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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AAPL, CI, DV, DDS, IFF, LNKD, MS, QCOM, RIMM, TGT, WAG, WMT, WDC, ZOLL)

Administrator — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:13:09 +0000

These are some of Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reiterated Outperform and $500 target at Credit Suisse.
CIGNA Corp. (NYSE: CI) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
DeVry, Inc. (NYSE: DV) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) maintained Hold at Argus.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Raised to Buy at Collins Stewart.
Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) Reiterated Buy and $72 target at Argus.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut target to $20 at Credit Suisse.
Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
ZOLL Medical Corp. (NASDAQ: ZOLL) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, CI, DDS, DV, IFF, LNKD, MS, QCOM, RIMM, TGT, WAG, WDC, WMT, ZOLL

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AFL, CPLA, COO, HIG, IBM, IFF, LVS, MET, NUE, PAYX, UHS, SHI, KBH, LEN, RYL)

Administrator — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:11:20 +0000

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

AFLAC Inc. (NYSE: AFL) Reiterated Buy and $83 target at BofA/ML.
Capella Education Co. (NASDAQ: CPLA) maintained Underperform and as Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
The Cooper Companies (NYSE: COO) Reiterated Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: HIG) Reiterated Buy at Argus.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) Reiterated Buy at Argus.
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) Reiterated Outperform and $70 target at Credit Suisse.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) Cut to Hold at Argus.
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) Reiterated Buy and $54 target at Argus.
Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) Cut to Sell at S&P Equity Research (late-Tuesday call).
Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Tuesday call).
Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE: UHS) Reiterated Buy with $55 target at BofA/ML.

In a sector call, BofA/ML is raising estimates on earnings and orders for the first half of 2011 in DR Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI), KB Home (NYSE: KBH), Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN), and Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE: RYL). The firm maintained Buy ratings on each based on strong entry level buyers being active in the Spring.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AFL, COO, CPLA, HIG, IBM, IFF, KBH, LEN, LVS, MET, NUE, PAYX, RYL, SHI, UHS

The Week’s Largest Market Losers

247wallst — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:21:25 +0000

S&P 500 WEEK: BOTTOM 10 (04FEB-10 FEB)	Ticker	Weekly Price Change (%)	Close Price 10Feb11	Close Price 04Feb11	Market Cap($Mil)
Akamai Technologies Inc	AKAM	-14.9	40.75	47.88	7430.4
Cisco Systems Inc	CSCO	-14.2	18.92	22.05	104869.1
Computer Sciences Corp	CSC	-13.7	48.10	55.76	7430.7
NVIDIA Corp	NVDA	-11.1	22.82	25.67	13258.4
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.	IFF	-7.0	54.80	58.91	4381.3
QEP Resources Inc	QEP	-6.0	37.85	40.28	6647.3
Sysco Corp	SYY	-5.9	28.10	29.85	16440.9
Southwestern Energy Co	SWN	-5.8	37.05	39.34	12848.3
Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.	FCX	-5.5	53.62	56.76	50510.0
FMC Technologies Inc	FTI	-5.2	90.07	95.06	10782.4
Source: Capital IQ

The stocks which lost the largest percentage of their value this week where dominated by firms which produced poor earnings. Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced a forecast for the year ahead which was a deep disappointment to Wall St. Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) quarterly numbers came in below expectations.

Computer Sciences (NYSE: CSC) lowers its forecast for the upcoming year. Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) faces new competition in the tablet PC market from Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM)

Doulas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Market Close Tagged: AKAM, CSC, CSOC, IFF, NVDA, QCOM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALU, ALXN, AWK, NILE, CELL, CMG, CSCO, EPOC, EXPE, GDOT, IFF, ONXX, SPR, S, TUP)

Administrator — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:32:03 +0000

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

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) Raised to Neutral at Nomura.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) Started as Neutral with $29 target at Credit Suisse.
Blue Nile Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Brightpoint Inc. (NASDAQ: CELL) Raised to Outperform as the Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Epocrates, Inc. (NASDAQ: EPOC) Started as Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML; Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT) Cut to Sell at Janney.
International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE: IFF) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) maintained as Underperform as the Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc (NYSE: SPR) Cut to Neutral with $26 target at Credit Suisse.
Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) Cut to Neutral with $5 target at Goldman Sachs.
Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) Raised to Buy with $64 target at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ALU, ALXN, AWK, CELL, CMG, CSCO, EPOC, EXPE, GDOT, IFF, NILE, ONXX, S, SPR, TUP

Companies Coming Clean About Euro Impact Against Earnings (BCSI, MCD, BKD, MMM, STP, HPQ)

Administrator — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:00:20 +0000

A little over two weeks ago, we ran a list of “8 Big Companies With High E.U. Exposure” to see which companies had the most at risk due to the geographic ability of the customer base. We have yet to see any waves of formal earnings warnings due to the decline of the Euro from that group of eight companies, but we have started to see the first waves of companies coming clean about what the currency impact and the changing dynamics of Europe will be on a negative impact for U.S. earnings. Among these are Blue Coat Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BCSI), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC), 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), and Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP). For whatever it is worth, Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) tried to downplay the importance of this last month.

Blue Coat Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BCSI), in proxy appliances and related software and services for optimize and secure applications, blamed weakness in its European business and macroeconomic issues for its lower-than-expected outlook for the first quarter with earnings in the last two weeks. The company said that it will be in a range of $0.35 to $0.40 EPS with revenue of $121 to $126 million. Thomson Reuters had estimates of $0.40 EPS and $132.1 million in revenue at the time. Not a huge-huge lowering, but it came in a climate when investors were still at least somewhat bullish. When that hit in late-May, shares went from $28.84 down to $21.47 and shares are hovering right around $22.00 now.

What is interesting is that McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) today posted strong sales with same-store gains up 3.4% in the U.S. and up 5.7% in Europe. But then came word that McDonald’s sees a currency frag against earnings from Europe and elsewhere. McDonald’s noted that it sees currency conversion hurting its full year net income now rather than earlier expectations for a slight benefit as it is now more than half outside of the United States.

McDonald’s came on the heels of a further disclosure yesterday from Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) that it expects an unfavorable currency impact (mostly Euro) to cut 1 or 2 cents off of its quarterly earnings estimates. If that is so, then Thomson Reuters estimates, which have already recently come down 1 cent to $0.35 EPS, could come down further.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) had its CFO at an investor conference say that the falling Euro could knock off about $0.05 EPS from its full-year earnings guidance previously put at $5.40 to $5.60. But he also said that the downside could be drug down further if this decline turns out to be structural rather than mechanical. The bulk of the impact will come in the second half of 2010 as its rolling currency hedges unwind.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) reported last week that is earnings were above plan and it raised shipment forecasts for 2010 by about 4%. But its stock slid over added fears of a weakening Euro because almost 70% of its Q1-sales were in Europe. The company valued the Euro’s decline cost it about $24.5 million.

Elsewhere there are concerns which may be “hopefully thinking” more than entrenched in reality. At Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) after the recent earnings report, CEO Mark Hurd discounted the Euro decline concerns and a later negative impact on sales. Hurd said a strong Euro (weak dollar) is good for them, but he said the Euro impact was overplayed. Approximately one-quarter of its business is derived in Europe. It will be interesting to see if H-P keeps that same stance since a further erosion has taken place.

What you are starting to see is a pattern confirmation. It is not a pattern of death, because currencies do move. But strong and severe moves in this short of a time do often have an impact for companies. Hedges are in place at many firms, but companies often are either unable to hedge against such severe moves or they deem it too expensive to hedge above and beyond certain target-ranges. We sill have over three weeks until the end of the second calendar quarter, so you can expect more news from companies on their Euro exposure.

That list from mid-May with companies having large Euro exposure included the following, and an explanation of the exposure for each can be found here:

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL),
Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS),
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR),
Flowserve Corp. (NYSE: FLS),
Harman International Industries Inc. (NYSE: HAR),
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF),
Millipore Corp. (NYSE: MIL),
and Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM).

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Accounting, Currency, International Markets Tagged: BCSI, BKD, CCL, ERTS, FLS, FSLR, HAR, HPQ, IFF, MCD, MIL, MMM, PM, STP

8 Big US Companies With High E.U. Exposure (CCL, ERTS, FLSR, FLS, HAR, IFF, MIL, PM)

Administrator — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:45:30 +0000

The implosion of the Euro is going to make it difficult for large American multinational corporations to be competitive in selling in Europe. The currency adjustments are just too fast and too strong for the headwinds to be ignored. We pulled several big US industry leaders out with deep exposure to the European Union to see which had the largest risks. While these are certainly not all the companies with Europe (and EMEA) exposure, we took a look at Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL), Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Flowserve Corp. (NYSE: FLS), Harman International Industries Inc. (NYSE: HAR), International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF), Millipore Corp. (NYSE: MIL), and Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM). We have tried to identify the specific European exposure where applicable, although some of this is EMEA or international on each.

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) said in its latest annual report, “Our European brands represent 33% of our total capacity at November 30, 2009, and we expect them to increase to 37% of our total capacity by 2012, assuming no new acquisitions, transfers or withdrawals are announced other than as previously discussed.”

Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) said in its year ago annual report that international net revenue increased by 4% to $1.8 billion, which it listed as 43% of total net revenue in fiscal year 2009. Unfortunately, that was listed as Europe, Australia, Asia and Latin America by the company. Reuters listed the EMEA amount as 38% of revenues.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) has over half of its business tied to the E.U. region. Its 2009 annual report noted that Blizstrom GmbH, EDF EN Development, Gehrlicher Solar AG, Juwi Solar GmbH, and Phoenix Solar AG in 2009 each accounted for between 10% and 19% of all component segment sales. Reuters noted that its revenue exposure to EMEA (Europe, Middle Esat and Africa) was 77%. This is getting the double-whammy as oil prices are heading further south each day along with the Euro.

Flowserve Corp. (NYSE: FLS) for its flow controlled equipment said that Europe accounted for 25% of its 2009 revenues in its annual report.

Harman International Industries Inc. (NYSE: HAR) has significant exposure. The Stamford, Connecticut-based maker of audio products and electronic systems said, “Sales to Audi/Volkswagen accounted for 15%, sales to BMW accounted for 15% and sales to Daimler accounted for 8% of our total consolidated net sales for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009.” That is 38% tied to those three E.U. manufacturers.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) said in its latest annual report, “For the year ended December 31, 2009, 35% of our sales were to customers in Europe, Africa and Middle East (“EAME”), 26% in North America, 24% in Greater Asia and 15% in Latin America.”

Millipore Corp. (NYSE: MIL) showed in its 2009 Annual Report that some 40% of its $1.65 billion in revenues came from the European Region. This is in life sciences tools.

Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) had over 27% of its 2009 cigarette shipment volume tied to the European Union. The difference is that over 40% of its operating companies’ income was tied to the E.U. The 2009 cigarette shipments were down 3.3%, revenue was down 6.6% and income outside of currency grew 4.4% in 2009.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Business Services, Consumer Goods, Economy, International Markets Tagged: CCL, ERTS, FLS, FLSR, HAR, IFF, MIL, PM

Top Analyst Downgrades (AXP, ADSK, DKS, IFF, RBS, SLB)

247wallst — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:52:26 +0000

These are the top pre-market analyst downgrades and negative calls from Wall Street that we have seen this Wednesday morning:

American Express (AXP) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Autodesk (ADSK) Cut to Underweight from Hold at KeyBanc.
Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
International Flavors (IFF) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Schlumberger (SLB) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ADSK, AXP, DKS, IFF, RBS, SLB

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (LNT, CNP, ESLR, FORR, IFF, LTM, LQDT, NTRS, OPXT, REG)

247wallst — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:24:29 +0000

These are the top analyst downgrades and negative research calls we have seen on Wall Street this Friday with more than two hours until the market opens:

Alliant Energy (LNT) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
CenterPoint (CNP) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Evergreen Solar (ESLR) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Forrester Research (FORR) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
International Flavors (IFF) Cut to Underweight at KeyBanc.
Life Time Fitness (LTM) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Liquidity Services (LQDT) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Northern Trust (NTRS) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
Opnext (OPXT) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Regency Centers (REG) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
February 6, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: CNP, ESLR, FORR, IFF, LNT, LQDT, LTM, NTRS, OPXT, REG

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AMT, ES, XOM, IFF, RIMM)

247wallst — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:53:44 +0000

These are some of the upgrades and positive analyst calls we are seeing this Wednesday morning:

American Tower (AMT) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Energy Solutions (ES) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Exxon Mobil (XOM) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Research in Motion (RIMM) Started as Outperform at National Bank.

Jon C. Ogg
October 1, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AMT, ES, IFF, RIMM, XOM

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ADLR, MDRX, CRDN, CAG, IFF, MFE, TWX, VRTX, VOD, WWWW)

247wallst — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:06:34 +0000

These are some of the top analyst downgrades and negative calls we are seeing this Wednesday morning:

Adolor (ADLR) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Allscripts (MDRX) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Ceradyne (CRDN) Cut to Underperform at Wachovia.
ConAgra (CAG) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
International Flavors (IFF) Started as Underweight at Lehman.
McAfee (MFE) Cut to Underperform at FBR.
Time Warner Inc. (TWX) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Vertex (VRTX) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Vodafone plc (VOD) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Web.com (WWWW) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.

Jon C. Ogg
September 3, 2008