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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BRCM, EAT, CMVT, CTCT, NLST, NVDA, CRM)

Administrator — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:29:17 +0000

Analysts have very selective calls this Friday the 13th. Some of this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls are as follows:

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late Thursday call).
Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Comverse Technology (CMVT) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Constant Contact, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT) Started as Buy at Needham.
Netlist Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST) Started as Buy at Roth Capital.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) maintained Hold at Needham; maintained Neutral at Gleacher.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Started as Hold at Needham.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BRCM, CMVT, CRM, CTCT, EAT, NLST, NVDA

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ACAS, BSX, CMVT, FSS, HPY, MRT, NENG, OTEX, RRI, RUTH)

247wallst — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:50:10 +0000

These are some of the downgrades and cautious analyst calls we are seeing this Wednesday morning:

American Capital (ACAS) Cut To Underweight from Neutral By JP Morgan.
Boston Scientific (BSX) Cut to Underperform at Merrill Lynch.
Comverse Tech (CMVT) Cut to Sell at Canaccord.
Federal Signal Corp. (FSS) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Heartland Payment Systems (HPY) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Morton’s Restaurant (MRT) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Network Engines (NENG) Cut Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Open Text (OTEX) Cut to Hold at Canaccord.
Reliant Energy (RRI) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Ruth’s Hospitality (RUTH) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.

Jon C. Ogg
October 1, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ACAS, BSX, CMVT, FSS, HPY, MRT, NENG, OTEX, RRI, RUTH

Early-Bird Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CDNS, BEAT, CMVT, HSY, IM, LMNX, MAN, RHI, TWGP, WDFC)

247wallst — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:20:22 +0000

These are not all of the early calls from analysts out there, but these are some of the calls that may impact the prices of these shares this summer Monday morning:

Cadence Design (CDNS) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
CardioNet (BEAT) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.

Comverse Tech (CMVT) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Hershey Co. (HSY) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Imgram Micro (IM) Cut to Neutral at B of A.
Luminex (LMNX) Cut to Market Perform at Thomas Weisel.
Manpower (MAN) Cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
Robert Half (RHI) Cut to Underweight at Lehman.
Tower Group (TWGP) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
WD-40 Co. (WDFC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
August 18, 2008

Early-Bird Analyst Downgrades (CMVT, CTRP, GET, DNA, HAR, JNJ, PTRY, WDFC)

247wallst — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:13:09 +0000

These are some of the early analyst calls we are seeing early this Friday morning:

Comverse Technology (CMVT) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Ctrip.com (CTRP) Cut estimates and maintained Buy but target cut 1/3 to $53 by Citigroup.
Gaylord Entertainment (GET) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Genentech (DNA) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Harman (HAR) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
J&J (JNJ) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Pantry (PTRY) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
WD-40 (WDFC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
August 15, 2008

Comverse Tech (CMVT) Shares No Longer Care About the Kobi Alexander Nimibia Scandal

247wallst — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 11:33:27 +0000

As pressure remains on Comverse Tech’s (CMVT) ex-CEO and current fugitive Kobi Alexander to be extradited from Nimibia, you might wonder why shares of the ex-high-flyer have stayed toward the higher-end of a trading band. Shares have spent most of the last year bumping back and forth between an $18.00 to $23.00 range with brief time periods outside of it (including today with a $23.05 high). This looks like the past is staying a press scandal rather than shareholders feeling there will be more corporate scandals ahead.

The company has been very delinquent filings that it trades on the pink sheets. But what is amazing is that while the press scandal is being touted in the media with much more fervor this week, shares are still up more than 10% in the last 3-months and up 35% from the 52-week lows. Law firms are suing Kobi Alexander and the company, and the government wants Kobi Alexander back. Yet mysteriously shares are holding up. Sure, shares are down from the highs of the last two-years, but are up more than 200% from the 5-year lows. Compared to the tech bubble days, you don’t even want to know how far down the shares are.

Inside the company, it just completed a smaller merger. It is expected that there will be layoffs. The company is still signing contracts. It brought in new management with a new CEO (former AT&T Wireless multimedia head) and appointed outside directors. Its former senior general counsel was sentenced to a year and a day in jail last month. Some even think the company could be broken up after the issues are resolved.

But even when a ‘real’ financial position cannot be easily evaluated, it’s hard not to think that the company will easily survive and move on, and that at least some feel there is value inside the vortex. Otherwise shares would be putting in new lows day after day instead of hanging up here. While compiling this earlier, it looks like Mr. Alexander’s hearing has been further delayed until June 25th. It looks like many investors are able to discern the difference between a past scandal and a perceived crisis. At least that is what the tape is saying.

Jon C. Ogg
June 8, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.