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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (MT, AVNR, CTRN, ETH,INTC, IGT, KALU, LVS, MA, MGM, MNTA, NOR, SFD, SO, SE, URBN, V, WYNN)

Administrator — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:35:40 +0000

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

Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) Started as Equal Weight at Barclays.
Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVNR) Reiterate as “Buy” with a $6 price target by Canaccord Genuity.
Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE: ETH) Started as Hold at Argus.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Maintained Outperform but cut estimates at Credit Suisse; maintained Hold with $24 price target objective at Canaccord Genuity.
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) resumed with “Outperform” rating at Wells Fargo.
Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (NASDAQ: KALU) Started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Las Vegas Sands Corporation (NYSE: LVS) resumed with “Outperform” rating at Wells Fargo.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) Started as Buy at Nomura.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) resumed with “Outperform” rating at Wells Fargo.
Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) reiterate as Buy with a $23 price target objective by Canaccord Genuity.
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. (NYSE: NOR) Started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) Cut to Hold from Buy for short-term coverage but maintained a Buy for long-term at Argus.
Spectra Energy Corporation (NYSE: SE) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Maintained Neutral and lowered estimates at Credit Suisse; Maintained Underperform with $17 price target objective by Jefferies.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Started as Buy at Nomura.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) resumed with “Market Perform” at Wells Fargo.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AVNR, CTRN, ETH, IGT, INTC, KALU, LVS, MA, MGM, MNTA, MT, NOR, SE, SFD, SO, URBN, V, WYNN

Top Analyst Upgrades (APSG, BWA, CBI, ETH, GME, PIR, TD, WSM)

247wallst — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:04:31 +0000

These are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research calls that we have seen from Wall Street firms early this Monday morning:

Applied Signal (APSG) Raised to Buy at Colliins-Stewart.
Borg Warner (BWA) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Ethan Allen (ETH) Raised to Hold at KeyBanc.
GameStop (GME) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Pier-1 Imports (PIR) Raised to Hold at KeyBanc.
TD Bank (TD) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
Williams-Sonoma (WSM) Raised to Hold at KeyBanc.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: APSG, BWA, CBI, ETH, GME, PIR, TD, WSM

Pre-Market Stock News (January 23, 2008)

247wallst — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:58:25 +0000

We are full fledged into earnings season now, so most news coverage will point to the current earnings environment and guidance. There are of course drug developments and other contracts awards. Below is a snapshot of some of the key data we saw affecting shares in pre-market trading:

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) $0.93 EPS versus $0.92 estimate; sees Q1 EPS $0.61 to $0.63 versus $0.65 estimates and sees 2008 EPS $3.20 to $3.25 versus $3.22 estimate.
Advanced Energy Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: AEIS) traded down over 10% after after it lowered guidance.
Air Products (APD) $1.16 EPS vs $1.13 estimates.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) trading down 10% after it posted $1.76 EPS on $9.6 Billion revenues; Estimates were $1.62 EPS on revenues of $9.47 Billion; Guidance for next quarter is $0.94 EPS and revenues $6.8 Billion versus estimates of $1.09 EPS on $6.98 Billion in revenues.
Baidu.com (BIDU) announces the formal launch of its Japanese language search engine run by its Japanese subsidiary.
CheckPoint Software (CHKP) trading up almost 5% after $0.46 EPS versus $0.45 est.; Revenues $206.7M vs. $202.3M est.;
CNH Global (CNH) $0.50 EPS versus $0.60 estimate.
Coach (COH) $0.69 EPS vs $0.68 estimate; noted weak mall traffic and decline in average transaction size.
EntreMed (ENMD) is starting its Phase II study with its MKC-1 cell cycle inhibitor in ovarian cancer and advanced endometrial cancer.
Ethan Allen (ETH) posted $0.70 EPS versus $0.68 estimate.
Foster Wheeler (FWLT) trades ex-split to reflect a 2 for 1 stock split.
General Dynamics (GD) $1.42 EPS vs. $1.41 estimate; sees 2008 EPS $5.55 to $5.65 versus $5.73 estimate.
HOKU Scientific Inc. (HOKU) traded down 10% after earnings beat but guidance was deemed light.
INX (INXI) awarded Department of Defense contract to provide up to $21 million in support of a Cisco Systems network pact.
Martek Biosciences (MATK) noted a December publication showed its DHA may help in late-onset Alzheimer’s, although NIH study results will be in 2010.
Parametric (PMTC) $0.26 EPS vs. $0.23 estimate; sees next quarter $0.24 to $0.28 vs. $0.26 estimate; sees 2008 EPS $1.17 to $1.27 vs. $1.16 estimate (revenue in-line).
Praxair (PX) $0.98 EPS vs $0.97 estimate.
Qualcomm (QCOM) expanded relationship with Motorola for chipsets into certain UMTS 3G handsets in 2008 and 2009.
RLI Corp. (RLI) $1.22 EPS versus $1.05 estimate.
Rockwell Automation (ROK) $1.04 EPS vs. $1.01 estimates; guides 200 EPS $4.25 to $4.45 versus $4.38 estimate.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) $0.12 EPS vs. $0.10 estimate ; reigned in 2008 growth plans to 4%-5% capacity.
Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) has posted earnings of $0.54 EPS and revenues of $3.56 Billion; analysts pegged at $0.52 EPS on $3.58 Billion in revenues; sees Next quarter $0.43 to $0.49 EPS on revenues of $3.27 to $3.55 Billion versus estimates of $0.45 EPS on $3.41 Billion in revenues.
TJX Companies (TJX) was Jim Cramer’s retail pick on CNBC’s MAD MONEY last night.
United Tech (UTX) $1.08 EPS vs. $1.06 estimate; sees 2008 $4.65 to $4.85 versus $4.85 estimate.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) will begin Phase III evaluation of telaprevir for its lead investigational hepatitis C protease inhibitor.
WellPoint (WLP) $1.51 EPS versus $1.51 estimate.
Werner Enterprises (WERN) $0.28 EPS vs. $0.28 estimate.

Jon C. Ogg
January 23, 2008

La-Z-Boy Clients On Recliners Instead of Shopping (LZB, STLY, ETH)

247wallst — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:03:51 +0000

It’s of no surprise when you see a furniture maker or anything at all tied to "in home buying" very weak. But some of these sell-offs go from mild, to bad, to outright atrocious. Enter La-Z-Boy Inc. (NYSE:LZB). La-Z-Boy shares are down another 1% today at $5.40, and the 52-week trading range is $5.46 to $15.20. The maker of the good old recliner isn’t immune from a weak housing and consumer discretionary spending environment. Despite there being a very soft environment, La-Z-Boy’s books are actually in decent shape even after its revenue warning last month. It would seem that this company could easily trim costs to keep the bottom line better.

This was briefly a $30 stock in 2002, and it has again been cut in half since this summer. How far back on the chart do you have to go before you find these recent stock prices? The early 1990′s. Other furniture makers are in the same negative spending environment soup:

Stanley Furniture Co. Inc. (NASDAQ:STLY) shares are $10.92, under its $10.98 to $23.74 range over the last 52-weeks.
Even on a positive day for the stock higher-end furniture maker Ethan Allen (NYSE:ETH) up 2.6% at $29.31 is at the lower-end of its $27.46 to $39.56 trading range over the last 52-weeks.

Jon C. Ogg
December 3, 2007

Earnings Gappers (July 25, 2007)

247wallst — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:23:24 +0000

(AMZN) Amazon.com trading up over 20% after beating earnings and raising guidance; has 5 upgrades so far.
(ASH) Ashland $1.35 EPS vs $1.11 estimate.
(BA) Boeing $1.35 EPS vs $1.16 estimate; guidance looks soft if not on items; shares trading up 2% pre-market.
(CACH) Cache $0.12 EPS vs $0.07 estimate.
(CBR) Ciber $0.13 EPS vs $0.12 estimate.
(CL) Colgate-Polmolive $0.84 EPS vs $0.83 estimate.
(ETH) Ethan Allen $0.65 EPS vs $0.65 estimate.
(FLIR) FLIR Systems $0.38 EPS vs $0.36 estimate.
(HES) Hess $1.75 EPS vs $1.45 estimate.
(JOYG) Joy Global issues earnings warning.
(KEM) Kemet $0.12 EPS vs $0.10 estimate.
(MDCO) Medicines Company $0.03 EPS vs $0.02 estimate.
(MPX) Marine Products $0.14 EPS vs $0.12 estimate.
(NTRI) NutriSystem traded down another 10%+ after beating estimates, but lowering guidance.
(PAS) Pepsi Americas $0.60 EPS vs $0.50 estimate.
(PFCB) P.F.Chang’s $0.36 EPS vs $0.36 estimate.
(RAI) Reynolds America $1.10 EPS vs $1.21 estimate.
(SEE) Sealed Air $0.41 EPS vs. $0.42 estimate.
(TRAD) TradeStation $0.18 EPS vs $0.18 estimate.
(TRB) Tribune $0.47 EPS vs $0.48 estimate.
(TROW) T.Rowe Price $0.58 EPS vs $0.58 estimate.
(XEL) Xcel Energy $0.29 EPS vs $0.26 estimate.

Jon C. Ogg
July 25, 2007