24/7 Wall St. » FFIV

Top Technology Stocks to Buy from the Merrill Lynch Global Technology Conference

Lee Jackson — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:05:56 +0000

One recurring theme we see at 24/7 Wall Street is that technology stocks, for all of their glitter and notoriety, have greatly underperformed one of the longest and hottest bull market runs since the 1990s. Last week we wrote on the historical outperformance of the sector when price-to-earnings ratios drop below a certain level. The technology team at Merrill Lynch are seeing the same value in the sector that other major Wall Street firms are.

In a new report that focused on the top telecom equipment companies, Merrill Lynch posted some of the key takeaways from their Global Technology conference. Not only were they able to get an idea from top corporate executives on new product development and roll-out. Analysts also got a rundown on how spending and revenue trends are shaping up for the second half of the year.

Here are the top telecom equipment technology stocks to buy at Merrill Lynch.

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) CEO Kevin Johnson told Merrill Lynch analysts that the company was doing well in the service provider vertical due to improving demand in the United States. He also said that the substantial increase in network traffic is pushing service providers to improve their network capacities, which was translating to improving demand at Juniper. Merrill Lynch has $23 price target for the stock. The Thomson/First Call estimate is at $19.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) has the advantage of solid chip sales and consistent royalty revenues. Smartphone demand may taper in some areas, but worldwide growth is expected to continue, especially in Asia. Merrill Lynch has a $75 price target, while the consensus is higher at $77. Investors are paid a 2.2% dividend.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) remains a top stock to buy at Merrill Lynch. F5 Networks provides application delivery networking technology that secures and optimizes the delivery of network-based applications and the security, performance and availability of servers and other network resources. Merrill Lynch has a price objective of $95, and the consensus target is lower at $90.

Sourcefire Inc. (NASDAQ: FIRE) provides intelligent cybersecurity technologies worldwide. The company’s network security products include Sourcefire Next Generation Intrusion Prevention System to notify users of network traffic and block threats and Sourcefire Next Generation Firewall with application control and firewall capabilities. Many analysts think cybersecurity will be one of the hottest technology subsectors for years to come. Merrill Lynch has a $68 target, but the consensus estimate on the stock is $63.

Allot Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALLT) develops, markets and sells intelligent Internet protocol service optimization solutions in the United States, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania and rest of the Americas. This top small-cap name also may be a possible takeover candidate. Merrill Lynch has a $20 target, while the consensus is at $15. A move to the Merrill Lynch target would represent a 73% increase from current trading levels.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) executives reiterated previous bullish statements on a gradual recovery cycle at the Merrill Lynch conference. They also refuted competitors’ statements on elevated pricing aggressiveness by Cisco. The Merrill Lynch price target for the stock is $26, the same as the consensus target. Investors are paid a 2.8% dividend.

If you combine the underperformance by the technology sector, with the possibility for an increase in spending in the second half of 2013, you may have the ingredients for some substantial portfolio gains. A further sell-off in the markets this summer might provide the ultimate entry point for investors to take advantage of.

Filed under: Investing Tagged: ALLT, CSCO, FFIV, FIRE, JNPR, QCOM

Top Analyst Downgrades and Stocks to Sell: Actuant, F5 Networks, TripAdvisor

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:30:33 +0000

Investors frequently get to see the analyst upgrades and Buy ratings from Wall Street firms. What investors often do not get to see is when analyst downgrade stocks to sell or to avoid. 24/7 Wall St. reviews many fresh research calls each and every day to find great ideas from value stocks to growth stocks to dividend stocks, and we have broken out the negative analyst calls today. These are this Monday’s top analyst downgrades and cautious research notes from Wall Street.

Actuant Corp. (NYSE: ATU) was cut to Neutral at UBS.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) was cut to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) maintained Hold as sales and earnings are still in a declining trend according to Argus.

Golar LNG Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: GMLP) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

HomeAway, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWAY) was initiated with a very unattractive Sell rating at the boutique firm Monness Crespi & Hardt.

TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) was cut to Hold from Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

Here are the top upgrades and stocks to buy this morning.

Filed under: Investing Tagged: ATU, AWAY, FFIV, FLEX, GMLP, TRIP

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — Thursday: Markets Open Higher, Maintain Positive Trend Today

Paul Ausick — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:04:34 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning following a report on U.S. unemployment that was better than analysts expected (more coverage here). There were literally hundreds of U.S. companies reporting earnings between last night’s close and today’s open, and equities were pushing the market higher most of the day as well. In Europe, the U.K. reported positive GDP growth in the first quarter (more coverage here), while Spain’s unemployment rate rose to 27.16% (more coverage here). In Asia, South Korea reported higher-than-expected GDP growth, but there was little other data. Before U.S. markets open tomorrow morning, first quarter GDP will be announced (more coverage here). The consensus estimate calls for growth of 3.1% compared with the fourth quarter of 2012.

The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.38% today, now at 82.733. The GSCI commodity index is up 1.2% at 614.65. WTI crude oil closed up 2.4%, at $93.64 a barrel. Brent crude trades up 1.6% at $103.40 a barrel. Natural gas is up fractionally today at about $4.17 per million BTUs after an in-line storage report (more coverage here). Gold settled up 2.7% today at $1,462.00 an ounce, chalking up its largest one-day gain so far this year.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 35 points to 14,711.82 (0.24%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 23 points (0.70%) to 3,292.48, and the S&P 500 rose 0.47% or more than 6 points to 1,585.17.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) raised to ‘buy’ at Nomura; Federal-Mogul Corp. (NASDAQ: FDML) raised to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup and J.P. Morgan; Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) raised to ‘buy’ at Hilliard Lyons; and McGraw Hill Companies Inc. (NYSE: MHP) cut to ‘hold’ at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) is up 30.1% at $26.16 after posting a new 52-week high of $26.72 earlier today; Bally Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BYI) is up 11.4% at $54.67 after posting a new 52-week high of $54.74 earlier today; Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO) is up 18.4% at $19.70; O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) is up 4.7% at $105.86 after posting a new 52-week high of $108.98 earlier today; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) is down 5.4% at $62.42 (more coverage here); Vale SA (NYSE: VALE) is up 1.8% at $17.05; Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) is down 0.1% at $52.86 after posting a new 52-week high of $57.95 earlier today; 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) is down 2.7% at $105.00; Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is up 1.1% at $35.92; Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) is up 6.9% at $72.99; Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is down 1.3% at $88.25 (more coverage here); Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) is up 3.1% at $40.85 (more coverage here); Proto Labs Inc. (NASDAQ: PRLB) is down 1.3% at $48.10 (more 3D printing coverage here); and Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) is down 14.1% at $24.28 (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR), Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR), HealthSouth Corp. (NYSE: HLS), Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN), Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC), Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX), Wynn Resorts, Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Burger King Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: BKW), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV), and VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

MPG Office Trust Inc. (NYSE: MPG) is up 20.6% at $3.14. The office and real-estate development REIT is being acquired by Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (NYSE: BPO) for $3.15 a share..

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) is up 16.1% at $21.15. The steelmaker and iron ore miner posted better-than-expected results this morning.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is down 7.1% at $3.11. The social games company posted poor results last night and expectations are not encouraging. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – GDP
9:55 a.m. – University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index

Filed under: Investing Tagged: AAPL, ALU, AMZN, ANGI, BG, BIDU, BKW, BYI, CLWR, CSTR, CVX, FDML, FFIV, FIO, HLS, INTU, MHP, MMM, MO, NOV, OLN, ORLY, POT, PRLB, QCOM, RRC, SBUX, SWY, VALE, VFC, WDC, WYNN, XOM, ZNGA

Market Close: Big Winners & Losers for April 5, 2013 (BCRX, ISSC, AQQ, NIHD, BVA, RIGL, RDWR, ANCX, FFIV, ZGNX)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:26:52 +0000

Here are today’s five biggest gaining stocks at closing:

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX) is up 28.8% at $1.70.

Innovative Solutions and Support Inc. (NASDAQ: ISSC) is up 27.2% at $7.02.

American Spectrum Realty Inc. (NYSEMKT: AQQ) is up 27.1% at $3.14.

NII Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: NIHD) is up 20.7% at $5.48.

Cordia Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: BVA) is up 20.6% at $6.15.

And here are today’s five biggest losing stocks at closing:

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: RIGL) is down 40.2% at $4.50.

Radware Ltd. (NASDAQ: RDWR) is down 22.7% at $29.07.

Access National Corp. (NASDAQ: ANCX) is down 21.1% at $12.00.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) is down 19% at $73.21.

Zogenix Inc. (NASDAQ: ZGNX) is down 12.6% at $1.57.

Filed under: Investing Tagged: ANCX, AQQ, BCRX, BVA, FFIV, ISSC, NIHD, RDWR, RIGL, ZGNX

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — April 5, 2013: Markets Slammed by Jobs Report (KMB, JPM, FB, CMCSA, NWSA, FFIV, AA, CX, CSCO, JCP, ZNGA)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:05:51 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning and then fell even more following the U.S. non-farm payroll and unemployment report (more coverage here). Outside the U.S., little data came out. German factory orders rose more than expected, while eurozone retail sales fell a bit further than expected. In Asia, Japan’s leading indicator index rose more than expected and the Nikkei closed higher. Hong Kong closed lower and Shanghai remained closed for a holiday. The saber-rattling out of North Korea did not help matters either. Late in the day, the Fed’s report on consumer credit in February showed a jump of $18.1 billion, the largest increase since last August. Non-revolving debt, such as auto loans and student loans, rose 10.9%, the most since July 2011. U.S. consumers’ credit card debt rose just 0.75% in February.

The U.S. dollar index is down 0.2% today, now at 82.506. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.9% at 633.00. WTI crude oil closed down 0.6% today, at $92.70 a barrel, and closed the week down 4.7%. Brent crude trades down 2% at $104.22 a barrel. Natural gas is up 4.4% today at about $4.12 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 1.5% today at $1,575.90 an ounce, but closed the week down 1.2%.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 41 points to 14,565.02 (-0.28%), the NASDAQ fell about 21 points (-0.65%) to 3,203.86, and the S&P 500 fell -0.43% or nearly 7 points to 1,53.27.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) cut to ‘underperform’ at BMO Capital Markets; JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) raised to ‘overweight’ at Evercore; Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) raised to ‘buy’ with a price target of $36 at Argus (more coverage here); Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) started as ‘neutral’ at Baird; and News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse.

No earnings of note were released before markets opened today, however F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) released an earnings and revenue warning after markets closed last night that weighed down network equipment makers today (more coverage here).

There are no earnings of note scheduled before markets open Monday morning either. However Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) is scheduled to report earnings after markets close Monday, kicking off another round of earnings.

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Cemex S.A.B de C.V. (NYSE: CX) is up 6.4% at $12.42 after posting a new 52-week high of $12.47 earlier today. The Mexico-based cement maker had no news today, and only made up ground it had lost over the last two days.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is down 2.2% at $20.57. The network equipment maker was caught in the whirlpool brought on by the warning from F5 Networks.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is up 2.7% at $15.48. The struggling retailer unveiled its in-store shops offerings today. More coverage here.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is up 1.8% at $3.51. The social game maker got a boost from a new appointment to its board of directors and an announcement that the CEO will take a salary of $1 for 2013.

Stay tuned for Monday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month bill auctions

Have a great weekend!

Filed under: Investing Tagged: AA, CMCSA, CSCO, CX, FB, FFIV, JCP, JPM, KMB, NWSA, ZNGA

Bloodbath for Network Stocks (FFIV, JNPR, CSCO, RVBD, FTNT, CIEN, ALU)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:00:47 +0000

After markets closed last night, F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) cut its estimates for earnings per share and revenues, and the stock took a beating. Shares are down about 19% in early trading today, and F5’s warning is rippling through other networking stocks.

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) is down more than 6%, Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is down nearly 4%, Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) is down nearly 3.5%, Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) is down nearly 3.5% and Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) is down about 3.1%. Even Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), which jumped about 10% yesterday, is down nearly 2% this morning.

F5 blamed the cuts on slowing sales in North America and its Europe, Middle East and Africa region. The company also noted that sales to the U.S. government were down “significantly” compared with the year-ago quarter.

The bloodbath at F5 has the shares down more than 19% at $72.69, after posting a new 52-week low of $71.95. The 52-week high is $139.20.

Filed under: Investing Tagged: ALU, CIEN, CSCO, FFIV, FTNT, JNPR, RVBD

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (CELG, CMCSA, FB, FFIV, JPM, JNPR, KMB, NWSA, PDCE, AET, CI, HUM, UNH, WLP)

Jon C. Ogg — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:15:50 +0000

Investors and traders are usually on the hunt for new ideas that will generate positive returns or income. 24/7 Wall St. looks over numerous research calls to find great ideas from value stocks to growth stocks to dividend stocks. Many of these are for stocks to buy and stocks to sell, and some come from Wall St. and some come from independent research firms.

These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from select Wall St. research calls.

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) started as Neutral at Baird.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) raised to Buy from Hold with $36 target at Argus.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray, cut to Neutral at Citigroup and cut to Market Perform at William Blair; earnings warning has shares down 17% around $75 this morning to a new 52-week low.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) raised to Overweight at Evercore.

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) cut to Equal Weight at Barclays; shares are down 5% after F5 Networks warning too.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) cut to Underperform at BMO Capital Markets.

News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

PDC Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCE) raised to Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphreys; maintained Outperform but cut target to $63 from $65 at Credit Suisse.

Health care insurance stocks started in new coverage at UBS: AETNA Inc. (NYSE: AET) started as Buy, CIGNA Inc. (NYSE: CI) started as Buy, Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) started as Neutral, UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) started as Buy and WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) started as Neutral.

Filed under: Healthcare (Business) Tagged: AET, CELG, CI, CMCSA, FB, FFIV, HUM, JNPR, JPM, KMB, NWSA, PDCE, UNH, WLP

Deutsche Bank Analysts Bullish on Data Networking Stocks (EMC, VMW, CSCO, FFIV, JNPR, NTAP)

Lee Jackson — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:10:54 +0000

We reported yesterday that the EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) and VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) strategic forum in New York City was used as a platform to not only showcase earnings and prospects for the two companies, but to also announce a new strategic joint venture carve out: The Pivotal Group. Analysts from across Wall St. were given a glimpse at the future of storage, data networking and data centers.

In a new report, analysts at Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) highlight stocks to buy in this growing space. They agreed with EMC and VMW’s list of major information technology (IT) spending themes. And they note that the biggest secular growth investment opportunities in the networking universe are in:

Rollouts of nextgen mobile-aware and application-aware networks
The network as a rich source of analytics
Build outs of scale-out enterprise and telco cloud data centers

They were also dismissive of the consensus bear case arguments that understate the incumbency advantage of market leaders such as Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), given the need to implement “robust” operational models for running cloud-scale data centers. They were also very bullish on these market leaders.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is rated Buy at Deutsche Bank, with a $24 price target. The Thomson/First Call consensus for the networking giant is also $24.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) is also a stock to buy, with a $116 price target. The Wall St. estimate for F5 is $113.50.

Though it is only rated Neutral with $19 target, the Deutsche Bank team thinks product wins for Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) are a distinct possibility. The consensus price target for Juniper is higher at $22.50.

We recently reported on the adaptation of enterprise flash drives as an important trend in storage and networking. Flash is an important new technology for the enterprise that will reduce, though not eliminate, the need for hard disk storage. NAND flash supply, though not sufficient to replace a high percentage of all hard drives, is enough to have a significant high-end enterprise impact.

So who will be the first to integrate flash to their storage products? The likely candidates are, of course, the industry leaders like EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC). EMC has a consensus price target of $30. Many firms believe the stock is very undervalued as its large ownership percentage of VMware Inc (NYSE: VMW) is not fully appreciated. The consensus price target for VMware is $100. If analysts are correct here, this could be a 20% gain for investors.

NetApp Inc (NASDAQ: NTAP) is another storage firm likely to incorporate flash into its product line. With industry leading network storage solutions, NetApp has a consensus price target of $40 and is a top pick at many Wall St. firms.

The bottom line for investors is new technology that expands capacity and capability will always win. Integrating flash into storage is an example of the kind of new technology that can help change the face of an industry. With mobility, cloud-scale data centers and a flood of innovation on the horizon, we may be at just the beginning of the data revolution.

Filed under: Investing Tagged: CSCO, DB, EMC, FFIV, JNPR, NTAP, VMW

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — January 24, 2013: Markets Mixed After Apple Earnings (AAPL, PG, EMR, CVS, GOLD, TIF, AMGN, SNDK, FFIV, NE, NVR, WDC, MMM, BMY, LMT, RTN, LUV, UNP, UAL, XRX, T, JNPR, MSFT, SBUX, HAL, HON, KMB, WY, NOK, NFLX, SWFT)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:05:41 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened mixed this morning with the DJIA and the S&P 500 higher, and the Nasdaq lower, dragged down by concern over the earnings of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) (more coverage here). Apple’s troubles, though, may be traced more accurately to options trading (more coverage here). In Europe, preliminary PMI readings were better if still not positive (more coverage here). Unemployment levels in Spain reached an all-time high (more coverage here). In Asia Chinese PMI came in higher than expected (more coverage here) and Japan’s trade deficit was wider than expected. In the U.S., new claims for unemployment benefits fell sharply (more coverage here). The S&P 500 briefly topped 1,500 this morning for the first time in more than five years.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.02% today, now at 79.941. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.3% at 661.98, with commodities prices mixed again today. WTI crude oil closed up 0.8% today, at $95.95 a barrel following a rise in crude stocks (more coverage here). Brent crude trades up 0.5% at $113.28 a barrel. Natural gas is down 2.8% today at about $3.45 per million BTUs after this week’s storage report (more coverage here). Gold settled down 1% today at $1,669.90 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up 46 points to 13,825.33 (0.33%), the NASDAQ fell more than 23 points (-0.74%) to 3,130.38, and the S&P 500 was flat at 1,494.82.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) started as ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank; CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) removed from U.S. Focus List at Goldman Sachs; Randgold Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ: GOLD) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/ML; and Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) cut to ‘hold’ at Canaccord Genuity.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday resulted in several price moves today, including these: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is down 12% at $452.53 (more coverage here); Amgen Corp. (NASDAQ: AMGN) is down 0.5% at $82.63; SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) is up 3.2% at $49.19 (more coverage here); F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) is up 4.9% at $103.60; Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE) is down 5.4% at $37.70; NVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR) is up 2% at $1,001.58 after posting a new 52-week high of $1,023.99 earlier today; Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) is up 2.2% at $48.08 after posting a new 52-week high of $49.42 earlier today; 3M Corp. (NYSE: MMM) is up 0.2% at $99.68 after posting a new 52-week high of $99.80 earlier today (more coverage here); Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is up 2.6% at $35.82; Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) is down 2.6% at $93.56; Raytheon Inc. (NYSE: RTN) is down 3% at $56.49; Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is up 0.9% at $11.46 after posting a new 52-week high of $11.62 earlier today (more coverage here); Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) is down 0.7% at $134.35; United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) is up 1.3% at $25.33 after posting a new 52-week high of 26.36 earlier today; and Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) is up 2.6% at $7.78.

After markets close today and before they open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX), Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB), and Weyerhaeuser Corp. (NYSE: WY).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is down 8.7% today at $4.24. The mobile handset maker posted earnings that were better than expected, but the outlook is weak. More coverage here.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is up 42.5% at $147.16 after posting a new 52-week high of $149.17 earlier today. The video distribution firm posted much better earnings than expected and grew subscriber numbers significantly. More coverage here.

Swift Transportation Co. (NYSE: SWFT) is up 28.7% at $13.16 after posting a new 52-week high of $13.24 earlier today. The trucking company posted strong earnings last night.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted the following event on the schedule (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. – New home sales

Filed under: Investing Tagged: AAPL, AMGN, BMY, CVS, EMR, FFIV, gold, HAL, HON, JNPR, KMB, LMT, LUV, MMM, MSFT, NE, NFLX, NOK, NVR, PG, RTN, SBUX, SNDK, SWFT, T, TIF, UAL, UNP, WDC, WY, XRX

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — January 23, 2013: Market Open Higher on Little News (COST, GE, VZ, F, INCY, AMD, CSX, GOOG, IBM, IGT, TXN, ABT, BHI, COH, GD, MCD, LCC, AAPL, AMGN, NFLX, SNDK, FFIV, NE, NVR, WDC, MMM, BMY, LMT, RYN, LUV, UNP, UAL, XRX, MAPP, AGN, NMRX, MCP)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:05:02 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning following a string of solid earnings reports yesterday and after markets closed last night. As we note below, earnings results were more mixed today, but shares held on to their opening gains throughout the day. In Asia, some investors are disappointed in Japan’s easy money decision and the only data point of note came from Australia, where the consumer price index rose just 0.2% quarter-over-quarter. In Europe, British Prime Minister David Cameron has promised a referendum on the country’s European Union membership by 2017 (provided he’s still in office). In the U.S., the U.S. House of Representatives pushed a decision on the debt ceiling out until May, but two other critical deadlines face the Congress in March (more coverage here).

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.08% today, now at 79.939. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.5% at 664.07, with commodities prices mixed today. WTI crude oil closed down 1.5% today, at $95.23 a barrel. Brent crude trades up 0.4% at $110.61 a barrel. Natural gas is flat today at about $3.56 per million BTUs. Gold settled down 0.4% today at $1,686.70 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 67 points to 13,779.10 (0.49%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 11 points (0.33%) to 3,153.67, and the S&P 500 rose 0.15% or about 2 points to 1,494.78.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) raised to ‘market perform’ at Bernstein; General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a price target of $25 at Argus; Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) raised to ‘buy’ with a price target of $50 at Canaccord Genuity; Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) cut to ‘hold’ and price target raised to $15 at Deutsche Bank; and Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) cut to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday resulted in several price moves today, including these: Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is up 11.4% at $2.73 (more coverage here); CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) is up 4.2% at $21.68 (more coverage here); Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is up 5.9% at $744.27 (more coverage here); International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is up 4.8% at $205.57 (more coverage here); International Game Technology Inc. (NYSE: IGT) is down 1.8% at $14.94; Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) is down 0.9% at $33.15; Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) is down 0.3% at $32.80; Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) is up 0.9% at $45.23 (more coverage here); Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) is down 16.3% at $50.80 (more coverage here); General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) is up 0.8% at $71.28; McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) is up 0.5% at $93.44 (more coverage here); and U.S. Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) is up 1.7% at $15.10 after posting a new 52-week high of $15.64 earlier today (more coverage here).

After markets close today and before they open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amgen Corp. (NASDAQ: AMGN), Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK), F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE), NVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR), Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC), 3M Corp. (NYSE: MMM), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY), Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT), Raytheon Inc. (NYSE: RYN), Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV), Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP), United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL), and Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

MAP Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: MAPP) is up 58.7% today at $24.73 after posting a new 52-week high of $24.77 earlier. The developmental drug maker is being acquired by Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) for about $958 million, or $25 a share.

Numerex Corp. (NASDAQ: NMRX) is down 14.3% at $11.67. The machine-to-machine technology firm priced a secondary offering at a 17% discount to last night’s closing price.

Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) is down 11.4% at $7.82. The rare earths miner issued an earnings warning this morning and proposed to raise a total of $300 million by selling stock and issuing debt. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
8:58 a.m. – Flash PMI manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – Leading indicators
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
11:00 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
11:00 a.m. – Kansas City Fed manufacturing index
1:00 p.m. – 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) auction
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Filed under: Investing Tagged: AAPL, ABT, AGN, AMD, AMGN, BHI, BMY, COH, COST, CSX, F, FFIV, GD, GE, GOOG, IBM, IGT, INCY, LCC, LMT, LUV, MAPP, MCD, MCP, MMM, NE, NFLX, NMRX, NVR, RYN, SNDK, TXN, UAL, UNP, VZ, WDC, XRX