24/7 Wall St. » APA

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (CHK, LVLT, QCOM, CRM, DSX, COCO, APA, WNR, YRCW, SHOO, SRE, SLE, RGLD, OWW, GM, MGM, AES, LNG, DUK, EL, PGR, WPO, GMCR, KNSY, HLF)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:08:03 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened mostly flat this morning following a softer-than-expected report from the Institute for Supply Management on non-manufacturing growth (our coverage here). The report on new unemployment benefits claims came in better than expected, but not enough to overcome the ISM numbers (more coverage here). Retail sales reports were also weak, with growth of just 0.8% compared with an estimate of 1.5% (more coverage here). The energy sector has been particularly hard hit today on reports that supply is keeping up with demand, some weak earnings reports, and a comment from OPEC that it would like to see Brent crude at $100/barrel, not $120 or more (our coverage here).

The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.11% at 79.221. The GSCI commodity index is down about -1.3% at 678.65, with commodities mixed on the small gains in the dollar. WTI crude oil closed down -2.6% at $102.54/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -1.84% at $116.02/barrel. Gold settled down -1.2% today, at $1,634.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 62 points to 13,206.59 (-0.47%), the NASDAQ fell more than 35 points (-01.16%) to 3,024.30, and the S&P 500 fell -0.77% or nearly 11 points to 1,391.57.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) maintained as ‘buy’ but target price cut to $31 at BofA/ML and raised to ‘outperform’ at Bernstein; Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) reiterated ‘buy’ at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and cut to ‘neutral’ at Piper Jaffary; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) reiterated as ‘buy’ at BofA/ML; and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) raised to ‘outperform’ with a $185 target price at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX) is down -4.4% at $7.63; Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO) is down -21.6% at $3.05; Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) is down -3.7% at $91.99; Western Refining Inc. (NYSE: WNR) is down -2.6% at $18.42; YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) is down -8% at $6.79; Steve Madden Ltd. (NASDAQ: SHOO) is down -1.7% at $43.54; Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) is up 0.6% at $64.29 after posting a new 52-week high of $65.37 earlier today; Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE) is down -1% at $22.10; Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) is down -2.6% at $59.43 (more coverage here); Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW) is up 4.9% at $4.09; General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is down -2.3% at $22.42 (more coverage here); and MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is down -4.4% at $12.95.

Tomorrow we get earnings from AES Corp. (NYSE: AES), Cheniere Energy Inc. (AMEX: LNG), Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK), Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL), Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR), and The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is down -47.3% at $26.11. The company reported earnings last night, and lowered guidance. More coverage here and here.

Kensey Nash Corp. (NASDAQ: KNSY) is up 32.2% at $38.35. The company is being acquired by a Dutch firm for $360 million. More coverage here.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) is down -12.7% at $46.02. The nutrition products company flubbed some questions at last night’s conference call. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Friday. San Francisco Fed President John Williams is giving a speech. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payrolls
3:00 p.m. – Treasury STRIPS

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AES, APA, CHK, COCO, CRM, DSX, DUK, EL, GM, GMCR, HLF, KNSY, LNG, LVLT, MGM, OWW, PGR, QCOM, RGLD, SHOO, SLE, SRE, WNR, WPO, YRCW

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (CHK, COP, RSH, STM, AIZ, ABX, MRO, MA, AGN, AUY, TWX, CLX, RDC, RRD, MSO, IACI, FSLR, DSX, COCO, APA, OWW, WNR, CMCSA, SVNT)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:45 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened lower this morning following dismal reports from Europe on manufacturing (our coverage here) and unemployment (more coverage here). The ADP report on US unemployment provided more gloomy news ahead of Friday’s official unemployment numbers (more coverage here). The US EIA petroleum inventory report helped push oil prices down (more coverage here), but the weak economic news ruled the day. Only the Nasdaq index has managed to pull into positive territory at all today, and that by less than 0.2% about an hour before closing. The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.39% at 79.130. The GSCI commodity index is up fractionally at 687.61, with commodities mostly lower on the rising dollar. Chicago wheat fell more than -4.5% to post the biggest loss of the day. WTI crude oil closed down -0.9% at $105.22/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -1.23% at $1118.19/barrel. Gold settled down -0.5% today, at $1,654.00/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 11 points to 13,268.65 (-0.08%), the NASDAQ rose more than 9 points (0.31%) to 3,059.85, and the S&P 500 fell -0.25% or more than 3 points to 1,402.31.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) cut to ‘neutral’ at R.W. Baird; ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/ML and started as ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) raised to ‘buy’ at Auriga; STMicroelectronics NV (NYSE: STM) raised to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs and raised to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; and Assurant Inc. (NYSE: AIZ) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/ML.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) is down -2.8% at $39.30 (more coverage here); Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) is down -4.4% at $28.85; Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) is down -0.8% at $452.14; Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) is down -4.3% at $92.29; Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY) is down -2.6% at $14.36; Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) is down -1.6% at $37.30; The Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) is down -3.3% at $67.74; Rowan Companies Inc. (NYSE: RDC) is up 1.3% at $34.97; R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (NASDAQ: RRD) is down -7% at $11.79; Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (NYSE: MSO) is down -1.2% at $3.41; and IAC/InterActiveCorp. (NASDAQ: IACI) is up 3.3% at $50.34 after posting a new 52-week high of $52.77 earlier today.

Tomorrow we get earnings from First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX), Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO), Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW), and Western Refining Inc. (NYSE: WNR) among many others.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Chesapeake Energy is down -13.5% at $16.95 after posting a new 52-week low of $15.86 earlier today. The natural gas producer reported weak results and more troubles for CEO Aubrey McClendon. More coverage here.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is down -1% at $30.29. The cable company reported good earnings this morning. More coverage here.

Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT) is down -18.8% at $1.51. An analyst has said that the company insolvent. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, and San Francisco Fed President John Williams are speaking at a conference. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – Challenger job cut report
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
8:30 a.m. – Productivity and costs report
10:00 a.m. – ISM non-manufacturing index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ABX, AGN, AIZ, APA, AUY, CHK, CLX, CMCSA, COCO, COP, DSX, FSLR, IACI, MA, MRO, MSO, OWW, RDC, RRD, RSH, STM, SVNT, TWX, WNR

Oil & Gas Sector Review (XOM, CVX, COP, RRC, TSO, PXD, APC, CHK, APA, OXY)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:37:54 +0000

At the end of December, Brent crude spot prices were around $107/barrel and WTI spot prices were around $99/barrel. Since then, Brent has risen to right around $121/barrel today and WTI is up to around $104/barrel. In 2011, pump prices were driven by the price differential between Brent crude and WTI crude, and integrated oil companies that could take advantage of the differential made substantial margins on refining WTI crude and selling the products as if higher priced Brent were the refineries’ feedstock. The differential reached more than $25/barrel at one point, and fell to around $8/barrel early this year. As it widens again, consumers can expect to pay more at the pump and refiners can expect to see margins improve. It goes without saying the higher crude prices also benefit the exploration & production companies.

Natural gas has been stuck at around $2.50/thousand cubic feet for some time now, but have been ticking up recently as production is being slowed — primarily in an effort to pump up prices — while warm winter weather is cutting demand for heating and electricity demand is also falling.

We’ve looked at several oil & gas companies, including the three US-based supermajors and a number of independents with market caps above $10 billion: Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Range Resources Inc. (NYSE: RRC), Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD); Anadarko Petroleum Co. (NYSE: APC), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), and Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY). We’ve looked at the past year’s stock price performance, current year performance, and compared that with consensus target prices as reported by Thomson Reuters in an effort to find the stocks we think will be top performers in 2012.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) has a consensus price target of $95, up from $92 at the end of December, and a Friday closing price of $85.62, for a potential upside of about 11.3%. Crude oil price hikes provide substantial benefits to Exxon’s shares, and those price hikes could add $10-$20/barrel to the company’s revenues in the coming year. Exxon is also the largest US natural gas producer, which isn’t helping it much these days. Over the past 12 months, Exxon’s shares have gained just 1.7%

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) has a consensus price target of $124.50, up $2 since the end of December, and a current price of around $106.66, for a potential upside of about 16.8%. Of the three supermajors, Chevron’s potential gain is the largest, it’s share price gain of nearly 10% in the past year is the largest, and its dividend yield of 3.1% is second only to Conoco’s 3.6% among the three integrated giants. Chevron shares gained nearly 10% in 2011, though they are essentially flat since the beginning of this year.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) has a consensus price target of $81.32, marginally lower than its December price, and a current price around $73.36, for a potential upside of about 10.8%. Conoco shares have lost nearly -3% of their value in the past year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has gained about 0.75%.

Range Resources Inc. (NYSE: RRC) has a consensus price target of $73.50, down $3 from its target in December, and a current price around $65.72, for a potential upside of about 12.4%. Year to day Range shares are up about 5.5%, but over the past 12 months the stock gained 34%. And even though it trades at about 56x earnings, Range is often mentioned as a takeover target from one of the supers or another mining company that wants to diversify into energy. Range holds about 800,000 leased acres in the Marcellus shale play, which is located close to the massive northeast US market.

Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) has a consensus price target of $32, $4 higher than its December price, and a current price of $27.82, for a potential upside of about 14.3%. Tesoro’s share price gained about 7.75% in the past 12 months, but the price is up more than 19% since the beginning of the year. As the Brent/WTI differential widens, Tesoro’s profits will grow. The company has the only refinery in North Dakota, and the differential between Brent and Bakken oil is even more than double the WTI/Brent spread.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: APA, APC, CHK, COP, CVX, OXY, PXD, RRC, TSO, XOM

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AMZN, DE, NVDA, LO, WFR, AAP, APA, ABX, DTV, DUK, GM, TAP, STRA, PFCB, JNGW, AEA, HDY, PMFG, CAR)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:05:06 +0000

Stocks opened higher this morning following upbeat reports on unemployment claims and new housing starts. With a little more than a half hour left in today’s session, all three indexes have made solid gains today and remain near daily highs. Volume has been quite light, with less than 500 million shares traded today. Lack of news from Europe is probably keeping many investors on the sidelines. The dollar has lost all the gains it started today with. The dollar index is down -0.42% at 79.394, after starting the day up over 80. Crude oil is higher today, with WTI crude up 0.51% at $102.32 and Brent up 1.13% at $120.27. We have more coverage of the jump in Brent prices here and the impact of rising gasoline prices here.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 123 points to 12,904.01 (0.96%), the NASDAQ rose more than 44 points (1.51%) to 2,959.85, and the S&P 500 rose 1.1% or nearly 15 points to 1,358.05.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) cut to ‘equal-weight’ at Morgan Stanley; Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/ML; Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO) started as ‘buy’ at Jefferies; and MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) raised to ‘hold’ at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) is up 7.3% at $85.20 after posting a new 52-week high of $86.30; Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) is up 0.14% at $107.82; Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) is up 1.24% at $48.02; DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is down -1.9% at $45.41; Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) is up 1.53% at $21.19; General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is up 9% at $27.17; Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE: TAP) is up 3% at $45.18; Strayer Education Inc. (NASDAQ: STRA) is down -8% at $105.81; and PF Chang’s China Bistro Inc. (NASDAQ: PFCB) is up 2% at $35.35.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Jingwei International Ltd. (NASDAQ: JNGW) is up more than 43% at $2.08. The Chinese software company is being taken private.

Advance America, Cash Advance Centers Inc. (NYSE: AEA) is up more than 32% at $10.46 after posting a new 52-week high of $10.55 early this morning. The cash advance provider is being acquired by Mexico’s Grupo Elektra for $10.50/share, for a total price of about $655 million.

HyperDynamics Corp. (NYSE: HDY) is down nearly -30% at $1.42 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.01 earlier this morning. The independent oil & gas exploration and production company reported only non-commercial quantities of hydrocarbons at its offshore West African field.

PMFG Inc. (NASDAQ: PMFG) is down nearly -20% at $16.85. The machinery maker has announced a secondary offering of 2.6 million shares at $16/share.

Avis Budget Group Inc. (NYSE: CAR) is down nearly -16% at $12.28. The car rental company posted an unexpected loss in the fourth quarter.

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

8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index
10:00 a.m. – Leading economic indicators

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AAP, ABX, AEA, AMZN, APA, CAR, DE, DTV, DUK, GM, HDY, JNGW, LO, NVDA, PFCB, PMFG, STRA, TAP, WFR

Top Earnings & Economic Previews For The Day Ahead (AAP, APA, AMAT, BIDU, ABX, DTV, DVA, DUK, ELNK, GM, LEAP, TAP, JWN, SPWR, WM, WWWW)

Administrator — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:50:00 +0000

Thursday is a fairly busy day for earnings expectations. We are expecting the following reports: Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP); Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA); Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT); Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU); Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX); DIRECTV, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV); DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA); Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK); EarthLink Inc. (NASDAQ: ELNK); General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM); Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP); Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE: TAP); Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN); SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR); Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM); and Web.com Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW). We have compiled some basic previews on each along with estimates from Thomson Reuters.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) shares almost hit a 52-week high on Wednesday. Estimates are $0.75 EPS and $1.32 billion in sales.

Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) $2.87 EPS on $4.3 billion in revenue; watch for news on northern Africa operations.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) $0.12 EPS on $1.97 billion in sales; next quarter estimates are $0.16 EPS on $2.08 billion in sales. This report will have every chip cap-ex stock elsewhere looking closely.

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is the “Google of China’ by many investors… estimates are $0.91 EPS and $700.75 million in sales. Next quarter estimates are $0.83 EPS and $665.9 million in sales. Around $138 it is back in the middle of its 52-week trading range.

Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX) $1.27 EPS and shares are in the lower half of the 52-week range.

DIRECTV, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV) $0.92 EPS on $7.4 billion in sales; Team Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway added shares to the position.

DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) $1.48 EPS on $1.85 billion in sales; Team Buffett added this as a new position for the Berkshire Hathaway holdings.

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK) $0.21 EPS on $3.37 billion in revenue

EarthLink Inc. (NASDAQ: ELNK) is still around and acting as a business broadband provider rather than just a dial-up ISP of the days past. Estimates are $0.04 EPS and $349.23 million in sales.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) $0.41 EPS and $38.2 billion in sales; GM is still a busted IPO but is trading down under 7-times 2012 expected earnings. Value, or value trap?

Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) -$1.11 EPS on $808 million in sales. Watch shares of MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS).

Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE: TAP) $0.70 EPS

Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) $1.10 EPS on $3.18 billion in sales

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) was the ‘solar buyout that only got partly acquired’ and shares have been bashed. At $7.36, the 52-week range is $4.94 to $23.36. Earnings estimates are -$0.05 EPS on $669 million in sales.

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM) $0.60 EPS on $3.35 billion in revenue. The 3.8% yield may make more interest than in rival Republic Services.

Web.com Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW) is expected to post $0.23 EPS and $93.95 million in sales. If all goes well, this one trades at less than 10-times expected 2012 earnings. It has been hard to not notice a high degree of advertising out of Web.com of late.

Thursday’s Economic Data:

8:30 AM EST Weekly Jobless Claims (365K est.)

8:30 AM EST January Housing Starts (677K est.)

8:30 AM EST January PPI (+0.4% es.)

9:00 AM EST Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks on community banking

10:00 AM EST Treasury’s Geithner speaks to Senate Budget Committee

10:00 AM EST February Philly Fed

10:30 AM EST Weekly Natural Gas inventories

4:30 PM EST Feb. 15 Foreign Central Bank Treasury Holdings

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Calendar, Earnings Tagged: AAP, ABX, AMAT, APA, BIDU, DTV, DUK, DVA, ELNK, GM, JWN, LEAP, SPWR, TAP, WM, WWWW

Top Earnings Previews For The Week Ahead (CRL, CIM, NAT, RAX, AVP, GT, MET, OMC, ZNGA, A, NVDA, PCG, DVN, DE, NTAP, CMCSA, APA, DTV, WM, JWN, AMAT, DUK, HNZ, CPB)

Administrator — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:22:53 +0000

Earnings season is starting to slow down a bit but we will still have some sector-moving earnings reports from major companies. 24/7 Wall St. has prepared earnings previews for the following companies:

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL); Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM); Nordic American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT); Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX); Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT); MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET); Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC); Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA); Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A); NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA); PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG); Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN); Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE); NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP); Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA); Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA); DIRECTV, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV); Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM); Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN); Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT); Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK); H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ); and Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB).

Earnings estimates are from Thomson Reuters and the dates may change by the companies. More detailed previews will be available each day this coming week with much more color and trading information.

MONDAY, FEB 13

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) $0.56 EPS

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) $0.11 EPS

Nordic American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) -$0.29 EPS… with losses expected this year, we will be watching for any dividend news after the company sold 5.5 million shares last month.

Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) $0.15 on $281 million in sales; this one still trades at close to 60-times 2012 expected earnings of $0.81 EPS.

TUESDAY, FEB 14

Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) $0.51 EPS on $3.11 billion; a serial disappointment in shares, but turnaround investors have hopes that the bar is set extremely low. Earnings will prove if there is a value story here or just more of a value trap.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) $0.20 EPS on $5.88 billion in sales; this is still a long-term turnaround story valued at less than 7-times expected earnings.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) $1.24 EPS on $16.81 billion in revenues; shares are mid-way between the 52-week high and 52-week low.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) $0.95 EPS on $3.8 billion in sales.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) estimates are not yet available for its first quarterly earnings report. Shares are now back over $13.00 due to the Facebook-effect on anything tied to social media.

Don’t forget about Valentine’s Day….

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Calendar, Earnings, The Week Tagged: A, AMAT, APA, AVP, CIM, CMCSA, CPB, CRL, DE, DTV, DUK, DVN, GT, HNZ, JWN, MET, NAT, NTAP, NVDA, OMC, PCG, RAX, WM, ZNGA

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (APA, BBT, CVC, CHK, DRI, EMN, EW, MRO, NBL, PEET, RIMM, RBS, SLM, URBN)

Administrator — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:07:02 +0000

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

Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEET) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital.

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: APA, BBT, CHK, CVC, DRI, EMN, EW, MRO, NBL, PEET, RBS, RIMM, SLM, URBN

Media Digest (1/23/2012) Reuters, WSJ, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:33:20 +0000

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) replaces its co-CEOs with the firm’s COO. (Reuters)

A Reuters poll shows Japanese manufacturers have prepared for a eurozone break up. (Reuters)

Apache (NYSE: APA) to buy Cordillera Energy. (Reuters)

A National Association for Business Economics industry poll shows few companies plan to add jobs. (Reuters)

Nokia Siemens gets a 1.2 billion euro loan to support its business. (Reuters)

E-book publishers experiment with $0.99 books to draw new customers. (WSJ)

Volkswagen may speed its takeover of Porsche to increase the integration of the two companies. (WSJ)

Oil production in the U.S. rises sharply in the past year. (WSJ)

A sharp increase in car production causes a competition for jobs in the Midwest states. (WSJ)

Talks between bondholders and Greece are still unsettled. (WSJ)

UK wage increases stall. (WSJ)

Target (NYSE: TGT) will fight one of the retail industry’s largest problems: people come to it stores and then buy online from competitors. (WSJ)

Refinery prices and low natural gas will hurt oil company returns. (WSJ)

Moody’s downgrades Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Panasonic (NYSE: PC). (WSJ)

Hyundai expects growth in the troubled EU region. (WSJ)

European Central Bank three-year loans help drop yields on the region’s sovereign paper. (WSJ)

China increases its oil purchases from Iran. (WSJ)

France and Germany would like to relax some bank rules to help the region’s financial troubles. (FT)

Sales of the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Lumia probably pass one million units. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: APA, NOK, PC, RIMM, SNE, TGT

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AKS, ALU, AWK, APA, AF, AZK, DRI, HBAN, PHG, LTD, PIR, Rl, RL, UL, URBN, VIP, WBMD, WCC)

Administrator — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:07:18 +0000

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

AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) Raised to Outperform with $12 target at Credit Suisse.
Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) Raised to Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann.
Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Astoria Financial Corporation (NYSE: AF) Cut to UNderweight at JPMorgan.
Aurizon Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AZK) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LTD) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) Started as Hold at Argus.
Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
VimpelCom Ltd. (NYSE: VIP) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
WebMD Health Corporation (NASDAQ: WBMD) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
WESCO International (NYSE: WCC) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AF, AKS, ALU, APA, AWK, AZK, DRI, HBAN, LTD, PHG, PIR, RL, UL, URBN, VIP, WBMD, WCC

New Crude Oil Pipeline System to be Built in Gulf of Mexico (EPD, GEL, APC, APA, XOM, E, PBR, PXP, BP, MRO, RDS-A, CVX, COP)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:57:26 +0000

Two pipeline companies have agreed to a 50-50 joint venture to build a new 149-mile offshore gathering system in the Gulf of Mexico. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) and Genesis Energy LP (NYSE: GEL) will build the system and Enterprise will be the operator.

The new gathering system will serve the Keathley Canyon area and serve producers Anadarko Petroleum Co. (NYSE: APC), Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Eni SpA (NYSE: E), Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR), and Plains Exploration & Production Co. (NYSE: PXP). Keathley Canyon was the site of the first major oil discovery in the US Gulf once drilling was reopened following the Macondo well explosion in April 2010 that killed 11 workers on a rig operated by BP plc (NYSE: BP). Exxon, which made the discovery, has estimated the resource at 700 million barrels.

The joint venture, called the Southeast Keathley Canyon Pipeline Co. LLC (SEKCO), plans to build an 18-inch pipeline to transport 115,000 barrels/day of crude to a floating production platform and connect to Enterprise’s Poseidon pipeline system to move the oil onshore. The southeast portion of Keathley Canyon is estimated to hold about 300 million barrels of reserves.

In related transactions, Genesis is acquiring a 28% stake in the Poseidon pipeline system from Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), as well as a 29% stake in the Odyssey pipeline system which is majority owned and operated by Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-A) and a 23% stake in the Eugene Island pipeline system owned by a group including Exxon, Shell, Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP). Genesis is paying about $206 million for these three acquisitions, which includes about $26 million for the value of the crude already in the pipelines. The company used its revolving credit facility to finance the purchases.

The SEKCO pipeline system is expected to be in service by mid-2014.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Oil & Gas Tagged: APA, APC, BP, COP, CVX, E, EPD, GEL, MRO, PBR, PXP, RDS-A, XOM