24/7 Wall St. » FRPT

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (K, ALU, TOL, PAY, YRCW, GRPN, TESO, BSFT, CCJ,CDE,KWK, NAT, FRPT, ADPI, TKLC, OVTI, DMND)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:09:51 +0000

Markets opened up a bit this morning, but by 10:00 a.m. equities had turned back down, with the DJIA sliding down nearly -200 points before rallying back to its opening mark in the early afternoon. Shares simply couldn’t get any traction in any sector, with heath care stocks losing the least. Crude oil rose to just above $95/barrel, and the firing of two California state oil & gas officials by the governor has raised hopes for speedier permitting in that state, where an estimated trove of 15 billion barrels of shale oil is at stake. In the last half hour of trading, equities rebounded on their way to a gain for the day.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 85 points to 12,068.39 (0.71%), the NASDAQ rose more than 9 points (0.34%) to 2,695.25, and the S&P 500 rose 0.63% or nearly 8 points to 1,261.12.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) cut to ‘market perform’ at William Blair. Other changes included Alcatel-Lucent SA cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) started at ‘buy’ at Citigroupl; YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) maintained at ‘underperform’ with a price target of $0.05 at Credit Suisse; and Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) started at ‘buy’ at Benchmark.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Tesco Corp. (NASDAQ: TESO) is down about -18%, at $13.34; BroadSoft, Inc. (NASDAQ: BSFT) is down less than -0.5%%, at $36.28; Cameco Corp. (NYSE: CCJ) is down nearly -7%, at $20.00; Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE) is up nearly 8%, at $29.42; Quicksilver Resources Inc. (NYSE: KWK) is down more than -9%, at $7.62; and Nordic American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) is down nearly -4%, at $13.64.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Force Protection, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT) is up more than 30%, at $5.50. The armored truck maker is being acquired by General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD for $5.52/share in a deal worth $360 million.

American Dental Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADPI) is up nearly 79%, to $18.57. The company is being acquired by a private equity firm for $317 million, or $19/share, an 83% premium to Friday’s closing price.

Tekelec (NASDAQ: TKLC) is up more than 13%, at $11.20. The telecom equipment maker is being acquired by a private equity firm for about $760 million.

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) is down nearly -18%, at $14.23. The company revised its outlook to include a sharp drop in fourth-quarter revenues. Shares are down about -50% since the beginning of the calendar year.

Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) is down about -15.5%, at $39.21, after posting a new 52-week low of $38.45 earlier in the day. The company’s stock continues to get beaten up due to a delay in its acquisition of the Pringles business from Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and an investigation into payments to walnut growers.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Philadelphia Federal Reserve president Charles Plosser is giving a speech in the morning and Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Narayana Kocherlakota gives a speech in the afternoon. We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

7:45 a.m. – International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs same-store sales
8:55 a.m. – Redbook weekly report on retail sales
1:00 p.m. – US Treasury 3-year note auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ADPI, ALU, BSFT, CCJ, CDE, DMND, FRPT, GRPN, K, KWK, NAT, OVTI, PAY, TESO, TKLC, TOL, YRCW

4th of July Gift: Oshkosh Wins At Expense of Others (OSK, NAV, FRPT, GD)

247wallst — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:23:04 +0000

Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) shares are rising strongly today while most of its peers are falling, after the company won a massive government contract that market participants are seeing as the sole prize in a billion-dollar sweepstakes. The ATV vehicle win came at the expense of Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV), which has a joint venture between small-cap Force Protection Inc. (Nasdaq: FRPT) and General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD). Despite the major share price erosion seen today in the losers, there might still be an outside chance that Oshkosh is not the sole winner.

Shares of Oshkosh are up more than 20 percent on nearly four times normal volume in the first two hours of trading after the company won a $1.06 billion fixed-price contract from the U.S. Army for 2,244 MRAP mine-resistant All-Terrain Vehicles for use in Afghanistan. The deal has helped to boost the company’s defense business backlog by roughly 40% to $3.4 billion.

The Pentagon could order thousands more of the vehicles. And the win could help the company better compete for business in the Joint Light-Tactical Vehicle program, a potentially larger market segment where it also could take market share from some of its rivals.

Force Protection shares are taking the brunt of the abuse in today’s trading, down more than 35 percent on six times average volume as of 11:30 am. Eastern. Navistar shares are down 3%. BAE Systems (BAESY) also is trading lower after the contract announcement. One bit of positive news for Force Protection, however, is that it’s possible Oshkosh may partner with one or more of the losing bidders to fill part of its contract requirements. If that happens, there is history between Oshkosh and Force Protection. The companies are now working together to retrofit Force Protection vehicles with Oshkosh suspension equipment.

Mike Tarsala
July 1, 2009

Posted in Defense Tagged: FRPT, GD, NAV, OSK

Day Trader Alerts (IMMR, DROOY, GOLD, AU, AUY, SPPI, AMAG, UBS, CS, OSK, FRPT, NAV, MYGN)

247wallst — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:35:27 +0000

We have provided links through on our day trading alerts page this morning. Each stock is seeing active trading right before the open and brief explanations and analysis are offered at VSInvestor.com:

Immersion Corp. (Nasdaq: IMMR) is getting whacked down on an investigation into previous revenue transactions in its medical business.
Speculative gold stocks DROOY, GOLD, AU, AUY were up on active interest with commodities.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: SPPI) Inc. shares were indicated lower after the company raised capital from institutional investors.
AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAG) is trading higher after the FDA approved the company’s Feraheme drug as an iron replacement therapy.
Watch UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) and Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) on Swiss-US tax issues may be closer to abating.
Premarket Alert: Watch defense contractors on contract news (OSK, FRPT, GD, NAV)…
Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN) is getting destroyed on its deep revenue warning.

You can check each morning at VSInvestor.com for earlier pre-market indications in stocks on the move you might not have seen.

Jon C. Ogg

Posted in Trading Alert Tagged: AMAG, AU, AUY, CS, DROOY, FRPT, gold, IMMR, MYGN, NAV, OSK, SPPI, UBS

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (FRPT, INFY, NZ, OPTR, UTHR, USB, VMW)

247wallst — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:42:26 +0000

These are the top analyst upgrades we are seeing from Wall Street early this Tuesday morning:

Force Protection (NASDAQ: FRPT) Raised to Buy at Collins Stewart.
Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY) Started as Outperform at William Blair.
Netezza (NYSE: NZ) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPTR) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) Raised to Hold from Sell at Sandler O’Neill.
VMware (NYSE: VMW) Started as Perform at Oppenheimer.

Jon C. Ogg
November 11, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: FRPT, INFY, NZ, OPTR, USB, UTHR, VMW

The 52-Week Low Club (BSC)(LEH)(C)(MER)

247wallst — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:55:37 +0000

Bear Stearns (BSC) For those not on the planet today, firm was bought out by JP Morgan (JPM). Shares fall to $2.84 from 52-week high of $159.36.

Lehman Brothers (LEH) Fall out from banking system problems. Drops to $20.25 from 52-week high $82.05.

National City (NCC) Bank was downgraded. Has mortgage and commericial loan exposure. Sells down to $6.66 from 52-week high of $38.32.

MFGlobal (MF) Rumors about liquidity problems takes shares down to $3.64 from 52-week high of $32.20.

CIT (CIT) Worries about its credit quality bury it at $9.55 down from 52-week high of $61.47.

Citigroup( (C) drops to $17.99 from 52-week high of $55.55.

Merrill Lynch (MER) down to $37.25 from 52-week high of $85.

Force Protection (FRPT) Losing business to rivals and will delay 10-K. Down to $1.03 from $30.

GFI Group (GFIG) The inter-dealer broker is pulled down by concerns in the sector. Down to $32.66 from 52-week high of $103.16.

Blackstone (BX) Private equity group down to $13.40 from 52-week high of $38.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Pre-Market Stock News (DECEMBER 19, 2007) (ATU, ADCT, CEM, CSUN, DGIT, ETFC, AMTD, FITB, FRPT, GIS, GOOG, HOV, JOYG, LMC, MS, PALM, PHG, S, VIA, MSFT)

247wallst — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:15:06 +0000

Below is a summary of many of the top headlines and news bits from individual stocks affecting share prices in pre-market trading this Wednesday:

Actuant (ATU) $0.52 EPS vs $0.48 estimate.
ADC Telecom (ADCT) traded down 4% after-hours. It filed a $400 million convertible note offering, and Cramer said it was a safe stock to play for Verizon and AT&T network build-outs.
Chemtura (CEM) said it will review Strategic Alternatives, including a possible sale of the company.
China Sunergy (CSUN) named Kenneth Luk as its Chief Financial Officer.
DG FastChannel (DGIT) shares are up 5% after it raised its 2007 and 2008 guidance.
E*Trade (ETFC) rose almost 4% in conjunction with
Fifth Third (FITB) warned of more credit losses but increased its dividend.
Force Protection (FRPT) traded down over 20% again after lower portion of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles for U.S. Marines.
General Mills (GIS) $1.14 EPS vs $1.13 estimates.
Google (GOOG) said its application to bid for spectrum was accepted by the FCC.
Hovnanian (HOV) losses reached $7.42 on lower sales and added charges and write-downs.
Joy Global (JOYG) $0.80 EPS vs $0.75 estimates.
Lundin Mining (LMC) stock indicated up almost 2% after it said it will repurchase up to 19.6 million shares of common stock.
Morgan Stanley (MS) posted -$3.61 net but had $5.7 Billion in mortgage write-downs totaling roughly $9 Billion in charges now; it is also in pact with China Investment for $5 billion investment.
Nike (NKE) reports earnings after the close today.
Oracle (ORCL) posts earnings after the close today.
Palm (PALM) lost 9% after wider losses than expected and even lower guidance ahead.
Philips (PHG) plans a $7.2 Billion share buyback.
Sprint (S) named Hesse from Embarq as its new CEO.
TD Ameritrade (AMTD) rose 4% after it raised guidance.
Viacom (VIA) in long-term digital content and advertising pact with Microsoft.

Jon C. Ogg
December 19, 2007

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (CRL, SCHW, CBB, HTZ, FRPT, MTG, SAP, ULTA, JPM, WB, BAC)

247wallst — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:15:58 +0000

These are not the only analyst calls impacting individual share prices, but these are the ones that 247WallSt.com is focusing on:

Charles River (NYSE: CRL) downgraded from Buy to Neutral at UBS.
Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) started as Neutral at UBS.
Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB) downgraded from Outperform to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
Hertz Global (NYSE: HTZ) downgraded from Buy to Neutral at Banc of America.
Force Protection (NASDAQ: FRPT) started as Sell at Stanford Global Research.
MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) downgraded from Neutral to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) downgraded from Outperform to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Ulta Salons (NASDAQ: ULTA) started in new coverage: started as Outperform at Wachovia; started as Overweight at J.P.Morgan; started as Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Merrill Lynch downgrades brokers: cuts J.P.Morgan (NYSE: JPM) to Neutral from Buy, cuts Wachovia (NYSE: WB) to Sell from Neutral; cuts Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to Neutral from Buy.

Jon C. Ogg
December 12, 2007

The 52-Week Low Club

247wallst — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:05:00 +0000

Force Protection (FRPT) Concerns about whether the company’s latest product will ever come to market. Recent IPO falls to $7.48 from $9.99.

Spartan Motors (SPAR) No major news. Falls to $7.55 from 52-week high of $25.03

Housevalues (SOLD) Real estate website. Opps. Falls to $2.97 from 52-week high of $5.89.

Douglas A. McIntyre

52-Week Low Club I (AMD, BIG, DRIV, FRPT, HOTT, SOLD)

247wallst — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:32:05 +0000

Below is the first batch of 52-week lows today:

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) hits the 52-week lows. I guess Dell being weak and them losing their position there isn’t pleasing anyone. Maybe they get another stake taken from the Middle East. Maybe not. This one is now eligible for coverage in our "10 Stocks Under $10" Newsletter, although unless the company has a split personality it’s hard to be positive here. $9.72 close…under the $9.80 new low.
Big Lots (NYSE:BIG)…down 8% to $18.67, under the $19.17 prior 52-week low. It beat earnings but a lowered guidance makes this the story of "The Good, The Bad, & The Fugly"… remember our own "Big Lots Stock Uglier Than Its Stores" call? We took some heat for being insulting, but it wasn’t as insulting as the stores themselves. They don’t sell iPods, but i-Nots are over the place.
Digital River (NASDAQ:DRIV) fell 3.3% to $38.67, under the $39.01 lows and down from $60.99 highs. A BenQ contract win didn’t help.
Force Protection (NASDAQ:FRPT) down big today by 27% to 410.81. Apparently the Marines are slowing spending on mine-resistant trucks, and that kills this stock.
Hot Topic (NASDAQ:HOTT) down 3% to $6.31 versus $6.37 prior 52-week lows. Nothing hot here.
Housevalues (NASDAQ:SOLD)…. apparently the housing woes aren’t ending there, even if housing and lending is seeing severe short covering.

Jon C. Ogg
November 30, 2007