24/7 Wall St. » MFB

Underwear and the Price of Cotton (HBI, UA, MFB)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:07:39 +0000

Last April, cotton prices had climbed to around $2.10/pound as drought in Texas threatened to play havoc on the crop. The March price this year was $0.995/pound and the today’s price is around $0.90/pound. Yet underwear maker Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) said in its earnings report today that high cotton prices held down the company’s profits in the first quarter.

Compared with cotton prices of under $0.50/pound in March 2009, today’s prices are indeed higher, but after the price spike that got started in the fall of 2010, it seems that Hanesbrands, makers of Hanes, Playtex, and Champion brands, would have figured out how to control its commodity costs. Competitors Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) and Maidenform Brands Inc. (NYSE: MFB) should be facing the same issues, but Under Armour reported better-than-expected earnings this morning and Maidenform, which posted a loss in its fourth quarter, at least has not blamed cotton prices for its woes.

Hanesbrands did say that the worst of the cotton inflation was behind it and that the firm has locked in cotton costs through December. The remaining question is at what price did the firm lock-in its cotton prices? The trend for pricing is to continue falling, and Hanesbrands could have made the wrong call here.

But today, Hanesbrands is standing in the tall cotton, up 11.2% at $29.96 in a 52-week range of $21.74-$33.36.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Commodities, Commodities & Metals, Consumer Goods, Consumer Product, Earnings Tagged: HBI, MFB, UA

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMCX, AHT, BG, CTRN, XRAY, EK, EQY, FFIV, IVN, MFB, PDS, RVBD, RYAAY, SAFM, TUDO)

Jon C. Ogg — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:15:03 +0000

These are some of this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.

AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX) Started as Sell at Stifel Nicolaus.
Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc. (NYSE: AHT) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
DENTSPLY International (NASDAQ: XRAY) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
Equity One Inc. (NYSE: EQY) Raised to Hold at Citigroup.
F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) Started as Hold at Jefferies.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (NYSE: IVN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Maidenform Brands, Inc. (NYSE: MFB) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Precision Drilling Corporation (NYSE: PDS) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) Started as Underperform at Jefferies.
Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ: RYAAY) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Sanderson Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM) Added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Tudou Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: TUDO) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.

With gold and silver bouncing after what looked like a bursting bubble, here is a list of the top-rated precious metals funds expected to win in uncertain times from Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AHT, AMCX, BG, CTRN, EK, EQY, FFIV, IVN, MFB, PDS, RVBD, RYAAY, SAFM, TUDO, XRAY

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AIG, BKH, BXP, CI, CME, FCEL, JRCC, LDK, MFB, WFR, MU, ORCL, SQI, SODA, SFG, UA, ZLC, ZIP)

Jon C. Ogg — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:35:10 +0000

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

American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) Started as Buy at BofA/ML.
Black Hills Corporation (NYSE: BKH) Raised to Outperform but cut target to $33 at Credit Suisse.
Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) Raised to Buy at Argus.
CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) Raised to Buy at UBS.
FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) Maintained Buy but cut target to $3.00 at Canaccord Genuity.
James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) Cut to Strong Sell at S&P Equity Research (late-Thursday).
LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
Maidenform Brands, Inc. (NYSE: MFB) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE: MU) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo; Reiterated Buy and $14 target at Gleacher & Co.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Outperform as #1 pick with $42 target at Credit Suisse.
SciQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQI) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
SodaStream International Ltd. (NASDAQ: SODA) Reiterated Buy as Aggressive Growth at Zacks.
StanCorp Financial (NYSE: SFG) Reiterated Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Zipcar, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

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

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIG, BKH, BXP, CI, CME, FCEL, JRCC, LDK, MFB, MU, ORCL, SFG, SODA, SQI, UA, WFR, ZIP, ZLC

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ANF, ATI, BCS, DTV, LVLT, MFB, RFMD, QLTI, TTWO, TRLG)

Douglas A. McIntyre — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:15:10 +0000

These are ten of the top calls we are seeing that could impact shares early this Thursday morning:

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) started as Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Allegheny Tech (NYSE: ATI) Cut to Neutral From Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Barclays (NYSE: BCS) cut to Neutral at Collins Stewart.
DIRECTV (NYSE: DTV) downgraded to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Level 3 Communications (NASDAQ: LVLT) raised to Neutral from Sell at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Maidenform Brands (NYSE: MFB) Cut to Sell from Neutral at UBS.
RF Micro Device (NASDAQ: RFMD) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
QLTI Inc. (NASDAQ: QLTI) raised to Outperform at RBC Capital.
Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) cut to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
True Religion Apparel (NASDAQ: TRLG) Raised to Outperform at Morgan Keegan.

Jon C. Ogg
April 24, 2008

The 52-Week Low Club

Douglas A. McIntyre — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:10:56 +0000

Ruby Tuesday (RT) Low profits, analysts downgrades. Falls to $15.87 from 52-week high of $30.80.

United Microelectronics (UMC) Wall St. worried about contract chip makers. Off to $4.03.

Maidenform Brands (MFB) Bra business must be light. Drops to $14.62 from 52-week high of $24.49.

Inphonic (INPC) Looking at "strategic options" and CEO stepped down. Falls to $.40 from 52-week high of $14.49.

Curagen Corp (CRGN) Drug trial fails and is abandoned. So are the shares. Down to $.90 from 52-week high of $4.99.

Sharper Image (SHRP) Retail sales were dying slowly, but now dying quickly. Drops to $3.17 from 52-week high of $14.16.

Douglas A. McIntyre