Posts for Ticker ‘AKS’

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (AKS, APOL, BP, CRDN, RX, SNDK, STI, TGT, TXN, WYNN)

These are this Wednesday’s top 10 seen analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations which we have seen from Wall Street research calls:

AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) Cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) Cut to Hold at Citigroup; Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Ceradyne (NASDAQ: CRDN) Raised to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
IMS Health (NYSE: RX) Cut to Underperform at BofA/Merrill
SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
SunTrust (NYSE: STI) Raised to “Top Picks” list at Citigroup.
Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) Raised to Buy from Sell at Citigroup.
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG
OCTOBER 28, 2009

Posted on: October 28, 2009 – 7:29 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (AKS, BMY, CREE, JPM, LRCX, MAR, RIMM, SVNT, SE, VIA)

These are this Friday morning’s top Wall Street analyst upgrades and positive research calls:

AK Steel (AKS) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Bristol-Myers (BMY) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Cree (CREE) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan
J.P. Morgan (JPM) Started as Strong Buy at Raymond James.
Lam Research (LRCX) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Marriott (MAR) Raised to buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Research in Motion (RIMM) Raised to Outperform at R.W. Baird.
Savient Pharma (SVNT) Raised to Outperformat Oppenheimer.
Spectra Energy (SE) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Viacom (VIA) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates each morning on analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s and secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG
October 9, 2009

Posted on: October 9, 2009 – 7:43 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Downgrades (ABB, AKS, CME, ERIC, HMC, NOK, SKH)

These are the top pre-market analyst downgrades and cautious research calls we have seen from Wall Street early this Friday morning with more than two hours until the market opens:

ABB (ABB) Started as Reduce at Nomura.
AK Steel (AKS) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
CME (CME) Started as Sell at RBS.
Ericsson (ERIC) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
Honda Motor (HMC) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Nokia (NOK) Cut to Equal Weight at Barclays.
Skilled Healthcare (SKH) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: June 12, 2009 – 6:27 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Downgrades (AKS, AFL, CMA, DT, FDX, HAL, FITB, KEY, HOT)

burning-money-pic19These are some of the top pre-market analyst downgrades and negative calls we have seen from Wall Street firms with about two hours until the market open this Wednesday morning:

AK Steel (AKS) Cut to Sell at UBS.
AFLAC (AFL) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
Comerica (CMA) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Deutsche Telekom (DT) was downgraded at both Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan after this week’s warning.
FedEx (FDX) Raised to Neutral at BofA-Merrill.
Halliburton (HAL) Cut to Equal Weight at Barclays.
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) Cut to Market Perform at BMO.
KeyCorp (KEY) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Starwood Hotels (HOT) Cut to Neutral at Baird.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: April 22, 2009 – 6:45 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AKS, ARO, NTRS, OCNF, URBN)

Money_stack_picThere were not as many analyst upgrades today, but here are this Wednesday’s early bird upgrades:

  • AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
  • Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO) Started as Buy at KeyBanc (late yesterday).
  • Northern Trust (NASDAQ: NTRS) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
  • OceanFreight (NASDAQ: OCNF) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer.
  • Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) Started as Buy at KeyBanc (late yesterday).

Jon C. Ogg
January 7, 2009

Posted on: January 7, 2009 – 7:50 am in Analyst Calls, , , , ,

Goldman Sachs Kicking Steel While It’s Down (AKS, STLD, TX, CMC)

It is a bit surprising when you see a firm like Goldman Sachs downgrade many key steel stocks after their shares have fallen by so much.  That is what we are seeing this morning.  Many steel stocks are down more than 75% from their recent year highs.  It sees lower steel and scrap prices on deteriorated demand in the coming months.  Below is the firm’s downgrade list, although Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) was actually upgraded.

Read More »

Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 7:28 am in Analyst Calls, Metals, , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club 9/10/2008 (LEH)(ASK)(WFR)(ESLR)(FWLT)

Sad_clownLehman (LEH) — Is it still solvent? Drops to $7.64 from 52-week high of $67.73.

AK Steel Holding (AKS) Large stockholder sells part of holdings. Sells down to $33.05 from 52-week high of $73.07.

MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) Concerns about soft chip demand. Falls to $32.23 from 52-week high of $96.08.

Evergreen Solar (ESLR) Oil price drop hurts shares. Dips to $6.16 from 52-week high of $18.85.

Foster Wheeler (FWLT) No news. Sells down to $33.19 from 52-week high of $85.65.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: September 9, 2008 – 2:56 pm in HI/LOW, , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AKS, BHI, IPI, NAT, PSYS, SGLP, SNN, SYNA, ULTA)

AKS, BHI, IPI, NAT, PSYS, SGLP, SNN, SYNA, ULTA
These are some of the top upgrades or positive analyst calls we are seeing this Wednesday morning in early pre-market hours:

  • AK Steel (AKS) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Baker Hughes (BHI) raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Intrepid Potash (IPI) Started as Outperform at BMO Capital.
  • Nordic American Tanker (NAT) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Psychiatric Solutions (PSYS) Started as Buy at Stanford Group.
  • Semgroup Energy (SGLP) Raised to Market Perform at Wachovia.
  • Smith & Nephew (SNN) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • Synaptics (SYNA) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  • Ulta Salon (ULTA) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Jon C. Ogg
July 23, 2008

Posted on: July 23, 2008 – 6:33 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

Goldman Sachs & Massive Steel Prices (X, NUE, ATI, STLD, SCHN, GNA, WOR, AKS, ROCK, RS, CMC)

Goldman Sachs is out with a call raising its steel company earnings targets after above expectation steel prices and tighter supplies that represent a physical steel shortage. It sees some US steel prices rising from $700 recent targets up to a new $850 target per short ton.  It also sees 2009 prices above 2008 prices and sees wider spreads with raw steel compared to scrap costs.

There was one lowered target on Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZEUS).  Goldman Sachs is raising ZEUS earnings estimates for this year and next, but it is downgrading the stock from Buy to Neutral because its shares are up more than 50% since being added as Buy in November.  It is raising the rating on U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) from neutral to Buy and it has raised targets as well, and it raised 2008 EPS from $11.10 to $14.80 and 2008 from $12.75 to $16.75.

Other estimates are raised in the sector:  Allegheny Tech (NYSE: ATI) was maintained as Buy and saw a slight boost to earnings targets.  Gerdau AmeriSteel (NYSE: GNA), Gibralter Ind. (NASDAQ: ROCK), Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS), Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD), AK Steel (NYSE: AKS), and Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) are all neutral rated but saw estimates raised considerably considering the neutral ratings.

The firm is also positive on Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE), which it maintains a Buy rating on and raised estimates sharply on for this year and next.

Goldman Sachs has sell ratings on Worthington (NYSE: WOR) and Schnitzer Steel (NASDAQ: SCHN), although the firm even raised earnings estimates on those two names.

Jon C. Ogg
March 20, 2008

Posted on: March 20, 2008 – 7:29 am in Analyst Calls, Metals, , , , , , , , , , ,

Goldman Sachs on Steel & Metals in 2008 (NUE, ZEUS, RS, ATI, X, SCHN, AKS)

Goldman Sachs is out with a call covering the steel stocks.  We’ll be keeping this one shortened to keep it in a summary format.  Goldman is noting that US STEEL PRICES ARE SET TO RISE SIGNIFICANTLY IN 2008.  It notes a short squeeze that should more than offset recessionary demand trends.  It also notes a trend in mini-mills where they will see higher scrap price costs in the near-term but will have wider margins later in 2008 and 2009.  Goldman also believes the integrated steel companies will see margin increases on an immediate basis.

Below are the stock calls seen in the steel and related sector:

  • Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) is its Top Pick in the sector;
  • and that is followed by Olympic Steel (NASDAQ: ZUES) and Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS) as Buy ratings;
  • it also has Allegheny Tech (NYSE: ATI), U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) as Neutral ratings;
  • Schnitzer Steel (NASDAQ: SCHN) was downgraded to the loathed SELL rating from an already lackluster Neutral rating.  It sees a 15% downside to its new price target of $47.00 as the premium to peers is unwarranted.
  • AK Steel Holding (NYSE: AKS) is being removed from The Americas SellList and therefore being raised to a Neutral rating.  Its 2008estimates are being hiked to $4.25 from $3.30 and the 2009 estimatesare being raised to $3.85 from $3.35. 

Jon C. Ogg
January 16, 2008

Posted on: January 16, 2008 – 9:17 am in Analyst Calls, Metals, , , , , , ,

Earnings Warning & Denying Merger Rumors Hurt Steel Stocks (NUE, STLD, X, RS, AKS)

Stock Tickers: NUE, STLD, X, RS, AKS

Nucor Corp. (NUE-NYSE) has a bit of a surprising news this morning: a steel company issuing an earnings warning. It now expects that earnings for the second quarter ending June 30, 2007 are expected to be in the range of $1.05 to $1.15 per diluted share, compared to estimates of $1.39 and compared to $1.26 EPS in the first quarter of 2007.

Here is the explanation from the company:  Second quarter earnings have been significantly impacted by lower shipments from Nucor’s bar mill group. The rapid increase in scrap prices in the first quarter resulted in hedge buying during that quarter by our customers ahead of anticipated increases in steel products pricing. This hedge buying by our customers produced a record for first quarter shipments from our bar mill group. In addition to the first quarter hedge buying driven by volatility in scrap pricing, bar market demand in the second quarter has been marginally reduced by softness in the automotive and residential construction segments. This softness reduced demand for our SBQ bar and rebar products. We expect second quarter bar shipments to decline approximately 17% from the first quarter shipments.

This news combined with the news that ThyssenKrupp in Europe denied market rumors and reports that it was in talks to acquire U.S. Steel (X-NYSE). 

This combined earnings warning from a key player and less consolidation in the sector is pressuring other steel names: Steel Dynamics (STLD-NASDAQ) -4%, US Steel (X-NYSE) -5.5%, Reliance Steel & Aluminum (RS-NYSE) -2%, AK Steel (AKS) -2.5%.

Jon C. Ogg
June 11, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: June 11, 2007 – 8:45 am in Metals, , , , ,