24/7 Wall St. » PLCM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMSC, CPHD, EGO, GME, HBAN, JCP, M, NVDA, PLCM, SAP, SVU, UAL, YELP)

Administrator — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:17:35 +0000

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

American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC) Started as Buy at Maxim Group.

Cepheid, Inc. (NASDAQ: CPHD) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Eldorado Gold Corporation (NYSE: EGO) Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

GameStop Corporation (NYSE: GME) Cut to Hold at Needham.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) Started as Neutral at UBS.

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) Started as Neutral at UBS.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Started as Outperform at RBC.

Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) Cut estimates but maintained Buy at Argus.

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Cut to Hold at ThinkEquity.

SuperValu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) maintained Neutral but cut target to $6 at Credit Suisse.

United Continental (NYSE: UAL) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Started as Neutral at Citigroup; Started as Perform at Oppenheimer; Started as Hold at Jefferies.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AMSC, CPHD, EGO, GME, HBAN, JCP, M, NVDA, PLCM, SAP, SVU, UAL, Yelp

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GOOG, CMA, AIG, DE, PNRA, ANGO, HWD, PSMT, STZ, LEDS, WDFC, PLCM, ALTH, WOLF, NDAQ, RT)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:09:11 +0000

Markets opened lower this morning and there was no news sufficient to unleash significant buying. The report on new claims for unemployment benefits came in about as expected (our coverage here), and investors are waiting for tomorrow’s official unemployment report, which is expected to be flat at 8.3%. The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.38% at 80.080. Commodities were mostly higher, with lumber and wool posting the largest gains. WTI crude oil closed up 1.8% at $103.31/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 0.90% at $123.44/barrel. Gold settled up 1% today, at $1,630.10/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 14 points to 13,060.14 (-0.11%), the NASDAQ rose more than 12 points (0.40%) to 3,080.50, and the S&P 500 fell -0.06% or less than 1 point to 1,398.08.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a target price of $730 at Argus; Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a price target of $40 at BofA/ML; Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a price target of $104 at BofA/ML; and Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) started as ‘outperform’ with a $190 target price 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: AngioDynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGO) is down -3.6% at $11.82 after posting a new 52-week low of $11.73 earlier today; Harry Winston Diamond Corp. (NYSE: HWD) is down -3.9% at $13.89; PriceSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT) is down -4.7% at $74.41; Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) is down -11.8% at $21.78; Pier One Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) is up 3.1% at $18.83 (more coverage here); Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) is down -4.5% at $33.34; and SemiLEDS Corp. (NASDAQ: LEDS) is down -9.9% at $3.56 (more coverage here). After markets close today we get earnings from WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ: WDFC).

Next week marks the start of a brand new earnings season. See our preview here.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) is down more than -20% at $14.51 after posting a new 52-week low of $14.41 earlier today. The videoconferencing/enterprise phone maker cut its first quarter outlook today. More coverage here.

Allos Therapeutics Inc.(NASDAQ: ALTH) is up nearly 27% at $1.82. The drug maker is being acquired. More coverage here.

Great Wolf Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: WOLF) is up 15.8%% at $6.60 after posting a new 52-week high of $6.65 earlier today. The company could be the prize in a bidding war between two private equity firms. More coverage here.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is up 1.2% at $25.53. The company gets the stock listing for Facebook. More coverage here.

Ruby Tuesday Inc. (NYSE: RT) is down -18.2% at $7.27. The restaurant operator missed earnings expectations this morning.

Stay tuned for Friday. US markets are closed for Good Friday, but we have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll and unemployment rate
3:00 p.m. – Consumer credit

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AIG, ALTH, ANGO, CMA, DE, GOOG, HWD, LEDS, NDAQ, PLCM, PNRA, PSMT, RT, STZ, WDFC, WOLF

Polycom Issues Severe Sales & Earnings Warning (PLCM)

Administrator — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:48:44 +0000

Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) is out lowering its expectations on sales during the first quarter. The videoconferencing and enterprise telephone maker cut its outlook for revenues and profits that were well under expectations. The company cited conditions being much weaker than expected throughout Asia and also in North America.

Polycom’s new range is earnings for $0.21 to $0.23 in earnings per share (non-GAAP) and sales of about $364 million to $370 million. Thomson Reuters had estimates of $0.30 EPS on sales of about $399.7 million. When the company issued guidance early in 2012 the company forecast that sales would be down about 2% or roughly $399 million.

This is about 8% under plan, which is a serious miss when you consider that the first quarter has now formally ended. This one cannot just be blamed on currency woes. To show just how bad this is, Polycom shares are indicated down about 16% at $15.25 in the pre-market trading and its 52-week low is $14.45. Shares were north of $32 last summer before the market slide went into overdrive.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Earnings, Earnings Warning, Telecom Tagged: PLCM

Top After-Hours Stocks on the Move (IDCC, NVDA, PLCM, TXN, VMW, EMC, WDC, ZION)

Administrator — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:27:36 +0000

We have several stocks on the move in Monday’s after-hours trading session. Most of these are on earnings as follows: InterDigital Inc. (NASDAQ: IDCC); NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA); Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM); Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN); VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW); EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC); Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC); and Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION). We have given a news summary and the current moves on each.

InterDigital Inc. (NASDAQ: IDCC) was down 3.3% today as is, but now the company is getting slashed and burned on news of what many had considered an obvious coming outcome. The company ended its strategic review process and it did not find a buyer for its deep patent collection. Now it is going to proceed on its own licensing or selling patents. Shares are down over 16% at $37.10 in the after-hours against a 52-week range of $34.61 to $82.50.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) was down 3% after the Texas Instruments earnings but now shares are down “only” about 0.6% after closing up 2.7% on the day.

Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) has a history of big hits and bad misses, but tonight’s reaction has shares on the up and up. After beating earnings handily, Polycom shares are up 9.6% at $20.29 and that is after closing up almost 4% today.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) was down initially due to headlines showing GAAP earnings above estimates but the chip giant is now up over 3% ay $34.25 in the after-hours session against a 52-week range of $24.34 to $36.71.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) closed down 2.4% at $86.00 today but shares are up 5% at $90.50 on almost 1 million shares after just over an hour after the 4PM closing bell. The virtualization leader said sales rose 27% to $1.06 billion and it sees revenues of $1.015 billion to $1.04 billion for the first quarter of 2012. These are being taken as above plan. The news has the (former) parent company of EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) up about 1.8% at $23.87 on over 2 million after-hours shares.

Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) may have seen earnings drop almost 36%, but the update is proving to be above plan and it claims to be making much more progress in Thai floods. Shares closed up marginally today and the after-hours reaction has shares up 4.4% at $36.25 versus a 52-week range of $22.64 to $41.87.

Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION) posted earnings light at $0.30 versus estimates of $0.33. Its book value per common shares grew to $25.02 from $24.78 one quarter earlier and shares are down 3% at $17.98 in the after-hours.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, After-Hours Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: EMC, IDCC, NVDA, PLCM, TXN, VMW, WDC, ZION

24/7 Closing Bell (BIDU, MON, T, CRUS, PLCM, PM, NOK, SCSS, RVBD, AMLN, CLWR, BWLD)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:17:37 +0000

The market sure didn’t feel too great through much of the warning, but the day turned out a lot better than it was looking. Weekly jobless claims remained stubbornly above the 400,000 mark. The big surprise was a better-than-expected Philly Fed manufacturing report today and then also came the news that Greece somehow managed to pass another round of austerity measures. And to top it off, the Grim Reaper caught up with Moammar Gadhafi today and Libya can now work to build into whatever direction the new leadership wants to go in.The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly more than 37 points to 11,541.78, the NASDAQ fell more than 5 points (-0.21%) to 2598.62, and the S&P 500 rose 0.45% or more than 5 points to1,215.38.

We had many key analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including calls in shares of Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) and Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON). The retail sector did not follow the news, due to some fears that the holiday season is not going to be as strong as many expected. Speaking of analyst calls and projections, there are still some extremely lofty upside price targets out there in the automotive sector.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: (only show late-day percent change and price): AT&T (NYSE: T) down about -0.1% at $28.97, Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) down nearly -17% at $14.21; Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) down -25%, at $16.46; Phillip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) up more than 4%, at $68.77; Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) up more than 6%, at $6.50; and Select Comfort Corporation (NASDAQ: SCSS) up more than 20%, at $19.38.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD jumped more than 9.5%, to $24.69, following a better than expected earnings report after markets closed last night.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN) rose nearly 13%, to $11.56, after getting approval for wider use of its diabetes drug and posting a smaller than expected third-quarter loss.

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) shares are up nearly 13% as well, to $1.57, probably as a result of indications that its spectrum licenses could get some competitive bids.

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) is up nearly 7%, to $62.06, after reporting a 33% rise in income for the third quarter.

After a busy week of economic data, there are no major market moving economic reports due Friday morning. Look for Fed-head speeches on Friday from Kocherlakota, Fisher, and Yellen throughout the day. Most importantly, watch for more news out of Europe on just how much the Europeans are going to throw into their European Financial Stability Fund (Europe’s mini-me version of the TARP).

Paul Ausick

Filed under: General Tagged: AMLN, BIDU, BWLD, CLWR, CRUS, MON, NOK, PLCM, PM, RVBD, SCSS, T

Top Active Trader Alert Stocks (ERIC, FITB, HBAN, PLCM)

Mike Sauter — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:50:49 +0000

Active traders and day traders have many stocks to choose from this Thursday morning. We are tracking news and moves in shares of Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN), and Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM).

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) is up more than 6% before market open to $10.27, relative to a 52-week range of $8.83 – $15.44.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) is up 5.3% premarket to $11.25, relative to a 52-week range of $9.13 – $15.75.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN) is down 3.8% premarket to $5.02, relative to a 52-week range of $4.46 – $7.70.

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) is down 29% premarket to $15.96, relative to a 52-week range of $14.02 – $34.30.

Filed under: General Tagged: ERIC, FITB, HBAN, PLCM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BIDU, CYOU, CLB, CSX, EBAY, HLF, M, MON, PVH, PLCM, REG, WDC, WU, WYNN, YOKU)

Administrator — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:28:15 +0000

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

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Changyou.com Limited (NASDAQ: CYOU) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE: CLB) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Maintained long-term outperform and near-term hold at Zacks; reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Herbalife (HLF: NYSE) Reiterated Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH) named value stock of the day at Zacks.
Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray; Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Regency Centers Corporation (NYSE: REG) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Western Union (NYSE: WU) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Youku.com Inc. (NYSE: YOKU) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BIDU, CLB, CSX, CYOU, EBAY, HLF, M, MON, PLCM, PVH, REG, WDC, WU, WYNN, YOKU

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CVX, CMG, COST, DE, XOM, DFS, LEAP, NWS.A, NEM, ORCL, RL, PLCM, PCG, RYAAY, SNE, WAG)

Administrator — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:23:05 +0000

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

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair; Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse; Raised target to $90 at Argus.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Maintained Neutral but cut estimates and target to $87 at Credit Suisse.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) maintained Neutral but target to $4 from $10 at Credit Suisse.
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS.A) Removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Outperform on Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) Raised to Buy at Argus.
PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ: RYAAY) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) Cut to UNderperform at BofA/ML.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: CMG, COST, CVX, DE, DFS, LEAP, NEM, NWS-A, ORCL, PCG, PLCM, RL, RYAAY, SNE, WAG, XOM

RADVision: Not Expecting the Expected (RVSN, CSCO, PLCM, BBBB, PGI, MSFT)

Administrator — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:25:33 +0000

RADVision Ltd. (NASDAQ: RVSN) is going to get hit today after lowering guidance. This may have been worse than many expected, but RADVision is now in a spot that it is going to likely be harder and harder to live up to expectations. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and its acquisition of Tandberg was arguably the start of things heading south, but new offerings from Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), and now the acquisition of Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) from a private equity financial buyer are only going to add pressure. Throw in the new iMeet from Premiere Global Services, Inc. (NYSE: PGI), Skype, and offerings from or through Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and it becomes harder to expect RADVision to keep delivering.

The news this morning is bleak and reflects many of these issues. RADVision cut its revenues to $18.0 to $18.5 million for the second quarter, and that led it to cut earnings guidance to -$0.41 to -$0.44 in GAP EPS and -$0.27 to -$0.30 on a non-GAAP EPS basis.

Prior guidance was $22 million in revenues; -$0.17 GAAP EPS; and -$0.12 non-GAAP EPS. Thomson Reuters had estimates of -$0.12 EPS and $21.79 million in revenues, but this was from only two analysts.

The lower guidance is due called “primarily the result of lower than anticipated revenues in the company’s Video Business Unit (VBU),” and that will now be about $14.5 to $15.0 million. As noted in Cicso’s ties… “This includes revenues from Cisco of approximately $1.5 million, which is in line with forecast but substantially below the $9.5 million of revenues from Cisco in the second quarter of 2010. Despite its revised forecast, the Company’s core VBU revenues are expected to increase by more than 30% from the second quarter of 2010, after excluding revenues from Cisco from both periods.”

The revenues from RADVision’s Technology Business Unit also being lowered and now expected to approximate $3.5 million.

RADVision is a thin volume stock. Shares are indicated down over 5% at $7.41 this morning versus a 52-week range of $6.07 to $12.00. This is an example of what can happen when smaller companies lose their growth partners.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Business Services, Earnings Warning, Internet Tagged: BBBB, CSCO, MSFT, PGI, PLCM, RVSN

The Serious Return of Stock Splits (CLH, OKS, OKE, ALXN, CERN, PLCM, CWT, OII, CSX, SIX, IIVI, FLO, CHD, PEIXD, C, AAPL, GOOG, NFLX)

Administrator — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:36:31 +0000

No money was injured while filming

Stock splits usually bring back memories of the old tech bubble and dot-com bubble. Fundamentally, nothing changes at the company other than that smaller investors get to invest in shares at a lower nominal share price. Now that the markets have recovered so much, with the recent weeks as an exception, we are seeing many companies with higher share prices starting to announce stock splits. There may even be more current stock splits pending and freshly affected than we can remember seeing in years.

We have seen major stock split announcements from the likes of many companies. Some of the larger splits are from the following: Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH); Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS); Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN); Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN); Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM); California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT); Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE: OII); CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX); Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: SIX); II-VI Inc. (NASDAQ: IIVI); Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO); and Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD). We even have a fresh reverse stock split from Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIXD). You might think it learned from Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) but Pacific Ethanol did not have a choice if it wanted to keep its listing.

There is also no way to have an article about stock splits without pondering when or what it would take for great companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) or Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) to consider splitting their shares.

The road to stock splits has really become more common. We have not seen this many pending splits in years. These are not presented in any significant order.

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH) announced a two-for-one stock split in the form of a dividend payable on July 26, 2011 to holders of record at the close on July 6, 2011.

On Tuesday came word from Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS) that it planned to conduct a two-for-one split of its common and class-B units. This was its first split and you rarely see “units” split. It is 43% owned by its general partner, Oneok Inc. (NYSE: OKE).

In May came a biotech stock split from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN). It previously approved a 2-for-1 stock split and shares began trading on a split-adjusted basis on May 23. Shares went from almost $100 to under $50…

Also in May came word from Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN) that its board of directors had approved a 2-for-1 stock split in the form of a dividend for holders of record on June 15, 2011. The distribution date for the new shares is June 24, 2011.

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) announced last month after its pact with H-P that its board of directors approved a two-for-one split of its stock in the form of a stock dividend for holders of record at the close of business on June 15.

Filed under: Dividend, Shareholder Issues, Stock Splits Tagged: AAPL, ALXN, C, CERN, CHD, CLH, CSX, CWT, FLO, GOOG, IIVI, NFLX, OII, OKE, OKS, PEIXD, PLCM, SIX