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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALU, ALTR, AMZN, MT, BX, CLF, DFS, ENDP, KIRK, ERIC, M, MCD, NOK, POT, LEDS)

Administrator — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:12:17 +0000

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Wednesday morning.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Raised to Buy at Auriga.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Maintained Hold at Argus.
ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) Raised to Hold at SocGen.
Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) Reiterated Buy at BofA/ML.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) Started as Buy at BB&T.
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ENDP) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $48 at BofA/ML.
Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIRK) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
LM Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) Raised to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) Reiterated as Outperform and Top Pick at Credit Suisse.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Maintained Buy with $88 target at Argus.
Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $65 at CIBC.
SemiLEDs Corporation (NASDAQ: LEDS) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

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

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ALTR, ALU, AMZN, BX, CLF, DFS, ENDP, ERIC, KIRK, LEDS, M, MCD, MT, NOK, POT

The Unusual Suspects For The Week Ahead (AA, APOL, DUK, PGN, ENDP, FE, AYE, GENZ, INTC, JPM, MMI, RVBD, THC, UNP, WFC, USB)

Administrator — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:18:54 +0000

Our feature of “The Unusual Suspects” is back after not having enough consistent planned events during the last two weeks of the holidays. We have earnings due, cases happening, FDA events, mergers, rumors and more. The cast of characters in The Unusual Suspects of issues to watch in the week ahead includes Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA), Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL), Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK), Progress Energy Inc. (NYSE: PGN), Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ENDP), FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), Allegheny Energy Inc. (NYSE: AYE), Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Motorola Mobility, Inc. (NYSE: MMI), Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD), Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC), and Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) We also have an issue around Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) and US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) to watch that could impact many banks.

We have provided the expected events, added in background and price data, added in color on each where applicable, and more.

Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) kicks off earnings Monday after the close and Thomson Reuters has earnings estimates of $0.19 EPS on $5.68 billion in revenues. Be advised that at $16.42 its 52-week range is $9.81 to $17.60 and also know that this was around $12.00 before its October earnings.

Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) is also due to report earnings Monday after the close. It finds itself between the days of former growth and regulation out the (you know what)… It cannot be a value stock even if the numbers today suggest so. The regulation affecting forward business throws too many variables into the mix. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $1.35 EPS and $1.26 billion in revenues. At $37.98, its 52-week trading range is $33,75 to $66.69.

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK) with a $23.5+ billion market cap is reported by the WSJ to be acquiring Progress Energy Inc. (NYSE: PGN) with its $13.1 billion market cap. The WSJ homepage notes: “Duke Energy is close to a deal to buy Progress Energy in an all-stock merger that would value its smaller rival at more than $13 billion.”

Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ENDP) announced late Friday night that it received a complete response letter from the FDA on the application of its new formulation of OPANA® ER designed to be crush resistant. Endo noted that this does NOT need those additional clinical studies be conducted for approval of the NDA, but noted that it currently anticipates responding to the FDA by mid-2011 and would expect a six-month review cycle once its response is filed. The new formulation of OPANA ER is for moderate to severe pain in patients requiring continuous, around-the-clock opioid treatment for an extended period of time.

Filed under: Banking, Calendar, Earnings, Mergers and Buy Outs, Rumors, The Week Tagged: AA, APOL, AYE, DUK, ENDP, FE, GENZ, INTC, JPM, MMI, PGN, RVBD, THC, UNP, USB, WFC

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AA, CP, ENDP, GE, GS, MS, PBR, SYY, AAPL)

Administrator — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:21:54 +0000

The research calls are running light this week with many firms still on skeleton crews. These are some of this Thursday’s key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) Reiterated Buy and $18 target at Argus.
Canadian Pacific Railway (NYSE: CP) Maintained Neutral but cut estimates at BofA/ML.
Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ENDP) Reiterated Buy and Raised target to $43 at BofA/ML.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Maintained Neutral at Zacks.
Goldman Sachs Group. Inc. (NYSE: GS) Maintained Outperform with $190 target but cut estimates at Credit Suisse.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Maintained Outperform with $35 target but cut estimates at Credit Suisse.
Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR) Maintained Neutral and $43 target at Credit Suisse.
SYSCO Corporation (NYSE: SYY) Maintained Hold but raised 2011-2012 estimates at Argus.

This week we began the year-end crunch over future valuations for 2011 and expectations ahead. We took a look at the full 360-degree review for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) to evaluate whether it can live up to expectations as a stock in 2011 and beyond. We also made a biotech review for the big biotechs with the most upside in 2011 based upon analyst expectations and more.

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: AA, AAPL, CP, ENDP, GE, GS, MS, PBR, SYY

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (STD, BRCM, CSIQ, CMG, DD, EBAY, ENDP, IACI, JASO, KR, MRVL, NDAQ, PCX, BTU, SWY, SOLF, TWX, YGE)

Administrator — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 13:21:47 +0000

These are some of this Friday’s key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

Banco Santander S.A. (NYSE: STD) Raised to Overweight at HSBC.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Cut to Market Weight at Wells Fargo.
Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ENDP) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
IAC/InterActiveCorp. (NASDAQ: IACI) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) Cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.
The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX) Cut to Underperform at BMO.
Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) Raised to Outperform at BMO.
Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
Solarfun Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: SOLF) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus
Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BRCM, BTU, CMG, CSIQ, DD, EBAY, ENDP, IACI, JASO, KR, MRVL, NDAQ, PCX, SOLF, STD, SWY, TWX, YGE

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AMAT, AZN, BSX, CCL, ENDP, JCG, KLAC, LRCX, LVS, MDT, MPEL, MGM, NVLS, PENN, DGX, TKC, WYNN)

Administrator — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:44:18 +0000

These are some of this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research notes:

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Started as Neutral at Susquehanna.
AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) Cut to Hold at RBS.
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) Started as Hold at Jefferies.
Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ENDP) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
J. Crew Group (NYSE: JCG) Cut to Neutral at Janney.
KLA-Tencor Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) Started as Positive at Susquehanna.
Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) Started as Negative at Susquehanna.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) Started as Hold at Jefferies.
Melcro Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) Started as Neutral at Susquehanna.
Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ: PENN) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) Started as Buy at Kaufman Bros.
Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (NYSE: TKC) Cut to Sell at UBS.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AMAT, AZN, BSX, CCL, DGX, ENDP, JCG, KLAC, LRCX, LVS, MDT, MGM, MPEL, NVLS, PENN, TKC, WYNN

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AGN, BJS, CTRN, ELN, ENDP, MVL, BTU, TXN, TXRH, TSN)

247wallst — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:25:41 +0000

These are the top 10 analyst upgrades and downgrades we have seen from Wall Street firms early this Monday morning:

Allergan (AGN) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
BJ Services (BJS) Cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.
Citi Trends (CTRN) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Elan (ELN) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Marvel Entertainment (MVL) Cut to Neutral at Janney
Peabody Energy (BTU) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Texas Instruments (TXN) Raised to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies; Reiterated Sell w/ $14 target at Auriga.
Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Tyson Foods (TSN) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Jon C. Ogg
July 20, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AGN, BJS, BTU, CTRN, ELN, ENDP, MVL, TSN, TXN, TXRH

Top Analyst Upgrades (AGN, CHU, ENDP, FLR, GD, LMT, MDZ, NETL, NUVA, SGR)

247wallst — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:36:55 +0000

These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research calls we have seen from Wall Street this Tuesday morning:

Allergan (AGN) Raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
China Unicom (CHU) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Fluor (FLR) Started as Outperform at Baird.
General Dynamics (GD) Started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
Lockheed Martin (LMT) Started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
MDS Inc. (MDZ) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
NetLogic (NETL) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
Nuvasive (NUVA) Raised to Buy at Needham.
Shaw Group (SGR) Started as Outperform at Baird.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AGN, CHU, ENDP, FLR, GD, LMT, MDZ, NETL, NUVA, SGR

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (NLY, CTV, ENDP, FSLR, HOV, JNY, OIIM, PDGI, V, YUM)

247wallst — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:24:17 +0000

These are not all of the analyst calls affecting shares but these are ten that we are focused on this Thursday morning:

Annaly Mortgage (NYSE: NLY) cut to Hold at Citigroup.
CommScope (NYSE: CTV) Raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
Endo Pharmaceuticals Cut to Neutral at R.W. Baird.
First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) cut to Perform at Oppenheimer
Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV) cut to Sell at UBS.
Jones Apparel (NYSE: JNY) Raised to Buy from Hold at Lazard.
O2Micro (NASDAQ: OIIM) raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
PharmaNet Development (NASDAQ: PDGI) downgraded to Hold at Jefferies; downgraded to Neutral at R.W. Baird.
Visa (NYSE: V) Started as Equal-weight at Lehman Brothers.
YUM! Brands (NYSE: YUM) cut to Neutral at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
May 1, 2008

Biotech Business Daily (BTRX, BMRN, DSCO, ENDP, MNKD, MIPI, QSC, TECH)

247wallst — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:21:12 +0000

Today almost feels like the "March of Biotech-inguins" because most of the movers were small companies you might otherwise miss. Here were the big movers:

Barrier Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BTRX) ran way up after first quarter results reported yesterday showed a 207% increase in revenues from last year at $8.4 million, driven by growth in sales of Vusion and Xolegel. Shares closed up 18% at $2.29 on a 52-week range of $1.90 to $7.60.
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) showed a first quarter positive profit or $0.02 EPS on a net income of $1.7 million. Analysts expected losses of $0.05 EPS. Earnings were driven primarily by sales of enzyme replacement therapy Naglazyme. Shares closed up almost 8% at $36.46. The 52-week range is $15.99 to $41.00.
Discovery Labs (NASDAQ: DSCO) trading up in anticipation of FDA approval for lung surfactant, Surfaxin, a treatment for premature infants suffering from respiratory distress. The company communicated confidence that any regulatory concerns have been ironed out and this third FDA result will be positive. Shares rose 17% to $2.87. The 52-week range is $1.75 to $3.75.
Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ENDP) settled a proxy battle with shareholder D.E. Shaw by nominating William Spangler to the board. They posted earnings today showing a net income of $59.53 and $0.44 EPS. Shares closed down 0.7% at $24.83. The 52-week range is $22.62 to $35.85.
Mannkind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) up over 16% in anticipation of earnings release Monday. Shares up $0.37 at $2.60 at the close. The 52-week range is $1.86 to $14.71.
Molecular Insight Pharma (NASDAQ: MIPI) up almost 7% today on no news, although some just may be the thin volume and wide bid/ask spread. The oncology molecular imaging pharmaceutical company is sitting at $7.83 on a 52-week range of $5.66 to $12.95.
Questcor (AMEX: QSC) down despite posting strong first quarter results showing a positive net income of $6.5 million compared to a loss of $3.8 in first quarter 2007. The company also amended agreement Acthar distribution discount prices, positively impacting Questcor cash flows. Shares closed down 2.5% at $4.24. The 52-week range is $0.21 to $6.60.
Techne Corp. (NASDAQ: TECH) up after third quarter profit jumped 24% to $29.6 million or $0.76 EPS, beating estimates. Shares closed at $72.52, up 1%, on a 52-week range of $54.49 to $72.00.

Rachel Lopez
April 30, 2008

Penwest Pharmaceuticals (PPCO) Set For Huge Fall

247wallst — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 07:33:25 +0000

According to The Associated Press Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP). and Penwest Pharmaceuticals (PPCO). said Wednesday the patent on their pain drug Opana ER is being challenged by Impax Laboratories Inc.

Endo and Penwest are currently reviewing the details of this notice from IMPAX. Endo and Penwest note that they intend to pursue all available legal and regulatory avenues in defense of OPANA® ER, including enforcement of their intellectual property rights and approved labeling.

PPCO is off 31% in the pre-market at a 52-week low of $7.85.

Douglas A. McIntyre