24/7 Wall St. » ALTR

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.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

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

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

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AAPL, GS, SBUX, ORCL, RF, ZNGA, AMD, ALTR, YHOO, COP, PX, WLP, LCC, XRX, ILMN, RBCN, INCB, GNOM, NUVA)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:08:16 +0000

Markets opened mixed this morning, with the DJIA and S&P 500 opening lower and the Nasdaq Composite opening higher. The Nasdaq was getting a big push from the very strong earnings report out of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). The FOMC’s announcement that interest rates would remain near zero until late 2014 started a Fed rally and pushed the S&P into positive territory where they spent the rest of the day. Oil prices were lower this morning, but the weekly status report from the US Energy Information Administration led crude prices to a gain. WTI crude oil is up 0.72% at $99.66/barrel and Brent crude is up 0.16% at $110.21. Gold closed up 2.61% at $1,707.90.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 83 points to 12,758.85 (0.66%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 32 points (1.14%) to 2,818.31, and the S&P 500 rose 0.87% or more than 11 points to 1,326.06.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) raised to ‘outperform’ at Oppenheimer; Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) cut to ‘neutral’ at Macquarie; and Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) raised to ‘outperform’ at RBC Capital and cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch. Znyga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) gets starting calls from four brokers: ‘overweight’ at Barclays and JPMorgan; ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; and ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Earnings reports since markets closed on last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Apple is up 6.4% at $447.17, after posting a new 52-week high this morning of $454.45; Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is up nearly 3% at $6.72; Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) is up 1% at $40.54; Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is down -0.6% at $15.60; ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is down -0.9% at $70.01; Praxair Inc. (NYSE: PX) is down -2.8% at $106.05; Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) is down -4.9% at $66.01; US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) is up more than 18% at $7.59; and Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) is down nearly -10% at $7.81.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) is up more than 46% at $55.16. The genetic testing instrument maker is the target of a $5.7 billion hostile takeover offer from Roche Holdings AG.

Rubicon Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN) is down nearly -12% at $10.66. The LED lighting maker was downgraded from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’ at Needham yesterday on low demand.

Indiana Community Bancorp (NASDAQ: INCB) is up about 44% at $20.90 after posting a new 52-week high of $21.34 earlier. The bank holding company has agreed to be acquired by Old National Bancorp (NYSE: ONB) in an all-stock transaction.

Complete Genomics Inc. (NASDAQ: GNOM) is up 19% to $2.98. The DNA-sequencing company is getting a boost from the hostile takeover bid for Illumina.

NuVasive Inc. (NASDAQ: NUVA) is up about 19% at $16.31. The medical device maker had its shares stopped today following a report that it would not receive an injunction against selling a disputed product.

Stay tuned for Thursday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Durable goods orders
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
10:00 a.m. – New home sales
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply reports

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AAPL, ALTR, AMD, COP, GNOM, GS, ILMN, INCB, LCC, NUVA, ORCL, PX, RBCN, RF, SBUX, WLP, XRX, YHOO, ZNGA

Potential Upside in Semiconductor Stocks (INTC, AMD, MU, BRCM, QCOM, ARMH, SNDK, ALTR, AMAT, TXN)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:13:41 +0000

Since the beginning of the year the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is up more than 13.5%. The run-up may be over for some chip makers and sustainable for others. Analysts are also a little behind in setting new price targets for the companies that have passed or are near previous target prices. Perhaps they’re just taking their time to see what happens with the earnings reports due this week.

We’ve looked 10 semiconductor companies and evaluated their chances of reaching existing price targets during the coming year. The companies are Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM), Qualcomm Corp. (NASDAQ: QCOM), ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH), SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK), Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR), Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), and Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN). Data comes from Yahoo! Finance and MarketWatch.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) has a consensus price target of $27 and current price around $26.83, for a potential upside of about 1%. Intel reported stellar earnings last week and the stock posted a new 52-week high earlier this morning. Sales of PCs have not been as weak as feared, and margins have remained high. The new Ultrabooks, which the company is supporting with a very strong marketing budget, could really push the company substantially higher. As of this moment though, shares are fully valued.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) has a consensus price target of $6.00 and a current price around $6.55, leaving no upside. The company reports earnings tomorrow and is expected to post EPS of $0.16 on revenue of $1.72 billion. The company’s shares have jumped by about a dollar in the past month, and continued improvement, especially in the server market, should push the target price higher.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) has a consensus price target of $8.75 and a current price around $8.00, for a potential upside of 9%. Last month the company’s price target was $8/share and the shares were trading at around $6.25. How much more steam can be left in Micron after that?

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) has a consensus price target of $41 and a current price around $34.92, for a potential upside of 17%. Broadcom shares have risen by more than $5/share in the last month, but unlike Micron, there’s still a lot of headroom.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) has a median price target of $67 and a current price around $58.60, for a potential upside of 14%. Qualcomm shares have gained more than 7% in the first three weeks of the year and the share price is up more than $4. The company has a firm position in the mobile device market and the company should continue to post growth in 2012.

ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH) has a consensus price target of $33.75 and a current price around $27.75, for a potential upside of more than 22%. ARM’s target price has jumped by nearly $7/share in the past month, but it is trading at nearly the same price as a month ago. Shares gained nearly 35% in the past year, but royalty payments are falling. For the year-to-date, shares are slightly down. To hit its new target, ARM has to get going.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) has a consensus price target of $59.50 and a current price around $51.87, for a potential upside of 14.7%. SanDisk’s shares are up about 5.5% so far this year after a nearly flat 2011. Apple’s recent acquisition of of a NAND maker could sharply curtail SanDisk’s sales of the chips for iPhones and iPads.

Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) has a consensus price target of $43 and a current price around $39.90, for a potential upside of 7.8%. Altera’s price target has been raised in the past month, and the company’s share price is also higher. Shares have risen more than 7% year-to-date, and the company is expected to report EPS of $0.42 and revenue of $447.52 million tomorrow.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) has a median price target of $13 and a current price around $12.29, for a potential upside of 5.8%. AMAT’s shares have jumped more than 15% since the beginning of January, and the price target has not changed. There’s not a lot to like here as far as expected upside goes.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) has a consensus target price of $34 and a current price around $33.42, for a potential upside of less than 2%. TI is expected to report EPS of $0.39 and revenue of $3.25 billion after the market closes today. The company lowered estimates in December, and there’s a decent chance TI will beat those lowered expectations. If so, a new target nearer the company’s 52-week high of $36.71 would be in order. That could raise upside potential to around 12%.

In the last month, Intel has essentially hit its target price, and because the target hasn’t been raised, there could be some question among analysts about the staying power of the recent rise. Broadcom and Qualcomm offer the best bets to post share price gains, and the targets for both are well within reach.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Earnings, Industry, Semiconductor, Semiconductors, Technology Tagged: ALTR, AMAT, AMD, ARMH, BRCM, INTC, MU, QCOM, SNDK, TXN

More Evidence Of Semiconductor Recovery (LLTC, INTC, TXN, XLNX, ALTR, MXIM)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:36:00 +0000

Semiconductor investors have had to endure a lot of pain and a lot of volatility, but things may be on the mend. Analog chip players were higher throughout the trading day after Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: LLTC) gave guidance that offered far more hope than what investors had been expecting just a few weeks ago when Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) warned about a large revenue shortfall. Linear shares rose 11.5% to $33.32 on Wednesday. Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) rose 8.5% to $33.72 on the news and guidance from Linear Tech today.

Now we have further news coming from Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) that is adding to gains. After shares were already up almost 6% at $35.30 on Wednesday, the stock is up almost 7% in the after-hours session at $37.85 and that will mark a new 52-week high if it holds up. The company noted that while revenues fell 10% to $511.1 million on earnings of $0.47, the consensus target was only $498.3 million and $0.37 EPS. Xilinx is offering guidance of 2% to 6% revenue growth.

There are some other secondary plays out there on this. When investors trade up in Xilinx, they often trade up Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR). When investors trade up in Linear Tech, they often trade up in Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: MXIM) as well. All are higher in the after-hours session and Altera was up almost 10% at $40.72 and Maxim rose by 6.1% today to $27.56.

Get ready for Intel to report earnings on Thursday after the close (estimates are $0.61 EPS on $13.72 billion in sales). If it reverses or lightens up on the severity of its revenue guidance offered in December, then going from $25.39 to above $25.92 would not hard to fathom. Anything above that would mark a 52-week high and analysts have a consensus price target objective of $26.58.

It is important to keep in mind that in many cases these “higher guidance” calls are barely higher and it is off of declining sales. Still, in the end investors want improvements and growth and sometimes mediocrity wins the day. If these all hit new 52-week highs, the cheer will be simple enough: “Chips Ahoy!”

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Consumer Electronics, Earnings, PC Companies, Semiconductor, Technology Companies Tagged: ALTR, INTC, LLTC, MXIM, TXN, XLNX

Upside in Top Semiconductor Stocks for 2012 (INTC, AMD, MU, BRCM, QCOM, ARMH, SNDK, ALTR, AMAT, TXN)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:30:49 +0000

Shares in semiconductor stocks have gained and lost value in about equal number during 2011. The run-up in share prices may be over for some and sustainable for others. For stocks that lost value during the year, gains in 2012 may be difficult to come by as the overall market for semiconductors has been getting softer as the new year gets closer.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) has a consensus price target of $27 and current price around $24.47, for a potential upside of 10.3%. Intel has put a lot of marketing muscle behind its Ultrabook design, with more models to come from more manufacturers in 2012. A new version of the Windows operating system is also due in late summer that should help with Ultrabook sales. Intel still hasn’t come up with a strategy to attack the mobile device market, and while that won’t be fatal, it could weigh on revenue and profits next year unless the Ultrabook is a blowout success.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) has a consensus price target of $6.20 and a current price around $5.36, for a potential upside of 15.7%. AMD’s share price fell more than -33% in the past 12 months. The company introduced a new high-speed graphics chip recently that has been well-received. AMD’s server market share is wobbly though, although it has made progress in notebooks. But expecting a gain of more than 15% seems like wishful thinking.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) has a consensus price target of $8 and a current price around $6.24, for a potential upside of 28.2%. Micron’s shares jumped last week on a weak earnings report primarily on the basis of more expected consolidation in the DRAM market. Pricing has been weak for DRAM chips, but Micron is in a better position than most competitors to be among the survivors. Still, a lot of things need to go right for the company to hit its price target.

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) has a consensus price target of $41 and a current price around $29.53, for a potential upside of 38.8%. Broadcom has posted strong revenue and profit growth in 2011, but its share price has fallen by about -32%. Revenue and profit are both expected to continue growing in 2012, and the company is not a bad bet to hit its current price target.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Industry, Semiconductor, Semiconductors, Technology, Technology Companies Tagged: ALTR, AMAT, AMD, ARMH, BRCM, INTC, MU, QCOM, SNDK, TXN

Intel Warning Knock… Market Inefficiency Reigns (INTC, TXN, ALTR, WDC, SMH, AMD, MU)

Administrator — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:23:34 +0000

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) may be a recent position added to the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) stock holdings portfolio, but the semiconductor and processor giant is now issuing an earnings warning. If you have been tracking the news out of Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN), Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR), and Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC), today’s news might not seem like such a surprise. What matters is that the condition is expected to remain.

Intel said that its key fourth-quarter results “are expected to be below the company’s previous outlook due to hard disk drive supply shortages.” The new fourth-quarter revenue target is $13.7 billion, plus or minus $300 million. The prior target had been $14.7 billion, plus or minus $500 million.

Where this gets interesting is that Intel says personal computer sales will be up sequentially but that the worldwide PC supply chain is reducing inventories and microprocessor purchases as a result of hard disk drive supply shortages. Analysts had been warning about this last week and before for both Intel and the rest of the PC and semiconductor chain.

Unfortunately, Intel said that it expects hard disk drive supply shortages to continue into the first quarter. The current expectation is that there will then be a rebuilding of microprocessor inventories as supplies of hard disk drives recover during the first half of 2012.

The Semiconductor HOLDRs (NYSE: SMH) is trading down nearly 2% on the news out of Intel this morning, while Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is down 2% at $5.42 right before the open. Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) is down 2.2% at $5.76 in the pre-market.

Gross margin is now put at 64.5%, plus or minus 2%, versus the prior forecast of 65% (plus or minus 2%); non-GAAP gross margin is expected to be 65.5% (+/- 2%) versus a prior target of 66% (+/- 2%).

Intel also noted that its earnings and news quiet period will begin on December 16 and that its earnings will be released on January 19, 2012.

Shares of Intel had been at $25.01 and its 52-week trading range is $19.16 to $25.78. The pre-market trading is showing a drop of 3.2% at $24.20. The market had been given warnings of this but no one ever seems to want to admit that just because a sector is slowing and has high supply problems that a warning will still come. Had more warnings from analysts (and chip peers) in recent days and weeks not been given out, then the reaction may have been far worse.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Earnings Warning, PC Companies, Semiconductor, Technology Companies Tagged: ALTR, AMD, INTC, MU, SMH, TXN, WDC

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALTR, AZO, BWP, BA, BYI, EPB, DD, EW, KND, LEN, LLTC, PCS, PLL, PNM, PSB, SAP, TOL)

Administrator — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:28:23 +0000

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

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Raised to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) Maintained as Buy with a price target of $381 by Argus.
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE: BWP) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Raised to Overweight with $82 price target at Morgan Stanley.
Bally Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BYI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
E I DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), or DuPont, Cut to Neutral at Citigroup; Lowered estimates for DuPont at Credit Suisse.
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) Raised to Buy with $75 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: KND) is already a strong buy but was named as the value stock of the day by Zacks Investment Research.
Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Linear Technology (NASDAQ: LLTC) Reiterated Underperform and named Bear of the Day by Zacks Investment Research.
MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL) on Focus List and raised price target to $68 at Credit Suisse.
PNM Resources, Inc. (NYSE: PNM) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
PS Business Parks (NYSE: PSB) reiterated Outperform and named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Reiterated Buy with $84 price target objective by Argus.
Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.

If you want to receive the full 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio you can sign up in the email submission below. Each morning we send our free email list subscribers a snapshot of the key feature stories, the top daily analyst upgrades and downgrades, previews for key events, and many other aspects governing your finances.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ALTR, AZO, BA, BWP, BYI, DD, EPB, EW, KND, LEN, LLTC, PCS, PLL, PNM, PSB, SAP, TOL

Two Big Semiconductor Warnings (TXN, ALTR)

Administrator — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:49:01 +0000

You have been hearing about forecasts coming down for the fourth quarter and for the full 2012 outlook in many cases by research groups. Today’s news pretty much sums it all up. Warnings have been issued by both Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) and Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR). So much for those great earnings and sales improvements.

As far as Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN), the semiconductor maker lowered its fourth quarter to $0.21 to $0.25 EPS on revenues of $3.19 to $3.33 billion. The prior outlook that had been offered up was $0.28 to $0.36 EPS and a range of $3.26 to $3.54 billion in revenues. The explanation is as you might expect, “The reductions are due to broadly lower demand across a wide range of markets, customers and products, except for Wireless applications processors.”

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) has now forecast a drop sequentially of 13% to 16% from its third quarter sales after having previously guided lower by only about 7% to 11% sequentially. At the mid-point of the range, this translates to a sequential drop of 14.5% rather than a prior expected drop of 9%. Altera’s excuse, “The revenue outlook has deteriorated across all major vertical markets, including both large and small customers. With the exception of North America, which will benefit from rising military sales, all geographic regions will be weak. As the quarter has progressed, economic uncertainty, macroeconomic concerns, and, in some instances, lower than planned sales have resulted in customers reducing demand on Altera.”

Do either of these forecasts give you any great expectations of PC and device growth in technology?

Texas Instruments was down 2.5% at $29.92 today and shares are now down another 5.9% at $28.02 in the after-hours session. The 52-week trading range is $24.34 to $36.71.

Altera was down 2.45% at $35.48 today and shares are now down another 4.7% at $33.80 in the after-hours session. The 52-week trading range is $30.39 to $49.59.

There goes Christmas in Chip-land.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Earnings Warning, Semiconductor Tagged: ALTR, TXN

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALTR, BK, BRCM, CTIC, CLWR, COP, DG, GFI, HTS, KR, NTES, NVAX, RAX)

Administrator — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:26:23 +0000

These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Bank of New York-Mellon (NYSE: BK) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) was Underperform and has been dropped from coverage by BofA/ML as fundamentals are not driving the shares.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) Reiterated Buy with $85 target on Focus List at Argus.
Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) reiterated strong buy as Momentum stock of the day at Zacks.
Gold Fields Limited (NYSE: GFI) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Hatteras Financial Corporation (NYSE: HTS) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.
The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
NetEase.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) Started as Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann.
Rackspace Hosting, Inc (NYSE: RAX) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs, but reportedly Downgraded to Hold at a firm called Benchmark.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ALTR, BK, BRCM, CLWR, COP, CTIC, DG, GFI, HTS, KR, NTES, NVAX, RAX