24/7 Wall St. » ILMN

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (FSLR, PEP, PG, ILMN, CCL, ANV, AWR, BBEP, CDE, DISH, LPX, TSN, HFC, CHTR, DMD, HL, OMX, THC, WEN, DIS, VRTX, CTSH, BSFT)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:08:20 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened lower this morning following a weekend of elections in Europe. A new Socialist party president in France and a still very cloudy future in Greece have left investors in a quandry. We have more coverage here on the French election and here on the election in Greece. By the last hour of trading, shares had recovered nearly all of the early losses and the three major indexes are either slightly positive or on the way to positive territory. The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.09% at 79.573. The GSCI commodity index is down about -2.3% at 653.60, with commodities mixed on the slightly stronger dollar. WTI crude oil closed down -0.6% at $97.94/barrel and Brent crude trades down -0.08% at $113.09/barrel. Gold settled down -0.4% today, at $1,639.10/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 30 points to 13,008.53 (-0.23%), the NASDAQ rose less than 2 points (0.05%) to 2,957.76, and the S&P 500 rose 0.48% or less than 1 point to 1,369.58.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) cut to ‘neutral’ at Argus; Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) raised to ‘outperform’ with a price target of $55 at Credit Suisse; and Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) cut to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Allied Nevada Gold Corp. (AMEX: ANV) is down about -10% at $25.59 after posting a new 52-week low of $25.37 earlier today; American States Water Co. (NYSE: AWR) is up 3.6% at $37.09; Breitburn Energy Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: BBEP) is down -2.4% at $17.54; Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE) is down -4.1% at $18.99 after posting a new 52-week low of $18.71; Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) is down -0.93% at $31.02; Louisiana Pacific Corp. (NYSE: LPX) is up 5.9% at $9.49; Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) is up 3.4% at $18.65; and HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) is down -2.4% at $28.82 (more coverage here).

On Tuesday we are scheduled to get earnings from Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR), Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD), Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL), OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX), Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC), The Wendy’s Co. (NYSE: WEN), and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) is up about 55% at $58.05. The company’s cystic fibrosis drug study showed significant positive results. More coverage here.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) is down more than -XX% at $XX. The IT-outsourcing firm showed good results, but guidance was weak. More coverage here.

BroadSoft Inc. (NASDAQ: BSFT) is down -17.6% at $33.68. The communications software maker posted good earnings, but followed that with soft guidance for the second quarter.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker and Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher are giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – NFIB Small Business optimism index
11:30 a.m. – 4-week bill auction
1:00 p.m. – 3-year note auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: General Tagged: ANV, AWR, BBEP, BSFT, CCL, CDE, CHTR, CTSH, DIS, DISH, DMD, FSLR, HFC, HL, ILMN, LPX, OMX, PEP, PG, THC, TSN, VRTX, WEN

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BNNY, CAB, CCL, CTRN, DPS, FSLR, ILMN, LEAP, NWL, PEP, PG, TWX, WDC)

Administrator — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:32:52 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls this Monday.

Annie’s, Inc. (NYSE: BNNY) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan; Started as Outperform at William Blair.

Cabela’s, Inc. (NYSE: CAB) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Dr. Pepper Snapple (NYSE: DPS) Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut to Hold at Argus.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) Raised to Outperform and $55 target at Credit Suisse.

Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) Raised to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE: NWL) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Pepsico (NYSE: PEP) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Reiterated Buy with $46 target at Argus.

Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BNNY, CAB, CCL, CTRN, DPS, FSLR, ILMN, LEAP, NWL, PEP, PG, TWX, WDC

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALSN, AZO, BIG, CHKP, CMG, CTRN, DWRE, GE, ILMN, LNKD, PBY, RMBS, TXN, UNH, XRX)

Administrator — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:04:35 +0000

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

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ALSN) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse; Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Started as Neutral at Citigroup.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) Maintained Hold at Argus.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) Cut to Neutral on valuation at Credit Suisse; Reiterated Buy with $480 target at Argus.

Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Demandware, Inc. (NYSE: DWRE) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank; Started as Outperform at William Blair; Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer; Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Reiterated Buy with $22 target at Argus.

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) Reiterated Buy with $54 target at BofA/ML.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Started as Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack Inc. (NYSE: PBY) Cut to Sell at Argus.

Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) Reiterated Buy with $36 target at BofA/ML.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) Reiterated Buy with $13 target at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ALSN, AZO, BIG, CHKP, CMG, CTRN, DWRE, GE, ILMN, LNKD, PBY, RMBS, TXN, UNH, XRX

Top Earnings Previews For Early In The Week Ahead (COP, ILMN, NFLX, TXN, AMGN, AAPL, T, BIDU, COH, JNPR, MMM, RF, X, UTX)

Administrator — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:35:20 +0000

Earnings season is in full swing and we have many key reports due in the coming week. 24/7 Wall St. has provided some detailed previews for the key earnings reports we expect to show in detail on Monday and Tuesday.

We are monitoring earnings reports from the following companies for Monday and Tuesday: ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP); Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN); Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN); Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN); Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL); AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T); Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU); Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH); Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR); 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM); Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF); United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X); and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX).

More earnings report previews will come on Sunday or Monday for the reports due on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Consensus estimates and price targets are from Thomson Reuters. Color has been on added on each if applicable.

MONDAY, April 23

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is set to report Monday morning and the break-up is going to make any real apples to apples comparison difficult to interpret. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $2.07 EPS. Shares are trading around $73.15 and the 52-week range is $58.65 to $81.50; Thomson Reuters had a consensus target as of Friday of $81.05.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) is no market mover with a $5.4 billion market cap, but it is a recent merger candidate even if that appears to be off the table. Earnings estimates are $0.32 EPS and $263.6 million. Shares are trading around $44.00 and the 52-week range is $25.57 to $79.40; Thomson Reuters had a consensus target as of Friday of $52.71.

Filed under: Calendar, Earnings, The Week Tagged: AAPL, AMGN, BIDU, COH, COP, ILMN, JNPR, MMM, NFLX, RF, T, TXN, UTX, X

What’s Important in the Financial World (4/19/2012) Facebook $104 Billion Value, Gas Price Drop

247wallst — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:26:23 +0000

Gasoline dipped below $3.90, based on the AAA assessment of the average price for a gallon of regular nationwide. The price yesterday was $3.891, down from $3.899 the day before and $3.907 a week ago. The price is not much higher than the year-ago $3.837. Prices of gasoline futures also have leveled out as oil prices have begun to fall and low refinery capacity has not caused the decline in supply that was expected. The effects of high gas prices on the economy have been less than many economists suggested and, as prices slip, the risk of a dent in gross domestic product may have passed.

Roche and Illumina

Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) shareholders may be in for a rude surprise. Suitor Roche could be close to walking away from a $6.8 billion offer that values the gene research company’s shares at $51. The Illumina board has pressed for a much, much higher price, backed by the argument that the firm’s technology could be among the most important for medical research over the coming decades. Roche’s tender offer expires on Friday. Illumina’s share price jumped from $32 to $55 in early January after the first Roche offer was made. Investors have become increasingly pessimistic in the past week as shares have fallen to $45.

EU Bank Deleveraging

The International Monetary Fund reports that EU banks may have to sell $3.8 trillion in assets by the end of next year, if the sovereign debt crisis spreads. Many of these banks hold significant amounts of debt in the nations where they are based. The agency’s comments in its Global Financial Stability Report included:

So far, deleveraging has occurred predominantly through buttressing capital positions and reducing non-core activities, leaving the impact on the rest of the world manageable. It is essential to continue to avoid a synchronized, large-scale, and aggressive trimming of balance sheets that could do serious damage to asset prices, credit supply, and economic activity in Europe and beyond.

Facebook Valuation

Several media report that the Facebook buyout of Instagram implies a value of $104 billion for the social network about a month before its initial public offering. Many analysts have set the value that high. The news may help offset concerns that Facebook’s revenue is still very modest. Skepticism also has arisen about the lack of sales that Facebook gets from its mobile application, and potential competition from Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Google+ product. To counter that, Facebook value advocates say the company controls more than a quarter of all U.S. display ad inventory. The amount of time people spend on Facebook also tops any other major site, according to several measurements of online behavior.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Market Open Tagged: GOOG, ILMN

Roche Walks Away From Illumina

247wallst — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:13:13 +0000

Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) shareholders may be in for a rude surprise. Suitor Roche could be close to walking away from a $6.8 billion offer which values the gene research company’s shares at $51. The Illumina board has pressed for a much, much higher price backed by the argument that the firm’s technology could be among the most important for medical research over the coming decades.

Roche’s tender offer expires on Friday. Illumina’s share price jumped from $32 to $55 in early January after the first Roche offer was made. Investors have become increasingly pessimistic in the last week as shares have fallen to $45.

Illimina’s management will quickly have to prove that the firm is worth $51 all on its own based on earnings and a perception of future prospects

Filed under: Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: ILMN

Key Biotech Issues To Watch (XBI, ANIK, BCRX, CBST, DNDN, GILD, ILMN, TRGT)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:23:02 +0000

Biotech is a sector which is often mixed with a hodge-podge of winners and losers based on news flow from analysts and/or key drug developments which often have very little to do with the broad market on any particular day. The SPDR S&P Biotech (NYSE: XBI) showed the first signs of life on the candlestick charts on Tuesday and we wanted to review some of the top biotech and emerging pharma issues for this Wednesday.

Anika Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANIK) and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX) were both added to the Zacks #5 Rank List today, which is the list that is called its STRONG SELL LIST. This does not usually create huge moves on the day as investors discount these rankings but they may need to be reviewed for the longer-term outlooks in the calls.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) is set to report earnings after the close of trading today and investors will be watching closely as the infection-fighting leader is up substantially over the last two years. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.44 EPS and $209.4 milllion in sales. This one is no longer cheap at 22-times this year’s expected earnings and 20-times expected 2013 earnings. This is on the heels of the company announcing positive results from its ENTEREG Phase 4 study in radical cystectomy procedures.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) was noted on CNBC’s Mad Money last night by Jim Cramer as being too speculative without the sales numbers to warrant a buy.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) has said that it will present 30 abstracts covering its products and investigational agents for hepatitis B and C at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (a.k.a. the International Liver Congress 2012) taking place April 18-22 in Barcelona, Spain. Some data is new and other data is further advancement data.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) has lost much of its takeover hopes as the company is fighting to say that the $51 offer from Roche greatly undervalues the company. Some call it the “Apple of Genomics” but shares have slid from over $52 down to $44 in recent days against a 52-week range of $25.57 to $79.40. Shareholders are expected to vote today. Call options were about 3-times normal trading volume yesterday.

Targacept (NASDAQ: TRGT) is likely to get some interest after Barron’s noted that it could be a long-ball stock triple. Keep in mind that this is down 80% and it has a poor record so far. Barron’s touted it as a developer which “partners with major drug companies to create novel therapies for depression, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.”

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Biotech, Drug companies Tagged: ANIK, BCRX, CBST, DNDN, GILD, ILMN, TRGT, XBI

Media Digest (4/13/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:30:16 +0000

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) splits its stock in a way that will help its founders keep control, and the company also announces strong earnings. (Reuters)

China’s GDP reaches a three-year low. (Reuters)

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) will sell a large group of foreclosed homes. (Reuters)

Bank of America’s CEO, Brian Moynihan, will have to testify in a lawsuit brought by MBIA (NYSE: MBI). (Reuters)

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) makes progress in adding cloud computing customers. (Reuters)

China’s growth rate drops to 8.1%. (WSJ)

Strong oil reserves worldwide make it less likely the Iran sanctions will lift crude prices higher. (WSJ)

Former Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) CEO Brian Dunn may have had a relationship with a female employee. (WSJ)

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP) will put $5 billion into its mountain pipeline to move oil to Canada’s west coast; the oil will be sold to Asia. (WSJ)

BrightSource Energy withdraws its IPO, another example of problems in the solar industry. (NYT)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will not block deals for credit card companies to charge upfront fees. (NYT)

The European Union wants programs to limit banker bonuses. (FT)

The European Central Bank says it would prefer to buy bonds to support the region over making loans to banks. (Bloomberg)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) denies the Justice Department’s accusation that it colluded with book companies to set e-book prices. (Bloomberg)

Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) shares fall on fear Roche will withdraw a bid to buy the firm. (Bloomberg)

The U.S. Geological Survey says some earthquakes probably are tied to fracking. (Bloomberg)

The maker of Angry Birds is in talks with Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) to enter China. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, BAC, BBY, BIDU, GOOG, ILMN, KMP, MBI, MSFT

Media Digest (4/4/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:46:11 +0000

Apartment vacancy rates reach a 10-year low, according to Reis. (Reuters)

Tom Glocer, the departing head of Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI), makes $20 million. (Reuters)

China’s premier, Wen Jiabao, says the monopoly of large Chinese banks should end. (Reuters)

Facebook files patent claims against Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). (Reuters)

Roche presses its bid to takeover Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN). (Reuters)

Citing sufficient strength in the economy, the Fed says it will stand by and add no stimulus. (WSJ)

Moody’s cuts the credit rating of General Electric (NYSE: GE). (WSJ)

Yahoo! to cut 2,000 jobs. (WSJ)

AT&T (NYSE: T) faces a walkout of 40,000 wireline workers. (WSJ)

Samsung takes a more active role in the mobile ad market. (WSJ)

Eurozone nations continue to cut costs despite concerns this will cause a deeper recession. (WSJ)

U.S. auto sales surge in March as people turn to more fuel-efficient cars. (WSJ)

US Airways (NYSE: LCC) increases its efforts to buy American Airlines parent AMR, which is in Chapter 11. (WSJ)

Burger King to go public again (WSJ)

A study published in the Administrative Science Quarterly says that workers hired from outside a company make more than current workers but perform worse. (WSJ)

Regulators finalize how they will oversee nonbank financial firms. (WSJ)

Regulators are set to fine JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) for its role in the collapse of Lehman Bros. (NYT)

China moves its cap on foreign investments to $80 billion from $30 billion. (FT)

The departure of James Murdoch from the chairman’s job at BSkyB may allow News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) to make a bid for the part of the company its does not own. (Bloomberg)

One million paid TV customers move to the web in 2011. (Bloomberg)

BMW and Mercedes first-quarter sales in the U.S. are almost the same. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: GE, ILMN, JPM, LCC, NWS, T, TRI, YHOO

Media Digest (4/3/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT

247wallst — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:52:37 +0000

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad is the number one tablet PC in a new Consumer Reports survey. (Reuters)

CEO pay jumps for last year as stock options rise. (Reuters)

Avon (NYSE: AVP) turns down a $10 billion offer from Coty. (Reuters)

Strong U.S. economic data push Brent crude above $125. (Reuters)

Christian Brothers Investment Services, a News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) shareholder, wants an independent chairman. (Reuters)

Fund Third Point presses its proxy war against Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). (Reuters)

The Securities and Exchange Commission probes a Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) restatement of financials prior to last year’s IPO. (WSJ)

Avon becomes a target for takeover by several companies. (WSJ)

Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) and Medco (NYSE: MHS) get government approval for their merger. (WSJ)

People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan says the global recession has not ended. (WSJ)

Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) rejects a new offer from Roche. (WSJ)

Vehicle sales rise 78% in Japan in March, compared to in the month of last year’s earthquake. (WSJ)

U.S. consumer demand helps the fortunes of U.S. factories. (WSJ)

China eases a ban on Twitter-like messages. (WSJ)

Poor manufacturing and employment data show a deepening eurozone recession. (WSJ)

Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) will buy Wyse Technology, a cloud tools company. (WSJ)

NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) cuts a cost reduction plan after a failed merger with Deutsche Borse. (WSJ)

Some large investors may buy homes by the thousands. (NYT)

Several Germany towns would suffer greatly if Opel closes plants. (NYT)

Total (NYSE: TOT) says natural gas leaks in the North Sea cost it $2.5 million a day. (NYT)

The SEC wants boards of banks to be more accountable for risk. (FT)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: General Tagged: AAPL, AVP, DELL, ESRX, GRPN, ILMN, MHS, NWS, NYX, TOT, YHOO