24/7 Wall St. » KR

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ATVI, APOL, BAC, BWLD, DRQ, EA, KR, MU, SAIA, SNDK, SCCO, VALE)

Administrator — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:24:53 +0000

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

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Cut to Neutral at Baird.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Dril-Quip, Inc. (NYSE: DRQ) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE: MU) Started as Buy at Jefferies.

Saia Inc. (NASDAQ: SAIA) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) started as Hold at Jefferies.

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE: SCCO) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

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: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: APOL, ATVI, BAC, BWLD, DRQ, EA, KR, MU, SAIA, SCCO, SNDK, VALE

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AAPL, BLK, BWLD, COH, CPO, GM, KBH, KR, MSFT, MS, NTRS, RHT, SBAC, SNV, AMTD, VE)

Administrator — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:19:20 +0000

These are some of this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has seen targets raised this morning by Oppenheimer to $700 and by UBS to $675; see the strange downgrade from Thursday.

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) Cut to Neutral at Wedbush.

Coach. Inc. (NYSE: COH) Raised estimates and target to $83 from $75 at Credit Suisse; Started as Buy with $90 target at Argus.

Corn Products International Inc. (NYSE: CPO) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) Cut target to $29 from $30 at Jefferies.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Raised to Buy with $39 target at Argus.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) Started as Neutral with $49 target at BofA/ML.

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

SBAC Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: SBAC) named as Top Pick at Credit Suisse.

Synovus Financial Corporation (NYSE: SNV) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE) Raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, AMTD, BLK, BWLD, COH, CPO, GM, KBH, KR, MS, MSFT, NTRS, RHT, SBAC, SNV, VE

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (MDRX, AREX, FSLR, FSL, JKS, KBH, KR, ORCL, PEP, QSII, STP, TWX, VE, DIS)

Administrator — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:42:38 +0000

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

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Approach Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: AREX) reiterated Buy and raised target to $44 at Canaccord Genuity.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Maintained Hold but cut target to $30 at Canaccord Genuity.

Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL) Raised to Outperform at RBC.

Jinko Solar Holding Co. (NYSE: JKS) maintained Neutral but raised target to $10 at Credit Suisse.

K.B. Home (NYSE: KBH) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) Reiterated Buy at Gabelli.

Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Suntech Power Holdings Co.. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) Cut estimates at Credit Suisse.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Cut to Neutral at Janney Capital.

Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Raised to Buy at Janney Capital.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AREX, DIS, FSL, FSLR, JKS, KBH, KR, MDRX, ORCL, PEP, QSII, STP, TWX, VE

America’s 10 Largest Websites

247wallst — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:34:02 +0000

The 10 most-visited websites in America may share a few characteristics, but interestingly enough, none are in the same business, with the exception of two portals. Each has a different business model as well. An analysis of these largest sites shows that no single model has helped one type of Internet property or another to dominate the web in terms of traffic. The collection of media that is the Internet shows how essential web diversity has become to Americans’ lives.

Read America’s 10 Largest Websites

This list of the most visited sites includes the world’s largest search engine, web portal, video site, software company, social network, encyclopedia, and e-commerce site. One of the sites on this list, Wikipedia, is a nonprofit that runs on a budget of a few million dollars a year. Another, Google, has revenue that will be well above $50 billion. Revenue is not essential to size online, but size can be essential to revenue.

Internet giants have been in particular focus recently, mostly for three reasons. The first is that large sites collect millions and millions of pieces of information about their visitors. Governments, both inside the U.S. and, especially, in Europe have become concerned with how this information is gathered, to whom it is given, what is done with it, and for what financial consideration. Naturally, sites with the largest number of visitors are at the center of this because their inventories of user data are so vast.

Another reason large Internet properties are of interest lately is the upcoming initial public offering of Facebook. The online social networking site has close to one billion members, many of whom spend hundreds of hours each month on the site. The company’s value is set at about $100 billion ahead of the public offering, which is extraordinary because Facebook’s revenue was less than $4 billion in 2011. There is a great disparity among the value of the most visited websites, causing a debate about why users of an e-commerce site are worth any more or less than users of a search engine or a social network.

Finally, sites with tens of millions of visitors are in focus also because of the mass movement of Internet users from PC to smartphones. Smartphones have browsers that operate nearly identically to those on PCs. Strong processors and high-speed wireless connections allow smartphone users to visit the same sites and use them in the same way as they do on computers. The owners of all sites are in a frenzy to see if they can hold onto their user base in the smartphone environment. What happens to the very largest sites will at least be instructional.

With each year, the Internet becomes increasingly crowded with websites of various sizes, features and functions. The most-visited sites have been among the largest ones for several years. That tells a great deal about the real interests of Americans, probably as much as any other set of markers.

24/7 Wall St. used data from Quantcast to rank the sites. The rank is based on the number of people in the United States who visit each site in a month. The data are updated daily. Revenue figures are based on SEC filings for the public companies and for those in the process of going public. For others, the information is based on data from third party analysts. Revenue data or estimates are for full year 2011.

Filed under: Special Report Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, AOL, BBY, BKS, GOOG, HD, KR, MSFT, NFLX, WMT, YHOO

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AEO, AAPL, ANGI, ARMH, CIEN, GLUU, AWAY, HALO, JPM, KR, L, QCOM, SSW, VNO, ZNGA)

Administrator — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:15:49 +0000

These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reiterated Buy and raised price target to $660 from $600; valuation range raised at Wells Fargo as well.

Angie’s List, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

HomeAway Inc. (NASDAQ: AWAY) Started as Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) Started as Overweight at Barclays.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) raised estimates by Morgan Stanley.

The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Loews Corporation (NYSE: L) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) Reiterated Buy with $72 target at Argus.

Seaspan Corporation (NYSE: SSW) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) Cut to Hold at Argus.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) Started as Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, AEO, ANGI, ARMH, AWAY, CIEN, GLUU, HALO, JPM, KR, L, QCOM, SSW, VNO, ZNGA

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (FSLR, MA, WAG, WEN, SD, DVR, EIX, NKTR, SSW, BID, DRC, JRCC, KR, MSO, ARCT, PEGA, CVO, TUDO, FFN)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:08:23 +0000

The three major US equities indexes opened higher this morning after another (small) drop in new unemployment benefits claims and a good, but smaller-than-expected, rise in personal income and spending data (our coverage here). Lower-than-expected ISM manufacturing data was countered by generally good reports from retailers on February same-store sales (our coverage here). By mid-afternoon, the DJIA turned south and has given back more than 50 points though the average still remains in positive territory for the day. Crude oil is up sharply today, with WTI crude closing up 1.7% at $108.84/barrel and Brent crude up more than 4% at $127.70/barrel. Gold settled up 0.6% at $1,722.20/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 28 points to 12,980.30 (0.22%), the NASDAQ rose more than 22 points (0.74%) to 2,988.97, and the S&P 500 rose 0.62% or more than 8 points to 1,374.09.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) maintained ‘buy’ but target price lowered to $50 at Argus (more coverage here); Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) started as ‘neutral’ at UBS; Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/ML; Wendy’s Co. (NYSE: WEN) cut to ‘neutral’ at Janney; and SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) cut to ‘sell’ at Canaccord Genuity.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Cal Dive International Inc. (NYSE: DVR) is up 8.8% at $3.16; Edison International (NYSE: EIX) is up 1.9% at $42.65 after posting a new 52-week high of $44.40 earlier today; Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) is up 2.4% at $7.35; Seaspan Corp. (NYSE: SSW) is up 6.1% at $18.32; Sotheby’s (NYSE: BID) is down -10.2% at $35.32 (more coverage here); Dresser Rand Group Inc. (NYSE: DRC) is down -1.2% at $51.91; James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is up 10.7% at $6.34; Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) is up 2.2% at $24.32; and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (NYSE: MSO) is down -3.2% at $4.36.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

American Realty Trust Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCT) is up more than 73% at $10.40. The commercial real estate company came public this morning at $6/share, along with a tender auction to purchase up to $220 million worth of shares at a price not higher than $11/share and not less than $10.50/share.

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA) is up nearly 34% at $37.50. The business software maker beat earnings estimates last night.

Cenveo Inc. (NYSE: CVO) is up nearly 26% at $4.91. The printing company reported better-than-expected earnings last night, and has kicked off a tender offer to redeem about $460 million in debt.

Tudou Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: TUDO) is down nearly -17% at $13.30. The Chinese online video company reported better-than-expected revenues last night, but soaring costs led to a net loss.

FriendFinder Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFN) is down nearly -14% at $1.76. The adult social networking company’s credit rating was cut this morning by S&P.

Stay tuned for Friday. Chicago Fed president Charles Evans and St. Louis Fed president James Bullard are giving speeches. There are no other events of note scheduled for tomorrow.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: ARCT, BID, CVO, DRC, DVR, EIX, FFN, FSLR, JRCC, KR, MA, MSO, NKTR, PEGA, SD, SSW, TUDO, WAG, WEN

Valuation Reality Check In Whole Foods (WFM, KR, SWY)

Administrator — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:56:41 +0000

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) may have posted a 33% gain to earnings and it may still have a lot of growth ahead of it. The reality is that the company is running into a valuation issue. Even if it gets traded like a luxury goods seller rather than a grocery store chain, the valuation argument has to start coming closer to home here.

The company beat earnings by $0.05 at $0.65 per share and revenues rose almost 13% to $3.39 billion versus Thomson Reuters estimates of $3.38 billion. Whole Foods even raised guidance for its Fiscal year of 2012 to a range of $2.28 to $2.32 earnings per share from a prior target of $2.21 to $2.26 and against a consensus target from Thomson Reuters of $2.27 EPS. It also raised revenue guidance for 2012 to a range of 13.5% to 15% and that looks mostly in-line with the expected figure of $11.6 billion expected.

Whole Foods is a great growth story, it is an incredibly well run organization, and it deserves a premium over traditional grocery stores which run on razor-thin margins. Whole Foods has far higher margins and its expansion of its own 365 private-label brand is likely going to help it capture even higher margins even though the products are generally priced lower than other organic and natural brand-label foods.

So, everything is positive… except for our headline. The guidance is not exactly far higher than what was already expected. At the mid-point of its new earnings range, Whole Foods stock trades at a massive 33.9-times the fiscal September 2012 consensus estimate and it trades at 1.2-times expected revenues.

Compare Whole Foods forward 2012 valuations of 33.9-times earnings and 1.2-times sales to The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR) and Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY). Kroger trades at only 10.6-times earnings and only about 0.14-times sales; Safeway trades at 12-times expected earnings and only 0.17-times total sales.

The good news for the bulls is that Whole Foods has always been a premium stock. It is even easy to argue that Whole Foods will always trade at a premium to grocery chains. It has the whole lifestyle trade attached to it. Whole Foods is far more of a fun experience compared to most grocery stores, at least until the bill comes. Whole Foods is arguable the biggest luxury brand that there is.

The bad news is simple. Valuations at some point just have to give. At $77.93 and after the stock hit a new high of $78.31, how can it rise? The consensus target from analysts is $79.29 and even if that gets raised it can only rise so much. With a $13.99 billion market cap, it is worth roughly two-thirds of the combined values of Safeway and Whole Foods while it is expected to generate only about 8% of the combined sales of the two food giants.

A great company, at a price that just feels too high to justify on any traditional financial metrics. The stock can run up on news. It just looks too hot now under rational evaluations.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Earnings, Economy, Food, Luxury, Retail, Value Investing Tagged: KR, SWY, WFM

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (CHK, GOOG, KR, LNG, CCL, CREE, SCHW, FAST, GS, STT, CLWT, UEPS, COOL, KUTV, AAPL, MCD, NKE)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:08:22 +0000

Markets opened slightly lower in the US this morning, but picked up steam in the morning and continued to rise, if slowly, for the rest of the day. The tech sector showed the most strength, with semiconductor stocks rising sharply and pushing the NASDAQ Composite index up more than 1.4% about half an hour before the closing bell. Financial stocks also did well today, and the euro rose back above $1.28 following a report that the IMF wants to increase its lending capacity to around $885 billion. Crude is mixed today, with WTI up fractionally at $100.78/barrel and Brent down -0.65% at $110.81/barrel. Gold rose as well today to $1,658.90.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 97 points to 12,578.95 (0.78%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 42 points (1.53%) to 2,769.71, and the S&P 500 rose 1.11% or more than 14 points to 1,308.04.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) cut to ‘hold’ at Brean Murray; Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) cut to ‘market perform’ at BMO Capital; Cheniere Energy Inc. (AMEX: LNG) started as ‘outperform’ with a $13.50 target price at Credit Suisse; and Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) maintained as ‘hold’ but estimates cut at Argus.

Earnings reports since markets closed yesterday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) is up 4.3% at $24.33; The Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) is down -1.3% at $12.00; Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST) is down -2.8% at $45.48; Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) is up 7.5% at $105.03; and State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) is down -7% at $39.72.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Euro Tech Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: CLWT) is up nearly 53% at $3.91. The Hong Kong-based company has announced an 11-for-2 reverse stock split.

Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: UEPS) is up more than 33% at $8.96. The South African software maker has announced a 5-year deal with the government’s social security agency.

Majesco Entertainment Co. (NASDAQ: COOL) is down more than -27% at $2.17. The video game maker forecast higher sales and marketing costs in 2012.

Ku6 Media Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: KUTV) is down nearly -18% at $2.71. The Chinese online video company rose more than 150% yesterday on the announcement of deal with Google. Today’s fall is likely due to profit-taking.

We also noted 10 stocks that posted new all-time highs today. These include Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), and Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE). See our coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index
8:30 a.m. – Housing starts
8:30 a.m. – Initial unemployment benefits claims
10:00 a.m. – Philadelphia Federal Reserve business outlook survey
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas inventory report
11:00 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AAPL, CCL, CHK, CLWT, COOL, CREE, FAST, GOOG, GS, KR, KUTV, LNG, MCD, NKE, SCHW, STT, UEPS

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CCL, CHK, LNG, CQP, CREE, EXPE, FTE, GOOG, JNS, KR, MGM, ODP, OMX, PVH, RL, TEF, TXT)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:28:25 +0000

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

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) Maintained Hold but cut estimates at Argus.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Cut to Hold at Brean Murray.
Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSE: LNG) Started as Outperform with $13.50 target at Credit Suisse
Cheniere Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: CQP) Started as Neutral with $20 target at Credit Suisse.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) maintained Buy with $33 target at Canaccord Genuity; Raised to Buy at ThinkEquity; Cut to Neutral at Ticonderoga.
Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) Started as Underweight at JPMorgan.
France Telecom S.A. (NYSE: FTE) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Janus Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE: JNS) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) Cut to Market Perform at BMO Capital.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE: ODP) Raised to Equal-weight at Barclays.
OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) Raised to Equal-weight at Barclays.
PVH Corporation (NYSE: PVH) Started as Neutral with $72 target at Credit Suisse.
Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) Started as Outperform with $168 target at Credit Suisse.
Telefonica SA (NYSE: TEF) Cut to Sell at UBS.
Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: CCL, CHK, CQP, CREE, EXPE, FTE, GOOG, JNS, KR, LNG, MGM, ODP, OMX, PVH, RL, TEF, TXT

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GOOG, IAG, ERTS, STX, ONXX, CRZO, GIL, BKS, LULU, ISLE, KR, TLB, PEIX, LAVA, CLWR, STNG, HOVNP)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:05:52 +0000

Equity markets opened slightly lower this morning, following yesterday’s big share price increases. For most of the day stocks traded slightly lower, although they have moved to a very slight gain in the final hour of trading. China’s purchasing managers index was weaker than expected, which is probably the reason for the slow start this morning, and then new US unemployment claims were higher than expected adding more pressure on prices. The dollar has traded weaker relative to the euro, but strengthened against the yen. Crude oil is trading down marginally at $100.18/barrel and gold is also down slightly at $1,743.870/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 25 points to 12,020.48 (-0.21%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 6 points (0.22%) to 2,626.20, and the S&P 500 fell -0.19% or more than 2 points to 1,244.58.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup. Other ratings action included IAMGOLD Corp. (NYSE: IAG) started as ‘outperform’ with a $25 price target at Credit Suisse; Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) raised from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Seagate Technology PLC (NYSE: STX) raised to ‘buy’ at Argus; Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) cut from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO) reiterated ‘buy’ with a new price target of $49 at Canaccord Genuity.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE: GIL) is down -30.8% at $16.53, after setting a new 52-week low of $16.52; Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is down -16.9% at $14.50; Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) is down -4.8% at $47.34; Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISLE) is down -8.5% at $4.51; The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) is up 1% at $23.41; and The Talbot’s Inc. (NYSE: TLB) is down -17.1% at $1.65, after posting a new 52-week low of $1.63. We have more details on Lululemon’s earnings and on the November sales reports from a number of retailers, including Talbot’s.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is up 26.7% at $1.33. The ethanol maker has regained compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements and has increased ownership of its four ethanol production plants to 27%.

Magma Design Automation Inc. (NASDAQ: LAVA) is up more than 25% at $7.16. The design automation firm has agreed to be acquired by Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) for $7.35/share.

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is up more than 17% at $2.09. The wireless broadband provider received a $1.6 billion investment from its majority owner Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) that will enable Clearwire to meet its $237 million debt payment. We have more details here.

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE: STNG) are down more than -20% at $5.31. The Monaco-based petroleum shipping company priced a secondary offering this morning at $5.50/share.

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: HOVNP) is down more than -14% at $1.31. The homebuilder has been batted around for nearly a year now, and even improving news on construction spending can’t stop the slide.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted speeches due from Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren. Here’s another noteworthy event scheduled for tomorrow (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: BKS, CLWR, CRZO, ERTS, GIL, GOOG, HOVNP, IAG, ISLE, KR, LAVA, LULU, ONXX, PEIX, STNG, STX, TLB