After the first hour of trading, Plexus is up more than 13% at $37.64. Volume has already topped the daily average of 312,000 shares traded. The contract electronics manufacturer beat earnings estimates and has forecast higher revenues for the current quarter.

NetScout is up nearly 12% at $19.03. Volume is already higher than the daily average of 280,000 shares traded. The services delivery management company delivered better-than-expected revenues and earnings but lowered its EPS and revenue estimates for the full fiscal year.

Hanwha SolarOne is up nearly 9% at $2.04. Volume is near the average daily volume of 1.02 million shares traded. The solar panel maker is rising on expectations that prices have stabilized and that shipments will rise.

F5 Networks is up more than 11% at $120.89. Volume is already more than double the daily average of about 1.9 million shares traded. The network software maker reported better-than-expected quarterly revenues and earnings.

Johnson Controls is down more than -8% at $32.62. Volume is already nearly double the daily average of 4.7 million shares traded. The auto parts and control systems supplier posted solid earnings, but lowered forecasts.

Paul Ausick

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) Raised to Outperform at Wedbush.
Chico’s FAS Inc. (NYSE: CHS) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Energy Recovery Inc. (NASDAQ: ERII) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE: PPG) named as Value stock of the Day at Zacks.
Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Randgold Resources Limited (NASDAQ: GOLD) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) Cut to Sector Perform at National Bank.
SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SD) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK) Raised to Buy at Argus.
SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Cut to Underperform at Macquarie.
Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) Cut to Underperform at Macquarie.
Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.
Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL) Started as Outperform with $7 target at Credit Suisse.
VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) Started as Outperform with $15 target at Credit Suisse.
YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) Raised to Hold fro Sell at Stifel Nicolaus.

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

JON C. OGG

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) reiterated Buy with $100 target at Argus.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Maintained Buy but cut target to $90 at Argus.
Gardner Denver, Inc. (NYSE: GDI) named Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
j2 Global Communications (NASDAQ: JCOM) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
McDermott International Inc. (NYSE: MDR) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) Raised to Outperform and $135 target at Credit Suisse.
Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) Cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Cut to Sector Perform at Scotia (late-Thursday).
Spectrum Brands Inc. (NYSE: SPB) Started as Outperform with $35 target at Credit Suisse.
Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) Raised to Outperform at Macquarie.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) Raised to Buy at BNP Paribas.
Virgin Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

The feverish buyback pace we are showing does not even include the many buyback plans of under $200 million.  The companies leading the buyback charge with new announcements so far in February are as follows: Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS); Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX); Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS); The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX); Wellpoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP); Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT); Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA); Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS); Airgas, Inc. (NYSE: ARG); Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC); KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC); Varian Medical System Inc. (NYSE: VAR); ConocoPhilips (NYSE: COP); 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM); Check Point Software Tecnologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP); Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG); Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL); Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI); Gamestop Corporation (NYSE: GME); General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD); Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST); Medco Health Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MHS); Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS); Pfizer, inc. (NYSE: PFE); and Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP).

The tally here in just these plans comes to about $41 billion in new buyback announcements so far just in February, and that is after a whopping $34 billion identified in January.  We did not break these out by date and these are most recent to farthest back in February.

Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS) increased its share repurchase authorization under its existing share repurchase program by $2.6 billion to $3.5 billion.  That added 2.6 billion compares to a market cap of $15.7 billion today.

Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX) declared $1 billion over 2 years against a market cap of $5.5 billion.

Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) added some $250 million to its prior buyback plan and its market cap is $2.6 billion .

The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) allocated some $1.2 billion this year and that compares to a market cap of $19.5 billion.

Wellpoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP) expanded its prior plan by $1.6 billion and that is against a market cap of close to $25 billion.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Raised to Outperform as the Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
CAI International Inc. (NYSE: CAP) Started as Outperform with $24 target at Credit Suisse.
Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW) Raised to Outperform and $39 target at Credit Suisse.
Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Tuesday call).
Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ: ODFL) Raised to Neutral and $32 target at Credit Suisse.
Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS) Cut to Underperform and named the Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Started as Outperform with $40 target at Williams Capital.
Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) Reinstated as Buy at BofA/ML.
Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
YUM! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Reiterated Buy with $58 target at Argus.

You can 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

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) Started as Outperform with $20 target at Credit Suisse.
Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Hexcel Corporation (NYSE: HXL) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Kennametal Inc. (NYSE: KMT) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MMC) Started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OREX) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Petrohawk Energy Corporation (NYSE: HK) Cut to Market Perform at BMO; Raised to Buy at SunTrust.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) Raised to Outperform at BMO.
Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS) Cut to Underperform and called the Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) Raised to Outperform and called the Bull of the Day by Zacks Investment Research.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) Raised to Hold at Citigroup.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

You can 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

Arris Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRS) still has a $1 billion market cap, but this name has been brutally punished over the last month from $12.00 to under $8.50 this morning.  The $8.41 low of the trading day barely broke under the 52-week low as the range had been $8.42 to $13.75.  Avondale cut its rating on Friday a few weeks after it missed earnings and guided lower for quarter ahead.  As it makes equipment for the broadband communications sector, investors have other companies with more solid predictability to choose from.

Art Technology Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARTG) has nothing to do with art but does offer a range of e-commerce software solutions and it is now very close to being worth under $500 million in market cap.  If that occurs, some holders may have to liquidate shares or lighten up on shares and some others may no longer be able to keep the company in their investable universe.  With shares hitting $3.18, that touches the same 52-week low as the range is $3.18 to $4.88.

ATMI Inc. (NASDAQ: ATMI) is in the high-performance materials business to developers in chips, flat-panel makers, and life science sectors.  Despite having beat earnings a month ago, the low of $12.77 today went under the prior 52-week trading range was $12.88 to $22.05.  Despite estimates having been trimmed, growth is still currently projected for 2010 and 2011.

Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC) was in a broader 52-week grouping on Friday, so this IT and business processing outsourcing giant is a repeat offender on the 52-week low list.  Friday wasn’t its first 52-week low in a while either.

FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) is into semiconductor wafer probe card products and its $422 million market cap is not insulating it from the recent slowing of the chip and PC cycle.  The $8.34 trading range this morning broke under the prior 52-week range of $8.45 to $26.08.  This one loses money now and is expected to keep losing money from operations.

Harris & Harris Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TINY) is one without any fresh news, but as things are becoming more cautious in general investors are not really wanting to endorse a venture capital or incubation company involved in nanotechnology and smaller technology despite the upside potentiality that could exist down the road.  With a low of $3.73 today, its prior 52-week range was $3.80 to $6.75.  The company recently gave a net asset value for itself of $4.51, so this is now at a 17% discount to its NAV if you care about such metrics.  It is also now under the 4.25 million shares secondary offering of late 2009 at $4.75 per share.  Unfortunately, it was also unsure on the IPO market and said it did not need as large of a Silicon Valley presence earlier this year.

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) hit $38.61 and is a repeat offender on the 52-week low list after breaking under the old range of $39.33 to $54.75.  Its $91 billion market cap should have the even higher priced 3PAR deal over Dell be nothing more than a line-item.  Unfortunately, investors are still treating the Mark Hurd fiasco as an excuse to keep selling at a time when many of the general spending trends are weakening.

Local.Com Corporation (NASDAQ: LOCM) is generally too small to note, however it is one of the companies that if it ever gets cheap enough is one we think could be acquired.  It is also more of an internet play than a pure technology play.  With more of the larger players focusing on more and more local search, Local.com finds itself in an attractive position even if ad rates may not be what they were before.  Its low of $3.56 this morning went under the old 52-week trading range of $3.61 to $8.85.

Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: PLXS) is a contract manufacturer for OEMs and other technology companies.  The company recently lost a little over a week of production from a fire at a Romanian facility this month.  The drop to $30.00 this morning has seen some recovery but the shares are still well under the $23.80 to $39.66 prior range.

Power Integrations, Inc. (NASDAQ: POWI) makes high-voltage and analog integrated circuits for energy-efficient power conversion.  Even if the economy slows further, with an $820 million market cap it always could fall into that category of companies still attractive to a larger buyer.  Growth is still expected here in 2010 and 2011 in both revenues and earnings, and it is now close to an at-market multiple of earnings.  The low of $29.36 took out the lows of its prior range of $29.79 to $46.30 over the last year.

Premiere Global Services, Inc. (NYSE: PGI) is another surprise to see hitting 52-week lows.  The communications player is still often classified wrongly by many investors despite its changes in recent years and we still continue to think of it as an attractive roll-up candidate in the ongoing consolidation phase of tech and communications.  Shares have recovered off the low of $5.33 today, but that took out the old 52-week range of $5.35 to $10.64.

There are just about always new stocks hitting 52-week lows despite what the broad tape indicates on any given day.  When you see many names in related sectors hitting 52-week lows, it becomes impossible to not recognize a trend.  Many of these companies are reaching levels that the valuation is becoming very attractive.  Unfortunately, technology buyers generally like to buy growth over attractive valuations.  There is also that ongoing belief that companies hitting 52-week lows are doomed to keep hitting 52-week lows.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Avis Budget (CAR) Raised to Equal Weight at Barclays.
Bank of America (BAC) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Blue Coat Systems (BCSI) Raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Clarient (CLRT) Started as Outperform at Baird.
IHS (IHS) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
Mastercard (MA) Started as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
Plexus (PLXS) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Quantum Fuel (QTWW) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Schlumberger (SLB) Started as Buy at Societe Generale.

JON C. OGG

• 51jobs (JOBS) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• AU Optronics (AUO) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
• Aventine Renewable (AVR) Cut to Underweight at Lehman.
• Ceradyne (CRDN) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
• Clorox (CLX) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
• Goodrich (GR) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
• Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Plexus (PLXS) Cut to Neutral  at Baird.
• VeraSun Energy (VSE) Cut to Underweight at Lehman.

Jon C. Ogg
July 28, 2007

Downgrades by Deutsche, JPMorgan, and Thomas Weisel have not softened the blow.  In mid-day trading, the stock is down by $1.77 per share, over 15%, to $9.61 compared to a high of $25.80.  This also has the other electronic manufacturing service players faring not so well today, although it interestingly enough isn’t hurting them nearly as much as Jabil took heat.  You will see with notes below:

• Benchmark Electronics (NYSE: BHE) is also down today by over 5% to $18.49. The 52-week range is $14.90 to $27.01.
• Celestica Inc. (NYSE: CLS) is down almost 6% today to $6.40, although only $1.00 away from its 52-week high of $7.35.
• Flextronics International (NASDAQ: FLEX) is down by $0.45, 4%, to $9.71 today, only $0.65 from its 52 week low reached January 23. The 52-week high sits at a far $13.60.
• Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: PLXS) isn’t down by as much compared to the others. The stock is down only 2% today to $27.53, still very far from its 52-week low and high of $16.62 to $32.47, respectively.
• Sanmina-SCI Corp. (NASDAQ: SANM) also down by 5% today to $1.71. The 52-week range is $1.15 to $3.88.

What is interesting about these is that Jabil has been by far the worst one of the group by far, although Sanmina-SCI has been in a turnaround that has taken longer than most should be happy with.  Many of the others have been down and out as well as an overall spending climate is probably slowing more orders.  The good news is that many are diversifying away from being pure technology outsourced manufacturers to more broad-based outsourced manufacturing companies.  The bad news is that the slowdown isn’t just limited to tech.  If Jabil’s trend is systematic rather than symptomatic, then the others in the group  might see more pressure after today.

Jon C. Ogg
March 26, 2008

Jon Ogg produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter and can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers