24/7 Wall St. » PCCC

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (MRO, PEET, RIMM, URBN, CHK, GILD, GNW, PCCC, NVLS, PKI, BEAM, EL, WY, THLD, TUDO, ZOLT, STRI, MNKD)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:09:33 +0000

Major indexes reacted positively to this morning’s non-farm payrolls report and the drop in the US unemployment rate from 8.5% to 8.3%. Expectations for the unemployment rate had been no better than flat, and jobs growth of 243,000 was also a big surprise. The report ISM service jobs was also higher than expected this morning, although data on new factory orders was lower than expected. The Nasdaq composite posted an 11-year high today, and yields on US Treasuries also rose as investors headed into equities. Crude oil rose sharply today on the good economic news. WTI crude is up 1.32% at $97.63/barrel and Brent crude is up 2.10% at $114.42/barrel. Gold, as might be expected, dropped -1.64% today to $1,730.50/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 157 points to 12,862.23 (1.23%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 46 points (1.61%) to 2,905.66, and the S&P 500 rose 1.46% or more than 19 points to 1,344.90.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc. (NASDAQ: PEET) raised to ‘outperform’ at Baird; Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) cut to ‘underperform’ at Jefferies; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) raised to ‘buy’ at Janney Capital; and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) started as ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) is up more than 11% at $54.83 after posting a new 52-week high of $54.90 earlier (see our coverage here); Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is up more than 13% at $9.12; PC Connection Inc. (NASDAQ: PCCC) is down nearly -20% at $10.22; Novellus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) is down -0.73% at $48.98, but posted a new 52-week high of $49.92 earlier in the day; PerkinElmer Inc. (NYSE: PKI) is up more than 6% at $26.21; Beam Inc. (NYSE: BEAM) is up 2.4% at $54.28; Estee Lauder Cos. Inc. (NYSE: EL) is down -3.64% at $56.71 (more coverage here); and Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) is up more than 5% at $21.19.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: THLD) is up nearly 115% at $2.77. The pharmaceuticals firm has announced a global development deal with Germany’s Merck.

Tudou Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: TUDO) is up nearly 19% at $16.66. The Chinese online video company has signed a deal with Sina Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) to provide a video platform for Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like social site.

Zoltek Cos. Inc. (NASDAQ: ZOLT) is up nearly 39% at $13.14. The specialty fibers maker posted good earnings number and forecast continued growth in the market for wind turbines which use its carbon fibers in blade construction.

STR Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: STRI) is down nearly -20% at $9.08. The company manufactures materials used in solar PV modules, and lowered its fourth-quarter guidance this morning.

Mannkind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD) is down nearly -13% at $2.15 after posting a new 52-week low of $2.14 earlier. The biotech company has priced its public offering of units containing one share of stock and warrant to purchase another 0.6 shares. More coverage here.

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

11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month Treasury bill auction
3:00 p.m. – Treasury STRIPS

Have a great weekend.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: BEAM, CHK, EL, GILD, GNW, MNKD, MRO, NVLS, PCCC, PEET, PKI, RIMM, STRI, THLD, TUDO, URBN, WY, ZOLT

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BHP, CCL, DLPH, MN, MFRM, MCP, PKD, PCCC, PMT, SHLD, JOE, VRSK)

Administrator — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:27:22 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Wednesday morning. As usual for the week between Christmas and New Years, the volume of analyst calls is light but there may be some great hidden gems during this time.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) Cut to Underperform from an already-cautious Neutral rating and named as the “Bear of the Day” by Zacks Investment Research.
Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) maintained Hold (with Long-Term Buy) but cut estimates at Argus.
Delphi Automotive (NYSE: DLPH) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Manning & Napier, Inc. (NYSE: MN) Started as Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus; Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Mattress Firm Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: MFRM) Started as Buy at UBS.
Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) Lowered estimates and target to $39 from J.P. Morgan.
Parker Drilling Company (NYSE: PKD) named as value stock of the day by Zacks Investment Research.
PC Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCCC) named as the aggressive growth stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE: PMT) Maintained Buy and raised target to $19 at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (late Tuesday) after distressed asset purchase.
Sears Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) Maintained Underperform but cut estimates and cut target to $20.00 at Credit Suisse.
The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) Upgraded to Outperform from Neutral and named as the “Bull of the Day” by Zacks Investment Research.
Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) Maintained as Outperform but target price is only $40.00 (versus $39.95 share price) by Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BHP, CCL, DLPH, JOE, MCP, MFRM, MN, PCCC, PKD, PMT, SHLD, VRSK

52-Week Low Club (AUO, CVI, DIET, ENTR, FDP, GLBL, OIIM, PCCC, SNE, TNC, TRID, ZRAN)

247wallst — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:35:00 +0000

Today’s list of stocks is somewhat void of financial stocks, yet many of these you’ll recognize. Here are today’s 52-week lows:

AU Optronics Corp. (NYSE: AUO) stock rose over prior lows but still looking weak after continued weakness.
CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CVI) yet again.
eDiets.com (NASDAQ: DIET) preliminary earnings showing economics win over the need to lose weight and live healthy.
Entropic Communications (NASDAQ: ENTR) downgraded at Piper Jaffray a week ahead of earnings.
Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (NYSE: FDP) down 14% after earnings miss.
Global Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: GLBL)…….. offshore oil & gas on lows?
O2Micro International Ltd. (NASDAQ: OIIM) down another 8%; now down over 2/3 from highs.
PC Connection Inc. (NASDAQ: PCCC) profit fell 12% and sees revenue flat in Q3; direct PC/IT marketing must not work for all.
Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) dismal earnings got them to 52-week lows.
Tennant Co. (NYSE: TNC) profit drop, weak guidance.. wow, even in cleaning solutions get weak.
Trident Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: TRID) disappointing earnings and at least 2 downgrades; shares down 26% late; now down 80% from highs.
Zoran Corp. (NASDAQ: ZRAN) weak outlook and five downgrades… chips are used in DVD players, home theater systems and other electronics, cited economic weakness and a slowdown in consumer spending. Go figure.

The market may have risen huge today, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t many losers when the economy is still in the tank.

Jon C. Ogg
July 29, 2008