Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Raised to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) Maintained as Buy with a price target of $381 by Argus.
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE: BWP) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Raised to Overweight with $82 price target at Morgan Stanley.
Bally Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BYI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
E I DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), or DuPont, Cut to Neutral at Citigroup; Lowered estimates for DuPont at Credit Suisse.
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) Raised to Buy with $75 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: KND) is already a strong buy but was named as the value stock of the day by Zacks Investment Research.
Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Linear Technology (NASDAQ: LLTC) Reiterated Underperform and named Bear of the Day by Zacks Investment Research.
MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL) on Focus List and raised price target to $68 at Credit Suisse.
PNM Resources, Inc. (NYSE: PNM) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
PS Business Parks (NYSE: PSB) reiterated Outperform and named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Reiterated Buy with $84 price target objective by Argus.
Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.

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This weeks top analyst calls were in the following stocks: Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP); Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY); First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: KND); Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT); RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH); Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD); Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI); Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S); Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB); and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM). 

We have a runner up call in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and we also have a highlight on Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) despite some valuation concerns.

We have compiled the ratings news and relevant data around the reaction to each or around the implications on each.  Color has also been provided if relevant on the name.

Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) had an awful post-earnings week due to a drop and due to an SEC investigation.  On Friday came news that Citigroup was reiterating a “Buy” rating as the worst is likely price in.  The problem is that Citi highlighted more negative than positive and it cut the target to $22 from $29 in the call.  Around $19.00, that is not really enough upside even if the stock is now getting “cheap.” Avon was cut to “Neutral” by UBS on Friday.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) rarely pulls back very much,  Shares were down over 3% on Friday because Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with a quite boring “Underweight” rating.  Interesting considering that its client base never spends like there is a recession.  On Wednesday Bed Bath & Beyond was reiterated at “Buy” and the target was raised to $70 at Argus.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) may have taken more downgrades after its CEO firing/resignation SNAFU, but at least one analyst is defending the position.  Argus came out and lowered the price target to $90.00 but the firm is maintaining its “BUy” rating.  This one has gotten so ugly that perhaps there is some value.  We just hate trying to think about former high-flying stocks as “value” because it means things went really bad. Interestingly enough, shares bounced more than 20% from the lows of the week.

Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: KND) may have been beaten up too much during the malaise around healthcare reimbursement rates.  We would caution that earnings are due this coming Thursday (NOV 3).  In July this was above $20.00 then the reimbursement rate woes came on at the time as a bad sell-off.  Zacks has finally said enough is enough and named it the Value Stock of the Day this last Thursday as the research shop sees this trading well under ten-times next year’s earnings estimates.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) Maintained Neutral and cut target to $14 from $16 at Credit Suisse.
Hospira Inc. (NYSE: HSP) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML, but named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) Started as Outperform with $60 target at Credit Suisse; maintained Buy and $50 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: KND) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup (boy, how timely).
Praxair Inc. (NYSE: PX) Cut to Underperform from Buy at BofA/ML.
Range Resources Corporation (NYSE: RRC) Reiterated Sell at Canaccord Genuity.
Tim Hortons, Inc (NYSE: THI) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.

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JON C. OGG

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) was pounded in the last two weeks but the bank shares have started to stabilize.  Dick Bove defended it last week as have several others now that the bank has also tried to defend itself unsuccessfully.  Barron’s wrote this weekend “Time to Bet on Bank of America” as all of the bad loan news is priced in and then some.

Carbonite, Inc. (NASDAQ: CARB) ended up becoming a great IPO for anyone who got shares.  The online backup storage outfit is not immune to market weakness, but it has a simple share structure and it was not as small of a sliver as some other recent Web2.0 or most recent .com sales would have indicated.  The company was forced to slash its price to get the IPO done and the price was a bargain for buyers.  Any weakness should represent buying opportunities and this is a complete opposite stance for after-market trading that we have said in most other post-IPO players of late.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) has seen its game change now that it beat earnings and is showing some stabilization after what had been a free-fall.  We covered Cisco as one where the negativity going into earnings was so high that no one wanted it.  It appears to have reached a plateau and at $15.99 its lowest peak selling price before earnings was $13.30.  Cisco is now back above the 50-day moving average ($15.42) and the 200-day moving average is all the way up at $18.08.  The next resistance point is $16.50 or so, and then not up until about $17.05.

HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: HMSY) has a 3-for-1 stock split being effected with a Wednesday ex-date on the dividend.  At $70.96, its 52-week trading range is $50.97 to $84.82.

Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND) is one where if we said it was ‘hit hard’ after the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements would be like calling a heart attack a case of the 24-hour flu.  What makes it interesting is that Barron’s points out that it now only trades at about 7.5-times next year’s earnings after adjusting for the new reimbursement rates and said the sell-off from $19 to $12 was overdone.  Barron’s take: Kindred could pop 150%

MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) needs all the help it can get and it rose by more than 17% on Friday to $2.79 after JMP Securities    upgraded the rating to Market Outperform after the FDA confirmed its pivotal study design for Afrezza.  What was interesting is that there were also some after-hours trades that were up more than 5% more after the close.  With a 52-week trading range of $2.20 to $10.05 and with a short interest of more than 20 million shares, this is going to be one to watch.

Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE: MU) did not participate in the Friday rally follow-through.  Shares were down almost 3% at $6.18; shares put in a new 52-week low this week (as did many) and the new 52-week range is $5.65 to $11.95. DRAMeXchange reported this last week that the DDR 2GB and 4GB contract price was $12.25 (1Gb $0.61) and $23.5 (2Gb $1.31) respectively, representing decreases of 15.52% and 16.07% respectively.  Those were the largest price drops since June and the fear is that it could remain weak if the market does not bolster confidence again.  Micron has an investor presentation on Monday as well.  The good news is that the 50-day moving average is not up until $7.57.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) experienced a total gap and crap trade pattern on Friday after Thursday’s earnings.  It gapped up by more than 10% pre-market but ended up closing down almost 4% at $12.88 on the day.  We warned that volatility would reign rather than a rapid-fire price recovery.  The sell-off from the peak was even more than what we were expecting based upon the news.  Our take is that NVIDIA has a bit of an identity crisis on Wall Street as the financial world is trying to think of it as a mobile computing play rather than a pure-play graphics chipset player for PCs.  The change of mentality is just going to take a while and there are still many cheaper chip-related stocks to be had.  Be patient here.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) briefly broke under $3.00 this last week on the market and on financial health concerns.  When we said “the worst was yet to come” a week earlier in Sprint, it was not expected that another 30% would come out of the stock in the last week and a half.  Whether it comes to a management change or another bold move, Sprint is truly finding itself in a lonely spot.  We hate to bring up viability issues when a company has about $6.5 billion in cash and investments, but that risk seems to be coming up more and more based on the stock market action.

Ralcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RAH) has rejected an offer from ConAgra yet again after the terms were raised to $5.2 billion that was said to be $94.00 in cash.  What is interesting is that this is a super-premium to prior highs before the latest deal surfaced.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Raised to Buy at Gleacher & Co.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: CTB) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Ener1, Inc. (NASDAQ: HEV) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) Raised to Buy at Ticonderoga.
Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE: WNR) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a final rule that cuts Medicare skilled nursing facility Prospective Payment System payments by 11.1% in FY 2012 by $3.87 billion. The cuts are listed as being to “correct for an unintended spike in payment levels and better align Medicare payments with costs.”

The 2012 recalibration will result in a reduction of 12.6% to skilled nursing facility payments of $4.47 billion, but this would be partially offset by the FY 2012 update with an increase of 1.7% to Medicare payments to skilled nursing facilities.  This reflects a market basket of goods and services reduced by a 1% multi-factor productivity adjustment mandated by the Affordable Care Act.

A 2.5% increase for hospice reimbursement is not going to be anywhere close to offsetting the losses here.

Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND) is in three segments of hospitals, health services, and rehabilitation.  It gets somewhere close to 30% of its revenues from this segment being cut.  Its stock opened down at $14.06 and shares are down almost 27% at $13.77 versus a 52-week range of $11.52 to $28.99.

Sun Healthcare Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNH) may have its entire profits gone or at risk now as it has awful exposure here.  Its shares opened down at $3.21 versus a $7.00 close.  Shares are now down a total of 55% at $3.13 and its shares hit a low so far of $3.10 (52-week low) versus a 52-week high of $15.01.

Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. (NYSE: SKH) operates skilled nursing facilities, as well as assisted living facilities, hospice service providers, home health providers, and a rehabilitation therapy business. Its stock is down a sharp 37% at $5.44 after opening at $6.61 this morning.  Its 52-week trading range is $2.33 to $15.93.

Five Star Quality Care Inc. (NYSE: FVE) operates senior living communities via independent living or congregate care communities, assisted living communities, and nursing facilities, is down “only” about 8% at $4.55 versus a 52-week trading range of $3.50 to $8.95.

Sunrise Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: SRZ), which offers senior living services and independent living services, is down only 3% at $8.53 against a 52-week range of $2.18 to $12.44.

National Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: NHC) operates and manages long-term health care centers, and associated assisted living and independent living centers.  Its stock is down 12% at $41.78 against a 52-week range of $33.51 to $53.08.

Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) is in home health and hospice services and its shares are down 3% at $25.08. Almost Family Inc. (NASDAQ: AFAM), a home health provider, is down 3.7% at $24.33.

Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) is a REIT in hospitals, nursing homes, senior apartments, independent living properties, and assisted living centers.  Its shares are also down today by 2.4% at $23.37 versus a 52-week range of $20.42 to $25.28.

Here is what is interesting about this move… This was “pre-budget deal.”  If you think that Medicare and Medicaid payments are the only ones at risk in the weeks, months, and years ahead, you might want to think again.  Cuts will be coming for a myriad of reasons and from many angles.  Companies which rely heavily or solely on government contracts for goods and services are all under more scrutiny.

JON C. OGG

This is the list of Unusual Suspects to watch in the week ahead: Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN); American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK); Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN); E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC); Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF); First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F); Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW); Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX); US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC); Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL); Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD); Five Star Quality Care, Inc. (NYSE: FVE); Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND); Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. (NYSE: SKH); and Sun Healthcare Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNH).

Again, these are intended to be the non-earnings stocks to watch even if some are reporting earnings.  In separate notes, we already published an earnings calendar with more than 20 detailed previews of the top earnings reports for this coming week.  There are also some carry-over issues that investors will want to track in the Top 11 Analyst Calls of the Week that we have for review and preview with matters that have longer-term implications.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was given a feature article in Barron’s this weekend titled “It’s All About the Revenues at Amazon” where the financial publication says that it is worth another 25% more than it already is today.  If the market is flat or just not real weak due to Washington D.C. on Monday morning we would expect another gain of 2% or so despite all-time highs having been seen last week.

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) is one we have routinely featured as being the best water stock out there.  The water utility giant almost never reaches a 10% pullback from its highs, but on Friday it did breach that 10% threshold barely at $27.63 would mark it and the low was $27.54. Shares closed at $28.00.  The company does have earnings coming up, but that is very rare to get the 10% pullback.  We will not be shocked if the company announces a capital raise on strength.

Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) was down over 3% in regular trading on Friday, but shares popped more than 5% in the after-hours session to $6.05 on news that a Delaware court rejected PSEG’s attempt to block the company’s restructuring.

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) could have another buyer as Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) reportedly had considered making a bid back in 2010.  This report surfaced after the close on Friday.  Our take stands on our “maximum fair market value being $20″ unless a buyer has a way to end the overhang of its ongoing problem loan areas.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) may have earnings come up this next week but word surfaced late Friday that it has Cory Steffek to help the company make acquisitions and/or seek out partnerships.  This fits in with our solar mergers expectations in the coming months.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was listed in Barron’s this weekend as being “ready to roll” in an artgicle.  Despite having had lower earnings and despite some new UAW labor issues, Barron’s said Ford could top $15 if analysts are right.  While that is another 25% higher, that is actually far less aggressive than the consensus price targets from Thomson Reuters.

Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) rose Friday on word that the company is taking steps for a possible splitting-up of the company and to move to reinstate share buybacks.  If this is the case, then the gains may have much more to go as a candidate for moving away from mortgage guaranty operations.  Keep in mind that the 6% gain to $8.32 on Friday compares to a 52-week range of $7.56 to $14.77.

Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX) was noted over the weekend as having large options bets that its gains in cloud computing will keep going.  At $34.85, keep in mind that the Israeli-outfit has a 52-week trading range of $14.60 to $35.60.

Two Tales in Airlines: US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) announced late Friday that it was suing its pilot union for illegal job actions for its 5,200 pilots covered in the union.  In another bit of weekend news, Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) faces some negative press as two of its jets apparently collided on the ground in Chicago.  No injuries were reported, but how organized does that sound?

Woes come to nursing homes… Medicare announced big cuts on Friday afternoon regarding reimbursement and payments to nursing homes as part of what was announced in April to lower overpayments to the nursing home segment.  This created a disaster in many key stocks: Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) was down 6.3% at $20.04; Five Star Quality Care, Inc. (NYSE: FVE) was down 9.5% to $4.48; Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND) was down about 20% to $15.00; Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. (NYSE: SKH) was down 19% to $7.11; Sun Healthcare Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNH) was down 33% at $4.69.

JON C. OGG

If you are just seeking an earnings calendar, we highlighted about sixteen of the top earnings with detailed previews we were planning to watch on Monday and Tuesday.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may still be somewhat in question but there are two things to watch.  The NASDAQ 100 rebalance will be behind it and there are rumors that a new slate of iMacs will be released early this week.  Shares closed at $350.13 on Friday, making that all but one day with a $350+ closing price this last week.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A; BRK-B) may be in focus a bit still on Monday after the annual shareholder meeting.  The conglomerate disclosed that natural disasters cut its net income in more than half for the first quarter, and we would note that many of those Japan claims may carry over into Q2 and/or beyond.  Buffett said Sokol violated trading ethics and that this was a blow, but he also admitted that mistakes were made by himself in monitoring the situation.  Buffett is expected to give a Monday interview on CNBC, and then hopefully the world will move on past the company.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. (NYSE: BJ) was up last week on word that Apollo was looking at making an acquisition offer.  This company has been in play for some time now and sadly it is getting to the point that a buyer will have to have continued confidence in the economy for years ahead to justify it (at least by our conservative models).  If no additional news is out on this matter on Monday, we would expect to see some of that move from $48 to $51 have to come back in a bit.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) closed at $4.59 this week against a 52-week range of $3.53 to $5.15.  This week will mark its last week as a $4 or $5 stock, hopefully forever…. As for its upcoming reverse stock split, Citi gave dates of “effective after the close of trading” on May 6, 2011 and will begin trading split-adjusted at the opening of trading on May 9, 2011.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) have GM earnings but we first get to see April vehicle sales data on Tuesday.  This can influence the sector, although some of the data may be mostly known now that Ford has reported earnings.

Gen-Probe Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) was higher on Friday based on reports that it hired Morgan Stanley to find a buyer.  The AIDS and West Nile drug maker rose over 4% to $82.92 on Friday, but this trades around 35-times this year’s earnings estimates and about 30-times next year’s estimates with a market cap around $4 billion today.

• Akamai Tech (AKAM) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
• Amgen (AMGN) Started as Buy at Banc of America.
• Apartment Investment & Management (AIV) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
• CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
• Kindred Healthcare (KND) Raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
• Moody’s (MCO) Raised to Overweight at Lehman.
• NewMarket (NEU) Raised to Outperform at Oppenhemer.
• Parker Hannifen (PH) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
• Spectra Energy (SE) Raised to Outperform at Wachovia.

Jon C. Ogg
August 4, 2008

• Acme Packet (NASDAQ: APKT) cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• ARM Holdings (NASDAQ: ARMH) raised to Buy at UBS.
• Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
• Calpine (NYSE: CPN) downgraded to Equal-Weight at Lehman Brothers.
• Disney (NYSE: DIS) cut to Underweight at Lehman Brothers.
• Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR) raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
• Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) raised to Outperform at Friedman Billings.
• Merck (NYSE: MRK) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
• On2 Technologies (AMEX: ONT) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
• Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) raised to Overweight at JP Morgan; raised to Outperform at Friedman Billings.

Jon C. Ogg
July 7, 2008