Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) is down more than 4% premarket to $68.00, relative to a 52-week range of $53.54 – $83.48.

Ericsson Telephone (NASDAQ: ERIC) is up 2.48% before market open to $10.35, relative to a 52-week range of $8.83 – $15.44.

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) is up nearly 9% before market open to $37.25, relative to a 52-week range of $28.49 – $36.42.

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) is down 6.7% premarket to $9.65, relative to a 52-week range of $9.68 – $30.15.

Infosys and competitor Wipro Ltd. (NYSE: WIT) are two of India’s largest business outsources. The two companies compete with IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC), Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH), and Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN).

Business and government spending in the US and elsewhere is expected to grow as companies invest in new equipment and outsourcing for their IT needs. Even Europe is expected to grow if very slowly.

Those estimates, though, may seem to fly in the face of reality. But Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, and India’s largest outsourcer, privately-held Tata Consultancy Services, could reduce a company’s IT costs significantly by replacing highly paid fired workers with lower paid, outsourced workers.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), an Infosys client, plans to fire more than thousand employees to meet its cost reduction goals of $1.45 billion. That’s bad news for the terminated employees, but might offer some good news for Infosys — and Goldman for that matter.

Of course, the big question for the India-based outsourcers is how much of growth they can expect to see between now and the end of the year. Infosys got 6.2% quarterly growth in the Americas during the quarter and expects growth to continue. The other issue they face is whether or not they can control costs. Infosys expects wages to eat away about 1% of the company’s operating margin this year.

Growth that depends on a depreciating currency in a weak economic climate is tenuous at best. There are a lot of things that can go wrong and put a serious crimp in growth forecasts.

But all is well today. Just past noon today, Infosys shares are up more than 8%, at $56.88, in a 52-week range of $46.12-$77.92. Wipro shares are up about 3.5%, at $9.77, in a 52-week range of $8.63-$16.81. Cognizant shares are up nearly 6.5%, at $71.82, in a 52-week range of $53.54-$83.48.

Paul Ausick

We would normally group these alphabetically, but not today.  We grouped these in order of size and then we used an alphabetic order when it came to the same size of a buyback announcement.  The first group is the billions of dollars.

We then grouped the stocks by size again from the under $1 billion down to $500 million, and then we grouped the buybacks of under $500 million down to $200 million.  Usually we would cut the list off at buybacks of the $100 million and higher but the list was already too big so we cut the Buyback Kings off at $200 million for August.  Lastly, we have a chart at the very end tallying it all up…. Some $28.7 billion for just the $200 million and higher in new or expanded buyback announcements.  There were literally dozens of other buybacks that were closer to the $100 million mark and many more that were less than that.

The $1 billion and higher alone which were announced in August were as follows: Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW); CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS); Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG); Covidien plc (NYSE: COV); Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU); Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA); Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS); and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT).

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) Reiterated Buy with $51 target at Argus.
Aixtron SE (NASDAQ: AIXG) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH) Removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE: LXK) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
MeadWestvaco Corporation (NYSE: MWV) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPTR) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Raised to Top Pick at FBR.
Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

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JON C. OGG

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTHS) dropped 10.2% for the week after the firm disclosed poor earnings.

Shares of JDS Uniphase ((NASDAQ: JDSU) dropped 7.7% after direct competitor Finistar (NYSE: FNSR) disclosed earnings for its last quarter which were below Wall St. expectations

Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) fell 7.1% because of concerns the government will charge the company for its actions related to the credit crisis.

DDouglas A. McIntyre

Anadigics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANAD) is up 8.4% premarket on moderate volume to $3.38, relative to a 52-week range of $3.40-$8.20. The company announced expected Q2 results, but weak Q3 results.

Cognizant Technology (NASdAQ: CTSH) is down 4.5% before market open to $78.58, relative to a 52-week range of $45.85-$83.48. The company issued Q1 earnings below expectations.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ: KLIC) is up 14% premarket to $10.29, relative to a 52-week range of $5.25-$10.28. The company reported strong Q2 results and issued 3Q guidance above expectations.

We would also be watching these two:

• Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) with a $36 billion market cap in the same space of IT-outsourcing in India. Wipro is indicated down around $14.20 on no volume as of yet versus a close of $15.85 yesterday and versus a 52-week trading range of $11.30 to $16.81.
• Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) is technically US-based but has many employees for the same sort of work outside of the United States (including India and many other countries).  Volume is thin, but Cognizant shares are indicated at just under $79.00 versus an $80.78 close on Thursday and versus a 52-week trading range of $45.85 to $82.86.

The IT-outsourcing outfit reported that its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings translated to $0.70 EPS per ADR after revenues grew about 23% to $1.6 billion.  Thomson Reuters had estimates of $0.70 EPS and $1.63 billion in revenues.

The company also issued some mixed guidance for the first fiscal quarter.  It now sees earnings at $0.62 to $0.63 on implied revenues of about $1.64 to $1.66 billion.  Where the problem arises is that Thomson Reuters is calling for estimates of $0.69 EPS and $1.65 billion in revenues. 

For Fiscal-2012, earnings guidance is $2.83 to $2.88 in earnings per ADR and revenues are being forecast at $7.13 to $7.25 billion in revenues.  Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $3.10 EPS per ADR and $7.25 billion.  The company’s stance is that it expects the demand environment for its IT services “to be normal this year” in its sector.  Normal?  In short, the company is not seeing a jump up in business and it is asking you to trust what is obviously a back-end loaded year.  Even if the summer months are traditionally not robust in IT, software, and hardware spending, asking investors to be patient and to trust guidance seems a bit much when you consider the markets.

Infosys continues to add to its headcount, with a gross employee additions of 8.930 in the quarter to a whopping 130,820 employees.  The company ended its quarter and fiscal year with right at $3.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents versus what was a $41.7 billion market cap as of yesterday’s close. 

There are two key departures from the Infosys board of directors that investors will want to consider.  Mr. K. Dinesh is co-founder and he is leaving after the annual meeting; Mr. T. V. Mohandas Pai is also leaving after the annual general meeting in June.

Infosys shares at 8:00 AM EST are indicated down around $67.00 on thin volume in pre-market trading after a $73.01 close yesterday and the 52-week trading range is $53.28 to $77.92.

JON C. OGG

The India-based IT-outsourcing outfit also recognized that giant currency fluctuations are a large concern.  New hires were said to over 7,000.

The first take is that shares have gotten ahead of themselves and that shares are fully valued.  We’ll pass a final judgment later because of a recent run-upin shares.

Infosys closed at $71.01 yesterday and the 52-week range is $45.24 to $71.99; shares are indicated down 2% at $69.60 in early indications.

Wipro Ltd. (NYSE: WIT) is a direct competitor indicated down over 1% and “The U.S Indian Outsourcer” is Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) and shares are indicated down only marginally.

JON C. OGG

The issue at stake for the IT consulting and technology outsourcing and services company is that its market cap has grown to more than $18 billion.  Not bad at all for a company that formed in 1998.  Morgan Stanley has said enough is enough with a cut to “Equal Weight” from “Overweight” after shares have risen so much.  Their target is $63.00 versus a consensus price target from Thomson Reuters at almost $64.75.

As we noted on Tuesday for Cognizant: “Cognizant is soaring after beating earnings estimates and raising 2010 guidance.  Shares are up 11.8% at $61.96 on about 200,000 shares.  Mark this as a 52-week high as the prior range was $29.76 to $56.08.”  The larger story was not just a 52-week high.  This was an all-time high in the stock.

The revenues were up 15% sequentially and 42% from the year-ago quarter to a new level of $1.105 billion; and non-GAAP earnings was $0.59 EPS versus $0.50 in the year-ago quarter.  This was its first quarter with a “billion” in the revenue column.

Shares went on trade as high as $63.94 on Tuesday before settling with a close of $60.62 that day and then a gain to close up at $61.57 yesterday.  In mid-afternoon trading this Thursday the trading range has been $60.32 to $61.27 and the stock is down 0.8% at $61.08.

Since we are in the second half of 2010 already, our look would be to take a blend of consensus estimates for 2010 and 2011 for earnings to get an implied forward multiple.  The mid-point of earnings estimates for 2010 and 2011 from Thomson Reuters estimates of $2.25 EPS and $2.57 EPS would come to $2.41 on a 2010-2011 blend.  The revenue estimates for the two years are $4.41 billion and $5.42 billion, which brings a figure of just over $4.9 billion.

This 2010-2011 blending creates forward ratios of 25.3-times earnings and 3.73-times revenues.

The company seems to be in the sweet spot for IT outsourcing and for IT services as it is New Jersey-based rather than based in India or elsewhere.  It should be noted that approximately three-quarters of its estimates 85,000 workers are in India.  It sells its services to clients in North America, Europe, and Asia via its own professional staff, senior management, and direct sales personnel.

Cognizant did nothing wrong in its report to deserve this conclusion.  Its CEO was very upbeat in a recent CNBC post-earnings interview. Its earnings report was among the best so far this week in major technology companies.  There is just becoming a disconnect in its share price versus the underlying value of the business.

JON C. OGG

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOR) is trading higher after its Ampyra MS sales were reflected in its quarterly earnings.  Sales were close to double expectations at $30 million.  Shares are trading up 10% at $36.49 on only about 15,000 shares.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) is weak again after a JPMorgan downgrade yesterday and ahead of earnings after the close today.  Shares are down another 2.5% at $6.99 on over 130,000 shares.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) is soaring after beating earnings estimates and raising 2010 guidance.  Shares are up 11.8% at $61.96 on about 200,000 shares.  Mark this as a 52-week high as the prior range was $29.76 to $56.08.

Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is trading lower after the chemical giant reported Q2 earnings of $0.54 EPS on $13.6 billion in revenue versus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.56 EPS and $13.69 billion.  Shares are down 4.7% at $27.00 on over 100,000 shares versus a 52-week range of $19.75 to $32.05.

Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ) is trading marginally higher after reports that it has entered into friendly merger negotiations with Sanofi.  Shares are up 1% at $71.10, but on light trading volume.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) beat its earnings expectations this morning and maintained guidance. Shares are now up 3.6% at $16.04 on well over 2.5 million shares.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) shares are trading lower by about 3.4% at $59.94 on over 400,000 shares after earnings disappointed the street.  Advertising, slow growth, high promotions, and even private label selling are all chalked up as the culprit.  The 52-week range is $39.37 to $64.58, although that $39-handle is from The Flash Crash and is fake.

Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: SOLF) is trading higher, although maybe not a smuch as it would sound considering the news. Revenue rose 18% to $258.5M and earnings were $0.59 EPS vs. Thomson Reuters estimates of $212.8 M and $0.25 EPS.  There may be items in the numbers.  The big news is that Hanwa Chemical is paying roughly $10.72 per ADR to buy half of the company.  Shares are trading up 12.6% at $11.55 on over 250,000 shares, a new 52-week high versus a trading range of $4.48 to $10.78.

Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated (NASDAQ: SYKE) is getting crushed this morning after missing earnings estimates and lowering guidance.  Shares are down 32% at $10.35 on over 250,000 shares.  Mark that as a new 52-week low as the prior trading range was $13.48 to $26.91.

Trius Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSRX) priced its IPO of 10 million shares at $5.00.  The price is far lower than the prior $12 to $14 price range, but the share count is far higher.  This begins trading today.

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JON C. OGG