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

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

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Paul Ausick

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than -389 points to 11,780.94 (-3.2%), the NASDAQ fell nearly -106 points (-3.88%) to 2,621.65, and the S&P 500 fell -3.67% or nearly -47 points to 1,229.10.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) cut to ‘sell’ at Janney; H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) raised to ‘outperform’ at Oppenheimer; Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) cut to ‘hold’ at S&P Capital IQ; Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; and Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/ML.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is up down about -10%, at $22.48; A123 Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) is down less than -1%, at $3.09; IntraLinks Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: IL) is down more than -37%, at $5.50, after posting a new 52-week low of $5.44 earlier today; Blue Nile Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE) is down nearly -16%, at $33.24; Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) is down more than -19%, at $8.80; and Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE: NP) is up more than 12%, at $18.84.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) is down more than -32%, to $0.41. The company has said that it will suspend manufacturing and cut 500 jobs. Excess inventory of solar panels gets the blame.

U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTS)  is down  more than -22%, at $3.94, after posting a new 52-week low of $3.66 earlier in the day. The company received a waiver from one of its lenders for failing to meet coverage ratio requirements.

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) is down about -1.1%, at $76.44, after posting a new 52-week high of $77.95 earlier today. We noted the company’s performance earlier today in an article on auto sector implied gains.

American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC)) is up nearly 10%, to $4.49. The company reported earnings today, and its growing order backlog indicates a possible turnaround following the loss of its biggest customer earlier this year.

Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. (NYSE: NOR) is down more than -16%, at $8.51. The company will pay a special dividend of $1/share to shareholders of record as of yesterday’s close. That pushed the shares down a buck this morning, and the rest is due to the overall market decline today.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) is down more than -8%, at $28.78. The bank claimed the largest decline among the big US banks today.

Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is down nearly -8%, at $2.17. There was no special news from Beazer today, but the threatened burst of new foreclosures soon to hit the housing market have had a nasty effect on this lower-priced builder.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank president Dennis Lockhart is giving a speech in the morning and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a town hall meeting with soldiers and their families at Fort Bliss, Texas, at 11:45 a.m. We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – International trade balance report
• 8:30 a.m. – Initial unemployment benefits claims
• 8:30 a.m. – Monthly import/export price report
• 9:45 a.m. – Bloomberg consumer comfort index
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA natural gas inventory report
• 2:00 p.m. – Monthly US Treasury budget report
• 4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply report

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Paul Ausick

Many investors might have guessed that Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE: ARO), Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM), and The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) are among the worst performers.  Their performance has been atrocious, but the Finviz screener showed many companies which have performed far worse.

There are many companies under $100 million in value or which are illiquid which have fallen even more.  This group was focused on companies that trade with a market capitalization of more than $100 million and we screened out the companies which are either not liquid of roughly 200,000 shares a day.  We also screened out the Chinese companies and their accounting woes, with one exception.  This list of doozies here also had one critical threshold: the stocks are all down by 75% or more from the start of 2011.

American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC) has become the boulevard of broken dreams for investors.  The trouble goes even beyond alternative energy woes.  It is suing the Chinese customer who refused to pay, but the ongoing issue is that the customer was just too large of ASC’s customer base for it to adequately hedge against. At $5.22, the 52-week trading range is $5.10 to $38.88. That might make some people cry.  Shares are down more than 82% from the start of 2011 and the performance has been only red.  The market cap is still amazingly about $265 million and it usually trades more than 1.2 million shares each day.

Camelot Information Systems Inc. (NYSE: CIS) came public last year in October and investors probably wished they never heard of the enterprise application services and financial industry information technology services player in China.  A slowing bank spending climate hurt there even before Americans had to throw almost anything related to China in “the accounting soup” during this last summer and before.  Camelot trades close to $4.65 and the 52-week trading range is $4.00 to $28.18.  The stock is still worth more than $210 million and the shares are down right at 80% so far in 2011.  Camelot trades close to 800,000 shares a day.

Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO) is a Bermuda-based shipper that transports crude in very large crude containers and it also transports coal and iron ore in vessels that its owns or leases.  Its business model is such that analysts expect losses in 2011 and in 2012.  It has slashed its dividend and shrunk the operation’s footprint.  Frontline trades at $6.02, its 52-week trading range is $5.72 to $29.47, and its market cap is $468 million.  Frontline also trades more than 2 million shares a day on average.  Unfortunately, this one is down about 76% year to date.

Motricity, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOTR) has technically fallen out of the $100 million market capitalization rate, but only since yesterday.  What is so sad here is that this was a mid-2010 IPO that rallied handily toward the end of 2010 when shares briefly hit $30.00.  That was then for the mobile ad solutions provider aimed at allowing ad agencies to better focus on the mobile market.   You hate to see a stock come public, ramp higher, and then fall to $2.00 the following year.  The company is expected to lose money this year and next year.  At $2.12, the 52-week trading range is $1.85 to $31.95, and its market cap is $96 million after a 4% drop on Monday.  The stock’s average volume is about 2 million shares per day.  This one leads the pack of post-IPO losers as it is down 89% year-to-date in 2011.

SemiLEDs Corporation (NASDAQ: LEDS) designs and manufactures light emitting diodes chips and components used in many lighting settings.  Unfortunately, the promise of growth in lighting efficiency peaked and 2011 has so far been a very rough year for this company and its peers as even the industry leaders have had many warnings on their revenues and earnings.  At $4.51, the 52-week trading range is $4.16 to $32.12.  It also trades about 200,000 shares per day and the market cap is roughly $123 million.  You could joke that SemiLEDS went dark in 2011 because the stock is down 84% year-to-date.

MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE: MTG) should be called “Black Magic” rather than “Magic” these days. With new mortgage applications so low and with the private mortgage insurance sales being so soft in home mortgage lending, what is there to love here?  The question is whether or not it can get to profitability before the business erodes out from under it.  That this used to be a $70 stock no longer matters as no one expects that to ever be the case again and finding any great prospects in this housing market is more than difficult.  Shares are now down to $2.36 after another 5% drop on Monday, but the 52-week trading range is $1.59 to $11.79.  MGIC still trades more than 7 million shares a day on average and the market capitalization is almost $475 million.  Shares are down more than 76% year-to-date.

Before you get too far down on stocks over poor performance, we have noted time after time that many value fund managers review the list of 52-week lows as one of the first tasks in their value screens.  Not all losing stocks die, but finding value in highly troubled businesses is often more than challenging.  As you have guessed, none of these stocks fit in as value stocks as they have underlying trouble in their businesses.  Sometimes “cheap stocks” are not really cheap.

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From an investor’s point of view, the most interesting is a lawsuit filed in China by American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC) seeking civil and criminal penalties against what was once the company’s largest customer, Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. Sinovel’s refusal to take contracted shipments and to pay for shipments delivered in 2010 have put a serious dent in American Superconductor’s business. Now the US company is suing, complaining that Sinovel illegally obtained and used American Superconductor’s intellectual property. A form employee of the US company has been arrested in Austria for passing the Sinovel source code that allowed the Chinese company to upgrade their 1.5-megawatt turbines.

For its part, Sinovel has denied the charges, claiming that American Superconductor didn’t meet Sinovel’s contract or grid connection requirements. Sinovel claims that American Superconductor has failed to adapt to the fast-changing demands of the Chinese wind power market since 2006. That’s an odd defense given that Sinovel has been paying for this shoddy stuff.

On a different note, New York utility Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED) and two local utilities have have filed a lease application with the federal government for a proposed 700-megawatt wind farm offshore of Long Island’s Rockaway Peninsula. Costs for such a project could easily reach $4 billion. But this is just the first step in a lengthy approval process.

Complications to new wind generation may come from recent studies that indicate wind generation may not reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, due to the need for load balancing, which causes coal- and gas-fired plants to start and stop more often, this cycle generates more CO2 than would be emitted if the gas and coal plants were just left running and the wind power generation were shut off.

One answer to this problem could be the new gas-fired design from General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE). The so-called FlexEfficiency 50 is specifically designed to operate efficiently through many start-stop cycles. Conventional power plants are designed to operate efficiently at a pre-determined point, and any ups or downs make the plant less efficient and more polluting.

American Superconductor’s shares are up about 1.5% this morning, on a very down day for the overall market. Shares are trading at $5.41, in a 52-week range of $5.10-$38.88.

Paul Ausick

Germany’s Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) already sells 2.3- and 3-megawatt direct drive turbines and Denmark’s Vestas Wind Energy Systems A/S (OTC: VWDRY) plans to build a 7-megawatt turbine using a gearbox for mass production by 2015. The GE turbine, more than double the generating capacity of the Vestas machine, is being developed in a two-year program sponsored by the US Department of Energy with a $3 million grant.

Superconducting magnets are made from niobium and other metals wound with superconducting wire. A maker of superconducting wire like American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC) or SuperPower Inc., a subsidiary of Dutch giant Phillips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG). Though direct drive superconductor-based turbines are more expensive in smaller sizes, the reductions in size, weight, and speed as more generation capacity is added makes the direct drive turbines more economical at the larger sizes.

Another advantage of the direct drive turbines is that they use less of the scarce and expensive rare earth elements than the amounts needed for the permanent magnets that are used in gear-drive turbines. That, too, will help keep the cost down.

GE’s announcement doesn’t go into a lot of detail, but there is at least one thing that will chill enthusiasm for the new larger turbines: the giant direct-drive turbines will almost certainly require longer blades. The press release mentions the subject obliquely when it notes that other key technologies it is working on include “lighter, more advanced composite materials to enable longer wind blades that enhance wind capture.” The direct drive turbines compensate for that somewhat by developing more torque at lower rotation speeds. But the longer blades also mean taller towers, which to many people just adds to the eyesore factor of wind turbines.

The 15-megawatt turbines are very likely years away from mass production, and perhaps even further away from mass acceptance. Still, it could signal a technological resurgence in the US wind energy business.

Paul Ausick

First Solar reported yesterday that five of its executives purchased 5,500 shares on the open market at a total cost of around $500,000.  Shares of First Solar are up nearly 3% in the first half hour of trading this morning. Banging the drum seems to have worked.

The company that has generated the most insider buying is MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR), where company executives purchased 450,000 shares earlier this month and have added another 100,000 since. Chinese solar makers don’t file SEC Forms 3 and 4, so it’s difficult to get information on companies like LDK Solar Inc. (NYSE: LDK) and JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), which have seen share prices crumble recently.

One big player in the ethanol industry, Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) reported purchases of nearly 10,000 shares last week by two company officers and one director. That’s pretty small potatoes for a company with an outstanding float of more than 637 million shares.

One of the largest investors in alt energy stocks has been Kevin Douglas, who is not exactly an insider, but who has been piling into two alt energy companies specifically in the past two years. One is American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC), where Douglas has amassed a stake of nearly 23% in the company, much of it since the beginning of 2011. Douglas also bought up about the same amount of stock in Westport Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ: WPRT) in 2010, a technology provider for alternative fuels and emissions controls on buses and trucks.

Most of Douglas’s purchases of AMSC stock came when the share price was about $20/share, compared with the current price of less than $6.50. His investment in Westport came when the shares were below $20/share, and shares are now trading around $23/share.

GT Advanced Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT), formerly GT Global International Inc., has arguably been the most successful alt energy stock this year, but it has now pulled back from highs above $17/share in early July. There’s been no insider buying, but if the price of the stock continues falling that could change.

Paul Ausick

The company plans to lay off 150 workers, about 20% of its workforce, and will not be able to file its first fiscal quarterly report on time. American plans to submit a plan to Nasdaq by next week to bring the company back into compliance with listing requirements. Layoffs could rise to a total of 30% of the company’s workforce.

American also fired two senior executives yesterday, its executive vice-president for operations and grid segment and its senior vice-president for global manufacturing operations. The company also announced that it expects to report a large net loss for the quarter ended June 30th, and expects to report revenues of less than $10 million, down from nearly $100 million in the same period a year ago.

For all the company’s troubles it still has an ace in the hole. American is virtually the only global supplier of high-temperature superconducting wire, an product that is approximately 100 times more efficient as a conductor of electricity than copper. As improvements are made to electrical grids around the world, American is positioned to get a substantial portion of the orders for the new high capacity wire.

Unfortunately, the only large order that American has received for its wire came about a year ago, with the announcement that South Korea had ordered 1,800 miles of the stuff to upgrade its national grid. The executive in charge of the company’s grid segment just paid the price for that failure.

American needs to push this wire and this technology if it is going to stand a chance of surviving. The wind turbine business is essentially lost to low-cost Chinese providers. Perhaps American has been so distracted by the Sinovel mess that it lost its momentum in the superconducting wire business. Whatever happened, the company needs to re-focus on its superior technology and let go of its me-too stuff.

Amazingly shares in American are trading up nearly 2% in the first hour of trading this morning, at $6.34, in a 52-week range of $5.38-$38.88.

Paul Ausick

The new rule eliminates some of the uncertainty related to grid improvements and clears the way for what could be the beginning of a concerted effort to put the US grid on a path to becoming a smart grid. Potential beneficiaries are large transmission and connection construction firms like General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB), and Siemens AG (NYSE: SI). Component suppliers like American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC), Satcon Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: SATC), and Power-One Inc. (NASDAQ: PWER).

The primary beneficiaries of the FERC ruling will be wind and solar projects that are typically located in remote areas far from existing transmission lines. Large solar developers like First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) and MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) should also benefit from the new rules because it will make it easier for them to sell new power generation.

Also Read: Expanded SunCoke IPO Unlocks Sunoco’s Value

The rule requires that transmission operators include regional planning, consider public policy requirements, and consult with neighboring transmission operators to ensure the cost-effectiveness of new transmission lines. The tricky bit was always the question of who pays for the development, and the new rule answers that as well.

The FERC ruling now levies the cost of building new transmission more directly on the utility customers who benefit from the additional supply. New electricity generation in Montana, for example, does not serve the people of Montana, but rather those who live in Las Vegas and Southern California. Yet under the old rules Montana customers paid for the transmission lines to carry the electricity to points south.

While the rule applies specifically to public utilities, it will also benefit merchant power suppliers that have already have access to the grid, but are often crowded out by public utilities. Under the new rule, new grid capacity is virtually guaranteed because if the regional operators fail to come up with a plan for new transmission, then the FERC will.

Like most FERC rules, there is little sex appeal in this one. But its impact is relatively long-term and, as always, the devil is in the details. In any event, a more efficient, effective, and robust US electricity grid got a much-needed boost yesterday.

Paul Ausick

Another struggling company, Evergreen Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: ESLR) reported a -60% drop in sales for the first quarter of 2011 and has now received a deficiency letter from Nasdaq that the company no longer meets the $1/share minimum stock price and will be delisted unless the situation is corrected by next January 3rd.

One of the hottest solar stocks of recent days has been GT Solar International Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), which has announced several large orders for its solar manufacturing products. A new research report has now predicted a drop of -47% in manufacturing equipment sales in 2012. And solar PV maker ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) has cut its guidance for the rest of 2011.

American Superconductor’s problems with Sinovel have been well documented and should be no surprise.  The writedown totals $74.7 million against previously stated revenues of $215.7 million. The company also said it expects revenues for its fiscal year ending in March 2011 to total just $307 million, far below the current Street estimate of $360 million, and more than -30% below original estimates.

The revenue loss is perhaps the least of the company’s worries. Because American Superconductor had booked the revenue before it was received, the company faces more uncertainty about its accounting practices. The company did say that it should have used a cash-based method of accounting. Shares are down more than -5%, at $8.08, having bounced back from an intra-day low of $7.44, virtually at the bottom of the 52-week range of $7.40-$38.88.

Evergreen’s announcement should also have been no surprise. In its SEC filing the company noted that if the shares are delisted, “the holders of its existing convertible notes will have the right to require the Company to repurchase their notes, which it is almost certain the Company would be unable to do. Such a default under the Company’s obligations to its note holders would likely cause the Company to file for bankruptcy.”

GT Solar has been a high flyer in the solar sector, posting a new 52-week high earlier this month. The company’s shares are getting beaten down nearly -9% today following a loss of more than -4% yesterday. Capacity expansions at solar PV makers have been driving GT Solar’s share price increases, but those capacity boosts are expected to result in serious oversupply by the end of this year and into the next two. Demand for more manufacturing equipment is expected to drop as well.

ReneSola shares are off more than -5% following the company’s pull back on quarterly revenue and gross margins. The revenue forecast for the June quarter was reduced from $280-$300 million to $235-$245 million. Analysts had been expecting $287 million. The forecast for gross margin fell from 25%-27% to 17%-19%.

The Guggenheim Solar ETF (NYSE: TAN) is also falling today, down more than -3.5%, to $6.46, after posting a new 52-week low of $6.44. The new range is %6.44-$9.34.

Paul Ausick