24/7 Wall St. » BX

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — May 23, 2012 (FB, PCX, BX, AMAT, DELL, AEO, BIG, HRL, STP, TSL, FRED, HNZ, MMYT, TIF, TD, COST, PETM, STX)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:05:55 +0000

The three major US stock indexes opened lower this morning after European leaders disagree on a fiscal response to the continent’s debt crisis(our coverage here). New US home sales were slightly above the consensus estimate, but made little difference in the slide. As the day wore on, more bad news from Europe sent crude oil prices tumbling and the dollar rising in the currency markets (our coverage here). The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.76% at 82.115. The GSCI commodity index is down fractionally at 628.23, with commodities mostly lower on the stronger dollar. Orange juice, cocoa, and cotton were today’s big losers. WTI crude oil closed down -2.1% at $89.90/barrel, its lowest settlement since October, and Brent crude trades down -2.51% at $105.69/barrel. Natural gas rose just 0.52% today to $2.72/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled down -1.8% today, at $1,548.40/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 7 points to 12,496.07 (-0.05%), the NASDAQ rose about 11 points (0.39%) to 2,850.12, and the S&P 500 rose 0.17% or about 2 points to 1,318.85.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) started as ‘buy’ with a target price of $40 at Needham (more coverage here); Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE: PCX) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) raised ‘buy’ at Sterne Agee; Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) raised to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) cut to ‘neutral’ at Mizuho and maintained as ‘underperform’ with a $14 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: Dell is down -16.8% at $12.55 after posting a new 52-week low of $12.31 earlier today (more coverage here); American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is up 1.4% at $20.07; Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is up 4% at $36.20; Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL) is up 1.2% at $29.54; Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is up 1.5% at $2.01 (more coverage here); and Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is up 4.9% at $5.59.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to get earnings reports from Fred’s Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED), H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ), MakeMyTrip Ltd. (NASDAQ: MMYT), Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF), The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD), and Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) is up 13.3% at $62.99 after posting a new 52-week high of $63.19 earlier today. The company reported better-than-expected earnings and forecast more good things to come.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) is down -2.4% at $25.72. The disk drive maker is buying France-based LaCie SA for $186 million.

Stay tuned for Thursday. New York Fed President William Dudley is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Durable goods orders
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
11:00 a.m. – Kansas City Fed manufacturing index
1:00 p.m. – 7-year note auction
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AEO, AMAT, BIG, BX, COST, DELL, FB, FRED, HNZ, HRL, MMYT, PCX, PETM, STP, STX, TD, TIF, TSL

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMAT, ARBA, BX, CPLA, CHA, DELL, DNDN, EMC, FB, GMT, ICE, JAZZ, NDAQ, PCX, PG, SBUX, WY)

Administrator — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:22:37 +0000

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

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Ariba Inc. (NASDAQ: ARBA) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) Raised to Buy at Stern Agee.

Capella Education Co. (NASDAQ: CPLA) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Cut to Neutral at Mizuho; Maintained Underperform and target cut to $14 at Credit Suisse.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Started as Underperform at Jefferies; Maintained Hold with $11 target at Canaccord Genuity.

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) Reiterated Buy with $36 target at Argus.

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) Started as Buy with $40 target at Needham.

GATX Corporation (NYSE: GMT) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: JAZZ) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) Reiterated Buy with $70 target at Argus.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

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: AMAT, ARBA, BX, CHA, CPLA, DELL, DNDN, EMC, FB, GMT, ICE, JAZZ, NDAQ, PCX, PG, SBUX, WY

Carlyle Aims For Value In Private Equity IPO Pricing (CG, BX, APO, KKR)

Administrator — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:33:08 +0000

Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is originally being viewed as a mixed debut for an initial public offering. The market remains a bit cautious when it comes to investing into private equity outfits because the investors are last in line behind the partners and firm’s customers receiving payouts. Stakeholders also effectively have no real vote and cannot take any control over the operations and procedures of a private firm that is public. Perhaps the biggest worry is that the only real reason these companies need to be public is so that the already wealthy partners inside these private equity shops can liquidate a portion of their interests through time.

So you have some of the negative cases against public private equity shops. So why is the IPO for Carlyle being considered a win or at worst a mixed bag? The reduced pricing was deemed to be aiming very low at the offering price because other private equity IPOs have seen the value of their interests (share equivalents) drop after coming public.

The 30.5 million common unit offering priced at $22.00 per unit and that is shy of the $23.00 to $25.00 originally projected. This While it depends upon which valuation metric you use, Carlyle was thought to be valued at as much as half of rival private equity shop The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) despite a $6.5 billion market valuation for the rival. Those valuation comparisons may need some caveats but the idea was to get the shares out at a price that was attractive to Carlyle partners AND attractive to investors.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (NYSE: KKR) and Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO) are both relatively new as publicly traded private equity shops worth $3.07 billion and $1.55 billion, respectively.

The last amended filing showed that if the 30.5 million common units were sold without relation to the overallotment option that some 304,500,000 common units would be outstanding if all outstanding Carlyle Holdings partnership units held by existing owners were exchanged for newly issued common units on a one-for-one basis. We will wait for a new filing to see exactly what the share count is in the coming weeks but that at least offers a read into the full value of the company.

Now Carlyle has to join the ranks of other public companies and open up its books each quarter. Shares have fluctuated between slightly positive and slightly negative so far on the debut and some 8 million shares having traded with a last print of $22.08 at the 11:30 AM time stamp.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Brokerage Firms, Financial Stocks, IPOs, Private Equity Tagged: APO, BX, CG, KKR

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (IBM, MCD, LUV, SNDK, BX, TISI, MIND, MON, AYI, ANGO, PSMT, STZ, PIR, LEDS, CBLI, THTI, CLNT)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 20:08:06 +0000

Markets opened lower this morning and didn’t recover. The ISM services index came in lower than expected (our coverage here) and the EIA report on crude oil inventories pushed crude prices down (our coverage here). The markets haven’t recovered from yesterday’s release of the minutes of the FOMC meeting, which most observers saw as fairly hawkish (our coverage here). The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.37% at 79.776. Commodities were mixed on the stronger dollar, with corn and wheat down the most. WTI crude oil closed down -2.4% at $101.47/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -1.87% at $122.52/barrel. Gold settled down -3.5% today, at $1,614.10/ounce, its lowest price in three months.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 125 points to 13,074.83(-0.95%), the NASDAQ fell more than 45 points (-1.46%) to 3,068.09, and the S&P 500 fell -1.02% or more than 14 points to 1,398.96.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/ML; McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) removed from the ‘Conviction Buy List’ but maintained as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; Southwest Airlines Corp. (NYSE: LUV) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) cut to ‘outperform’ at RBC; and Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) added to ‘Top Pick’ list at Citigroup.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Team Inc. (NYSE: TISI) is down -12.3% at $28.83; Mitcham Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: MIND) is down -3.9% at $23.37; Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) is down -1.3% at $80.70 (more coverage here); and Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI) is down -9.7% at $57.51. After markets close today we get earnings from AngioDynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGO), Harry Winston Diamond Corp. (NYSE: HWD), and PriceSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT). Before markets open tomorrow we’ll get earnings from Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ), Pier One Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR), and SemiLEDS Corp. (NASDAQ: LEDS).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Cleveland BioLabs Inc. (NASDAQ: CBLI) is down more than -30% at $1.67 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.48. The biotech company’s funding from the federal government has been cut off.

Sandisk Corp. is down about -11% at $44.72. The flash memory maker revealed a weak outlook for the quarter. More coverage here.

THT Heat Transfer Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: THTI) is up nearly 80% at $2.30. The Chinese maker of heat exchangers reported decent earnings, but forecast revenues for the current quarter at half last quarter’s total. See our coverage yesterday of SmartHeat Inc. (NASDAQ: HEAT), another Chinese maker of heat exchangers. Just substitute the names.

CleanTech Solutions International Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNT) is up more than 177% at $6.10. The Chinese maker of metal components for wind turbines reported solid revenues last week, but profits were down. Another hard-to-figure move.

Stay tuned for Thursday. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – Challenger Gray & Christmas layoff report
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
3:00 p.m. – Treasury STRIPS
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Market Close Tagged: ANGO, AYI, BX, CBLI, CLNT, IBM, LEDS, LUV, MCD, MIND, MON, PIR, PSMT, SNDK, STZ, THTI, TISI

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AIG, BV, BIIB, BX, CIEN, IBM, MCD, NVO, SNDK, SON, LUV, SBUX, SYY, TLAB, UAL)

Administrator — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:24:39 +0000

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

American International Group (NYSE: AIG) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein.

Bazaarvoice Inc. (NASDAQ: BV) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse; Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank..

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) added to Top Pick list at Citigroup.

Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) removed from Conviction Buy List but maintained as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Cut to Outperform at RBC.

Sonoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON) Started as Equal-weight at Barclays.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Added to Conviction Buy List as Goldman Sachs.

Sysco Corporation (NYSE: SYY) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIG, BIIB, BV, BX, CIEN, IBM, LUV, MCD, NVO, SBUX, SNDK, SON, SYY, TLAB, UAL

Private Equity Firms File For Michaels Stores IPO (MIK, BX)

Administrator — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:47:57 +0000

Michaels Stores, Inc. has just filed its paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to come public again via an initial public offering. Todays move confirms recent reports and speculation that private equity firms were looking to bring this portfolio company (and many others) back as public companies. The company is the largest arts and crafts specialty retailer in North America and the company even claims to have approximately as many stores as its two largest direct competitors combined.

No terms were listed other than that the company intends to sell up to $500 million in common stock. Michaels intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock ticker “MIK.”

The underwriting group is huge: J.P. Morgan; Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Barclays; Deutsche Bank Securities; BofA Merrill Lynch; Credit Suisse; Morgan Stanley; and Wells Fargo Securities.

If you will recall, Michael’s was taken private in a deal valued at $6 billion back in 2006 during the private equity craze. Private equity backers and owners include affiliates of Bain Capital, The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX); and Highfields Capital Management.

The retailer shows in its filing that it has 1,196 stores that consist of 1,066 Michaels Stores and 130 Aaron Brothers stores. Sales were up 4.4% to $4.2 billion in 2011 over 2010 sales and same-store sales were up 3.2%. The company also posted sales growth of 3.7% in 2010 over 2009 on comparable sales growth of 2.5%. During fiscal 2011, Michaels achieved operating income of $569 million, a gain of 16.6% from fiscal 2010 which was 22.9% higher than fiscal 2009.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Consumer Goods, Entertainment, IPOs, Luxury, Private Equity, Retail Tagged: BX, MIK

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (HD, LNKD, MU, RGLD, BX, ORCL, GIS, KKD, SAI, DQ, FRED, BHI, LOOK, SEED, GMCR, YGE)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:07:01 +0000

Markets opened slightly higher this morning, expecting good news from today’s report on existing home sales. Alas, the number came in lower than expectations and sent the DJIA to a daily low that it still hasn’t recovered from. The report itself wasn’t bad (our coverage here). The US dollar index rose fractionally today, now up 0.08% at 79.656. With some major exceptions, commodities fell on the dollar strength. The US EIA weekly petroleum report showed a drawdown of 1.2 million barrels in US inventories, sending crude prices higher (our coverage here). WTI crude oil closed up 0.9% at $106.96/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 0.06% at $124.19/barrel. Gold settled up 0.2% today, at $1,650.30/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 46 points to 13,124.62 (-0.35%), the NASDAQ rose more than 1 point (XXX%) to 3,075.32, and the S&P 500 fell -0.19% or nearly 3 points to 1,402.90.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reiterated ‘outperform’ and target price raised to $55 at Credit Suisse; LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) raised to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) started as ‘outperform’ at RBC; Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) raised to ‘outperform’ at National Bank; and Blackrock Inc. (NYSE: BX) cut to ‘equal weight’ 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: Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) is down -2.2% at $29.45 (more coverage here and here); General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) is down -0.4% at $38.59; Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is down -7.2% at $7.88 (more coverage here); SAIC Inc. (NYSE: SAI) is up 3.8% at $13.65; Daquo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ) is down -7.5% at $2.58; and Fred’s Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) is up 2.4% at $14.38.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) is down 5.9% at $45.02. The oil field services firm cut its profit estimates for the current quarter. More coverage here.

LookSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: LOOK) is down -15% at $1.19 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.10 earlier today. The search network posted awful results today. More coverage here.

Origin Agritech Inc. (NASDAQ: SEED) is up more than 26% at $3.18. The modified seed maker jumped on a report that its GMO corn seed would be approved for use in China. More coverage here.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is up nearly 11% at $56.05. The coffee roaster signed a new deal with Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX). More coverage here.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) is down -10.3% at $3.83. The solar panel maker did not fare well in the anti-dumping suit brought against Chinese solar makers. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo, and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans are giving speeches. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – New unemployment benefits claims
10:00 a.m. – Federal Housing Finance Agency house price index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
1:00 p.m. – Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPs) auction
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: BHI, BX, DQ, FRED, GIS, GMCR, HD, KKD, LNKD, LOOK, MU, ORCL, RGLD, SAI, SEED, YGE

Cheniere Increases and Prices Secondary Offering (LNG, CQP, BX)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:39:04 +0000

Cheniere Energy Inc. (AMEX: LNG) increased the size of its secondary stock offering from 17 million to 21 million shares and priced the offering at $15.10/share this morning. Credit Suisse, the sole underwriter, was granted a 30-day overallotment option of 3.15 million additional shares.

Cheniere and its subsidiary, Cheniere Energy Partners LP (AMEX: CQP), have received approvals to convert the Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas receiving terminal into an export terminal. Cheniere Energy Partners will build the $10 billion liquefaction facilities, and construction could start in less than a month.

But today’s secondary stock offering is being used “for general corporate purposes, including repayment of indebtedness.” Two weeks ago Cheniere Energy Partners announced a $2 billion investment from Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) to get construction going on the first production facilities.

Investors are not happy about the pricing of the secondary offering and shares of Cheniere Energy Inc. are down about -5.7% at $15.10, after closing at $16.01 last night. The stock’s 52-week range is $3.17-$17.07.

Filed under: Oil & Gas, Secondary Offering Tagged: BX, CQP, LNG

Media Digest (2/29/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:31:34 +0000

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to launch a new iPad next week. (Reuters)

Blackstone (NYSE: BX) says CEO Stephen Schwarzman made $213 million last year. (Reuters)

The Justice Department is looking at whether banks manipulated the Libor rate. (Reuters)

Ireland will have a referendum on the terms of its EU aid. (Reuters)

Crude oil may rise as the European Central Bank lends the European Union’s large banks more cheap money. (Reuters)

A probe is examining whether a Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) manager gave inside information to hedge fund clients. (WSJ)

The U.S. may charge Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) because of poor disclosures over the risks of mortgage-backed securities. (WSJ)

Stockton, Calif., is closer to a Chapter 9 bankruptcy. (WSJ)

India’s GDP growth slows to 6.1%. (WSJ)

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) to fire workers at its WebOS group. (WSJ)

The FDA warns that cholesterol-fighting statins may cause a rise in blood sugar. (WSJ)

The ECB says it will no longer take Greek bonds as collateral. (WSJ)

The EU’s oil embargo on Iran begins to affect shipments to Asia. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) to buy 7% of PSA Peugeot Citroën. (WSJ)

Domino’s Pizza (NYSE: DPZ) will try to expand rapidly overseas. (WSJ)

The buyout of TXU for $45 billion is hurt by a drop in natural gas prices, (NYT)

The constitutional court in Germany issues a ruling that could slow its parliament’s final approval of bailout funds. (NYT)

The ECB expects huge demand for its inexpensive three-year loans. (FT)

Peugeot to cut jobs after its equity deal with GM. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, BX, DPZ, GM, GS, HPQ, JPM, WFC

24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Calls of the Week (BX, APO, CMA, DELL, DANG, EXM, FSLR, GILD, LVLT, ERIC, MAR, ORCL, SUN, VVUS, WBMD)

Administrator — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:31:18 +0000

Each weekend we review the many analyst calls we track during the week. Some turn out to be very insightful and some turn out to be not so great. For better or worse, these become the top analyst calls of the week.

The top calls in the last week were seen in the following: The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX); Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO); Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA); Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL); E-commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE: DANG); Excel Maritime Carriers (NYSE: EXM); First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD); Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT); LM Ericsson Telephone Company (NASDAQ: ERIC); Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR); Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL); Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE: SUN); VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS); WebMD Health Corporation (NASDAQ: WBMD). We have added in color and summaries on each.

The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) hardly budged this week. The private equity leader was raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs and the price target was $19.00. That gave almost 20% upside. In the private equity upgrade was also Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO) with a price target of $17.50 for another 20% upside or so.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) had a bad week, and it seemed to all get that bad mojo after the stock was downgraded to Sell at Stifel Nicolaus for close to a 4% loss all in all.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) took two downgrades on valuation after earnings failed to offer much continued inspiration: Cut to Neutral at Citigroup; Cut to Hold at Needham.

E-commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE: DANG) was a bit of an “Oops” this last week. The e-commerce site in China saw its rating Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse on Wednesday. Shares tanked the next day and the stock was down almost 10% at one point the following day. As the casino boss says after they clean you out, “Thanks for playing and better luck next time!”

Excel Maritime Carriers (NYSE: EXM) has already been slapped silly, and its rating was cut down to Underperform by Zacks after already being down over 60% in the last year. The global shipping market is just not yet coming back into favor with many analysts.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was cut to Neutral at Susquehanna. While not a huge surprise for a downgrade any longer, this was just before earnings are due and shares closed down over 4% at $35.58 on Friday.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) is now much less in favor since its hepatitis C treatment appears to be far less active than previously thought. We saw two more downgrades this last week: Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein; Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.

Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) was an incredible mover on Thursday after the communications player was raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Shares rose well over 10% on Thursday and we have an analysis on its move.

LM Ericsson Telephone Company (NASDAQ: ERIC) does not get many upgrades, so it was interesting that the telecom equipment player was raised to Overweight at JPMorgan on Thursday. Shares gapped up, closed up even higher on Thursday, and shares rose almost another 2% on Friday for a total gain of over 5%.

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) is not at the 52-week high like so many stocks, but it was Raised to the highly prized Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs. The price target is $42.00 and that leaves plenty of implied upside from the $34.73 price on Friday.

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) is almost right back up to where it was before it the bottom was yanked out from under it after its poor earnings. Apparently that is a concern to at least one… Early in the week this one was downgraded to Market Perform from Market Outperform at JMP Securities now that the stock has run from under $26 to over $29 since the start of 2012.

Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE: SUN) is into refining, so higher and higher gas prices do not really help the outfit. This was not just downgraded to Underperform by Zacks Investment Research on Friday, it was named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) was a total home run this last week and analysts were forced to chase it higher and higher after the FDA panel recommended that Qnexa get FDA marketing approval to combat weight loss. After the news came the following calls: reiterated Outperform but raised target to $36.00 at Credit Suisse; Raised to Hold at Brean Murray; Raised to Outperform at Leerink Swann; and Raised to Market Outperform at Rodman & Renshaw.

WebMD Health Corporation (NASDAQ: WBMD) had another bad week after dropping from almost $27.50 down to almost $25.00 after warning that it could face a loss for the year. Some analysts just expect more pain or cannot take any more pain here with the stock down over 50% from its 52-week high. S&P Capital IQ cut the rating to Strong Sell from Sell, and Raymond James cut the rating down to Market Perform from Outperform.

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

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls, Research, The Week Tagged: APO, BX, CMA, DANG, DELL, ERIC, EXM, FSLR, GILD, LVLT, MAR, ORCL, SUN, VVUS, WBMD