Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU) is getting a smackdown after earnings and after dialing its expectations back down.  The pain continues and shares are down 13.4% at $2.39.

Central European Distribution Corp. (NASDAQ: CEDC) missed earnings and lowered its estimates again for ahead.  Shares are down 23.6% at $3.85 in active pre-market trading.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) beat earnings at $0.72 EPS versus $0.66 estimates; shares are up 5.5% at $30.64 before the open.

Entropic Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTR) is down less than the 11% drop last night after it managed to beat estimates at $0.12 EPS.  Shares are down almost 8% at $5.46.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was up another 4% at $50.08 last night after the company announced manufacturing consolidation moves that will delay a Vietnam plant from opening. Shares are up only about 1.7% this morning at $49.00 due to a downgrade and due to poor earnings from competitors.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) reported a loss and said it was selling $100 million in new stock.  Shares are down 10.6% at $78.16 before the open.

MasTec, Inc. (NYSE: MTZ) is indicated down over 10% on no volume; shares were down 12.8% last night.  It beat earnings but guidance was mostly in-line.

OXiGENE Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN) is now down 34% at $1.20 after showing its final data from Phase 2 FALCON study for its ZYBRESTAT in treating Non-Small Cell Lung cancer. This is even worse than it was last night.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) is up 3.5% at $42.85 after earnings on Thursday. The coffee destination retailer posted a 29% rise in profits and it raised the dividend and increased shares under a buyback plan.

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) is indicated down over 6% at $8.20 after reporting mixed earnings and lowering guidance.  Should this really still be a surprise?

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is higher on an upgrade and on news that Qnexa’s Phase III data published in obesity showed a 14.4% average weight loss in severely obese patients completing one year of treatment. Shares are up 3.8% at $9.85.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) was doing better after an analyst removed the “Sell” rating and after a new CFO has been named.  Earnings were released and shares are now up less than 2% but on well over 3 million shares in pre-market trading.

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

JON C. OGG

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) beat earnings at $0.72 EPS versus $0.66 estimates; shares were even higher right after the news but the stock is still up 5% at $30.50 on more than 1.3 million shares in the after-hours session.

Entropic Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTR) managed to beat estimates at $0.12 EPS, but the after-hours reaction is down 11% at $5.28 on more than 130,000 shares since the close.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) closed up 2% at $48.18 and shares are up another 4% at $50.08 after the company announced manufacturing consolidation moves that will delay a Vietnam plant from opening.

Keynote Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: KEYN) beat sales and revenue estimates but gave a mixed guidance picture.  Shares were down 11% at $22.25 in more than 60,000 shares in the after-hours session.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) closed up 3.5% today, but the company reported a loss and said it was selling $100 million in new stock.  Shares are down 8.5% at $79.70 in the after-hours reaction.

MasTec, Inc. (NYSE: MTZ) was getting hit in the after-hours session after beating earnings but giving guidance that was mostly in-line; shares were down 12.8% at $19.10 on more than 55,000 shares in the after-hours session.

OXiGENE Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN) is down a sharp 28% at $1.31 after showing its final data from Phase 2 FALCON study for its ZYBRESTAT in treating Non-Small Cell Lung cancer.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) closed up 0.5% today and the stock is up 2.8% at $42.55 after earnings in the after-hours.  The coffee destination retailer posted a 29% rise in profits and it raised the dividend and increased shares under a buyback plan.

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) reported after the close that Qnexa’s Phase III data published in obesity showed a 14.4% average weight loss in severely obese patients completing one year of treatment. Shares were up over 3% at $9.80 after the close on more than 50,000 shares.

JON C. OGG

Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
DaVita, Inc. (NYSE: DVA) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse; Cut to Neutral at Baird; Cut to Hold at Needham; Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Entropic Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) Reiterated Buy with $95 target at Argus.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late Wednesday call).
Skechers U.S.A. (NYSE: SKX) Called Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) Raised to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE: SWC) Kept as Outperform but cut target to $22 at Credit Suisse.
Time Warner. Inc (NYSE: TWX) Reiterated Outperform with $40 target on Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

You are invited to 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

We have shown a brief news summary and the implied stock price changes on each after the 4:00 PM EST closing bell.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) closed higher by 1.1% ahead of earnings and its earnings report was given a boost by digital sales this last quarter.  Shares are up 3.6% at $12.25, but it will have to rise another 3% before it is outside of a longer-term trading range.

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANDE) beat earnings with $2.42 EPS versus $1.72 estimates as revenues grew 65%… Plant nutrients rule!  Shares closed down 1.5% at $38.49 but the stock is up over 7% in the after-hours at $41.25 versus a year range of $32.01 to $51.23.

Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) rose handily today by 10% but is giving some back after a deeper loss in the quarter and after planning to add LTE Advanced-ready technology to its 4G network.  Shares are down 2% at $2.42 in the after-hours session.

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) announced the acquisition of AdXpose for $22 million in stock, but the earnings are taking the stock south despite 38% revenue growth and 23% EBITDA growth.  Shares are down 14.5% at $18.00 after closing at $21.07 today.  Keep in mind that the 52-week range is $17.18 to $31.28.

Entropic Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTR) is down after a 14% drop in sales sequentially, even if it was a gain of 51% from the year ago period.  Earnings were down sequentially too.  This was not expected and shares are down a whopping 25% at $5.00 in the after-hours session.  Shares had already hit a 52-week low of $6.36 today.

GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR) is catching a bounce as the solar equipment maker beat earnings estimates and reiterated annual guidance.  GT shares fell 3.7% today but the stock is up 5.6% at $13.98 today in the after-hours session.  The 52-week range is $6.63 to $17.50.

Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) was already weak after MetroPCS stunk up Wall Street this week with earnings.  Misery loves company in pre-paid cellular as it saw a drop in subscriber additions.  Leap Wireless fell 2.2% to $10.04 today and the stock is down 6.3% at $9.40.  That is under the 52-week low of $9.51 by the way.

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI) had sales in line with targets but earnings were light for Q2; shares of the online payment and e-commerce platform in Latin America fell 2.7% but are down 4.4% more at $69.11 in the after-hours.

MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR) is trading up after beating earnings, even if the year is looking light on guidance.  The wafer producer for chip and solar companies was down 0.4% today but the stock is up 5.7% at $7.39 after hitting a 52-week low of $6.82 today.

Solarwinds, Inc. (NYSE: SWI), which is about as far as being out of the solar business as it can be, beat earnings and revenues, guided its third quarter in line with estimates, and guided 2011 in line with estimates.  Shares rose over 2% today and is up another 8% at $23.00 after the close.

Walter Energy, Inc. (NYSE: WLT) shares were down 2.5% today ahead of results and the company’s miss on earnings has shares down another 5.5% at $104.45.  That is a combined $9.00 move or so from yesterday’s close.

Web.com Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW) is surging after beating earnings expectations.  The big boost is coming as it is acquiring to acquire Network Solutions for $405 million in cash in a deal that is said to be at least 20% accretive to the $1.22 EPS figure for 2012 and with even higher accretion in 2013.  This is a coup, and the stock rose over 6% today to $8.66 and is up almost 30% at $11.00 in the after-hours.

Zipcar, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP) is surging after the company’s earnings report. The company raised full year guidance and shares are up 16% att $26.70 in the after-hours session.  Not bad at all for a freshly public company.

Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) was significantly lower than expected in same-store sales gains of only 4.9%.  This one rose 6% to $27.10 today but the stock is down 13% at $23.50 in the after-hours session.

You are invited to 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

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: MPC) will replace RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) with only a $1.4 billion market cap in the S&P 500 index, RadioShack will replace Harte-Hanks Inc. (NYSE: HHS) in the S&P MidCap 400 index, and Harte-Hanks with a $530 million market capitalization will replace Hutchinson Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: HTCH) in the S&P SmallCap 600 index as it ranked as #600 by market cap in the index.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), a current S&P 500 constituent, is spinning off Marathon Petroleum to its shareholders after the market close on June 30; what’s left of Marathon Oil will remain in the S&P 500 index following the spin-off.   S&P SmallCap 600 index and is no longer representative of the small cap market space.

AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCXV) will replace Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) in the S&P MidCap 400 index; Boyd Gaming will replace StarTek Inc. (NYSE: SRT) in the S&P SmallCap 600 index as StarTek has only a $62 million market cap.  Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) is spinning off AMC Networks after the market close on June 30 and what remains of Cablevision Systems will remain in the S&P 500 index.

Holly Corp. (NYSE: HOC), a S&P SmallCap 600 constituent, will replace Frontier Oil Corp. (NYSE: FTO) in the S&P MidCap 400 index.  Entropic Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTR) will replace Holly in the S&P SmallCap 600. Holly is acquiring Frontier Oil in a deal expected to be completed on or about June 30 and it will change its name to HollyFrontier Corporation after the merger.

These index changes matter, but the largest gains generally come from the new additions rather than when a company moves up or down in the indexes.  RadioShack is indicated down about 2% and under $13.00; and Entropic is indicated up 3% around $8.55 but no trades have been seen.

As far as the others mentioned in the move, they are ratcheted moves within the various indexes.  The surprise is a simple one by our take: No General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) yet in the S&P 500 despite a $45 billion market cap.

JON C. OGG

• Elan (ELN) Raised to Equal-weight at Lehman.
• Elbit Systems (ESLT) Raised to Buy at UBS.
• Limelight Networks (LLNW) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
• Rowan Cos. (RDC) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
• Silver Wheaton (SLW) Raised to Outperform at Raymond James.

Downgrades or Cautious Calls:

• American International Group (AIG) Started as Sell at Societe Generale.
• Brinker (EAT) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
• Entropic Communications (ENTR) Cut to Neutral at Merriman Curhan Ford.
• Health Net (HNT) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
• Internap (INAP) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
• Novartis (NVS) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
• Orient Express (OEH) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
• Pacer International (PACR) Cut To Underweight at JPMorgan.
• Telecom Italia (TI) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg
August 6, 2008

• AU Optronics Corp. (NYSE: AUO) stock rose over prior lows but still looking weak after continued weakness.
• CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CVI) yet again.
• eDiets.com (NASDAQ: DIET) preliminary earnings showing economics win over the need to lose weight and live healthy.
• Entropic Communications (NASDAQ: ENTR) downgraded at Piper Jaffray a week ahead of earnings.
• Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (NYSE: FDP) down 14% after earnings miss.
• Global Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: GLBL)…….. offshore oil & gas on lows?
• O2Micro International Ltd. (NASDAQ: OIIM) down another 8%; now down over 2/3 from highs.
• PC Connection Inc. (NASDAQ: PCCC) profit fell 12% and sees revenue flat in Q3; direct PC/IT marketing must not work for all.
• Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) dismal earnings got them to 52-week lows.
• Tennant Co. (NYSE: TNC) profit drop, weak guidance.. wow, even in cleaning solutions get weak.
• Trident Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: TRID) disappointing earnings and at least 2 downgrades; shares down 26% late; now down 80% from highs.
• Zoran Corp. (NASDAQ: ZRAN) weak outlook and five downgrades… chips are used in DVD players, home theater systems and other electronics, cited economic weakness and a slowdown in consumer spending. Go figure.

The market may have risen huge today, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t many losers when the economy is still in the tank.

Jon C. Ogg
July 29, 2008

• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
• American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• AnnTaylor Stores (ANN) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• Chico’s FAS (CHS) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• Coldwater Creek (CWTR) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• Entropic Communications (ENTR) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• International Game Technology (IGT) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
• Mine Safety Appliances (MSA) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
• OmniVision Technologies (OVTI) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
• Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA) Cut To Neutral at JP Morgan; Cut to Neutral at Banc of America.

Jon C. Ogg
July 29, 2008