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An Early Look at 2012 ASCO Biotech Cancer Stocks (DNDN, LLY, AMGN, ARIA, ARQL, ARRY, AVEO, BVTI, ABPI, BMY, CLDX, CYTR, CYCC, GALE, EXEL, GNBT, GHDX, IMGN, MYGN, NKTR, NLNK, ONXX, OPTR, PCYC, SGEN, SNSS, SNTA)

Administrator — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:47:56 +0000

We are now just about two weeks away from the king of biotech and pharma events in cancer treatments. The 2012 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is set to take place from June 1 to June 5 in Chicago. This has been a make or break event for many cancer treatment and identification efforts. Some of the exhibitors being featured by ASCO are Dendreon, Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY), Genentech, Helsinn, Eisai, and Montefiore/Einstein.

24/7 Wall St. has compiled a log of companies which have already signaled in press releases that they will be presenting data or that data will be presented on their behalf at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting. We have previewed more than 25 companies so far and that is not even including Big Pharma names. As of May 18, the total abstracts submitted were 5,264 and of those there have been 2,744 which have been accepted for presentation at ASCO. Of those accepted for presentation, some 1,859 are going to be ‘ePublication only’ for viewers. The breakdown for the Abstracts shows that the oral presentation is currently 257 presentations and 2,487 are listed as poster presentation only.

The most presentations accepted (203) so far are focused on Genitourinary Cancer, which covers urinary tract and male genital tract as follows: Prostate cancer; Bladder cancer; Kidney cancer; Testicular cancer; Penile cancer; Nonmalignant tumors of the urinary tract and male reproductive system; and Von Hippel Lindau disease. As of today, the fewest accepted presentations (93) cover Pediatric oncology.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), the largest independent biotech that there is, recently showed updated results from a Phase 2 study showing that treatment with blinatumomab helped achieve a high-rate of complete response in 72% of adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated in the study. This blinatumomab is the first of a new class of agents called bi-specific T cell engagers antibodies, which are designed to harness the body’s cell-destroying T cells to kill cancer cells. Blinatumomab targets cells expressing CD19, a protein found on the surface of B-cell derived leukemias and lymphomas, such as ALL. Full results of the study will be presented during an oral abstract session on June 4 at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) recently sold off but will will have updated clinical data from the pivotal PACE trial of ponatinib, its investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) on June 4. The company said that the data will form the basis of its regulatory filings for marketing approval of Ponatinib for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblasatic leukemia.

ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL) and Daiichi Sankyo, Co., Ltd. (Japan) will have an oral presentation at the ASCO Annual Meeting featuring Phase 2 trial data with tivantinib as a single agent investigational second-line treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma. ArQule announced that this randomized, double-blind study met its primary endpoint in January and will now present the full results from this trial, including positive data in the pre-defined c-MET high population. Additional clinical data with tivantinib will be featured in two poster discussions and two general poster sessions.

Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) has recently risen on its lung cancer and melanoma results. The company has three oral presentations at the annual meeting after having already presented Phase 1 data on MEK162 in 28 patients with biliary tract cancer at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in January 2012 showing that it was well tolerated and showed evidence of clinical efficacy in this patient population, including a complete response and a partial response. Stable disease was observed in 12 patients. The company has licensed selumetinib to AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) and licensed MEK162 to Novartis (NYSE: NVS).

Filed under: Biotech, Calendar, Cult Stock, Drug companies, Editor's Picks, Healthcare, Medical Tagged: ABPI, AMGN, ARIA, ARQL, ARRY, AVEO, BMY, BVTI, CLDX, CYCC, CYTR, DNDN, EXEL, GALE, GHDX, GNBT, IMGN, LLY, MYGN, NKTR, NLNK, ONXX, OPTR, PCYC, SGEN, SNSS, SNTA

Biotechs Bucking The Dendreon Trap & Curse (DNDN, VRTX, VVUS, ARNA, ALNY, AMGN, SVNT)

Administrator — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:15:48 +0000

When we issued our earnings previews for the week ahead, it looked as though Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) had a chance of really setting the trend for the entire biotech sector this week. That was before the great news from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) drove the interest for two days.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) said that its total revenue rose almost 200% to $82 million, but that is almost in-line and shows no upside surprise for PROVENGE sales. Despite still having some $559 million in cash and near-term liquidity, a drop of 21% to $9.17 is really not hurting the overall biotech sector anywhere close to as much as we feared it would.

VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is weak after earnings as well as the loss was wider than expected, but it now has some of $333.4 million in cash and short-term now that it raised cash via a secondary offering. This is still in a holding pattern as the current Qnexa NDA final decision is still out to about July 17, 2012. A surprise mover to the upside is Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) with a rally ahead of its FDA meeting for lorcaserin as a weight-loss pill. Arena shares are up 15% at $3.14 against a 52-week range of $1.23 to $3.47 and the current market cap is $571 million.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was up so much on Monday that you would have thought it was a takeover stock rather than a cystic fibrosis drug test that caused the pop. Shares were up huge on Monday and Tuesday is seeing another day of bucking the trend as shares are up 5.3% at $61.20 at yet another 52-week high. Its market cap is now magically almost $13 billion. So far on Tuesday we have seen the following analyst rating changes: Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley; Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo; and Raised to Buy at Needham.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) is one of the upside exception today as J.P. Morgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating. Shares are up almost 5% at $10.44 against a 52-week range of $5.88 to $13.75.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) is a mix somewhere between biotech and pharma and it is following the defensive stocks today with a gain of 0.6% to $70.04 against a 52-week high of $72.00. That new 2.1% dividend yield is offering some cushion it appears.

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT) shows that investors will reward emerging pharma players merely for reaching agreements with creditors, This stock is up 19% at $1.855 on only 2 million shares after it reached an agreement with some creditors to restructure a portion of its debt in a move anticipated to bring the equivalent of $44 million. Its market cap is $131 million and the $1.86 compares to a 52-week range of $1.26 to $9.14.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Biotech, Trading Alert Tagged: ALNY, AMGN, ARNA, DNDN, featured, SVNT, VRTX, VVUS

Top Earnings Previews For Early In The Week Ahead (COP, ILMN, NFLX, TXN, AMGN, AAPL, T, BIDU, COH, JNPR, MMM, RF, X, UTX)

Administrator — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:35:20 +0000

Earnings season is in full swing and we have many key reports due in the coming week. 24/7 Wall St. has provided some detailed previews for the key earnings reports we expect to show in detail on Monday and Tuesday.

We are monitoring earnings reports from the following companies for Monday and Tuesday: ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP); Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN); Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN); Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN); Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL); AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T); Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU); Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH); Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR); 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM); Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF); United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X); and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX).

More earnings report previews will come on Sunday or Monday for the reports due on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Consensus estimates and price targets are from Thomson Reuters. Color has been on added on each if applicable.

MONDAY, April 23

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is set to report Monday morning and the break-up is going to make any real apples to apples comparison difficult to interpret. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $2.07 EPS. Shares are trading around $73.15 and the 52-week range is $58.65 to $81.50; Thomson Reuters had a consensus target as of Friday of $81.05.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) is no market mover with a $5.4 billion market cap, but it is a recent merger candidate even if that appears to be off the table. Earnings estimates are $0.32 EPS and $263.6 million. Shares are trading around $44.00 and the 52-week range is $25.57 to $79.40; Thomson Reuters had a consensus target as of Friday of $52.71.

Filed under: Calendar, Earnings, The Week Tagged: AAPL, AMGN, BIDU, COH, COP, ILMN, JNPR, MMM, NFLX, RF, T, TXN, UTX, X

Dendreon Rises on Takeover Chatter (DNDN, LLY, AMGN)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:46:19 +0000

Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN), maker of prostate cancer drug Provenge, is once again rumored to be a takeover target. As Streetinsider.com points out, the company’s new chairman presided over the Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) takeover of ImClone, which only stokes the rumor mill.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), whose bone pain drug, Xgeva, failed to get an FDA panel’s approval for use as a treatment for prostate cancer, is most often mentioned as a potential suitor for Dendreon. Dendreon’s market cap of around $1.5 billion is well within Amgen’s scope.

Dendreon’s shares are up more than 4.5% at $10.39 in a 52-week range of $6.46-$43.96.

Filed under: Drug companies, Pharmaceuticals, Rumors Tagged: AMGN, DNDN, LLY

How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

247wallst — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:54:30 +0000

You might have already heard the reports that Apple is sitting on a lot of cash, around the $100 billion mark. You might have even read the scores of recommendations about what it should do with all this cash. But America’s largest company — by market cap — is keeping mum on what it is going to do with it. CEO Tim Cook’s recent comment that the cash “is more than we need to run the company” had investors guessing — hoping — that means dividend. This certainly was the case in 2004, when Microsoft was holding a large sum of cash. It paid out a one-time dividend that returned $32 billion to share-owners and instituted a regular quarterly dividend payment thereafter.

Read: How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

And the cash keeps rolling in for Apple. Driven by iPad and iPhone sales, revenue growth has been huge. Analysts at Canaccord Genuity project revenue of $157 billion in 2012, up from $108 billion in 2011. They also estimate that the release of the iPhone 4S lifted Apple’s share of the smartphone industry’s operating profits to 80% last quarter. Quarterly profits will vary, based on new product releases, but an 80% share of the entire industry shows Apple’s ability to charge carriers large premiums compared to its competitors. iPad sales have surpassed Mac sales and are now Apple’s second highest source of revenue. With Apple’s product innovation history and estimated growth, could a $200 billion cash balance be far off?

24/7 Wall St. wanted to see what other companies have large cash holdings, and what, if anything, are they doing with their cash. We focused on the most liquid holdings of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, which mature within one year and are therefore listed as current assets. In Apple’s case, this does not include the $67 billion in long-term marketable securities, those with a maturity date over one year. We excluded banks and companies with large financial service arms that require cash for lending purposes. By this measure, Microsoft is the top holder of cash, with $52 billion.

Short-term cash holdings, by nature, are invested conservatively. Management, overseen by the board of directors, must take “due care” not to put corporate cash at risk. Companies will hold onto cash for a variety of reasons, either for operations, buying assets or as a guard against future downturns. But when holding onto them too long, conservative investments risk losing value to inflation.

24/7 Wall St. gathered information from SEC 10-K and 10-Q filings. All data is for the last reported quarter.

The following lists the 10 top holders of cash. If you want an idea of where to hold your liquid funds, we offer a few highlights of where these companies have parked their money.

Filed under: General, Special Report Tagged: AAPL, AMGN, CSCO, CVX, DELL, GOOG, INTC, KO, MSFT, NVDA, ORCL, QCOM

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GOOG, YNDX, LULU, AMGN, NLY, BDE, FTEK, HK, PAY, DKS, IRDM, SSI, MTN, VRML, EBTX, XOMA, ONTY, ZLTQ)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:05:54 +0000

The three major US equities indexes opened sharply lower this morning and the slide continued pretty much without interruption all day. About half an hour before closing, all three indexes are down more than -1.5% and today looks headed for the worst day for the markets so far this year. A projected -0.3% contraction in eurozone GDP coupled with a slowdown of GDP growth in China to its lowest level in eight years got equities off on the wrong foot this morning, and there was simply no news good enough to turn things around. The dollar opened stronger today, and has continue to gain strength with the dollar index currently up 0.66% at 79.821. The stronger dollar weighed on crude prices, pushing WTI down -1.9% to $104.70/barrel and Brent down -1.51% at $121.93/barrel. Gold settled down -1.9% at $1,672.10, its lowest finish in six weeks.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 204points to 12,759.15 (-1.57%), the NASDAQ fell more than 40 points (-1.36%) to 2,910.32, and the S&P 500 fell -1.54% or nearly 21 points to 1,343.36.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) started as ‘buy’ at Nomura; Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) started as ‘neutral’ at UBS; lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) cut to ‘market perform’ at Bernstein; and Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Black Diamond Inc. (NASDAQ: BDE) is down -2.1% at $8.74; Fuel Tech Inc. (NASDAQ: FTEK) is up 0.18% at $5.61; Halcon Resources Corp. (NASDAQ: HK) is down -4.6% at $10.27; Verifone Systems, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) is up 7.5% at $50.03; Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) is up 2.7% at $46.79 after posting a new 52-week high of $47.42 earlier today; Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) is up 10.8% at $8.20; Stage Stores Inc. (NYSE: SSI) is down -4.6% at $13.69; and Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) is up 4.7% at $43.43.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Vermillion Inc. (NASDAQ: VRML) is up more than 111% at $2.81. The medical device maker received a code-change approval from the American Medical Association that incorporates one of the company’s devices. More coverage here.

Encore Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: EBTX) is up more than 35% at $20.23 after posting a new 52-week high of $20.61 earlier this morning. The bank holding company has been acquired by privately held Cadence Bancorp for about $250 million ($20.62/share).

XOMA Corp. (NASDAQ: XOMA) is up about 30% at $1.89. The biopharmaceutical firm has announced pricing on a share offer of around 29.7 million shares and warrants.

Oncothyreon Inc. (NASDAQ: ONTY) is down nearly -41% at $4.98. The biopharma company reported a significant fourth-quarter EPS miss this morning, along with available cash that will keep the company in operation for about another 12 months.

Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. (NASDAQ: ZLTQ) is down more than -32% at $7.50 after posting a new 52-week low of $7.46 earlier. The medical technology company posted a dismal fourth-quarter earnings report this morning.

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

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
7:30 a.m. – Challenger Gray & Christmas job-cut report
8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
8:30 a.m. – Non-farm business productivity and unit labor costs report
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
3:00 p.m. – Consumer credit

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AMGN, BDE, DKS, EBTX, FTEK, GOOG, HK, IRDM, LULU, MTN, NLY, ONTY, PAY, SSI, VRML, XOMA, YNDX, ZLTQ

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMGN, NLY, GPC, GOOG, LPNT, LULU, NUAN, SUN, YHOO, YNDX)

Administrator — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:09:39 +0000

These are some of this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Genuine Parts Co. (NYSE: GPC) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Started as Buy at Nomura.

LifePoint Hospitals Inc. (NASDAQ: LPNT) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Cut to Hold on valuation at Argus.

Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE: SUN) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) Started as Neutral at Nomura.

Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) Started as Neutral at UBS.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AMGN, GOOG, GPC, LPNT, LULU, NLY, NUAN, SUN, YHOO, YNDX

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AONE, EXPE, RIMM, AMGN, MMM, AAPL, CSCO, AMSC, BG, DNKN, LO, PEP, PM, SIRI, TDC, IPSU, TSL, DMND, GRPN, TLEO, CZR)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:07:40 +0000

The three major US stock indexes opened a bit higher this morning, and after some volatility have managed to get to the final half hour of trading with a modest gain. Some news is leaking out about the Greek debt swap deal being done, but what’s being reported is not likely to be welcomed in by ordinary Greeks. The dollar has been down most of the day as everyone seemed to believe an announcement on the Greek debt deal was imminent. The dollar index is down -0.187% — a slight uptick from its lower level this morning — at 78.591. Crude oil is up strongly, with WTI crude up 1.15% at $99.85/barrel and Brent crude up 1.16% at $118.56/barrel. Gold settled up 0.6% at $1,741.20/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 7 points to 12,890.61 (0.05%), the NASDAQ rose more than 11 points (0.39%) to 2,927.23, and the S&P 500 rose 0.15% or 2 points to 1,351.96.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including A123 Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) cut to ‘sell’ at Wunderlich; Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) cut to ‘hold’ at S&P Capital IQ; Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) reiterated as ‘hold’ with $15 target price at Cannacord Genuity; Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) cut to ‘perform’ at Oppenheimer and named ‘Bull of the Day’ at Zacks; and 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) got a lift from a target price increase to $665, which we cover here. We’ve also got a story on how Apple gets 80% of the operating profit among all the phone makers.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is down -2.1% at $20.00 (here’s our coverage); American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC) is down -8.74% at $5.50; Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) is up 5.9% at $63.25; Dunkin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) is down -2.35% at $28.33; Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO) is up 9.8% at $124.46 after posting a new 52-week high of $127.68 earlier today; Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is down -3.6% at $64.37 (our coverage here); Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) is up 2.8% at $80.08 after setting a new 52-week high of $80.99 earlier today; Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is nearly flat at $2.19 (additional coverage here); and Teradata Corp. (NYSE: TDC) is up 10% at $63.85 after posting a new 52-week high earlier today of $64.97.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Imperial Sugar Co. (NASDAQ: IPSU) is up more than 79% at $6.02. The sugar refiner and marketer said it is nearing a sale of one of its divisions.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is up 20% at $11.08. The solar panel maker is getting a big boost from a report that China will add about 3,000 megawatts of solar PV generation this year, although some analysts think the total will be double that. Other Chinese solar panel makers are also getting a nice bump from the news. We have another view of the sudden rise here.

Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) is down more than -36% at $23.36 after posting a new 52-week low of $21.44 earlier today. The snack food maker will re-state accounting and that jeopardizes the deal to purchase the Pringles brand from Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG). See our coverage here.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) is down more than -15% at $20.82. The Internet coupon company posted weak earnings last night. See our coverage here.

Taleo Corp. (NASDAQ: TLEO) is up more than 17% at $45.62 after posting a new 52-week high of $45.71. The maker of cloud-based software is being acquired by Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL). More coverage here and here.

Ceasars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR) is down about -3.8% at $14.80. The share price nearly doubled at yesterday’s IPO, to a high of $17.90, but the stock is coming back to earth today.

Stay tuned for Friday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Cleveland Fed president Sandra Pianalto are speakingWe have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – International trade report
9:55 a.m. – Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment report
2:00 p.m. – US Treasury budget report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AAPL, AMGN, AMSC, AONE, BG, CSCO, CZR, DMND, DNKN, EXPE, GRPN, IPSU, LO, MMM, PEP, PM, RIMM, SIRI, TDC, TLEO, TSL

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.

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: AAPL, AMGN, AONE, AUO, ELN, EXPE, IR, MMM, MRH, NYX, POST, RIMM, SOHU

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (XOM, NKE, POT, TSLA, AMGN, RRC, AXE, ARMH, CE, LLY, HP, LLL, MHP, MAT, PFE, VLO, VRNG, RSH, PAY, REE, FFN)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:06:33 +0000

All three major indexes opened higher this morning, but the strength didn’t last as the Chicago PMI number failed to meet expectations and came in lower even than last month’s reading. The lower reading on consumer confidence also supported sellers this morning. Nothing of note was concluded on the Greek debt swap, so that had little effect on the market one way or the other. Oil major Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) reported earnings in-line with expectations, that wasn’t good enough for investors today (our coverage here). Crude oil is mixed today, with WTI crude down -0.32% at $98.46/barrel and Brent crude higher by 0.31% at $111.09/barrel. Gold closed today at $1,738.10/ounce, having gained 11% this month (our view here).

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 21 points to 12,632.91 (-0.16%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 2 points (0.07%) to 2,813.84, and the S&P 500 fell -0.05% or less than 1 point to 1,312.40.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) raised to ‘buy’ at Argus; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) cut to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) started as ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $80 at Argus; and Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) raised to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’ with a target price of $59 at Canaccord Genuity.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Anixter Inc. (NYSE: AXE) is down -3.7% at $65.25; ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) is up 1.7% at $28.84; Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE) is down -0.95% at $48.84; Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) is up 1.35% at $39.78; Exxon Mobil is down -1.98% at $83.80; Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP) is up 2.2% at $61.64; L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LLL) is up 1.3% at $70.49; McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc. (NYSE: MHP) is down -0.5% at $46.09; Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) is up 5.1% at $31.04 after posting a new 52-week high today of $31.49; Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is down -0.8% at $21.42; and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is down -0.73% at $24.10.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Vringo Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG) is up nearly 21% at $1.40. The social media software maker is apparently basking in the glow of the coming IPO of Facebook. See our coverage here.

RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) is down nearly -30% at $7.19 after setting a new 52-week low of $7.15 earlier today. The social media software maker is apparently basking in the glow of the coming IPO of Facebook. See our coverage here.

Verifone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) is up more than 8% at $42.61. The payment systems maker is getting a boost from a plan by Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) to subsidize the installation of new card readers that use a microchip rather than a magnetic stripe to store customer information.

Rare Element Resources Ltd. (AMEX: REE) is up more than 17% at $7.22. The rare earth minerals miner is likely gaining after a ruling from the WTO that China’s restriction on rare earth minerals’ exports violates global trade rules.

FriendFinder Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFN) is up about 19% at $1.26. The adult social media company is likely also being bought up on the prospective Facebook IPO.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Automakers will be releasing sales figures for January throughout the day. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
7:30 a.m. – Challenger Job-cut data
8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
10:00 a.m. – ISM manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – Construction spending
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AMGN, ARMH, AXE, CE, FFN, HP, LLL, LLY, MAT, MHP, NKE, PAY, PFE, POT, REE, RRC, RSH, TSLA, VLO, VRNG, XOM