24/7 Wall St. » Analyst Calls

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALTR, AMSC, BIIB, CELG, COH, CSTR, COP, FSLR, GILD, HAIN, MA, RF, TRLG)

Administrator — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:23:06 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Friday morning.

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Coach, Inc. (NYSE: COH) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut to Neutral at Collins Stewart.
Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) Started as Overweight at Barclays; Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Hain Celestial Group (NASDAQ: HAIN) maintained Outperform and named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $450 at Argus.
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRLG) Cut to Hold at Brean Murray.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ALTR, AMSC, BIIB, CELG, COH, COP, CSTR, FSLR, GILD, HAIN, MA, RF, TRLG

The Case For and Against SIRIUS XM… Value Versus Pandora? (SIRI, P)

Administrator — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:40:31 +0000

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is always a gamble around earnings because of its massive share count and low price making each penny in earnings per share seem more difficult. The biggest question ahead is just how many subscribers it can add year after year and how it will hold up as Pandora Media, Inc. (NYSE: P) signs more “Pandora-ready” pacts with auto makers.

As far as earnings, SIRIUS XM made over $71 million for the quarter, or $0.01 EPS. Sales were up 6.5% at $over $783 million. Estimates from Thomson Reuters were $0.01 EPS and $785.49 million in revenues. Revenues were projected to be about $3.3 billion against estimates of almost $3.4 billion.

In short, it was mostly in-line. SIRIUS XM shares have recovered so much from the lows that it has to beat estimates to keep everyone happy.

The law of large numbers catches up to every company in time. SIRIUS XM added 542,996 subscribers in the quarter and about 1.7 million in whole year of 2011. For 2012, that projection is to add 1.3 million, which some price increases may increase churn modestly.

The notion that Sirius XM was started with new coverage at Underweight by Barclays earlier this week is only one more item showing concern.

The positive case: If we are really going to get an explosive auto market later on in 2012, SIRIUS XM stands to win. Analysts still have a price target consensus of about $2.36 on this stock. Seeking Alpha has a story titled “Buyback And Takeover Chatter For Sirius; CBS Looks Solid” and that might lure more bulls to tout the stock without even reading the article.

The reality is SIRIUS XM is worth over $8 billion today even after the drop, about 4-times Pandora’s $2.2 billion value. Pandora is also only expected to report almost $420 million in sales for the year ended January 2013.

With almost 4 billion shares, it is too bad that a reverse stock split would only attract short sellers. Imagine if SIRIUS XM was able to report earnings of $0.10 ot $0.15 per quarter rather than just a penny each quarter. It would be a psychological boost. The short sellers would attack it and the company knows that. There were already 305 million shares in the short interest as of mid-January and that was the highest short interest reading since last May.

SIRIUS XM is trading down almost 2% at $2.15 against a 52-week range of $1.27 to $2.44. We have already seen 63 million shares trade hands against an average of 55 million shares a day. If SIRIUS XM is going to trade down on valuation, perhaps Pandora needs some caution as well unless it can score a massive swing higher in paying subscribers. Pandora shares are trading down almost 3% at $13.51 versus a post-IPO range of $9.15 to $26.00 and versus a $16.00 IPO price.

As a reminder, investors do have stock options that can be used to hedge this one if they want to stick with it for the long haul.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls, Autos, Consumer Electronics, Consumer Goods, Cult Stock, Earnings, Entertainment, Media, Satellite Tagged: P, SIRI

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMGN, AUO, AONE, ELN, EXPE, IR, MMM, MRH, NYX, POST, RIMM, SOHU, AAPL)

Administrator — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:29:44 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Thursday morning.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
AU Optronics Corporation (NYSE: AUO) targets raised by Nomura and also by Credit Suisse.
A123 Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) Cut to Sell at Wunderlich.
Elan Corp. (NYSE: ELN) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) Cut to Hold at S&P Capital IQ.
Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Montpelier Re Holdings (NYSE: MRH) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) Resumed as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST) Started as Overweight at Barclays.
Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Reiterated Hold with $15 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

See the new high $665 price target on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) from this morning.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, AMGN, AONE, AUO, ELN, EXPE, IR, MMM, MRH, NYX, POST, RIMM, SOHU

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (NLY, MT, BP, CBOE, DMD, RDY, ING, MS, NOV, OPEN, SOHU, UBS, VSH, YUM)

Administrator — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:18:44 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Wednesday morning.

Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) Cut to Sell at S&P Capital IQ.
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) Raised Estimates by UBS; Cut to Hold at Soc-Gen.
CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE: RDY) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
ING Group, N.V. (NYSE: ING) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Cut to Hold at Collins Stewart.
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) raised target to $96 at Argus.
OpenTable Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse; Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) lowered targets by Credit Suisse and Nomura.
UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (NYSE: VSH) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Credit Suisse makes a change to its favorite biotech list.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: BP, CBOE, DMD, ING, MS, MT, NLY, NOV, OPEN, RDY, SOHU, UBS, VSH, YUM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AON, AZN, CSCO, DLR, DRIV, HSIC, IBM, PBY, CRM, SNH, SSW, SIRI, SOHU, SXL, THO, URBN, ZOLT)

Administrator — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:12:21 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Tuesday morning.

AON Corporation (NYSE: AON) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Reiterated Outperform with $26 target at Credit Suisse.
Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR) Started as Sell at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Digital River Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) Started as Buy with $230 target at Stern Agee. (LINK: FULL DETAILS)
Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack Inc. (NYSE: PBY) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Seaspan Corporation (NYSE: SSW) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) Started as Underweight at Barclays.
Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) downgraded to Hold at RBS and Cut to Neutral at Susquehanna.
Sunoco Logistics, LP (NYSE: SXL) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE: THO) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Cut to Sell at Brean Murray.
Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZOLT) Cut to Underperform at Needham (LINK: FULL SUMMARY).

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AON, AZN, CRM, CSCO, DLR, DRIV, HSIC, IBM, PBY, SIRI, SNH, SOHU, SSW, SXL, THO, URBN, ZOLT

Analyst Call: Buy IBM, $230 Target… New Street-High (IBM, BRK.A)

Administrator — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:29:15 +0000

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) may be loved by Warren Buffett now with the huge stake owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A), but it turns out that the brokerage firm Stern Agee loves Big Blue as well. The firm has started new coverage of IBM with a “Buy” rating, but more impressive is this $230.00 price target.

The firm calls its positioned for double-digit earnings growth that is unparalleled in its ability to solve customer problems with its deep industry expertise, broad set of offerings, and global presence. The $230 target is based solely on a 13.5x multiple on its 2013 earnings estimate of$17.00 in earnings per share (versus $16.42 EPS consensus from Thomson Reuters).

It noted, “We believe the company deserves to trade at a modest premium given its relative predictability and stability, and EPS growth profile of 10%-15%. We believe IBM’s goal of $20.00 in EPS in 2015 is achievable. In our view, the beauty of the IBM story is that double-digit EPS growth is not dependent on the top line, but rather a growing mix of higher-margin software (23% of revenue) through organic means and acquisitions.”

Additional notes are as follows:

IBM is Arguably the Model Enterprise Company.
Strategic Advisor of Choice.
Broad International Exposure.

After closing down 0.4% at $192.82, the 52-week range is $151.71 to $194.90. IBM’s market value is $223.6 billion and the consensus price target is only $199.33. Stern Agee’s price target is 15% higher than the rest of Wall Street and it also appears to be the new “street-high” price target if Thomson Reuters is accurate.

This call matters to the DJIA because IBM is the largest component by far as the DJIA index is price-weighted rather than market cap-weighted. If Stern Agee is correct, IBM’s implied upside is about 19.3%.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Buffett, Technology Companies Tagged: BRK-A, IBM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AVAV, AET, ALU, ANN, CAH, CMA, GLW, FDX, JAKK, M, PNC, PPO, RDS-A, SKX, TEVA, UA, WY)

Administrator — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:29:51 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Monday morning.

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Aetna, Inc. (NYSE: AET) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) Cut to Sell at S&P Equity Research.
Ann Inc. (NYSE: ANN) Cut to Underperform at Barclays.
Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) Reiterated Buy with $52 price target at Argus.
Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) Cut to Market Perform at BMO.
Polypore International Inc. (NYSE: PPO) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Skechers U.S.A., Inc. (NYSE: SKX) Raised to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ: TEVA) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) Reiterated Buy with $90 target at Argus.
Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) Cut to Sell at UBS.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AET, ALU, ANN, AVAV, CAH, CMA, FDX, GLW, JAKK, M, PNC, PPO, RDS-A, SKX, TEVA, UA, WY

Research Stays Bullish On Gold & Silver Over S&P 500 (GLD, SLV, SPY)

Administrator — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:23:38 +0000

TrimTabs is out with its newest round of investment research and it is calling for investors to buy gold and silver for the long-term on what it calls a dollar cost average basis. While the move may be different today after the employment data, this is going to be music to the ears of investors who are in SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) and iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) for a multi-year outlook.

Charles Biderman noted, “The U.S., Europe, and Japan are printing enormous sums to pay their bills and in turn are devaluing their paper currencies. I doubt that’s going to change because it’s much easier for central bankers to print money than it is for politicians to cut spending.”

Biderman went on to note that gold and silver prices are going to skyrocket from retail money chasing a limited supply of the metals. On silver he noted, ““The gains in silver could be particularly strong because the silver market is much smaller than the gold market. Silver ETFs have only one-ninth the assets of gold ETFs.”

The current unemployment data from today is signaling that the Fed Funds rate hikes could come toward the end of 2013 now rather than the end of 2014, but that is one-month data.

TrimTabs goes on to note that monetary easing by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank has helped push up gold and silver prices much more than stock prices. He even noted that since QE2 was announced, the gold ETF is up 41% versus the 30% gains for the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) gain of 30% after including dividends.

The report even noted that in the past three weeks alone there has been a $1.4 billion inflow into gold ETFs by investors while silver ETFs saw smaller inflows.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls, Commodities, Index, Metals, Trading Alert Tagged: GLD, SLV, SPY

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (APA, BBT, CVC, CHK, DRI, EMN, EW, MRO, NBL, PEET, RIMM, RBS, SLM, URBN)

Administrator — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:07:02 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Friday morning.

Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEET) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: APA, BBT, CHK, CVC, DRI, EMN, EW, MRO, NBL, PEET, RBS, RIMM, SLM, URBN

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AKS, ALTR, BRCM, CPN, CTL, DELL, EW, JDSU, MRVL, NMR, STLD, GWW)

Administrator — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:32:39 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Thursday morning.

AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Calpine Corporation (NYSE: CPN) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ: JDSU) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Nomura Holdings Inc. (NYSE: NMR) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE: GWW) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AKS, ALTR, BRCM, CPN, CTL, DELL, EW, GWW, JDSU, MRVL, NMR, STLD