24/7 Wall St. » JCI

The Great Wal-Mart Battery Trade-Out (XIDE, JCI, WMT)

247wallst — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:51:39 +0000

Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: XIDE) is getting crushed today after news that the company was notified by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) that the retailer will stop selling the company’s auto batteries in WalMart stores. It would be the understatement of the year to note that when companies lose WalMart as one of their retail distributors, it hurts. But don’t bother telling that to Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI). Johnson has just announced that it was selected as the sole source provider of its Automotive, Marine, Powersport and Lawn & Garden battery requirements for WalMart stores in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) is only up 1.65% at $29.50 on the news. Perhaps that small gain is because the company has a $19+ billion market cap and because it is already expected to generate over $32 billion in 2010 revenues.

Before the drop and loss of WalMart today, Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: XIDE) was expected to generate about $2.6 billion in 2010 revenues (March-2010 fiscal year-end). That will obviously be far less once the loss is factored into estimates. Exide shares are down 28.4% at $5.67. Exide has a post-drop market cap of only about $436 million and its shares have traded in a range of $1.83 to $8.87 over the last 52 weeks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Autos, Consumer Goods, Retail Tagged: JCI, WMT, XIDE

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AA, AXP, AMLN, AMAT, NILE, CSCO, ETN, HBAN, HSY, JCI, JNPR, KEY, LXK, LTD, PNC, TXN)

247wallst — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:31:24 +0000

These are this Tuesday’s analyst upgrades and downgrades seen from Wall Street research calls:

Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) Raised to Market Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital.
American Express (NYSE: AXP) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Ladenberg Thalmann.
Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMLN) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Blue Nile (NASDAQ: NILE) Started as Hold at Benchmark.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) Reiterated Hold at Auriga.
Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) Raised to Buy at KeyBanc.
Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) Reinstated as Conviction Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR) Reiterated Sell at Auriga.
KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Lexmark International (NYSE: LXK) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) Raised to Outperform at BMO Capital.
PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) Reiterated Sell at Auriga; yet Maintained Buy at Broadpoint AmTech.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear about top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPOs and secondary offerings, ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AA, AMAT, AMLN, AXP, CSCO, ETN, HBAN, HSY, JCI, JNPR, KEY, LTD, LXK, NILE, PNC, TXN

Transportation Companies Expect Huge Stimulus Windfall

247wallst — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:59:51 +0000

New research indicates that transportation companies will benefit the most from the government’s huge stimulus investment in infrastructure. According to a new ChangeWave survey of 313 people who work for companies involved with infrastructure projects done between September 29 and October 5, alternative energy will be that other sector that will do well because of federal investment in new products.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed believe that
transportation infrastructure will see the largest benefit and 43% picked alternative energy projects. The poll also noted that water infrastructure has experienced the largest increase since the previous survey in March — jumping 10 points to 21%.

When ChangeWave asked industry respondents about the current availability of stimulus funds. Forty-one percent said availability is greater than it was 6 months ago and only 12% said that stimulus funds are less available than before.

Based on the findings of the poll, ChangeWave suggested that some of the beneficiaries of the trends might be Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Fluor (NYSE:FLR), Siemens (NYSE:SI), GE (NYSE:GE), and Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI).

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in Alternative Energy, Green Biz, Infrastructure Tagged: CAT, FLR, GE, JCI, SI

Top Analyst Downgrades (T, ADP, GNTX, HAR, JCI, PAYX, YRCW)

247wallst — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:38:04 +0000

These are the top pre-market analyst downgrades or cautious research calls we have seen from Wall Street this Thursday morning with about two hours until the market opens:

AT&T (T) Started as Sell at Pali Research.
Automatic Data (ADP) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Gentex (GNTX) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Harman (HAR) Cut to Underperform at Baird.
Johnson Controls (JCI) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Paychex (PAYX) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
YRC Worldwide (YRCW) Cut to Underperform at Baird.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ADP,, GNTX, HAR, JCI, PAYX, T, YRCW

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (EXPE, F, JNJ, CTXS, DSX, EGLE, GM, JCI, HOT, URBN)

247wallst — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:50:19 +0000

These are the top upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street analysts this Friday morning:

Expedia (EXPE) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Ford (F) Started as Buy at UBS.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Citrix Systems (CTXS) Cut to Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
Diana Shipping (DSX) Cut To Market Perform at Wachovia.
Eagle Bulk Shipping (EGLE) Cut To Market Perform at Wachovia.
General Motors (GM) Started as Sell at UBS.
Johnson Controls (JCI) Started as Buy at UBS.
Starwood Hotels (HOT) Cut to Underperform at FBR.
Urban Outfitters (URBN) Cut to Neutral at Cowen & Co.

JON C. OGG

March 20, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: CTXS, DSX, EGLE, EXPE, F, GM, HOT, JCI, JNJ, URBN

Top Analyst Upgrades (ABMD, ALTR, SNP, JCI, MDAS, SQNM, ZNT)

247wallst — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:51:26 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades and positive research calls we are seeing this Thursday morning with about two hours until the market opens:

Abiomed (ABMD) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
Altera (ALTR) Started as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
China Petroleum (SNP) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Johnson Controls (JCI) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
MedAssets (MDAS) STarted as Buy at ThinkEquity.
Sequenom (SQNM) Started as Outperform at JMP Securities.
Zenith National Insurance (ZNT) Started as Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ABMD, ALTR, JCI, MDAS, SNP, SQNM, ZNT

The 52-Week Low Club (MTG)(JCI)(CMTL)

247wallst — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:11:20 +0000

MGIC Investment (MTG) Worries about mortgage defaults. Drops to $.93 from $15.

Johnson Controls (JCI) Moody’s downgrade. Off to $8.35 from 52-week high of $36.49.

Comtech Telecommunications (CMTL)- Ugly earnings. Drops to $19.56 from 52-week high of $51.21

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in HI/LOW Tagged: CMTL, JCI, MTG

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (BJ, CPWR, FITB, GM, JCI, RJF, SJM, SUPG, UAUA)

247wallst — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:06:15 +0000

These are not anywhere near all of the research upgrades & downgrades we are seeing, but here are ten of the impacting calls we have seen so far in early trading today:

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) Raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Compuware (NASDAQ: CPWR) Raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at R.W.Baird.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) downgraded to Underperform at Merrill Lynch.
Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) Cut to Underperform at Goldman Sachs.
Raymond James Financial (NYSE: RJF) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Smuckers (NYSE: SJM) Raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
SuperGen (NASDAQ: SUPG) Raised to Market Outperform at Rodman & Renshaw.
UAL (NASDAQ: UAUA) Cut to Neutral from Buy and removed from CONVICTION BUY LIST at Goldman Sachs.
VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Jon C. Ogg
July 2, 2008

Backward & Forward, Cramer In 2007 To 2008

247wallst — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:01:00 +0000

2007 was one volatile year and for now it appears that will be the norm for at least the start of 2008. Everyone’s favorite market pundit or least liked pundit is obviously Jim Cramer. If you love Cramer or can’t stand him it really doesn’t matter. He signed a new multi-year deal with CNBC recently. Here are some of his major calls this year that will still be referred to in 2008:

Here were Cramer’s TOP 9 STOCKS FOR 2007, with a call broken down for each one. Borat would say HI FIVE on some and NOT SO NICE on others, as would be expected. Cramer’s 14,582 year-end DJIA target…..Friday’s close was 13,365.87……although we did hit 14,279.96 on OCT11, 2007. Cramer also gave a batch of price targets on most of theDJIA components:

Cramer’s Stock Picks FOR 5-YEARS OUT:

Cramer’s First Pick For Five Years Out: First Solar (FSLR, SPWR)
Cramer’s Second Pick For Five Years Out: MedcoHealth (MHS)
Cramer’s Third Pick For Five Years Out: Transocean (RIG)

SOME LISTS: His list of recession proof stocks compared to ours. We are updating our
Defensive Stocks For The First Half Of 2008" currently. Cramer gave a huge list of companies he expects to benefit from the alternative energy traders (SGR, FWLT, BWA, OMG, FSLR, FTEK, WFR, TTEK, ZOLT, BP, SPWR, CY, CPST, ITRI)… Jim Cramer pondered which US companies China would want to acquire, about 3 months before sovereign funds started buying into US companies. Cramer’s mortgage winners and losers…… Here were his MAJOR BULL MARKET STOCK PICKS(MHS, CVS, AGN, CELG, GENZ, CEPH, RIG, HAL, EMR, CAT, CMI, UTX, KO,PEP, CL, GS, SKS, VFC, UNP, CSX, BA), some of which are DJIAcomponents. Cramer produced a "MUST OWN" list of stocks, many of whichare up significantly and some are down (WHR, BDK, ATI, BGC, HON, ASD, JCI, MDR, FWLT, CAT, TEX, DE, QCOM)

Cramer spent lots of time on International stocks that most US investors might not cover on their own. He made a big call on Mercadolibre (MELI) (also BIDU, GOOG) with some emphasis on buying immediately, right before it made a huge run up. Cramer’s Hidden Video Game Investment Perfect World (PWRD, ATVI, ERTS, VIA) was one he said could run more than 50% for 2008. Cramer made 5 TOP CHINESE PICKS (CEO, CHL, SSW, FMCN, BIDU, GMR). We’ll see in 2008 if any of his Canadian OIL TRUSTS get acquired in 2008 (BTE, CNE, PGH, PVX, PWE, AAV, GDI). Cramer also went over his top picks from Europe for American investors (TOT, SI, ABB, PHG, BF)

ON TECHNOLOGY: Cramer’s NEW HORSEMEN OF TECH…. will the list change in 2008??? Did Cramer Say $1,000.00 on Google, Or Is It $600.00? That was in May 2007. Cramer Gave Monster Price targets to Baidu.com (BIDU, GOOG).. will these targets change in 2008? Cramer was very positive on all the GPS stocks,although we’d expect that Cramer will change his tune in 2008 now thatthe holiday madness is behind us (GRMN, UA, CROX, NVT, TRMB, SIRF).

Would it be fair not to include the Barron’s attack on Cramer from summer for those of you that criticize his every word?

ON WARREN BUFFETT…. Cramer noted that BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT in Canada may be the next Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK/A) NYSE: BAM). Cramer reviewed 10 Warren Buffett stocks for analysis and then reviewed 10 More Warren Buffett stocks:

Stock Tickers: BRK/A, BNI, KO, PG, WMT, USG, AXP, WFC, MCO, JNJ, COP
Stock Tickers: BRK/A, UNP, USB, MTB, ASD, NSC, WLP, UNH, IR, HRB

Will his buyout of ALCOA (AA) prediction come true in 2008??? Cramer gave a list of stocks that had bought back so much stock that they might be taking themselves private.

Join our free email distribution list for other Cramer calls or for updates we send out regarding IPO’s, spin-offs, restructuring, reorganization, activist investors and more.

Happy New Years from the 247WallSt.com team!

Jon C. Ogg
December 31, 2007

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AXL, JCI, RATE, CBEY, DISCA, ETFC, FNM, KBR, RIMM, UAUA, VNR)

247wallst — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 08:04:01 +0000

These are not the only impact analyst calls this morning, but these are the ones that 24/7 Wall St. is focusing on:

American Axle (AXL) & Johnson Controls (JCI) both downgraded to Equal Weight at Lehman.
Bankrate (RATE) raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Cbeyond (CBEY) raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
Discovery (DISCA) raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
E*Trade (ETFC) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at B of A.
Fannie Mae (FNM) estimates cut sharply at Goldman Sachs.
KBR (KBR) raised to Buy at UBS.
Research in Motion (RIMM) downgraded to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
UAL (UAUA) downgraded to Equal Weight at Lehman.
Vanguard Natural Resources (VNR) started as Buy at Jefferies.

Jon C. Ogg
December 3, 2007