24/7 Wall St. » CRDN

24/7 Closing Bell (NFLX, FSLR, T, FRX, HWAY, JASO, LVLT, LOW, MMM, AKS, ARMH, CRDN, SHW, CI, ININ)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:18:41 +0000

Shares opened lower this morning on continuing concern about European bank debt. The Case-Shiller report on housing contributed to the weakness and then the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index came it at its lowest reading in three years. Shares of Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) continue to fall and First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) fired its CEO. Crude oil prices rose almost $2/barrel, and gold rose more than 3%, to top $1,700/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 205 points at 11,707.91 (-1.73%), the NASDAQ fell more than61 points (-2.26%) to 2,638.42, and the S&P 500 fell -2% or more than 25 points to 1,229.06.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including a drop of AT&T (NYSE: T) to ‘market perform’ at Bernstein. Forest Laboratories Inc. (NYSE: FRX) was cut to ‘hold’ at Argus and Healthways Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY) downgraded at 3 firms. Stocks getting a boost today included JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) raised to ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray, Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) raised to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup, and Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW) raised to ‘buy’ at Janney.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Netflix is down nearly -35%, at $77.30; 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) fell more than -5.5%, to $77.45; AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) fell more than 13% to $7.52; ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH) up about 1%, at $27.98; Ceradyne Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN) up nearly 10%, at $33.48; and Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) up about 2.5%, at $83.62.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

First Solar dropped more than -25%, to $43.40, a new 52-week low. The company has fired its CEO after the shares have been pummeled on falling prices for solar PV panels. The stock’s 52-week high is $175.45, and that may be in the rear-view mirror forever.

Healthways is down more than -43%, at $6.31, after posting a new 52-week low of $6.22 earlier. CIGNA Corp. (NYSE: CI) will be cutting its contract work with Healthways following Cigna’s announced acquisition of HealthSpring.

Interactive Intelligence Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ININ) dropped more than -24%, to $25.66. The company was downgraded by two analyst firms. The company reported soft earnings this morning.

SMTC Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTX) is up more than 45%, to $2.11. The circuit board maker raised fourth quarter and fiscal year 2012 guidance.

Unisys Corp. (NYSE: UIS) is up more than 32%, at $26.54. Earnings beat expectations as foreign sales appear to be more than making up for weak federal government sales in the US.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. We have the following events noted:

7:30 a.m. — Mortgage Bankers Association mortgage purchase applications
8:30 a.m. — Durable Goods orders
10:00 a.m. — New home sales
10:30 a.m. — EIA Petroleum status report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: General, Market Close Tagged: AKS, ARMH, CI, CRDN, FRX, FSLR, HWAY, ININ, JASO, LOW, LVLT, MMM, NFLX, SHW, T

Solar Industry Sees New Entrants and Some Exits (SPWRA, CRDN, AMAT, WFR, GE)

Administrator — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:07:08 +0000

An expected 27,000 attendees are spending a few days in Los Angeles at the Solar Power International 2010 conference and exhibit. There are about 1,100 exhibitors, with a few unusual suspects sprinkled in. The biggest announcement probably came from Korean electronics giant LG Electronics Inc., which has said that it plans to enter the North American solar panel market. The company has identified the US as one of the fastest growing solar markets in the world, largely due to federal and state incentives to build up alternative energy electricity generation.

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWRA) is currently testing a solar concentrator device that uses reflectors to boost the amount of sunlight that hits the solar cells. Because cells convert sunlight to electricity at less than 25% efficiency, concentrating the sunlight increases the amount of light hitting the cell by a factor of six. Electricity generation rises without the costly and time-consuming process of trying to increase a cell’s conversion rate.

Away from the conference, the solar industry is also seeing some new entrants, some expansion by existing players, and some defections. Ceradyne Inc. (NASDAQ:CRDN) is best-known as a defense supplier, primarily of body armor. Some of the company’s high-tech ceramics are likely candidates for inclusion in lithium-ion batteries for the electric vehicle industry. So far the company is not saying much about what’s going on (it is a defense contractor after all).

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) earlier this year stopped selling a unique line of equipment specially integrated for thin-film manufacturers. The company will continue to sell the tools individually, but the market for thin-film equipment just did not grow fast enough. The falling cost of crystalline solar PV is the main culprit here.

Another supplier to the solar industry, MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE:WFR) recently sold its stake in an Italian solar project for $373 million. MEMC is not really leaving the solar industry, it’s just cashing out on a deal it had with First Reserve Energy through its SunEdison division. The company has the contract to operate the solar plant when it goes online, but it won’t participate in the profits from the sale of electricity.

Finally, earlier this week General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) expanded its portfolio in solar thin-film panels and inverters. The conglomerate wants to compete around the world for large-scale, multi-megawatt projects. This isn’t any kind of game changing announcement, but if GE thinks it can make money building solar power plants, there’s a good chance that real money is about to hit the table.

As the solar industry grows and big players like LG and GE get in the game, growth for the smaller players gets harder. Now, the competition is for large projects, and here, the bigger guys have the edge. And there’s virtually no chance that GE will be a high-growth stock any time soon. So the stocks look tired even though the market is expanding.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Alternative Energy, Green Biz Tagged: AMAT, CRDN, GE, SPWRA, WFR

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AGCO, BP, COF, CRZO, CRDN, FSLR, GPN, MOTR, NDAQ, OAS, RSYS, WBSN)

Administrator — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:24:39 +0000

These are some of this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades seen from Wall Street research calls:

AGCO Corp. (NASDAQ: AGCO) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) Raised Target (in U.K.) by Goldman Sachs; Raised to Outperform at Macquarie.
Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) Started as Perform at Oppenheimer.
Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) Raised to Outperform at BMO.
Ceradyne Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN) Raised to Buy at Needham.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Maintained Buy but Raised Target to $173 at Auriga.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) Cut to Neutral at Janney Montgomery; Cut to Market Perform at Barrington Research.
Motricity, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOTR) Started as Buy at Needham.
NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS) Started as Buy at Canaccord; Started as Buy at UBS.
RadiSys Corporation (NASDAQ: RSYS) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
WebSense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AGCO, BP, COF, CRDN, CRZO, FSLR, GPN, MOTR, NDAQ, OAS, RSYS, WBSN

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (AKS, APOL, BP, CRDN, RX, SNDK, STI, TGT, TXN, WYNN)

247wallst — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:29:32 +0000

These are this Wednesday’s top 10 seen analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations which we have seen from Wall Street research calls:

AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) Cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) Cut to Hold at Citigroup; Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Ceradyne (NASDAQ: CRDN) Raised to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
IMS Health (NYSE: RX) Cut to Underperform at BofA/Merrill
SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
SunTrust (NYSE: STI) Raised to “Top Picks” list at Citigroup.
Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) Raised to Buy from Sell at Citigroup.
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG
OCTOBER 28, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AKS, APOL, BP, CRDN, RX, SNDK, STI, TGT, TXN, WYNN

Top Analyst Downgrades (CRDN, FSLR, NUE, RS, SINA, TLB)

247wallst — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:56:16 +0000

These are some of the top pre-market analyst downgrades and cautious research calls we have seen early this Wednesday morning:

Ceradyne (CRDN) cut to Underperform at Wachovia; Cut to Accumulate at ThinkEquity.
First Solar (FSLR) Cut to Hold at Soleil.
Nucor (NUE) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Reliance Steel (RS) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Sina (SINA) Cut to Neutral at Pali.
Talbots (TLB) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: CRDN, FSLR, NUE, RS, SINA, TLB

High Volume Stock Tankers (GS, MS, DWT, CRDN, ACF, PRXL)

247wallst — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:42:22 +0000

We are seeing many high volume price drops in actively traded shares today. In most cases, the earnings are to blame, but there are other issues affecting some stocks as well. Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Britannia Bulk Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DWT), AmeriCredit (NYSE: ACF), Ceradyne Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN), and Paraxel International Corp. (NASDAQ: PRXL) are all being hit on strong trading volume. Below are links for a full synopsis on each.

Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) have beenbeaten and battered. Some of the drop is rumor, and some is tradersattacking what they can after determining their de-leveraged models arelikely to result in much lower income. FULL SYNOPSIS

Britannia Bulk Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DWT) looks like it is dead meat.The company got everything wrong from operations tohedges and gave a dire warning to common stock holders. Keep granny’smoney out. FULL SYNOPSIS

AmeriCredit (NYSE: ACF), Ceradyne Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN), and ParaxelInternational Corp. (NASDAQ: PRXL) are all down sharply on earnings.FULL SYNOPSIS

Jon C. Ogg
October 28, 2008

Posted in HI/LOW, Trading Alert Tagged: ACF, CRDN, DWT, GS, MS, PRXL

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ADLR, MDRX, CRDN, CAG, IFF, MFE, TWX, VRTX, VOD, WWWW)

247wallst — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:06:34 +0000

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

Adolor (ADLR) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Allscripts (MDRX) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Ceradyne (CRDN) Cut to Underperform at Wachovia.
ConAgra (CAG) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
International Flavors (IFF) Started as Underweight at Lehman.
McAfee (MFE) Cut to Underperform at FBR.
Time Warner Inc. (TWX) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Vertex (VRTX) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Vodafone plc (VOD) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Web.com (WWWW) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.

Jon C. Ogg
September 3, 2008

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (JOBS, AUO, AVR, CRDN, CLX, DKS, GR, MPEL, PLXS, VSE)

247wallst — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:24:33 +0000

These are not all of the downgrades or negative calls we have seen, but these are some calls moving shares this Monday morning:

51jobs (JOBS) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
AU Optronics (AUO) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
Aventine Renewable (AVR) Cut to Underweight at Lehman.
Ceradyne (CRDN) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Clorox (CLX) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Goodrich (GR) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Plexus (PLXS) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
VeraSun Energy (VSE) Cut to Underweight at Lehman.

Jon C. Ogg
July 28, 2007

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (ADBE, APC, APSG, CENX, CRDN, CVS, DRI, GOOG, QCOM, STLD, SPWR, YUM)

247wallst — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:42:44 +0000

There seemed to be more upgrades this morning than there were downgrades from Wall Street analysts. Here is a snapshot of some of our key analyst calls we saw:

Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) Raised to Outperform from Perform at Wachovia.
Applied Signal Tech (NASDAQ: APSG) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Century Aluminum (NASDAQ: CENX) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Ceradyne (NASDAQ: CRDN) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) Started as Buy at Banc of America.
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Microsoft (N ASDAQ: MSFT) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) Added to Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List.
Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.
Sunpower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) Raised To Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.
Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) Started as Buy at Banc of America.

Jon C. Ogg
July 11, 2008

War & Defense Earnings Galore (LMT, BA, GD, LLL, RTN, COL, CRDN)

247wallst — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:56:49 +0000

This week is going to be the key earnings reporting week for companies tied to aerospace and defense sector stocks. If there is one area that everyone is expecting to hold up, it is this one. The recessionary climate has only just started and this one is supposed to be immune in the current environment. Keep in mind that some of these companies have diversified away from being a pure war and defense sector, but these are still defense companies.

On Tuesday we’ll get to see earnings out of Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT), and on Wednesday we’ll see results from Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD). Then on Thursday, we’ll see results from L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LLL), Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN), and also from Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL). Ceradyne Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN) is on the docket for Friday.

The full previews can be seen as follows:

Tuesday we’ll get to see earnings out of Lockheed Martin Corporation(NYSE: LMT). The estimates for the engineering firm from First Call are$1.63 EPS on $9.69 billion in revenues. Next quarter estimates are$1.86 EPS on $10.82 million in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Dec-2008are $7.37 EPS on $42.84 million in revenues. Analysts have an averageprice target north of $119.00, and Lockheed Martin’s 52-week tradingrange is $88.86 to $113.74.

Wednesday we’ll get to see earnings out of Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA). Theestimates for the engineering firm from First Call are $1.35 EPS on$16.52 billion in revenues. Next quarter estimates are $1.47 EPS on$17.30 billion in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Dec-2008 are $5.93 EPSon $68.95 billion in revenues. Analysts have an average price targetnorth of $89.00, and Boeing’s 52-week trading range is $71.59 to$107.83.

Wednesday we’ll get to see earnings out of General Dynamics Corp.(NYSE: GD). The estimates for the engineering firm from First Call are$1.29 EPS on $6.89 billion in revenues. Next quarter estimates are$1.39 EPS on $7.16 billion in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Dec-2008are $5.75 EPS on $29.52 billion in revenues. Analysts have an averageprice target north of $96.00, and General Dynamics’ 52-week tradingrange is $70.61 to $94.55.

Thursday we’ll get to see earnings out of L-3 Communications HoldingsInc. (NYSE: LLL). The estimates for the communications company fromFirst Call are $1.51 EPS on $3.52 billion in revenues. Next quarterestimates are $1.58 EPS on $3.51 billion in revenues. Estimates forfiscal Dec-2008 are $6.58 EPS on $14.45 billion in revenues. Analystshave an average price target north of $120.00, and L-3 Communications’52-week trading range is $88.80 to $15.29.

Thursday we’ll get to see earnings out of Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN). Theestimates for the technology company from First Call are $0.84 EPS on$5.12 billion in revenues. Next quarter estimates are $0.95 EPS on$5.61 billion in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Dec-2008 are $3.89 EPSon $22.82 billion in revenues. Analysts have an average price targetnorth of $72.00, and Raytheon’s 52-week trading range is $52.28 to$67.49.

Thursday we’ll get to see earnings out of Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE:COL). The estimates for the communication and aviator manufacturer fromFirst Call are $0.99 EPS on $1.17 billion in revenues. Next quarterestimates are $1.00 EPS on $1.21 billion in revenues. Estimates forfiscal Sept-2008 are $4.00 EPS on $4.80 billion in revenues. Analystshave an average price target of $75.00, and Rockwell Collins’ 52-weektrading range is $53.24 to $76.00.

Friday we’ll get to see earnings out of Ceradyne Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN).The estimates for the communication and aviator manufacturer from FirstCall are $1.13 EPS on $185.80 million in revenues. Next quarterestimates are $1.11 EPS on $181.83 million in revenues. Estimates forfiscal Dec-2008 are $4.62 EPS on $749.61 million in revenues. Analystshave an average price target north of $46.00, and Ceradyne’s 52-weektrading range is $27.77 to $84.41.

Jon C. Ogg
April 21, 2008