24/7 Wall St. » CMG

Top Analyst Downgrades and Stocks to Sell: ARM, Devon and More

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:35:24 +0000

Investors frequently get to see the analyst upgrades and Buy ratings from Wall Street firms. What investors often do not get to see is when analyst downgrade stocks to sell or to avoid. 24/7 Wall St. reviews many fresh research calls each and every day to find great ideas from value stocks to growth stocks to dividend stocks, and we have broken out the negative analyst calls today. These are this Thursday’s top analyst downgrades and cautious research notes from Wall Street.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) was cut to Neutral from Outperform at BNP Paribas.

Blue Nile Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE) was cut to Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse due to analyst departure.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was cut to Negative from an already cautious Neutral rating at Susquehanna.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) was cut to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) was cut to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Patterson-UTI Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) was cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Prosperity Bancshares Inc. (NYSE: PB) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

Realty Income Corp. (NYSE: O) was cut to Sell from an already cautious Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) was cut to Underperform from an already cautious Neutral rating at Credit Suisse.

Sanmina Corp. (NASDAQ: SANM) was cut to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls Tagged: ARMH, CMA, CMG, DVN, FLEX, JNJ, NILE, O, PB, PTEN, SANM, SOL

Top Institutional Portfolio Stocks to Buy at Oppenheimer

Lee Jackson — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:10:23 +0000

Friday’s nonfarm payroll number was a pleasant surprise. However, for real growth to return we need to consistently add 250,000 jobs per month. Our economy is sluggish at best, and corporate profit margins are at or near cyclical highs following several years of cost reductions. This very mixed picture for investors implies that sector, industry and stock selection is extremely important now.

The Institutional Portfolio team at Oppenheimer ran extensive screens and filtered for stocks that have the qualities needed at this lofty level of the markets. Scanning everything from market breadth to companies that beat sales expectations, they have a list of stocks to buy that should hold their ground even in the event of a market correction.

Here are the institutional stocks to buy at Oppenheimer broken out by sector.

Materials: Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE) is the stock to buy in this sector. Celanese engages in the manufacture and sale of value-added chemicals, thermoplastic polymers and other chemical-based products. The Thomson/First Call estimate for the stock is $54.

Industrials: Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) is one of three names to buy in this sector. Owens Corning produces and sells glass fiber reinforcements and other materials for composite systems and residential and commercial building materials worldwide. The consensus price target is $49.

Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) is one of the largest waste management companies in the United States. Bill Gates’s investment company Cascade holds a large position in the stock. The consensus target for the stock is $37. Republic pays a 2.8% dividend.

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC), although a railroad, it is placed in the industrials category at Oppenheimer. With coal shipments rebounding, earnings have grown smartly. The consensus is $84.50. Shareholders receive a 2.60% dividend.

Consumer Discretionary: Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) has hit new highs recently as sales surge to home builders and automakers. The consensus price target is $36. Investors are paid a 2.20% dividend.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) makes the Oppenheimer list. Often a target of short sellers, Chipotle continues to expand at a fast pace. The consensus price objective for the stock is $375.

Consumer Staples: Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) is the largest drug retailing chain in the United States, with stores in all 50 states. With the long running dispute with Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX) settled, the stock has been on fire. The consensus estimate is $50. Shareholders receive a 2.20% dividend.

Health Care: Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is the managed care pick in this sector at Oppenheimer. Investors are carefully watching how the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) will affect corporate earnings. The consensus price target for the stock is $60. Aetna pays a 1.40% dividend.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) is also a stock to buy. With the company’s explosive “orphan drug” pipeline, the stock hit a 52-week high on Friday. The consensus price target for BioMarin is $67.

Technology: Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) is another stock that hit a 52-week high on Friday. With five different segments generating revenue, the stock could be poised for a substantial breakout. The consensus target is $15. Investors receive a 2.80% dividend.

Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) is the other top tech stock to buy at Oppenheimer. The company designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes and services semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The consensus price target is $50.

With giddy traders pushing all of the indices to either record or multiyear highs, investors need to be selective when putting any capital to work. Generally, knowing when to sell is much harder than knowing when to buy. Readers may want to examine their portfolios and sell partial positions of any big winners and hold the cash to purchase new shares after a market correction.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls Tagged: AET, BMRN, CE, CMG, ESRX, featured, GLW, JCI, LRCX, NSC, OC, RSG, WAG

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — April 19, 2013: After a Mixed Open, Markets Climb Slowly

Paul Ausick — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:06:24 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened mixed this morning as the DJIA was slammed by a number of weak earnings reports both last night and before markets opened this morning. The was no economic data out in Asia today, where markets closed higher. In Europe, Germany’s producer price index came in lower than expected, but industrial production reports from both Italy and Spain were weaker than forecast. There was no economic data released in the U.S. today. Events in Boston today dominated U.S. news.

The U.S. dollar index is trading up 00.22% today, now at 82.736. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.8% at 606.01. WTI crude oil closed up 0.3% today, at $88.01 a barrel, but closed the week down 3.6%, a third consecutive weekly loss. Brent crude trades up 0.2% at $99.69 a barrel. Natural gas is up 0.2% today at about $4.40 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 0.2% today at $1,395.60 an ounce, but posted a loss of 7% for the week, the fourth week in a row that the yellow metal has dropped.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 10 points to 14,547.51 (0.07%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 40 points (1.25%) to 3,206.06, and the S&P 500 rose 0.88% or nearly 14 points to 1,555.25.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Varian Medical Systems Inc. (NYSE: VAR) cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) raised to ‘buy’ at Keefe Bruyette & Woods; Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) raised to ‘market perform’ at BMO Capital Markets; Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) cut to ‘market perform’ at Raymond James; and Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) cut to ‘neutral’ at R.W. Baird.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is down 2.3% at $2.45; Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) is up 6.7% at $56.31; Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is up 10.9% at $364.03; E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) is up 3.1% at $9.84; Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is up 4.5% at $800.35 (more coverage here); International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is down 8% at $190.54 (more coverage here); Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is up 3.4% at $29.76 (more coverage here); General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is down 4% at $21.78 (more coverage here); Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) is up 3.8% at $74.17; McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) is down 2.1% at $99.73 (more coverage here and our ‘Company of the Week’ story here); Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) is up 2.4% at $61.08, and Schlumberger NV (NYSE: SLB) is down 2.1% at $69.51 (more coverage here).

Before markets open Monday morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), Check Point Software Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CHKP), Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), and NVR Corp. (NYSE: NVR).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) is up 58.9% at $84.00 after posting a new 52-week high of $85.90 earlier today. The biopharmaceuticals maker reported positive mid-stage data on a treatment for cystic fibrosis.

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) is up 25% at $33.76. The theme park company held its IPO today, going out at $27 a share for 26 million shares. More coverage here.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is down 3.7% at $13.44. The PC maker’s share price fell below the offer price from Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners after Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) announced that it would not make a bid for the company. More coverage here.

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

8:30 a.m. – Chicago Fed national activity index
10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales
11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month bill auctions

Have a safe weekend!

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AMD, BX, CAT, CHKP, CMG, COF, COH, COL, DELL, ETFC, GE, GOOG, HAL, HAS, HON, IBM, MCD, MSFT, NOK, NVR, SEAS, SLB, TOL, TXN, VAR, VRTX

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — April 18, 2013: Markets Cool on Jobs, Manufacturing Data

Paul Ausick — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:05:32 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened slightly higher this morning following the report on U.S. jobless numbers (more coverage here). In Europe, the only data out today showed that U.K. retail sales fell 0.7%, slightly better than expected. In Asia, house prices in China gained 3.6% in March, pushing Shanghai to a higher close. In the U.S., the leading indicators came in lower than expected (more coverage here) and the Philly Fed index posted a surprisingly low number (more coverage here). The lower open this morning simply continued sliding until the last hour of trading.

The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.14% today, now at 82.563. The GSCI commodity index is down 1.5% at 600.97. WTI crude oil closed up 1.2% today, at $XX a barrel. Brent crude trades 1.77% at $100.39 a barrel. Natural gas is up 4.8% today at about $4.40 per million BTUs, after the weekly storage report showed a smaller-than-expected build in inventories (more coverage here). Gold settled up 0.7% today at $1,392.50 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 79 points to 14,539.14 (-0.54%), the NASDAQ fell more than 38 points (-1.20%) to 3,166.36, and the S&P 500 fell -0.67% or more than 10 points to 1,541.63.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Qiagen NV (NASDAQ: QGEN) started as ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) started as ‘overweight’ at HSBC; HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) started as ‘outperform’ with a price target of $50 at BMO Capital Markets; and FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) cut to ‘underperform’ at RBC Capital Markets.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is up 1.7% at $65.20 (more coverage here); SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) is down 6.7% at $52.00 (more coverage here); eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is down 5.6% at $52.98 (more coverage here); Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) is up 0.4% at $37.95 (more coverage here); AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) is up 1.7% at $43.22 (more coverage here); Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) is up 0.3% at $28.09; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is down 4.7% at $20.47 (more coverage here); Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) is down 0.4% at $XX; Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) is up 8.2% at $20.58 (more coal coverage here); PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is up 2.8% at $81.08 after posting a new 52-week high of $83.44 earlier today (more coverage here); Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) is down 2.5% at $91.65 (more coverage here); and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is up 3% at $51.01 after posting a new 52-week high of $51.67 (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL), and Schlumberger NV (NYSE: SLB).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is down 12.6% at $3.13. The mobile phone maker posted weak first quarter results. There’s no mercy in the markets. More coverage here.

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) is up 6.2% at $2.39. The drug store chain accepted the resignation of board member Jean Coutu, who has been reducing his group’s stake in the company. More coverage here.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is down 2.7% at $392.06. The tech giant’s shares will close below $400 for the first time in more than a year.

Stay tuned for Friday. Fed Governor Jeremy Stein is giving a speech. There are no other events on tomorrow’s schedule.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL, AIG, AMD, AN, AXP, BTU, CMG, COF, COL, EBAY, ETFC, FCX, FDX, GE, GOOG, HFC, HON, IBM, KMI, MCD, MS, NOK, NUE, PEP, PM, POT, QGEN, RAD, SLB, SNDK, VZ

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — April 15, 2013: Markets Drop as Gold Collapses (CMG, FCX, SKS, GFI, GS, C, SCHW, FRC, PBY, BLK, CMA, GS, JNJ, KO, S, DISH, ABX, LIFE, TMO)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:05:18 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning as overnight trading in gold saw the beginnings of the biggest one-day drop in the yellow metal’s price in 30 years (more coverage here). Markets in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. all took a turn getting beaten up today. In Asia, a weak report on China’s first quarter GDP growth came in lower than expected, and added to the woes brought on by gold. In Europe, the only economic data point out today was the eurozone’s international trade surplus, which was higher than expected. In the U.S., the Empire State manufacturing index (more coverage here) was lower and the National Association of Home Builders reported another slide in builder confidence (more coverage here). But today’s dive was pretty much down to gold.

The U.S. dollar index is trading up 0.10% today, now at 82.387. The GSCI commodity index is down 1.3% at 623.16. WTI crude oil closed down 2.8% today, at $88.71 a barrel, its lowest level of the year. Brent crude trades down 2.6% at $100.45 a barrel. The crude market was exceptionally hard hit today (more coverage here). Natural gas is down 1.7% today at about $4.13 per million BTUs. Gold settled down 9.3% today at $1,361.10 an ounce, following the largest one-day drop in 30 years and the lowest settlement in more than 2 years..

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 201 points to 14,664.27 (-1.79%), the NASDAQ fell more than 78 points (-2.38%) to 3,216.49, and the S&P 500 fell -2.30% or more than 36 points to 1,552.38.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) raised to ‘buy’ at UBS; Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) cut to ‘neutral’ at J.P. Morgan; Gold Fields Inc. (NYSE: GFI) raised to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; and Goldman Sachs GRoup Inc. (NYSE: GS) started as ‘market perform’ at KBW.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is up 0.7% at $45.10 (more coverage here); The Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) is down 3.9% at $16.61; and First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC) is down 4.1% at $38.36.

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack (NYSE: PBY), BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK), Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), and The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Spring Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) is up 13.9% at $7.08 after posting a new 52-week high of $7.33 earlier today. The wireless carrier received a $25.5 billion offer from Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) this morning, more than $5 billion more than the offer from Softbank now under consideration. More coverage here.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) is down 11.9% at $19.93 after posting a new 52-week low of $19.86 earlier today. The gold mining company — and virtually every mining company — was hit hard today by the collapse in gold prices. Barrick also fell 8.5% on Friday. More coverage here.

Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: LIFE) is up 7.5% at $73.11 after posting a new 52-week high of $73.50 earlier today. The laboratory equipment maker is being acquired by Thermo Fisher Inc. (NYSE: TMO) for about $15.5 billion, including debt. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Fed Vice-chair Janet Yellen, Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke, and Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota are giving speeches. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index
8:30 a.m. – Housing starts
9:15 a.m. – Industrial production
11:30 a.m. – 4-week Treasury bill auctions

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ABX, BLK, C, CMA, CMG, DISH, FCX, FRC, GFI, GS, JNJ, KO, LIFE, PBY, S, SCHW, SKS, TMO

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ANR, APA, ACI, AHL, ABX, CAH, CMG, XRAY, ENTA, FCX, GFI, GS, JPM, LULU, MODN, OPEN, PVR, SKS, SLM, UA, VZ, GRA)

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:30:06 +0000

Investors and traders seem to always be looking for fresh research ideas that will lead to higher income or more profits. 24/7 Wall St. reviews many fresh research calls to find great ideas from value stocks to growth stocks to dividend stocks. Some are stocks to buy, while some ideas are even stocks to sell. These are some of this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from select Wall St. research calls.

Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) started as Positive at Susquehanna.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: AHL) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) cut to Neutral at J.P. Morgan.

Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) maintained Buy with $52 target at Argus.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

DENTSPLY International Inc. (NASDAQ: XRAY) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTA) started as Outperform with $29 target at Credit Suisse.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) cut to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup.

Gold Fields Inc. (NYSE: GFI) raised to Neutral at Citigroup.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) started as Market Perform at KBW.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) reiterated Outperform and raised target price to $67 at Oppenheimer.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) defended on weakness and maintained Buy rating with target raised to $77 from $71 by Janney Capital.

Model N Inc. (NYSE: MODN) started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

Open Table Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) cut to Neutral at J.P. Morgan.

PVR Partners L.P. (NYSE: PVR) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) cut to Neutral at J.P. Morgan.

SLM Corp. (NASDAQ: SLM) reiterated Outperform with $24 target price at Credit Suisse.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) raised to Positive at Susquehanna.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) reiterated Outperform and raised target price to $55 at Oppenheimer.

W.R. Grace & Co. (NYSE: GRA) started as Outperform with $91 price target at Credit Suisse.

Deutsche Bank unveiled a new list of small cap stocks that it thinks will lead the bull market charge.

Another dividend lovers piece is from Oppenheimer, showing the top picks in the high-yield business development company sector.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls, Value Investing Tagged: ABX, ACI, AHL, ANR, APA, CAH, CMG, ENTA, FCX, GFI, GRA, GS, JPM, LULU, MODN, OPEN, PVR, SKS, SLM, UA, VZ, XRAY

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — February 6, 2013: Markets Waver With Little New Data to Chew On (FSLR, JCP, WFC, ACI, ITRI, CMG, EXPE, GNW, TTWO, DIS, ZNGA, CVS, MRO, NUS, RL, SYT, TWX, FMC, GMCR, IACI, TSO, V, YELP, ALU, BG, CI, MWW, NYT, PM, S, TEVA, BCC, GDP, VOCS)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:04:54 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning before bouncing into positive territory briefly and then turning south again. As happened yesterday, the focus was on Europe, where Italy’s oldest bank was expected to reveal the extent of its derivatives losses, estimated by some to be as high as €1 billion. German factory orders came in slightly below estimates. In Asia, the early resignation of one governor from the Bank of Japan sent the Nikkei up nearly 4%. There was little data out in the U.S. today. Mortgage applications rose 3.4% from last week (more coverage here) and crude oil inventories also rose. But today has mostly been spent waiting for news from Italy. In the event, shares came close to a flat finish.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.3% today, now at 79.721. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.4% at 676.70, with commodities prices lower today. WTI crude oil closed flat today, at $96.62 a barrel following today’s report on inventories (more coverage here). Brent crude trades up 0.2% at $116.80 a barrel. Natural gas is up 0.8% today at about $3.43 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 0.3% today at $1,678.80 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up less than 7 points to 13,985.98 (0.05%), the NASDAQ fell about 3 points (-0.10%) to 3,168.48, and the S&P 500 rose 0.05% or less than 1 point to 1,512.06.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) started as ‘buy’ at Citi; J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) started as ‘sell’ at Maxim Group; Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) started as ‘buy’ at Nomura; Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) cut to ‘neutral’ at J.P. Morgan; and Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) raised to ‘buy’ with a price target of $52 at Argus.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is up 5.8% at $322.83; Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is down 2.7% at $65.65; Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is down 3.1% at $8.89; Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) is up 14.9% at $14.54; Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is up 0.4% at $54.53 after posting a new 52-week high of $55.50 earlier today (more coverage here); Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is up 8.4% at $2.97 (more coverage here); CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) is down 1.3% at $51.06 (more coverage here); Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) is down 1.4% at $34.23; Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: NUS) is down 3.3% at $41.56; Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) is up 5.8% at $174.43; Syngenta AG (NYSE: SYT) is down 2.3% at $85.10; and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) is up 4.1% at $52.01 after posting a new 52-week high of $55.23 earlier today (more coverage here).

After markets close today and before they open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR), IAC/InterActivecorp (NASDAQ: IACI), Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO), Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP), Alcatel Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU), Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG), Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI), Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW), New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT), Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM), Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S), and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC) is up 25.9% at $26.43. The wood products maker held its IPO today, and priced above the expected range. More coverage here.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: GDP) is up 18.6% at $12.60. The oil & gas E&P firm announced rising production at one of its wells.

Vocus Inc. (NASDAQ: VOCS) is down 15.5% at $15.00. The cloud software company after guiding current quarter earnings and revenues lower.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Fed Governor Jeremy Stein are giving speeches. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
8:30 a.m. – Productivity and costs
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
3:00 p.m. – Consumer credit
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ACI, ALU, BCC, BG, CI, CMG, CVS, DIS, EXPE, featured, FMC, FSLR, GDP, GMCR, GNW, IACI, ITRI, JCP, MRO, MWW, NUS, NYT, PM, RL, S, SYT, TEVA, TSO, TTWO, TWX, V, VOCS, WFC, Yelp, ZNGA

Unusual After-Hours Movers on Earnings (CMG, CSGS, EXPE, GLUU, HAIN, HPQ, PIKE, SFLY, TTWO, ZNGA)

Jon C. Ogg — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:52:34 +0000

Many stocks are on the move, and almost of the key movers have been on corporate earnings report except for one. We have blown through some of the news in rapid-fire fashion to get more summaries and more movers to you. We have shown the price changes and added color if applicable.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) investors had grown used to the stock selling off but by beating revenue and meeting earnings estimates the consensus is that it was good enough. Shares were up almost 3% at $313.74 on over 200,000 shares since the closing bell.

CSG Systems International Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGS) is trading higher after beating earnings and raising guidance. Shares are up a sharp 12% at $21.00 but volume is less than 10,000 shares in the after-hours session so far.

Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) must just be considered good enough as revenue beat expectations but its earnings were soft at $0.63 EPS. Shares are up almost 4% at $70.01 in the after-hours trading session.

Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) may have missed the mark as it is warning about first quarter sales even though it beat fourth quarter expectations. Shares are down about 5% at $2.01 in the after-hours session on 30,000 shares.

The Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) continues to struggle with valuation on mixed guidance and earnings estimates this year of $2.40 to $2.47 EPS. Shares are down 4% at $57.09 on more than 60,000 shares since the close.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is trading higher on more rumors that the company is reconsidering a break-up. We would caution that Meg Whitman decided it would be too costly to do this break-up that Leo Apotheker wanted to do. Shares of the DJIA component are up almost 5% at $17.35 in the after-hours trading session.

Pike Electric Corp. (NYSE: PIKE) reported that revenue rose 59% and shares were already up almost 6% on their own ahead of the report. Now shares are up 9% at $12.00 in the after-hours.

Shutterfly Inc. (NASDAQ: SFLY) is trading up after beating earnings and raising guidance. Shares are up 16% at $38.50 and that will mark a 52-week high.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) was halted for earnings. The video game outfit beat expectations on sales and earnings, but it appears as though guidance may be a tad light. Shares are currently up over 10% at $14.00 but trading is on thin volume.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is up 6% at $2.91 after earnings and that is after shares rose 7% after Bank of America/Merrill Lynch raised its rating on valuation this morning. FULL ZYNGA COVERAGE

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Active Trader, After-Hours Activity, Earnings, Earnings Warning Tagged: CMG, CSGS, EXPE, GLUU, HAIN, HPQ, PIKE, SFLY, TTWO, ZNGA

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — February 5, 2013: Markets Recover from Yesterday’s Slump (CLWR, M, SWC, DRI, UNH, CYOU, GCI, HUM, GOLD, RCL, SPG, CLX, APC, BIDU, EW, YUM, AGCO, AGN, ACI, ADM, ARMH, BP, ETN, EL, SIRI, K, CMG, EXPE, GNW, TTWO, DIS, ZNGA, CVS, MRO, NUS, RL, SYT, TWX, DELL, OPXA, MHP)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:04:01 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning and maintained their upward momentum for essentially the whole day. Lacking any really bad news from Asia or Europe, U.S. markets shrugged off a weaker than expected ISM non-manufacturing PMI number (more coverage here) and focussed instead on a generally upbeat day in European markets. In Asia, China’s PMI came in better than expected and Australia’s central bank left its key interest rate unchanged. In Europe, eurozone non-manufacturing PMI came in slightly better than expected. After yesterday’s worst session of the year so far, today’s trading seems positively sprightly.

The U.S. dollar index fell 0.02% today, now at 79.536. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.8% at 673.87, with commodities prices mixed again today. WTI crude oil closed up 0.5% today, at $96.64 a barrel. Brent crude trades up 0.8% at $116.54 a barrel. Natural gas is up 2.7% today at about $3.40 per million BTUs. Gold settled down 0.2% today at $1,673.50 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 98 points to 13,978.53 (0.71%), the NASDAQ rose more than 40 points (1.29%) to 3,171.59, and the S&P 500 rose 1.04% or nearly 16 points to 1,511.26.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) cut to ‘underperform’ at D.A. Davidson; Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Stillwater Mining Co. (NYSE: SWC) raised to ‘overweight’ at J.P. Morgan (more platinum coverage here); D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DRI) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; and UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: Anadarko Petroleum Co. (NYSE: APC) is up 3.3% at $83.15; Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is down 10.4% at $96.06; Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) is down 6.7% at $86.79; Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) is down 2.8% at $62.15 (more coverage here); AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) is up 2.1% at $53.62; Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) is up 1.6% at $106.75; Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) is up 3.4% at $29.42 (more coverage here); ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH) is up 4.3% at $43.76 after posting a new 52-week high of $44.00 earlier today (more coverage here); BP plc (NYSE: BP) is up 1.5% at $44.26 (more coverage here); Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) is up 5.1% at $59.45 after posting a new 52-week high of $60.45 earlier today; Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) is up 6.1% at $64.79; Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is down 0.5% at $3.15; and Kellogg Inc. (NYSE: K) is up 0.8% at $58.55 after posting a new 52-week high of $59.30 earlier today.

After markets close today and before they open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW), Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA), CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS), Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: NUS), Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), Syngenta AG (NYSE: SYT), and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is up 1.3% at $13.45. The PC maker has agreed to be taken private in a deal worth more than $24 billion. More coverage here.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) is down 12.4% at $6.07. The coal miner badly missed estimates this morning and the outlook for the first half of this year is not encouraging. More coverage here.

Opexa Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: OPXA) is up 162.8% at $3.18. The biopharma company has struck a deal with Germany’s Merck related to Opexa’s treatment for multiple sclerosis. More coverage here.

The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is down 11.5% at $44.52. The financial information firm continued to get battered today as the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against its S&P ratings agency for failure properly to let investors know the value of subprime mortgage bonds back in 2008.

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

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
3:00 p.m. – Treasury STRIPS

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ACI, ADM, AGCO, AGN, APC, ARMH, BIDU, BP, CLWR, CLX, CMG, CVS, CYOU, DELL, DIS, DRI, EL, ETN, EW, EXPE, featured, GCI, GNW, gold, HUM, K, M, MHP, MRO, NUS, OPXA, RCL, RL, SIRI, SPG, SWC, SYT, TTWO, TWX, UNH, YUM, ZNGA

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AKS, AAPL, BBBY, BBY, CELG, CMG, FB, FURX, HBHC, HEP, NWSA, PAA, QCOM, TEX, VMW)

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 13:31:10 +0000

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

AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) cut to Neutral at Baird.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to Buy at BB&T.

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) cut to Hold at Argus.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) raised to Buy at Lazard.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) raised to Outperform at Raymond James.

Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: FURX) started as Buy with $45 target at Canaccord Genuity.

Hancock Holding Co. (NASDAQ: HBHC) cut to Underperform with $25 target at Credit Suisse.

Holly Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: HEP) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Plains All American Pipeline L.P.(NYSE: PAA) cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) reiterated Buy with $80 target at Canaccord Genuity.

Terex Corp. (NYSE: TEX) raised to Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) cut to Neutral at Lazard.

We also have provided a set of earnings previews for this week’s major corporate earnings reports here.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, AKS, BBBY, BBY, CELG, CMG, FB, FURX, HBHC, HEP, NWSA, PAA, QCOM, TEX, VMW