Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Reiterated Buy and raised price target to $63 from $55 at Argus.
ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) Raised target at Credit Suisse.
AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) Started as Neutral at Stern Agee.
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Cut to Underperform from Neutral at Zacks (late Monday call).
Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) Cut to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Gulfmark Offshore, Inc. (NYSE: GLF) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
HSN, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSNI) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
ICICI Bank Ltd. (NYSE: IBN) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) maintained as the top tech/semi pick for 2012 from Credit Suisse.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $36 from $32 at Credit Suisse.
Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MMI) Maintained Sell at Argus.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Cut to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/ML.
Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. (NYSE: OSG) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE: RSG) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE: R) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
SM Energy Co. (NYSE: SM) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Reiterated Buy and raised estimates at Argus.
Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.
Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.

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JON C. OGG

ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) is down 4.25% before market open to $40.15, relative to a 52-week range of $30.65 – $45.92.

Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) is down more than 6% to $6.41, relative to a 52-week range of $5.13 – $15.31.

Sify Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: SYFY) is down more than 14% to $5.40, relative to a 52-week range of $1.66 – $8.54.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is down more than 2% before market open to $15.31, relative to a 52-week range of  $11.09 – $18.84.

ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) is down nearly 3% before market open to $42.28, relative to a 52-week range of $30.65 – $45.92.

Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE: CP) is up 5% premarket to $67.82, relative to a 52-week range of $44.74 – $69.92.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) is down 7.5% premarket to $30.10, within a 52-week range of $28.04 – $44.56.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MNTA) is up 16.4% before market open to $14.25, relative to a 52-week range of $10.15 – $21.00.

Pacira Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PCRA) is up 12% premarket to $11.40, relative to a 52-week range of $6.16 – $15.34.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is down 3.2% premarket to $16.03, relative to a 52-week range of $11.09 – $18.84.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is down 15.6% premarket to $24.88, below its 52-week range of $28.69-$54.65. FBR capital lowered its price target on the company from $40.00 to $25.00.

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) is down 4% before market open to $35.77, relative to a 52-week range of $24.63-$45.92.

Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECYT) is up more than 5% premarket to $12.90, relative to a 52-week range of $1.17-$3.23. The company announced a public offering of 5.8 million shares.

Logitech International SA (NASDAQ: LOGI) is down more than 8% before market open to $9.48, relative to a 52-week range of $9.62-$23.29. The company issued Q1 earnings under expectations and disappointing FY12 guidance.

AmyLin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMLN) is up 7.22% premarket to $14.70, relative to a 52-week range of $9.51-$22.09. The company’s type 2 Diabetes treatment appears to be performing well in testing.

ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) is down 1.3% premarket to $38.15, relative to a 52-week range of $24.64-$45.92.

Ixia (NASDAQ: IXIA) is down nearly 20% premarket to $10.45, relative to a 52-week range of $8.91-$19.10. The company lowered 2Q forecasts well below expectations.

Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFX) is down nearly 20% premarket to $6.44, relative to a 52-week range of $3.75-$8.16. The company issued dissapointing 2Q results.

APAC Customer Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: APAC) is up more than 55% premarket to $8.47, relative to a 52-week range of $4.61-$6.50. The company is being acquired by One Equity Partners for $470 million.

ASML Holding, N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) is up nearly 3% premarket on moderate volume within a relative range of $24.64-$45.92. UBS upgraded ASML from “neutral” to “buy.”

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) is down 2.3% premarket on heavy volume, relative to a 52-week range of $24.64-$45.92.

DragonWave, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRWI) is up nearly 10% premarket to $5.70, relative to a 52-week range of $4.40-$9.20. The company’s vice president of worldwide sales has just resigned.

Hutchinson Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ: HTCH) is up more than 21% before market open to $2.75, relative to a 52-week range of $2.06-$5.20. The company reported very positive 3Q results and 4Q guidance.

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) is down nearly 3% premarket to $40.53, relative to a 52-week range of $24.64-$45.92.

Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASYS) is up more than 8% before market open to $22.80, relative to a 52-week range of $8.14-$30.80.  Company quarterly revenue grew 281 percent.

Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ: ROVI) is up more than 13% on heavy volume to $56.25, relative to a 52-week range of $35.06-$69.50. The company reported strong Q1 earnings, and JP Morgan raised ROVI’s price target from $61 to $63.50.

Allied Irish Bank (NYSE: AIB) is up 4% premarket to $3.18, relative to a 52-week range of $2.00-$22.25.

Alcatel-Lucent (NASDAQ: ALU) is up 4.7% before market open to $6.03, nearing the top of a 52-week range of $2.25-$6.14.

ASML Holdings (NASDAQ: ASML) is up 7.5% premarket to $41.14, relative to a 52-week range of $24.64-$45.92.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is up 6.5% premarket on more than 4.5 million shares traded to $21.16, relative to a 52-week range of $17.60-$24.25. Intel reported a profit significantly above expectations.

When asked if building new nuclear power plants was necessary or, even if necessary, too dangerous, 46% said the nukes were necessary and 48% said they were too dangerous. That response is very close to the response to the same question asked in 2009. As Gallup concludes, “A majority of Americans believe nuclear power plants in the U.S. are safe, and attitudes toward increasing their numbers do not appear to have changed in comparison with a previous measure 10 years ago.”

Nuclear power companies, though, can’t afford to wait for the endless reviews that the nuclear accident in Japan will set off. We’ve already seen some big acquisitions. France’s Areva (OTC: ARVCF) acquired US solar thermal company Ausra for $200 million last year, and US nuclear power leader Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) bought the renewables division of Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) for $900 million.

A report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) notes that the disaster in Japan could speed up similar acquisitions in the renewables sector. According to PwC, there were 530 mergers & acquisitions in the renewables sector in 2010, but the dollar value of the deals dropped from $48.8 billion in 2009 to $33.4 billion in 2010. Utility company acquisitions fell from $15.8 billion in 2009 to just $3 billion last year as a result of what PwC called “massive capital investment challenges.” The most attractive deals involved energy efficiency companies, which accounted for 91 of the transactions and $3.8 billion.

In the solar sector, the most interesting news comes from the semiconductor capital equipment vendors. Gartner Inc. (NYSE: IT) reports that semiconductor equipment sales grew 143% year-over-year in 2010, to reach a sales total of $41 billion.  Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) remained atop the sector with 15% market share and $6 billion in revenue. ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML) was the fastest growing company, with a revenue increase of 219%, moving it to second place in the standings with sales of $5.2 billion and 13% market share.

Solar PV wafer makers like MEMC Electronics Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) have increased their wafer production capacity in 2010. Silicon availability remains an issue for most solar PV makers, so MEMC should profit either from higher prices and SunPower should benefit from having a captive supply. Silicon module makers like Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) could face tighter supplies and higher prices for wafers.

In wind energy, Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) has canceled a $400 million, 150-megawatt wind farm project in southeastern North Dakota. The project put a number of bird species at risk, and Xcel pulled the plug on its own under new federal regulations giving wind energy developers the ability to decide on the impact of a project. General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was slated to supply the 100 wind turbines for the project.

Finally, the three largest utilities in California have come very close to hitting their target of 20% of power from renewables (not including hydro) by 2010. The state’s public utilities commission said that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE: PCG), Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. generated 17.9% of their power using renewable sources in 2010. Now they just have to meet California’s new requirement of 33% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

Paul Ausick