24/7 Wall St. » AMTD

American Companies with the Most Customers

Charles B. Stockdale — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:37:51 +0000

Last week, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced that it sold 35.1 million iPhones worldwide in the latest quarter. The figure is large, but not extraordinary. Some consumer products and consumer electronics companies sell their products to a considerably larger number of customers — in the U.S. alone. 24/7 Wall St. examined the corporations operating in the largest U.S. consumer-based industries to find the largest companies based on customer count.

Read The American Companies With the Most Customers

The customer bases of many of these companies are in the tens of millions. Each company operates in an industry that provides a product or a service to an extremely wide spectrum of American consumers. The leader in each sector reached its position through innovation, longevity or some combination of the two.

Each of the industries on this list serves a very large base of customers. For example, there are thousands of retailers, serving pretty much the entire population, but only Costco is the leader in membership with over 65 million members. Founded in 1983, Costco (NASDAQ: COST) is a relatively new company. It became a success largely because it charges customers a membership fee for access to its stores and in exchange offers extremely low prices that are never marked up more than 15% above the price Costco pays.

Some industries are huge, but only have a small number of competitors. While there are only a handful of national wireless carriers, there are over 330 million wireless subscriptions in the U.S. — more than the population itself. But there are only four competitors of any size — AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon Wireless, Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile. Each company has to battle for a share of a market that is no longer growing. The weapons the companies use to gain market share are products, customer service and price. AT&T is the leader. Its share of the market is based to some extent on history. It is a descendant from the original AT&T phone monopoly. But without strong products and intelligent pricing there is no assurance it can stay ahead of number two competitor Verizon Wireless.

24/7 Wall St. examined 10 of America’s largest consumer industries and the customer counts for the biggest two or three companies in each sector. We then reviewed the history of each industry in an attempt to find how the top company in each reached its leadership position. To rank the companies, 24/7 Wall St. took each leader and compared it in size to the leaders in the other industries chosen. We used company and industry data to confirm customer counts. Each company in this ranking is the largest company in its industry, based on customer count.

These are the American Companies with the Most Customers.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Special Report Tagged: AAPL, AMTD, AMZN, AXP, CMCSA, COST, CVC, DAL, DFS, EBAY, ETFC, featured, LUV, MA, MSFT, NWS, S, SCHW, SNE, T, TWX, V, VZ

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AAPL, SCHW, ETN, ETFC, FFIV, HBAN, LNKD, MJN, PIR, GOLD, SBAC, AMTD, TYC, DIS, BAC, C, JPM)

Administrator — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:09:10 +0000

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

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Cut to Neutral at BTIG.

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN) named the value stock of the day at Zacks.

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN) Reiterated Neutral at Zacks.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Started as Hold at Needham.

Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE: MJN) Reiterated Outperform with $82 target at Credit Suisse.

Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) Maintained Hold but raised estimates at Argus.

Randgold Resources Limited (NASDAQ: GOLD) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: SBAC) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) Raised to Buy at Argus.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Credit Suisse has previewed top banks and noted on Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM): “We look BAC, C and JPM to benefit from improved trading in 1Q.” The firm talked up loan growth and demand and sees attractive valuations with improved profitability and greater capital deployment.

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: Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, AMTD, BAC, C, DIS, ETFC, ETN, FFIV, gold, HBAN, JPM, LNKD, MJN, PIR, SBAC, SCHW, TYC

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AAPL, BLK, BWLD, COH, CPO, GM, KBH, KR, MSFT, MS, NTRS, RHT, SBAC, SNV, AMTD, VE)

Administrator — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:19:20 +0000

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

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has seen targets raised this morning by Oppenheimer to $700 and by UBS to $675; see the strange downgrade from Thursday.

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) Cut to Neutral at Wedbush.

Coach. Inc. (NYSE: COH) Raised estimates and target to $83 from $75 at Credit Suisse; Started as Buy with $90 target at Argus.

Corn Products International Inc. (NYSE: CPO) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) Cut target to $29 from $30 at Jefferies.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Raised to Buy with $39 target at Argus.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) Started as Neutral with $49 target at BofA/ML.

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

SBAC Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: SBAC) named as Top Pick at Credit Suisse.

Synovus Financial Corporation (NYSE: SNV) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE) Raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, AMTD, BLK, BWLD, COH, CPO, GM, KBH, KR, MS, MSFT, NTRS, RHT, SBAC, SNV, VE

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (FDX, BHP, INTC, TSLA, PNRA, MMR, AMTD, WFC, C, CHKP, KUTV, CNVO, VQ, RRD, CCL)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:09:27 +0000

The markets opened higher this morning and all three major indexes have managed to hold onto most of their gains of the early morning. The S&P 500 index topped 1,300 for the first time since last summer, but hasn’t been able to remain at that level. The US dollar is trading weaker against the euro, but stronger against both the British pound and the Japanese yen. The dollar index is down a bit more than -0.5% at 81.071. Energy companies have done well today, even though natural gas prices have fallen below $2.50/thousand cubic feet. WTI crude oil is up nearly 2% at $100.62/barrel, while Brent crude is up only fractionally at $111.38/barrel. Gold is up more than 1% at $1,650.70.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 60 points to 12,482.22 (0.48%), the NASDAQ rose more than 17 points (0.64%) to 2,728.08, and the S&P 500 rose 0.35% or nearly 5 points to 1,293.66.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) cut to ‘hold’ at Jefferies; BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) started as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) raised to ‘buy’ at Wunderlich; and Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: McMoRan Exploration Co. (NYSE: MMR) is up 4.55% at $13.32; TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: AMTD) is down -1.72% at $16.02; Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is up 0.67% at $29.81; Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is down nearly -8% at $28.29; and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) is up nearly 8% at $54.93.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Ku6 Media Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: KUTV) is up nearly 154% at $3.50. The Chinese online video company has signed an agreement with Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) to offer international viewers a Chinese video channel on YouTube.

Convio Inc. (NASDAQ: CNVO) is up nearly 48% at $15.89, after setting a new 52-week high earlier. The provider of software to non-profit organizations has agreed to be acquired by Blackbaud Inc. (NASDAQ: BLKB) for $16/share, or about $312 million.

Venoco Inc. (NYSE: VQ) is up nearly 31% at $10.05. The independent oil and gas company is being taken private by its CEO. We have more coverage here.

R.R. Donnelly & Sons Co. (NYSE: RRD) is down nearly -16% at $12.12 after posting a new 52-week low of $12.08 earlier. The business services company said revenues for 2011 are going to be lower than expected.

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) is down nearly -14% at $29.57. The cruise ship operator is sinking following the disaster off the Italian coast that has left 11 dead and 29 missing. We have more coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Federal Reserve Bank governor Daniel Tarullo is giving a speech. We have the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association mortgage applications
8:30 a.m. – Producer price index
9:15 a.m. – Federal Reserve report on industrial production
10:00 a.m. – Housing market index

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AMTD, BHP, C, CCL, CHKP, CNVO, FDX, INTC, KUTV, MMR, PNRA, RRD, TSLA, VQ, WFC

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AGCO, APOL, BSX, CECO, DNDN, FDX, GS, HUN, ITW, INTC, KSS, SNDK, AMTD, TRV, UPS, URBN, VOD, HOGS)

Administrator — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:19:44 +0000

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

AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Reiterated Outperform and Raised Target to $60 at Credit Suisse.
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Maintained Hold but lowered estimates at Argus.
Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ: CECO) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Reiterated Neutral with $10 target at Baird.
FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Cut to Market Perform by Wells Fargo.
Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Illinois Tool Works. Inc. (NYSE: ITW) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS) Cut to Hold at Argus.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Raised to Buy at Stern Agee.
TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Started as Underperform and named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Vodafone Group PLC (NYSE: VOD) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Zhongpin, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOGS) Started as outperform at Oppenheimer.

If you enjoyed this morning’s Wall Street research notes, you can sign up to receive these directly in your inbox each morning by joining our free email list in the box below. We also include major movers, key stock calls, news on Warren Buffett and other gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AGCO, AMTD, APOL, BSX, CECO, DNDN, FDX, GS, HOGS, HUN, INTC, ITW, KSS, SNDK, TRV, UPS, URBN, VOD

E*TRADE Can’t Find M&A (ETFC, GS, SCHW, AMTD, MS)

Administrator — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:35:54 +0000

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) was one we had on the calendar because this was the day that it was due to meet with its Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) as its financial advisor for conducting a review of strategic alternatives. Unfortunately, E*TRADE’s great strategic plan is going to be to continue on a path all on its own. This move is going to be viewed as a huge disappointment by those investors who believed that Charles Schwab Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHW) or TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) were likely acquirers.

Previously, we had suggested that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) or even Morgan Stanley (NYSE: GS) could have been considered as possible acquirers since they had become bank holding companies yet had zero banking operations. That time has long-passed that either Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley would be potential acquirers.

E*TRADE’s review of strategic alternatives started in early August with an intent to maximize shareholder value. One strategy was a possible sale. The company’s noted, “…the Board unanimously determined that the continued execution of the company’s business plan is currently the best alternative for increasing stockholder value.”

Steven Freiberg, CEO and Interim Chairman also noted, “We will remain focused on delivering the best investing experience to our customers, strengthening our brokerage business, continuing to improve the performance of our loan portfolio and enhancing our franchise.”

The board of directors must have been looking at its stock charts upside down because continuing its path as is to maximize shareholder value hasn’t worked. In July this was a $16.00 stock in hope that a deal would come. Shares closed down 3.4% at $9.48 today, and the after-hours session has E*TRADE down another 4% at $9.10.

E*TRADE got far too creative during the mortgage boom and when the bubble popped it nearly assassinated this company. Now E*TRADE continues to try to wind down many of its old legacy loans and accounts, and while things have improved there the company has not been able to walk away entirely from its prior follies.

It seems that buyers must have felt the liabilities could still be an unknown or that the black hole just goes too deep. Its core business is an attractive one, but right now E*TRADE cannot even make good money on customers cash deposits just like its peers with short-term rates at next to zero.

E*TRADE has to remain on its own, and those who were pressing for a buyout will just have to invest in the company based upon its own internal merits.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Banking, Brokerage Firms, Financial Stocks, Mergers and Buy Outs, Rumors, Turnarounds Tagged: AMTD, ETFC, GS, MS, SCHW

Rethinking of E*TRADE as Buyout Bait (ETFC, SCHW, AMTD, GS, MS)

Administrator — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:17:55 +0000

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) has been discussed by many market pundits as a takeover target since the recovery out of the recession. The online brokerage giant has been doing almost everything that it can to improve its problem loans and credit areas of the business. It is still hindered by a total lack of ability to make any money on customer cash balances due to the FOMC’s low (or no) short-term interest rates. Shares are back in interest after Doug Kass called this one as likely succumbing to pressure from Citadel’s Ken Griffin to sell itself.

Kass noted on Thursday evening on CNBC that it is his largest position because he thought that Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) or TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) would be an acquirer of the company.

To highlight just how long E*TRADE has been in the buyout camp, we have noted back as far as the days of the crash in 2008 and 2009 that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) or even Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), more likely the former rather than the latter, could step in to buy E*TRADE to take care of their “bank holding company status” when you consider that they have no real banking operations to speak of. We have also noted that this could be bait when shares were far lower and even higher now that the last two months have proved to be so brutal.

This summer Goldman Sachs, in an analyst call (not an investment banker call), noted a higher target due to what it felt was a 30% chance of M&A heading its way. It was also this summer that we put a maximum value at $20.00 per share in a buyout at the time and Thomson Reuters had a consensus price target objective at the time of roughly $16.50 at the time. The problem with an E*TRADE buyout today is that its shares have pulled back incredibly hard in recent months losing half of its value since mid-July.

Even after a 2% gain to $9.05 today, the 52-week range is $7.74 to $18.13. Now analysts have a consensus price target down closer to $14.00. That old $20.00 max buyout price would have to be lowered. It might have to be lowered considerably. Investors just are not willing to value stocks at the same multiples today and a would-be acquirer would be expected to be in the same boat.

E*TRADE is now doubling its sales force to go after more and more of its trading clients for a larger piece of their business. Retirement plans and other services seem to be the push. Now that the stock has fallen precipitously, the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates are $0.67 EPS for 2011 and $0.89 EPS for 2012. This represents a far more fair valuation where a buyer would not have to pay a ridiculous premium nor would a buyer have to pay a ridiculously excessive earnings multiple to acquire E*TRADE. Still, anything closer to the summer levels might not make that “affordability” grade make the cut.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Banking, Brokerage Firms, Financial Stocks, Mergers and Buy Outs, Rumors Tagged: AMTD, ETFC, GS, MS, SCHW

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADTN, AGN, AAPL, ADP, ABX, C, EXPE, GILD, LNKD, MA, NOK, OPEN, PWRD, RIMM, RGLD, TSM, AMTD, VECO)

Administrator — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:07:20 +0000

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

Adtran Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) Reiterated Buy and $49 target at Argus.
Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Maintained Buy with $490 target at BofA/ML.
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NYSE: ADP) Reiterated Buy and $60 Target at Argus.
Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX) named value stock of the day at Zacks.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Started as Overweight at Barclays.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Raised to Buy at Societe Generale.
OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Started as Underweight at Barclays.
Perfect World Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: PWRD) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Market Perform at Raymond James; Maintained Neutral but cut target to $30 at BofA/ML.
Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, ABX, ADP,, ADTN, AGN, AMTD, C, EXPE, GILD, LNKD, MA, NOK, OPEN, PWRD, RGLD, RIMM, TSM, VECO

Selecting A Peak Buyout Price for E*TRADE (ETFC, AMTD, SCHW, GS, MS)

Administrator — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:36:41 +0000

24/7 Wall St. has long considered E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) as a buyout candidate in the world of online brokerage firms. The company made some big gambles in an effort to resemble a bank in years past and its mortgage and loan portfolio really acted as a huge drag during the recession. Now the company is under review after Citadel went activist on it and word is out that TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) is meeting over whether or not it will make an outreach for the company. When news came out that Citadel was pressuring the company last week, our first outlook was that any premium may be an overvaluation. What we want to find now is just how much premium a buyer can afford to pay before shareholders revolt.

We have gone as far in the past saying that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) might consider making a play for E*TRADE. That is just not realistic at all in today’s post-blowup financial world. After all, Goldman Sachs is a bank holding company that technically has no real banking operations for the public. The time has come and gone for that to be a reality. The other two contenders for making a play are Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). Realistically, Morgan Stanley might have a hard time getting approved by regulators to even consider making an acquisition after the financial mess.

One big problem in analyzing the valuation of any of these companies is that there are many legacy accounts that can skew calculated values if you just consider current or active accounts. There is also the 80/20 rule in business that is probably a 90/10 rule in online brokerages… instead of 80% of the value being based upon 20% of total clients, it may be that 90% of the real value comes from only 10% of the clients. We have tried to highlight the different calculations from to firm as a result of the reported variations from firm to firm.

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) was screened with a pre-earnings return on equity (ROE) of only about 1.6% and a forward price to earnings multiple of 15.8. E*TRADE’s market cap was $3.45 billion after the shares recently closed at $15.64 against a 52-week range of $12.24 to $18.13. The problem is that it just is not cheap. The company now claims some 4.3 million customer accounts, which included 2.8 million brokerage accounts. We continue to value these on a brokerage account basis today and its $3.8 billion market cap after today’s 6% gain to $16.64 give a per account value of close to $1,350.00 today.

TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) has a return of equity (ROE) of 15.2% and a forward price to earnings multiple of 15. AMERITRADE’s market cap is $11.2 billion. The shares recently closed at $19.61. The 52-week price range is $14.42 to $22.85. TD AMERITRADE has just over 8.2 million total accounts but calls its total funded accounts as being 5.59 million. If we just use the funded accounts we have a value implication of nearly $2,000.00 per account.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) has a forward price to earnings multiple of 14.9. Its market cap is $18.6 billion. The shares recently closed at $15.44. The 52-week price range is $12.51 to $19.63. Schwab claims some 8.1 million client brokerage accounts, implying closer to a $2,200.00 per account value.

Filed under: Activist Investor, Banking, Brokerage Firms, Financial Stocks, Mergers and Buy Outs, Options, Private Equity, Rumors Tagged: AMTD, ETFC, GS, MS, SCHW

Top Active Trader Alert Stocks (AMTD, ETFC, NWSA, SLAB)

247wallst — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:58:04 +0000

Active traders and day traders have many stocks to choose from this Monday morning. We are tracking news and moves in shares of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (NASDAQ: AMTD), E Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC), News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA), and Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ: SLAB).

E Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) is up 7.3% premarket to $16.78, relative to a 52-week range of $12.24-$18.13. TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (NASDAQ: AMTD) will discuss at its upcoming board meeting the possibility of acquiring the company.

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is down 2% before market open to $16.08, relative to a 52-week range of $11.91-$18.35. The company begins another likely turbulent week after the company finally sold the British tabloid responsible for the phone hacking controversy – News Of The World.

Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ: SLAB) is down 8% premarket to $38.40, relative to a 52-week range of $34.10-$50.47. The company announced disappointing Q2 profits.

Filed under: Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: AMTD, ETFC, NWSA, SLAB