Posts for Ticker ‘LUV’

British Air And Iberia: Airlines Return To The Center Of M&A Stage

airplaneThe rumor that US Air (NYSE:LCC) and American (NYSE:AMR) may merge is not so far-fetched today, or that Southwest (NYSE:LUV) might take over JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU).

British Air and Iberia, the flag carriers of the two nations whose fleets met at The Battle of Trafalgar, will merge, creating one of the world’s largest airlines. BA shareholders will control 55% of the new company which will have a market value of $7 billion and total sales of nearly $20 billion. It is noteworthy that just earlier this week, BA said it would fire  4,900 people because of a $485 million loss in the six months that ended on September 30. Read More »

Posted on: November 12, 2009 – 5:58 pm in Airlines, Mergers and Buy Outs, , , , , , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (ACN, AAI, CFN, FSLR, FNM, FRE, GERN, MRVL, LUV, TLAB)

These are ten of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen early this Monday morning from Wall Street research notes:

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Air Tran Holdings (NYSE: AAI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
CareFusion (NYSE:CFN) Started as Market Perform at Leerink Swann; Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut To Neutral at Macquarie.
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM)  Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) Raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

Jon C. Ogg
October 19, 2009

Posted on: October 19, 2009 – 7:58 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Airline Delays: Southwest (LUV) Crushes Northwest

airplaneSouthwest Air (NYSE:LUV) once again proved why it is the most admired carrier in America. Over 83% of its flights arrived on time in August, the latest month measured by US Department of Transportation.

Northwest, probably still working through an integration with its new owner Delta (NYSE:DAL) posted the worst record for arrivals among big carriers with 74% of its flights getting where they were going. Delta did almost as poorly with a figure below 79%. Read More »

Posted on: October 6, 2009 – 3:16 pm in Airlines, , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (BLK, KMX, CTL, INET, LOW, STX, LUV, WWWW)

These are the top pre-market early bird analyst upgrades and positive research calls seen from Wall Street early this Wednesday morning:

Blackrock (BLK) upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
CarMax (KMX) upgraded to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
CenturyTel (CTL) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Internet Brands (INET) Started as Buy at Canaccord.
Lowe’s (LOW) upgraded to Outperform at FBR.
Seagate (STX) upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank; upgraded to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Soutwest Air (LUV) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Web.com (WWWW) upgraded to Outperform at FBR Capital.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 23, 2009 – 8:06 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Downgrades (BLKB, CTXS, DSCO, EV, FII, LUV)

These are some of the analyst downgrades and cautious research calls we have seen early this Tuesday morning on Wall Street:

Blackbaud (BLKB) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Citrix Systems (CTXS) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Discovery Labs (DSCO) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Eaton Vance (EV) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Federated Investors (FII) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Southwest Air (LUV) Cut to Sell at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 8, 2009 – 8:05 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , ,

Media Digest 9/1/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Ebay (EBAY) will sell Skype to private investors.

Reuters:   China’s manufacturing index gained.

Reuters:   A  late Labor Day will hurt August retail sales.

Reuters:   A US judge ruled against AIG (AIG) in a dispute with its former CEO. Read More »

Posted on: September 1, 2009 – 3:57 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How the Legacy Airlines Lost So Much Altitude Since 9/11

By Robert Herbst

After losing over $5 billion last year, the airline industry is now on course to lose a similar amount for 2009. This projected loss comes after the airlines will spend over $13 billion less for fuel compared to 2008.

Losing money for the old legacy carriers is nothing new. But this year, even low cost Southwest (LUV), after 35 consecutive years of profits, is expected to lose money. Of significance for how serious the revenue problems are for the industry, Southwest’s load factor will be the highest in the airline’s history.

If you’ve taken a flight or read a newspaper lately, you’re probably aware the airline industry has serious problems from customer service to record financial losses. Read More »

Posted on: August 31, 2009 – 3:48 pm in Airlines, , , , ,

Media Digest 8/31/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The best investment for Chinese companies may be the nation’s own 1.3 billion person home market.

Reuters:   Japan’s Democrats took power.

Reuters:   Economists say there is no need for a second stimulus package.

Reuters:   The Fed made $14 billion on loans made during the credit crisis. Read More »

Posted on: August 31, 2009 – 4:03 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 8/26/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Senator Edward Kennedy died at age 77.

Reuters:   The US Postal System is seeking 30,000 job cuts.

Reuters:   US housing and confidence data moved up.

Reuters:   White House and CBO debt revisions will challenge Obama. Read More »

Posted on: August 26, 2009 – 4:09 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 8/20/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   UBS (UBS) shares may fall when the Swiss government sells out.

Reuters:   The US deficit estimate was trimmed to $1.59 trillion.

Reuters:   A homeowner sued Wells Fargo (WFC) over a credit line.

Reuters:   AIG (AIG) was sued by policyholders over the Madoff fraud. Read More »

Posted on: August 20, 2009 – 3:55 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Strange New World: A Bidding War For An Airline

airplaneAirline analysts are worried that some US carriers will have to make huge cost cuts or face Chapter 11 filings later this year. The rising cost of jet fuel and precipitous dive in passenger traffic are causing huge losses among most of the industry’s leaders.

This  makes the bidding war for Frontier Airways especially strange. Southwest (LUV) offered $170 million for Frontier Airlines, which is in bankruptcy. That proposed deal was topped by Republic, which made a more complex bid involving unsecured claims against Frontier. Read More »

Posted on: August 14, 2009 – 6:15 am in Airlines, Mergers and Buy Outs,

Media Digest 8/14/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The Chinese are learning the problem of easy access to credit cards.

Reuters:   The US recovery is still slow while France and Germany are rebounding.

Reuters:   UBS (UBS) clients in America may face criminal charges.

Reuters:   Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) defended its valuation of derivatives. Read More »

Posted on: August 14, 2009 – 4:08 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 7/31/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Banks paid out billions of dollars in bonuses last year while losing money.

Reuters:   The US closed  its car “clunkers” program just as it began as funds ran out.

Reuters:   Obame faces more questions about his health care plan.

Reuters:   A Congressional bill would affect OTC derivative holdings. Read More »

Posted on: July 31, 2009 – 3:56 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 7/22/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   A tech alliance between China and Taiwas is hurting Korea.

Reuters:   Spple (AAPL) easily beat forecasts.

Reuters:   CIT (CIT) still faces a number of financial challenges.

Reuters:   Yahoo!’s (YHOO) outlook was below expectations.

Reuters:   Bernanke says unemployment could hurt the recovery. Read More »

Posted on: July 22, 2009 – 2:59 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

AMR Sets Low Bar For Airline Sector Earnings (AMR, CAL, LUV)

Airplane ImageAMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) has some pretty disappointing figures, at least until you compare them to analyst expectations.  AMR posted earnings of -$1.39 on a net basis and -$1.14 EPS on a non-GAAP basis as its second quarter traffic fell by 16%.  Revenues was $4.98 billion.  Thomson Reuters listed the non-GAAP consensus as -$1.28 EPS on $4.9 billion in revenue.  This report has likely set the bar very low for Continental Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: CAL) and Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) ahead of their earnings.
Read More »

Posted on: July 15, 2009 – 8:23 am in Airlines, Earnings, Transports, , ,

New Airline Price Wars

airplaneAirline price wars are back, just when carriers cannot afford them. The price of  jet fuel is up. Passenger traffic is down.

Southwest (LUV) is offering fare as low as $30 one way on short flights and $90 on longer ones. Read More »

Posted on: July 8, 2009 – 5:13 am in Airlines, , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (BCSI, CSCO, CAL, DAL, DYN, HA, MTL, SRE, LUV, TTM)

These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades we have seen this Thursday.  There are going to be fewer and fewer research notes from now to what is most likely Tuesday morning as Friday is a holiday and Monday is being taken off by so many investment and research personnel.

  • Blue Coat Systems (BCSI) Started as Buy ar Auriga.
  • Cisco Systems (CSCO) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Continental Airlines (CAL) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Delta Airlines (DAL) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Dynegy (DYN) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
  • Hawaiian Airlines (HA) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Mechel Steel (MTL) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Sempra (SRE) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • Southwest Airlines (LUV) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Tata Motors (TTM) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Jon C. Ogg
July 1, 2009

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 6:31 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 6/16/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The US outlined new financial market reforms.

Reuters:   Obama lobbied MDs on his new healthcare package.

Reuters:   Russia hosted the first BRIC summit.

Reuters:   B of A’s (BAC) BlackRock (BLK) stake is more appealing.

Reuters:   Samsung and Nokia (NOK) are pushing into smartphones. (MOT)(AAPL)(RIMM). Read More »

Posted on: June 16, 2009 – 3:01 am in Autos, Banking, Drug companies, Healthcare, Housing, Labor & Unions, Management Change, Media, PC Companies, Pharmaceuticals, Press Digest, Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 6/12/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:  Baclays (BCS) sold BCI to Blackrock (BLK) for $13.3 billion

Reuters:   WHO declared a flu epidemic

Reuters:   Congress bash Fed, Treasury, and B of A (BAC) on Merrill

Reuters:   US is near tighter control of tobacco by FDA.

Reuters:   New research shows mortgage delinquencies have bottomed

Reuters:   World Bank sees a steeper global economy contraction. Read More »

Posted on: June 12, 2009 – 2:53 am in Airlines, Autos, Banking, China, Consumer Electronics, Defense, Drug companies, Economy, Financial Stocks, Housing, Internet, Management Change, Media, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, PC Companies, Pharmaceuticals, Press Digest, Technology, Wireless, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Delta (DAL): The Noose Tightens Around The Airline Industry

airplaneAll of the fuel-hedging, layoffs, capacity and route-cutting the airline industry did last year in an attempt to offset the rising price of fuel has gone for nothing. Delta (DAL) announced today that it would need to make more significant reductions in available seats and the process would cost many more people their jobs.

Read More »

Posted on: June 11, 2009 – 11:25 am in Airlines, , , , , ,