24/7 Wall St. » MS

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (YUM, DMD, NLY, MS, UBS, AGU, CVS, RL, RAI, TWX, DIS, WYN, BWLD, CSCO, CZR, FFN, TNK, AKAM, NURO)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:06:49 +0000

The US equity markets opened slightly higher this morning, but soon turned around and spent the rest of the morning lower before returning to about even by afternoon. Equities could close at or near where they opened today. The lack of a decision on the Greek debt swap deal is leading investors to exercise caution both in Europe and the US. If the new Greek deal is anything like the last dozen or so, it will send markets up as soon as it is announced; and once people have a chance to read the details, markets will turn south again. Crude is higher today, with WTI up 0.51% at $98.91/barrel and Brent up 1.24% at $117.67/barrel. Gold closed down -0.73% at $1,735.60/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 6 points to 12,883.95 (0.04%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 12 points (0.41%) to 2,915.86, and the S&P 500 rose 0.22% or about 3 points to 1,349.97.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) cut to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) cut to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) cut to ‘market perform’ at FBR; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) cut to ‘hold’ at Collins Stewart; and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) cut to ‘sell’ at Deutsche Bank.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) is up 2.16% at $82.95; CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) is up 1.18% at $43.59 after posting a new 52-week high of $44.08 earlier in the day; Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) is up 9.8% at $172.50 after posting a new 52-week high of $178.47 earlier today; Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) is down -1.35% at $39.57; Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) is up 0.3% at $38.21 after posting a new 52-week high of $39.23 earlier today; Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is up 0.95 at $41.34; Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: WYN) is up 5.6% at $43.22 after posting a new 52-week high of $43.36 earlier today; and Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) is up nearly 17% at $82.04 after posting a new 52-week high of $82.45 earlier today.

Our preview of tomorrow’s earnings releases is here. Also see our coverage of earnings for Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) due after markets close today

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Ceasars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR) is up more than 70% at $15.32. The casino owner completed its IPO today, with 1.8 million shares going out at $9/share. We have some issues with this IPO.

FriendFinder Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFN) is up nearly 33% at $1.95. The adult dating site had no news today, so this must just be more halo effect from Facebook — or something else.

Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: TNK) is down more than -12% today at $3.98. The shipping company this morning priced a secondary stock offering of 15 million shares at $4/share.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is up about 2% at $34.33. The internet company acquired a Canadian company today, and reports earnings after markets close today. We have more coverage here.

NeuroMetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: NURO) is down more than -17% at $0.95 after posting a new 52-week low of $0.94 earlier today. The medical device maker priced a secondary offering of 10.5 million shares at $1/share this morning.

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

8:30 a.m. – New unemployment benefits claims
10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade report
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
1:00 p.m. – Treasury 30-year bond auction
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AGU, AKAM, BWLD, CSCO, CVS, CZR, DIS, DMD, FFN, MS, NLY, NURO, RAI, RL, TNK, TWX, UBS, WYN, YUM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (NLY, MT, BP, CBOE, DMD, RDY, ING, MS, NOV, OPEN, SOHU, UBS, VSH, YUM)

Administrator — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:18:44 +0000

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

Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) Cut to Sell at S&P Capital IQ.
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) Raised Estimates by UBS; Cut to Hold at Soc-Gen.
CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE: RDY) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
ING Group, N.V. (NYSE: ING) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Cut to Hold at Collins Stewart.
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) raised target to $96 at Argus.
OpenTable Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse; Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) lowered targets by Credit Suisse and Nomura.
UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (NYSE: VSH) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Credit Suisse makes a change to its favorite biotech list.

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: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: BP, CBOE, DMD, ING, MS, MT, NLY, NOV, OPEN, RDY, SOHU, UBS, VSH, YUM

Media Digest (2/7/2012) Reuters, WSJ, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:49:30 +0000

Glencore and Xtrata agree to a $90 billion merger. (Reuters)

Greek leaders face a deal for settling sovereign debt matters as workers strike. (Reuters)

Toyota (NYSE: TM) posts good third-quarter profits and says the U.S. will be a difficult market. (Reuters)

Boeing (NYSE: BA) may have trouble with its 787 deliveries after flaws were found in the body of the aircraft. (Reuters)

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Redbox set a deal to compete with Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). (Reuters)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) may open a physical store in Seattle. (Reuters)

House Republicans move to reopen debate on the Keystone XL pipeline. (Reuters)

Problems with regulators have made the Medco (NYSE: MHS) merger with Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) less likely. (Reuters)

The U.S. will create programs to help the troubled money market industry. (WSJ)

Barclays (NYSE: BCS), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) will bid as the New York Fed auctions risky bonds it got as part of its AIG (NYSE: AIG) bailout. (WSJ)

Greece will cut 15,000 public sector jobs. (WSJ)

Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) wants a 2.25% royalty on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone sales based on IP claims. (WSJ)

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Univision are in talks to create a 24-hour news channel. (WSJ)

India cuts its growth forecast to 6.9%. (WSJ)

Eugene Isenberg of Nabor Industries (NYSE: NBR) gives up a $100 million retirement payout. (WSJ)

The Obama budget will have $3 trillion in cuts over 10 years and $1.5 trillion in new taxes — mostly on the rich. (WSJ)

Japan wants to enter a large Asia-Pacific trade agreement, but the U.S. may object. (WSJ)

Satellite makers say that U.S. regulations make it difficult for them to compete overseas. (WSJ)

Republic Airways (NASDAQ: RJET) is about to sell Frontier. (WSJ)

New LeadershipIQ research breaks companies into four groups based on management style and systems to create results. (WSJ)

Walmart (NYSE: WMT) promotes a manager to be the new CEO of its China operations. (WSJ)

Some large European banks will not take European Central Bank loans because they fear it will make them appear weak. (WSJ)

BP (NYSE: BP) raises its dividend. (FT)

An escrow fund may be set to help Greece instead of all aid money going to the nation directly. (FT)

Farmers to plant the largest corn crop since 1984. (Bloomberg)

Walmart will lower fat, sodium and sugar in some foods. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AIG, AMZN, BA, BCS, BP, CS, DIS, ESRX, GS, MMI, MS, NBR, NFLX, RBS, RJET, TM, VZ, WMT

Facebook Full IPO Filing Details (FB, MS, GS, MSFT, TROW, ZNGA, GSVC, IPG)

Administrator — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:29:12 +0000

Facebook, Inc. has now filed its paperwork with the SEC which will allow the social networking giant to conduct an initial public offering. It should be no real surprise that financial terms were not disclosed. The filing is for an offering of up to a whopping $5 billion in common stock and that figure may change before the actual IPO. The offering appears to include shares from the company and shares from selling holders. Facebook is the top spot in the 24/7 Wall St. Top 17 IPOs of 2012.

While Facebook has said that it is choosing the “FB” stock ticker, it did not specify whether or not the NYSE or NASDAQ would get the listing. Keep in mind that Mark Zuckerberg is where the buck stops if you evaluate the share structure.

Be advised that there is a dual-class of stock with A shares and B shares. Each share of Class A common stock is entitled to one vote per share. Each share of Class B common stock is entitled to ten votes per share and is convertible at any time into one share of Class A common stock.

The underwriting group is as follows: lead book-runners are Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, and Goldman Sachs; co-managers are BofA/Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, and Allen & Company.

BASIC STATS:

845 million monthly active users,
2.7 billion likes and comments per day,
250 million photos uploaded per day,
and 100 billion friendships.
The company also has 483 million daily active users.
It also had roughly 3200 employees as of December 31.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is listed as a competitor and it is an owner, while Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is not an owner and is listed as a key competitor. Twitter is competitor. As a reminder, GSV Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: GSVC) is an owner of stock as well. Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE: IPG) still owns a small stake as well.

We are now finally getting to see at least some of the preliminary figures from Facebook to use for financial analysis:

2009 revenues $777M, $122M net income for shareholders;
2010 revenues $1.974B, $372M net income for shareholders;
2011 revenues $3.711B, $668M net income for shareholders.
The company’s cash and marketable securities at the end of 2011 was $3.908 billion.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) accounted for about 12% of 2011 total revenues for Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg owns 28.4% of the total voting power, but he has a proxy over insider shares that gives him 56.9% of the total voting power. Other big holders are James Breyer at 11.4% and Peter A. Thiel at 2.5%. Large Class B share holders (1 million or more shares) are Sheryl Sandberg, David Ebersman, Mike Schroepfer. Theodore Ullyor, Marc Andreesson…

T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: TROW) owns over 6 million class A shares and affiliates of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) own over 65.9 million Class A shares.

As of December 31, 2011 there were outstanding:

117,097,143 shares of our Class A common stock held by approximately 110 stockholders;
1,758,902,390 shares of our Class B common stock held by approximately 1,070 stockholders;
258,539,434 shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options;
378,772,184 shares subject to outstanding restricted stock units (RSUs).

RISK FACTORS AS FOLLOWS:

“If we fail to retain existing users or add new users, or if our users decrease their level of engagement with Facebook, our revenue, financial results, and business may be significantly harmed;”
“We generate a substantial majority of our revenue from advertising. The loss of advertisers, or reduction in spending by advertisers with Facebook, could seriously harm our business;”
“Growth in use of Facebook through our mobile products, where we do not currently display ads, as a substitute for use on personal computers may negatively affect our revenue and financial results;”
“Facebook user growth and engagement on mobile devices depend upon effective operation with mobile operating systems, networks, and standards that we do not control;”
“We may not be successful in our efforts to grow and further monetize the Facebook Platform;”
“Our business is highly competitive, and competition presents an ongoing threat to the success of our business;”
“Improper access to or disclosure of our users’ information could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business;”
“Our business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, and other matters. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could harm our business;”
“Our CEO has control over key decision making as a result of his control of a majority of our voting stock;”
“The loss of Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl K. Sandberg, or other key personnel could harm our business;”
“We anticipate that we will expend substantial funds in connection with tax withholding and remittance obligations related to the initial settlement of our restricted stock units (RSUs) approximately six months following our initial public offering;”
“The market price of our Class A common stock may be volatile or may decline, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the initial public offering price;”
“Substantial blocks of our total outstanding shares may be sold into the market as “lock-up” periods end, as further described in “Shares Eligible for Future Sale.” If there are substantial sales of shares of our common stock, the price of our Class A common stock could decline.”

Again, the Top 17 IPOs to Watch in 2012 is here.

JON C. OGG

The full S-1 SEC FILING is here. PS… The traffic to the SEC.gov website was severely limited for almost an hour due to excessive traffic flooding the site due to readers wanting to read the Facebook S-1.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Accounting, Activist Investor, Analyst Calls, Banking, Compensation, Corporate Governance, Editor's Picks, Insider Activity, Internet, IPOs, Mergers and Buy Outs, Private Equity Tagged: FB, GS, GSVC, IPG, MS, MSFT, TROW, ZNGA

Media Digest (2/1/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:46:11 +0000

Facebook will launch an IPO to raise $5 billion. (Reuters)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) says costs may drive it to a loss this quarter. (Reuters)

Sony (NASDAQ: SNE) appoints Kazuo Hirai as CEO. (Reuters)

China’s PMI is better than expected. (Reuters)

Patent plaintiffs file actions against Facebook ahead of its IPO. (Reuters)

Panasonic and Samsung will try to set financial ties to troubled Olympus. (Reuters)

Blackstone (NYSE: BX), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and DE Shaw are among Kodak’s largest creditors. (Reuters)

The U.S. to charge some Credit Suisse employees with mortgage bond fraud. (WSJ)

President Obama will try to set plans for millions to refinance mortgages. (WSJ)

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) to buy India entertainment company UTV Software Communications. (WSJ)

Hulu will press its entry into original programs. (WSJ)

Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) says it will not offer certain Amazon.com books. (WSJ)

U.S. refiners and the United Steelworkers come to an agreement just ahead of a strike. (WSJ)

The U.S. deficit will be above $1 trillion again in the next year. (WSJ)

As Greece moves closer to default, Germany presses its case for more control over the small nation’s budget. (WSJ)

The European Central Bank faces huge losses from a Greek default. (WSJ)

Corn and tin prices rise rapidly. (WSJ)

Chrysler may do more to save Fiat than Fiat did for Chrysler. (WSJ)

The stock market has its best January gains in 15 years. (WSJ)

Natural gas futures fall 7.7%, nearly a one-day record. (WSJ)

Officials track more than 90% of the money lost from MF Global customer accounts. (NYT)

A new rare earth plant will open in Malaysia. (NYT)

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has attached some AMR assets to help employees to get benefits. (NYT)

New jobs data show the great differences among EU economies. (FT)

Greek bondholders may set a deal to get a better return if its economy recovers. (Bloomberg)

China’s home prices fall for the fifth month in January. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AMZN, BKS, BX, DIS, MS, SNE

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AAP, AZO, BAC, C, HFC, IMGN, JAKK, JPM, K, KEG, MEOH, MNST, MS, MYL, SPLS, TWX, WFM)

Administrator — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:34:56 +0000

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

Advanced Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Citigroup , Inc. (NYSE: C) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) Cut to Neutral with $27 target at Citigroup.
ImmunoGen Inc. (NASDAQ: IMGN) Reiterated Buy with $17 target at Canaccord Genuity.
JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Maintained Buy but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Key Energy Services (NYSE: KEG) Maintained Buy but raised estimates ($19 target) at Canaccord Genuity.
Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ: MEOH) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) Cut to Neutral at SunTrust.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Raised to Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs.
Mylan, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Whole Foods Market. Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Maintained Buy but removed from Conviction BUy List at Goldman Sachs.

This is overseas, but BofA has downgraded Societe Generale and BNP Paribas to Neutral from Buy this morning.

Here were the top analyst calls of the last week condensed into one short piece.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAP, AZO, BAC, C, HFC, IMGN, JAKK, JPM, K, KEG, MEOH, MNST, MS, MYL, SPLS, TWX, WFM

24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Calls of the Week (T, ADP. BBY, CHK, DNDN, ETFC, JCP, JPM, GS, MS, JEF, KLAC, LIFE, MCD, KORS, NFLX, VPRT, ZNGA)

Administrator — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:19:53 +0000

This last week brought many new analyst calls in key stocks. At the end of each week we review research calls looking for the best gems, the calls that made serious money for investors, and we also look for the duds which were wrong or just stood apart from the crowd.

The 24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Calls of the Week were in shares of the following: AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T); Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE: ADP); Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY); Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK); Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN); E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC); J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP); J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM); Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS); Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS); Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF); KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC); Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE); McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD); Michael Kors Holdings Limited (NYSE: KORS); Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); Vistaprint NV (NASDAQ: VPRT); and Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA).

We have covered these in more detailed summaries below and some of these will have links to broader coverage calls.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) has been a bit under pressure and frankly its earnings did not help the situation for the bulls despite some positive metrics. Now there is a bit more caution as the stock was reinstated in coverage on Friday at Credit Suisse: with a NEUTRAL and a mere $30.00 price target. This was one of Jim Cramer’s 4 FAVORITE DJIA PICKS FOR 2012 and it is the highest yield of the DJIA.

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE: ADP) met its second quarter earnings estimates this last week but apparently there are some valuation concerns despite the CFO seeing some continued positive trends in the economy. On Thursday there were two downgrades: Cut to NEUTRAL at Citigroup and Cut to MARKET PERFORM at Wells Fargo. Shares were around $57.oo pre-earnings and ended the week down at $55.34 and that may be another failed break-out attempt on the chart as the year high is $57.10.

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is supposed to be down and out with absolutely nothing going for it. In fact, its real risk is that no one under 30 or so may ever go there again. Not so fast, according to Credit Suisse as the firm reinstated coverage with an OUTPERFORM rating and with a call of almost 30% upside to its $32.00 price target (versus $28.21 target from Thomson Reuters. This drove shares up 1.7% on Friday when the broad market was down.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) is the pure-play when it comes to investing in natural gas. It is no secret that nat-gas is in the tank. Apparently J.P.Morgan just couldn’t take the pressure any longer. The analyst team there cut Chesapeake to UNDERWEIGHT on Thursday… That is just a “Sell” masqueraded by vocabulary.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) was given two calls of caution or at least calls with no enthusiasm despite its shares having more than doubled from the lows. Zacks maintained a NEUTRAL rating with a $14.00 target, while the team at Cantor Fitzgerald started it with only a HOLD rating. Both calls came on Wednesday and Wednesday’s was Dendreon’s highest price of the week.

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) is still supposed to be a buyout target according to the great analyst predictions of 2012, even though the company’s review ended with nothing. Earnings stank up the joint and the promise (or forecast) of exceptionally low rates through 2014 offers no comfort for earnings at online brokers. The stock was cut to NEUTRAL at Goldman Sachs this week. Keep in mind that Goldman Sachs was the firm hired to go find a buyer for E*TRADE. Not promising at all.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls, Editor's Picks, Research, The Week Tagged: ADP,, BBY, CHK, DNDN, ETFC, GS, JCP, JEF, JPM, KLAC, KORS, LIFE, MCD, MS, NFLX, T, VPRT, ZNGA

Facebook IPO Rumors Growing Louder & Louder (GSVC, MSFT, MS, GS, DSI)

Administrator — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:42:26 +0000

Facebook is now rumored to be filing its IPO paperwork as soon as next week. The ‘rumor’ is coming out of a report from the Wall Street Journal that Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and/or Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) might get the lead role in the underwriting and that the value is being implied at some $75 billion to as much as $100 billion.

Our take is that Mark Zuckerberg has been holding out to achieve a $100 billion market valuation for the IPO. Even if Facebook does not deliver on its IPO paperwork next week, the IPO is coming soon. The company is going to have to disclose its financials sooner or later due to its large base of shareholders.

GSV Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: GSVC) already owns shares of Facebook and its share have popped by 3% to $15.60 on this news. As a reminder, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) invested in this and now should have exponential implied valuation gains on what sounded silly at the time.

Don’t forget about iShares KLD 400 Social Index Fund (NYSE: DSI). It will end up being a holder as well and this should increase the trading volume of that ETF whether it is up or down in share prices.

Facebook is ONE OF OUR TOP 17 IPOs FOR 2012

Until an SEC filing hits the tape, we are treating this as a rumor. One of many rumors. Supposedly the Facebook IPO will create over 1,000 new millionaires.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Banking, Brokerage Firms, Compensation, Internet, Media, Rumors, Technology Companies Tagged: DSI, GS, GSVC, MS, MSFT

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (DVA, DNDN, GS, HGG, KEY, MCD, MS, ORCL, RF, SBUX, ZNGA)

Administrator — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:15:28 +0000

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

DaVita, Inc. (NYSE: DVA) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) maintained Neutral with $14.00 target at Zacks; Started as Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Energy Partners Limited (NYSE: EPL) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
hhgregg, Inc. (NYSE: HGG) maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) Cut to Underperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Cut to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer (valuation call).
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.
Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) Raised to Outperform at RBC Capital; Cut to Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) Started as Overweight at Barclays; Started as Overweight at JPMorgan; Started as Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: DNDN, DVA, GS, HGG, KEY, MCD, MS, ORCL, RF, SBUX, ZNGA

Media Digest (1/25/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:35:38 +0000

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has another blow-out quarter driven by iPhone sales. (Reuters)

Japan has its first trade deficit since 1980. (Reuters)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) posts weak earnings on a revenue drop. (Reuters)

International Monetary Fund’s Lagarde says that if Europe combined the ESFS and ESM rescue funds, it would raise confidence in the chance that a bailout of weak economies would work. (Reuters)

A PricewaterhouseCoopers study shows CEOs are concerned about a negative reaction to the situation in Europe. (Reuters)

More cracks are found in the wings of Airbus A380 super jumbos. (Reuters)

Roche offers $5.7 billion to buy gene map firm Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN). (Reuters)

The Baltic Exchange’s measure of the cost of shipping commodities plunges, an indication of a slow economy. (Reuters)

Ericsson’s (NASDAQ: ERIC) shares plunge after it said profit for Q4 dropped sharply. (Reuters)

Facebook will suspend trading in its shares for three days, but does not explain why. (Reuters)

EU executives will block an NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) merger with Deutsche Borse. (Reuters)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to combine information on users, which will make it harder for them to keep private. (WSJ)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) presses to lead the Facebook IPO. (WSJ)

The parent company of British Air may be part of an AMR buyout. (WSJ)

The IMF cuts its forecasts for most nations around the world. (WSJ)

AMD (NYSE: AMD) shows a loss on large write-downs. (WSJ)

The Defense Department to reveal its plans for budget cuts. (WSJ)

The PMI of many parts of Europe rises. (WSJ)

EU finance ministers press Greece and its private creditors to settle differences on refinancing. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) is accused of using the government bailout as the means to make the Chevy Volt. (WSJ)

McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) quarter is driven in part by late-night food sales. (WSJ)

Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group plans to go public to raise $100 million. (WSJ)

Olympus is in talks with Sony (NYSE: SNE) to raise $1.3 billion. (WSJ)

The Avenue Capital Group will take over Quiznos as part of a debt restructure. (WSJ)

Gannett (NYSE: GCI) buys Fantasy Sports Ventures so that it can focus more on sports news. (WSJ)

Daniel Mudd, CEO of Fortress (NYSE: FIG), leaves after charges of securities fraud. (WSJ)

Morgan Stanley makes only a small number of its executives new managing directors. (WSJ)

European banks restructure to improve balance sheets, but some moves may be blocked by regulators worried the changes could hurt the financial system. (NYT)

The European Central Bank faces losses on Greek bonds that could reach 55 billion euro. (NYT)

Oil imports helped drive Japan’s rare trade deficit. (NYT)

The IMF presses the ECB to take larger losses on Greek bonds. (FT)

Citigroup (NYSE: C) may make more spending cuts in its securities group. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AMD, C, ERIC, FIG, GCI, GM, GOOG, ILMN, MCD, MS, NYX, SNE, YHOO