer that has consistently placed in the top 10 on The Hoover's 100 every month. Among its many tactics, the retail behemoth lowered prices on high-end items in preparation for the Thanksgiving shopping weekend, forcing Best Buy and other retailers to do the same. Last month, Wal-Mart posted its first same-store sales decline in 10 years and warned that same-store sales would increase only slightly in December.

[Sears, Roebuck and Co.]
Sears jumped 20 spots to break onto The Hoover's 100 for the first time this month. Sears Holdings, which owns Kmart and other retail operations alongside the flagship Sears department stores, made a splash in November with unusual financial news – its quarterly earnings more than tripled when compared to the prior year – but they did so as retail sales actually went down. Sears Holdings managed this trick thanks to big gains from complex derivatives transactions. Sears also touted a new Web service this holiday season that allows shoppers to order online and pick up their purchases in a store within five minutes.

[Target Corporation]
Target has been on The Hoover's 100 since its inception, and has held a spot in the top 10 for five out of eight months. The retailer posted better-than-expected results in November and offered an upbeat outlook for the remainder of the holiday season. The retailer plans to continue to increase comp-store sales and maintain its strong brand position, which is envied by its competitors. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to notice the copycat nature of the latest holiday TV commercials for various Target competitors, who are all scrambling to gain some of Target's mind share. The company has also beat Wall Street's estimates by posting third-quarter financial results that show an 11% increase in revenues.

[Amazon.com, Inc.]
Amazon.com has been steadily climbing on The Hoover's 100 list for the past four months. Although the online retailer has had some setbacks this year with the loss of a March court battle with Toys "R" Us that ended Amazon's exclusive online contract, and two patent infringement lawsuits filed against it by IBM, Amazon forecasts strong sales through the end of the year and expects to deliver full-year sales 26% higher than in 2005. The online retailer is currently running a weekly contest leading up to Christmas, in which customers can vote for the item they'd like to purchase at a reduced price.

Top Retailers for Mid-December 2006:

Rank Company Change Last Month Months on List
1 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. nc 1 9
2 Target Corporation + 7 9
12 NIKE, Inc. - 11 9
16 The Gap Inc. + 17 9
29 Best Buy Co., Inc. + 33 9
39 Federated Department Stores, Inc. + 52 9
46 eBay Inc. + 57 9
49 Amazon.com, Inc. + 55 4
52 Limited Brands, Inc. + 54 9
86 Sears, Roebuck and Co. + 106 1

To see expanded commentary on the top retailers, see Hoovers.com/retail

To see the latest entire list of The Hoover's 100, go to Hoover.com.

Additionally, in the spirit of the season, see Hoovers.com/santa to get the latest buzz from the North Pole with Hoover's in-depth insight into the #1 retail supplier this time of year – Santa's Workshop.

About Hoover's, Inc.
Hoover's, a D&B company, gives its customers a competitive edge with insightful information about industries, companies, and key decision makers. Hoover's provides this up-to-date business information for sales, marketing, business development, and other professionals who need intelligence on U.S. and global companies, industries, and the people who lead them. This information, along with powerful tools to search, sort, download and integrate the content, is available through Hoover's, the company's premier online service. Hoover's is also available through corporate intranets and distribution agreements with licensees, as well as via Hoover's books. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

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For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm