24/7 Wall St. » CMC

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GS, APOL, KSS, SNDK, FDX, CMC, IPSU, PSMT, GBX, TXI, ACHC, KKD, RFMD, SABA, HOV)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:08:02 +0000

Markets opened lower today and of the three major indexes, only the S&P 500 was able to break through to positive territory and stay there for most of the day. The DJIA stayed negative all day and the NASDAQ composite only briefly broke through to a gain. This morning’s encouraging report on non-farm payrolls and a drop in the unemployment rate didn’t have much positive effect, but things would like have been worse without the job gains. Two speeches by Federal Reserve Bank presidents stressed that policymakers need to do more about raising employment, and the comments were couched in terms that might indicate that the Fed is looking at raising the inflation target. Crude oil prices are mixed, with WTI crude at down -0.25% at $101.56 and Brent crude up 0.34% at $113.12. Gold was up only slightly, closing at $1,617.70.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 56 points to 12,359.92 (-0.45%), the NASDAQ rose more than 4 points (0.16%) to 2,674.22, and the S&P 500 fell -0.25% or more than 3 points to 1,277.81.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) reiterated as ‘outperform’ and target price raised to $60 at Credit Suisse; Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) raised to ‘buy’ at Sterne Agee; and FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) started as ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo.

Earnings reports of note since markets closed yesterday include: Commercial Metals Co. (NYSE: CMC) is up more than 4% at $15.01; Apollo Group is up about 5.5% at $56.68, after posting a new 52-week high of $57.09 earlier today; Imperial Sugar Co. (NASDAQ: IPSU) is down nearly -6% at $3.32; PriceSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT) is down nearly -15% at $60.13; Greenbrier Cos. (NYSE: GBX) is up nearly 9% at $25.97; and Texas Industries Inc. (NYSE: TXI) is down more than -3% at $28.15.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHC) is up nearly 19% at $11.60 after posting a new 52-week high of $11.81 earlier today. The healthcare services company agreed to pay $91 million to acquire three additional facilities in Arizona, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is up nearly 12% at $7.16. The doughnut maker recently opened its 10,000th store and the stock was upgraded to ‘overweight’ at Stephens with a target price of $8.50.

RF Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: RFMD) is down more than -19% at $4.55 after posting a new 52-week low of $4.45 earlier today. The technology company warned that sales in the third fiscal quarter would be 10% lower than previously forecast.

EnerNOC Inc. (NASDAQ: ENOC) is down nearly -9% at $9.43. The energy services company’s revenues are threatened by a recent regulatory ruling.

Saba Software Inc. (NASDAQ: SABA) is up more than 15% at $8.54. The cloud software company lost less than expected in its most recent quarter and said that it would return to profitability in the second of the year.

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) is up more than 10% at $1.73. The homebuilder’s stock is probably reacting to the remarks by two Fed presidents supporting additional lending and homebuilding.

Stay tuned for Monday. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is giving a speech. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month Treasury bill auctions
3:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve consumer credit report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ACHC, APOL, CMC, FDX, GBX, GS, HOV, IPSU, KKD, KSS, PSMT, RFMD, SABA, SNDK, TXI

Media Digest (12/7/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYTime, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:45:59 +0000

The board of Olympus may resign by late February. (Reuters)

China says its annual rate of growth slowed between October and November. (Reuters)

Congress pressures the CFTC for stronger regulation after the MF Global incident. (Reuters)

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) will launch a content service to compete with Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). (Reuters)

Trouble in the solar industry causes consolidation and brings more Chinese companies into the market. (Reuters)

Verizon says it will not block the use of Google Wallet. (Reuters)

Carl Icahn to make a hostile bid for Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) for $1.73 billion. (Reuters)

Treasury Secretary Geithner will press EU finance ministers to stop the crisis in the region. (WSJ)

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee to hold a vote on insider trading by members of Congress. (WSJ)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) wants better terms from bidders for a minority stake. (WSJ)

Private-equity firm Sycamore Partners makes an offer for Talbots (NYSE: TLB). (WSJ)

The EU is considering antitrust charges against e-book publishers. (WSJ)

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will offer a product that competes with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) apps. (WSJ)

Spain may invest billions of dollars to clean up its banking system. (WSJ)

General Electric’s (NYSE: GE) financial arm may take retail deposits. (WSJ)

Bank of America’s (NYSE: BAC) Merrill Lynch & Co. agrees to pay $315 million to end a mortgage-securities lawsuit. (WSJ)

Free shipping could cost retailers more than the revenue they receive is worth. (WSJ)

JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) may buy a piece of Martha Stewart Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO). (NYT)

Citigroup (NYSE: C) to fire 4,500 people. (NYT)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) begins push into children’s books. (NYT)

India kills a retail reform proposal that would have let companies like Walmart (NYSE: WMT) own retail operations in the country. (FT)

Bank of America is less confident about the size of its dividend than most other large U.S. banks. (FT)

Large buyouts set in the 2006 to 2008 period face poor returns, according to Moody’s. (FT)

Geithner supports a plan by Germany and France to increase regulation of nations with large deficits. (Bloomberg)

BP (NYSE: BP) and Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) to restart oil operations in Libya. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, BAC, BP, C, CMC, GE, JPC, MSFT, MSO, NFLX, RDS-A, TLB, VZ, WMT, YHOO

Media Digest (11/29/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:11:44 +0000

S&P may cut its outlook on France’s AAA debt. (Reuters)

A judge blocks the $285 million settlement between Citigroup (NYSE: C) and the SEC. (Reuters)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) says Kindle sales rose 4X on Black Friday compared to the same day a year ago. (Reuters)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) offers loaner cars to Chevy Volt owners. (Reuters)

Thomas H. Lee Partners may bid for the U.S. operations of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). (Reuters)

Some MF Global customer money may have been found in Europe. (Reuters)

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) may offer some of its BlackBerry security features on the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android devices. (Reuters)

Aol (NYSE: AOL) says it does not compete with Yahoo!, but still could hire good talent. (Reuters)

Facebook may launch an IPO in the spring that would raise $10 billion and value the company at $100 billion. (WSJ)

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and other financial firms are in settlement talks with MBIA (NYSE: MBI) over losses incurred during the financial crisis. (WSJ)

Amazon.com’s Kindle emerges as the primary competition to the Apple iPad. (WSJ)

Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) increases its forecast for annual earnings. (WSJ)

Toyota (NYSE: TM), a huge employer in Japan, may move production because of the value of the yen. (WSJ)

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York says Americans cut debt 0.6% in the third quarter, mostly through defaults and debt repayment. (WSJ)

The National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers say state budget deficits have improved. (WSJ)

The OECD says global growth will slow. (WSJ)

Cyber Monday sales rise 18% by some measures. (WSJ)

Black Friday sales may not help forecasts for the balance of the holiday season. (WSJ)

Summit Entertainment and Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF) are in M&A talks. (WSJ)

Icahn Enterprises (NYSE: IEP) offers to buy Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) for $1.73 billion. (WSJ)

The UK will increase its bank levy to raise $3.9 billion. (WSJ)

Nomura Holdings (NYSE: NMR) sharply decreases its exposure to eurozone paper. (WSJ)

Bets against the euro hit a 17-month high. (WSJ)

Tightened credit at EU banks hampers business growth. (NYT)

Silver Lake and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) may bid for a stake in Yahoo! (NYT)

Tokyo Electric Power Company will sell assets to raise $3.2 billion. (NYT)

The Polish foreign minister says that only Germany can save the eurozone. (FT)

The FHFA Office of Inspector-General says that mortgage companies often press his agency in a way that hurts its financial position. (FT)

Moody’s may cut the ratings of a number of European banks. (Bloomberg)

The Fiscal Policy Institute says most New York State growth since 2008 has come in low-level jobs. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, AOL, BAC, C, CMC, GM, GOOG, IEP, LGF, MBI, MS, MSFT, NMR, RIMM, STX, TM

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GOOG, GILD, RIMM, GDOT, ERTS, CSTR, TIF, OVTI, BHO, CMC, LUNA, MHR, RGDX, CX)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:09:19 +0000

Reported strong consumer spending over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend pushed stocks up sharply at the opening this morning and gains have been held throughout the day. New home sales figures were slightly less than expected, but better than the previous month. There is also a belief that a solution to the European financial troubles may be in sight. Today’s best gains came in natural resources stocks. Crude oil is up about 1%, at $97.73/barrel after spending much of the morning around $99/barrel. Gold is up more than $6, at $1,691.60/ounce and silver is up more than 3%, at $32.06/ounce.The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 291 points to 11,523.01 (2.59%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 86 points (3.52%) to 2,527.34, and the S&P 500 rose 2.92% or nearly 34 points to 1,192.55.There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup. Other ratings actions included Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs; Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) cut to ‘neutral’ at Sterne Agee; Green Dot Corp. (NYSE: GDOT) started as ‘outperform’ at KBW; Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; and Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan.

There are no major earnings announcements today, but on tap for tomorrow are Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF), OmniVision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI), and B+H Ocean Carriers Ltd. (AMEX: BHO).

Several standouts from today are as follows…

Commercial Metals Co. (NYSE: CMC) is up nearly 23%, at $14.08. The company has received a takeover offer from Carl Icahn for $1.73 billion, or $15/share.

Luna Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ: LUNA) is up nearly 22%, at $1.29. There has been no news on the company today.

Magnum Hunter Resources Inc. (NYSE: MHR) is up more than 13%, at $4.28. The small oil & gas firm has had several insiders purchasing both common and preferred shares in the past 60 days.

Response Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGDX) is down more than -24%, at $1.10, after posting a new 52-week low of $0.92 earlier today. The company has received a de-listing notice from Nasdaq for failing to maintain a minimum market value of $35 million.

Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: CX) is up about 17.5%, at $4.09. The jump is likely due to investors’ belief that the share price is at a bottom and that construction will pick up based on today’s developments in Europe.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. There are speeches scheduled from two Federal Reserve Bank presidents, Janet Yellen and Narayana Kocherlakota. Here’s a list of other noteworthy events scheduled for tomorrow(all times Eastern):

9:00 a.m. – Case-Schiller housing price index
10:00 a.m. – Conference Board’s consumer confidence index
10:00 a.m – Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) house price index
10:00 a.m. – State Street investor confidence index

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Analyst Calls, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: BHO, CMC, CSTR, CX, ERTS, GDOT, GILD, GOOG, LUNA, MHR, OVTI, RGDX, RIMM, TIF

AK Steel Versus Peers, Downgrade Against Value (AKS, X, CMC, HSC)

Administrator — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:36:35 +0000

After considering the comments made, it its difficult to tell whether Moody’s recent announcement of a pending downgrade of AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS) is company-specific or motivated by a downbeat view of the steel industry.

We looked at several domestic steel companies of comparable size and find a number of common valuation points with AK Steel. All expect dramatic improvement in year-over-year earnings next year. All companies post puny-to-negative return on equity (ROE) numbers. All boast modest forward price earnings multiples. The other companies 24/7 Wall St. examined for a comparison were United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X), Commercial Metals Company (NYSE: CMC), Harsco Corporation (NYSE: HSC).

AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS) has a market cap of $1.34 billion and a minus return of equity of 15.2%. Its forward price to earnings multiple is 8.4 and trades at just over 2-times book value. Having closed recently at $12.15, the shares are down more than 34% from their 52-week high. Its 52-week price range is $11.64 to $17.82. Consensus target price for the shares is $16.77.

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) has a market cap of $5.76 billion and a minus return of equity of 3.8%. Its forward price to earnings multiple is 8.6. Having closed recently at $39.99, the shares are down 38.5% from their 52-week high. Its 52-week price range is $39.05 to $63.96. Consensus target price for the shares is $51.85.

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE: CMC) has a market cap of $1.68 billion and a minus return of equity of 0.05%. Its forward price to earnings multiple is close to 9. $14.51, the shares are down 20.5% from their 52-week high. Its 52-week price range is $11.75 to $17.92. Consensus target price for the shares is $17.94.

Harsco Corporation (NYSE: HSC) seems more diversified and it has a market cap of $2.21 billion and a return of equity of 1.4%. Its forward price to earnings multiple is 12.9. Having closed recently at $27.41, the shares are down almost 27% from their 52-week high. Its 52-week price range is $19.35 to $36.33. Consensus target price for the shares is $38.33.

The most telling number among these data is AK Steel’s negative return on equity of 15.2%. It decisively trails the next worst ROE of the lot, minus 3.8% posted by US Steel. Maybe this downgrade is company specific, particularly since AK shares just hit a new 52-week low of $11.64 this morning.

With poor economic data in America and with China and India putting on the brakes in their own countries, there is just very little to get excited about here today.

Jim Berdou

Filed under: Metals, Research, Value Investing Tagged: AKS, CMC, HSC, X

Key Earnings Previews for the Week Ahead (RENN, ADBE, BKS, CCL, CAAS, CMC, GRB, JBL, JEF, WAG, BBBY, KMX, FDX, PAYX, RHT, CAG, HRB, LEN, MU, ORCL, RAD)

Administrator — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:18:18 +0000

Earnings season is supposed to be over. Guess again. This coming week is going to feel like the earnings floodgates are open and the companies reporting have market-moving and sector-moving abilities. Monday brings Renren Inc, (NYSE: RENN). Tuesday we get to see earnings from Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE), Barnes and Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS), Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL), China Automotive Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CAAS), Commercial Metals Co. (NYSE: CMC), Gerber Scientific Inc. (NYSE: GRB), Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL), Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF), and Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG). On Wednesday, we get earnings from the likes of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY), Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX), Fedex Corporation (NYSE: FDX), Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX), and Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT). We also have key reports on Thursday coming from the likes of ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG), H & R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB), Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL), and Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD).

We have given a detailed preview on each, shown effective price data, and added in color if applicable. It is amazing to see this many companies with earnings due.

Renren Inc, (NYSE: RENN) has been a pig of an IPO and we will get to see if this is just another China bash or if there is anything real under the hood on Monday. Thomson Reuters has no estimates yet. Shares are trading around $6.92 and the 52-week trading range is $6.55 to $24.00. Renren was touted as “The Facebook of China” but its stock and the scandal from right before the earnings turned it into “The Face$%^& of China.”

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) reports Tuesday and Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.51 EPS and $994.79 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.54 EPS and $1.02 million in revenues. Shares are trading around $30.67 and the 52-week trading range is $25.45 to $35.99.

Barnes and Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is interesting considering that it is at a premium to its implied buyout price. Thomson Reuters has estimates of -$0.91 EPS and $1.39 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are -$0.88 EPS and $1.45 billion in revenues. Shares are trading around $20.00 and the 52-week trading range is $8.45 to $20.46.

Filed under: Calendar, Corporate Governance, Earnings, Technology Companies Tagged: ADBE, BBBY, BKS, CAAS, CAG, CCL, CMC, FDX, GRB, HRB, JBL, JEF, KMX, LEN, MU, ORCL, PAYX, RAD, RENN, RHT, WAG

Top Analyst Downgrades (ALU, CTAS, CCL, CMC, CTV, JNPR, PRU, STI, TLAB)

247wallst — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:56:29 +0000

These are the early analyst downgrades and cautious research calls seen from Wall Street firms this Wednesday morning:

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) downgraded to Neutral at RW Baird.
Cintas (CTAS) downgraded to Underperform at RW Baird.
Carnival (CCL) downgraded to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Commercial Metals (CMC) downgraded to Neutral at UBS.
CommScope (CTV) downgraded to Neutral at RW Baird.
Juniper (JNPR) downgraded to Neutral at RW Baird.
Prudential (PRU) downgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
SunTrust (STI) Started as Underperform at Wells Fargo
Tellabs (TLAB) downgraded to Neutral at RW Baird.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ALU, CCL, CMC, CTAS, CTV, JNPR, PRU, STI, TLAB

Goldman Sachs Kicking Steel While It’s Down (AKS, STLD, TX, CMC)

247wallst — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:28:00 +0000

It is a bit surprising when you see a firm like Goldman Sachs downgrade many key steel stocks after their shares have fallen by so much. That is what we are seeing this morning. Many steel stocks are down more than 75% from their recent year highs. It sees lower steel and scrap prices on deteriorated demand in the coming months. Below is the firm’s downgrade list, although Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) was actually upgraded.

AK Steel (AKS) Cut to Sell from Neutral. AK Steel closed at $14.17 yesterday and it is down sharply from a high of $73.07.

Steel Dynamics (STLD) Cut to Neutral from Buy. Steel Dynamics closed at $9.51 yesterday and it is down from a high of $40.92.

Ternium S.A. (TX) Cut to Neutral from Buy. Ternium closed at $9.98 and is down from a 52-week high of $45.99.

Goldman Sachs did issue one upgrade in the sector. Commercial Metals (CMC) was raised to Buy from Neutral. This one is indicated higher after closing at $10.58 yesterday. It is down about 70% from its $39.80 52-week high.

Jon C. Ogg
October 9, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls, Metals Tagged: AKS, CMC, STLD, TX

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AIG, BBW, CPST, LNG, CMC, DLTR, IMCL, PSUN, TDSC, TAL)

247wallst — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:31:24 +0000

These are ten of the top analyst calls we are seeing this Monday morning:

American International Group (NYSE: AIG) Cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST) Started as Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Cheniere Energy (AMEX: LNG) Cut to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) Started as Buy at UBS.
Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) Raised to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.
ImClone Systems (NASDAQ: IMCL) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) Cut to Sell from Buy at Citigroup.
3D Systems (NASDAQ: TDSC) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Piper Jaffray.
TAL International (NYSE: TAL) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse; but Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.

Jon C. Ogg
May 12, 2008

Goldman Sachs & Massive Steel Prices (X, NUE, ATI, STLD, SCHN, GNA, WOR, AKS, ROCK, RS, CMC)

247wallst — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:29:05 +0000

Goldman Sachs is out with a call raising its steel company earnings targets after above expectation steel prices and tighter supplies that represent a physical steel shortage. It sees some US steel prices rising from $700 recent targets up to a new $850 target per short ton. It also sees 2009 prices above 2008 prices and sees wider spreads with raw steel compared to scrap costs.

There was one lowered target on Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZEUS). Goldman Sachs is raising ZEUS earnings estimates for this year and next, but it is downgrading the stock from Buy to Neutral because its shares are up more than 50% since being added as Buy in November. It is raising the rating on U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) from neutral to Buy and it has raised targets as well, and it raised 2008 EPS from $11.10 to $14.80 and 2008 from $12.75 to $16.75.

Other estimates are raised in the sector: Allegheny Tech (NYSE: ATI) was maintained as Buy and saw a slight boost to earnings targets. Gerdau AmeriSteel (NYSE: GNA), Gibralter Ind. (NASDAQ: ROCK), Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS), Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD), AK Steel (NYSE: AKS), and Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) are all neutral rated but saw estimates raised considerably considering the neutral ratings.

The firm is also positive on Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE), which it maintains a Buy rating on and raised estimates sharply on for this year and next.

Goldman Sachs has sell ratings on Worthington (NYSE: WOR) and Schnitzer Steel (NASDAQ: SCHN), although the firm even raised earnings estimates on those two names.

Jon C. Ogg
March 20, 2008