24/7 Wall St. » MTOR

Today’s Market Winners and Losers

Samuel Weigley — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:24:38 +0000

The stock market is down Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.04%, the Nasdaq down 0.04% and the S&P 500 down 0.14%. Today’s winners are a clinical trial management firm that is going private and a semiconductor company reporting better-than-expected earnings. Today’s losers are a biosciences firm that is offering more equity to the public and an auto parts supplier that reported earnings that missed Wall St.’s view.

These are Wednesday’s market winners and losers.

Biggest Winners

Shares of BioClinica Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOC) are up 19.37% to $7.21 on trading volume of 5 million shares. JLL Partners Inc., a private equity firm, will buy the company for $7.25 a share, or about $123 million. Before Wednesday, the 52-week high was $6.59.

Shares of Freescale Semiconductor Ltd. (NYSE: FSL) are up 16.55% to $14.44 on trading volume of 2.9 million shares. Although the company lost $0.15 a share in the fourth quarter, it was better than the $0.18 a share Wall St. analysts polled by Reuters expected. The 52-week high is $17.84.

Biggest Losers

Shares of Ventrus Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: VTUS) are down 20.12% to $2.62 on trading volume of 1.3 million shares. The company has priced 5.8 million shares of common stock at $2.50. The 52-week low is $1.99.

Shares of Meritor Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) are down 14.77% to $4.56 on trading volume of 2.7 million shares. The auto parts supplier announced a first-quarter loss of $0.22 a share, far worse than the $0.04 a share Wall St. analysts expected. The 52-week low is $3.83.

Follow Samuel on Twitter: SWeigley

Filed under: Investing Tagged: BIOC, FSL, MTOR, VTUS

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMGN, AAPL, CAP, DFS, NDRO, ITMN, LLTC, ERIC, M, MTOR, NTRS, OCN, RIMM, SCCO)

Jon C. Ogg — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:27:00 +0000

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

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Raised to Neutral with $57.00 price target objective by Goldman Sachs.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was given an outrageous prediction as a possibility of a 50% correction by Saxo Bank.
CAI International Inc. (NYSE: CAP) named as the value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Enduro Royalty Trust (NYSE: NDRO) Started as Outperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
InterMune Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN) maintained Outperform at Credit Suisse after yesterday’s weakness but the report noted “We would NOT be buyers on weakness right now.” Also on InterMune, Canaccord Genuity reiterated a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $23.00 per share.
Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: LLTC) Raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Meritor, Inc. (NASDAQ: MTOR) Maintained as Underperform and named the Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Ocwen Financial Corp. (NYSE: OCN) Started as Buy with a $16.50 price target objective at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets; maintained Hold at Needham; maintained Neutral at Credit Suisse; Lower target by Deutsche Bank; maintained Hold and lowered target to $15 at Canaccord Genuity.
Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE: SCCO) resumed with an Equal Weight rating and a $35.00 price target objective at Morgan Stanley.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Investing Tagged: AAPL, AMGN, CAP, DFS, ERIC, ITMN, LLTC, M, MTOR, NDRO, NTRS, OCN, RIMM, SCCO

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (HPQ, KO, LEN, PEP, CREE, ANN, CPWM, HNZ, CRMT, CRM, BONT, CF, MOS, FSCI, CLWR, MTOR, MRVL)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:09:39 +0000

Stocks got off on a positive note this morning, but resisted the temptation to climb based on a positive reading of the leading econonmic indicators and higher estimates of US GDP growth in the fourth quarter. Consumer spending appears to be higher than expected and retailers’ inventories are falling which should lead to some re-stocking before the holiday shopping season kicks in with real force. Crude oil prices have fallen about -1.4% today, to below $97.50/barrel. Volume has been reasonably heavy as today brings the expiration of options. Gold prices are up a bit at $1,725.80. See our earlier story on the countries that own the world’s gold.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 25 points to 11,796.23 (0.22%), the NASDAQ fell more than 15 points (-0.60%) to 2,572.50, and the S&P 500 fell 0.04% or about 0.48 points to 1,215.65.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), which was raised to ‘buy’ at Sterne Agee. Other action included The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) started as ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP) started as ‘hold’ at Jefferies; and Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) started as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Ann Inc. (NYSE: ANN) is down more than -6.6%, at $23.63; Cost Plus Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM) is up more than 3%, at $7.88; H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) is down more than -3%, at $51.06; America’s Car Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT) is up more than 10%, at $35.84; Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) is down more than -10.5%, at $112.67; and The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) is down more than -8%, at $2.84, after posting a new 52-week low of $2.70 earlier today.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF) is up about 2.9%, at $152.46. The company’s stock got pounded yesterday on news that the corn prices fell, but are recovering a bit today as investors remember that falling corn prices don’t necessarily mean that less corn will be planted and, thus, less fertilizer will be used.

The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) is up more than 4.6%, at $53.12. Another fertilizer maker that got slammed yesterday and is recovering somewhat today.

Fisher Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: FSCI) is up about 12.7%, at $29.20. The broadcast TV station operator has sold its Fisher Plaza building in Seattle for $160 million in cash to Hines Global REIT, Inc.

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is down nearly -21%, at $1.47. The company is reported to be considering skipping a $237 million debt payment due in two weeks, raising fears that the wireless broadband provider could end up in bankruptcy.

Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) is down about -9.7%, at $5.12, after posting a new 52-week low of $5.11 earlier in the day. Shares lost -17% earlier this week when the company lowered its guidance for 2012 and the stock was downgraded today from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’ at KeyBanc.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) is up more than ;6.8%, at $14.70. The chip maker reported so-so earnings yesterday, but strong positive statements by analysts at FBR and Citi have turned broken eggs into an omelette.

Stay tuned for Monday. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank president Dennis Lockhart is speaking in Brazil. Here’s a list of other noteworthy events (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Chicago Federal Reserve Bank national activity index
10:00 a.m. – National Association of Retailers existing home sales report

Have a great weekend.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Investing Tagged: ANN, BONT, CF, CLWR, CPWM, CREE, CRM, CRMT, FSCI, HNZ, HPQ, KO, LEN, MOS, MRVL, MTOR, PEP

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (A, CRM, AAP, LOW, ALIM, WMT, BZH, COV, DKS, TJX, SKS, MGI, PEIX, NLST, FFN, MTOR)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:04:55 +0000

Stocks opened lower this morning and stayed lower for nearly the entire first half of the day, with buyers most likely waiting to see what would happen with Italian bond rates. The bonds ended the day at a yield slightly above 7%, which was probably not as bad as expected. A solid, if modest, gain took hold in the early afternoon as the October retail sales report turned in a better-than-expected rise. Producer prices were lower, though core inflation was flat, and the Empire State manufacturing index was higher. Crude oil is up nearly 1.5%, at $99.50/barrel, and the euro has given up an early gain against the dollar.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 17 points to 12,096.39 (0.14%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 29 points (1.09%) to 2,686.20, and the S&P 500 rose 0.48% or more than 6 points to 1,257.80.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/ML. Other action included Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) reiterated at ‘neutral’ by Argus; Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE: AAP) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) target raised from $25 to $28 at Argus; Alimera Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM) cut to ‘neutral’ with a $2 target at Credit Suisse.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is down about -2.25%, at $57.57; Beazer USA Homes Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is down about -0.5%, at $2.21; Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) is up nearly 2.5%, at $48.44; Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE: DKS) is up nearly 5.5%, at $41.73; TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) is up about 1% at $61.16; and Saks, Inc. (NYSE: SKS) is up 2.5%, at $10.46. For a more detailed look at today’s retail earnings, see our earlier story.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Moneygram International, Inc. (NYSE: MGI) is up about 616%, at $18.68. The company announced a 1-for-8 reverse stock split this morning, shrinking the number of outstanding shares from 1.3 billion to 162.5 million. The stock closed yesterday at $2.61, and posted a new 52-week high this morning of $19.61.

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is up nearly 30%, at $1.31. There is no direct news from the company, but the price jump is very likely related to an announcement yesterday from Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) that it was building a new plant in Canada that would double its annual production of ethanol.

Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST) is up more than 24%, at $2.92. The company has signed deals with both IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) under which Netlist’s cloud memory product undergo qualification testing for use with the two companies’ servers.

FriendFinder Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFN) is down more than -20%, at $1.50, after posting a new 52-week low of $1.42. The company has been notified of a class-action lawsuit charging that it made false statements related the number of shares of stock subject to the 180-day lock-up period following the company’s IPO last May.

Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) is down more than -17%, at $6.58. The company reported solid earnings today, but cut next year’s revenue guidance by about 10%.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Richmond Federal Reserve Bank president Jeffrey Lacker and Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren are giving speeches tomorrow. Here’s a list of other noteworthy events (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index
9:15 a.m. – Federal Reserve industrial production index
10:00 a.m. – Housing market index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Investing Tagged: A, AAP, ALIM, BZH, COV, CRM, DKS, FFN, LOW, MGI, MTOR, NLST, PEIX, SKS, TJX, WMT