24/7 Wall St. » RNWK

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GD, VALE, GMCR, GLW, CHK, ARG, ACAT, T, BMY, CAT, CY, LMT, MKC, MWW, POT, RTN, VIST, RNWK, MNTA, NFLX, EFSC)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:08:29 +0000

All three major US indexes opened higher this morning, but enthusiasm tapered off quickly and steadily, if not sharply. A drop in the number of new home sales and a smaller-than-expected rise in the leading economic indicators index. Hope that talks between Greece and its creditors would yield an agreement also pushed markets higher. But the weak housing report and no further news from Europe kept share prices moving down. WTI crude gained 0.35% at $99.75/barrel and Brent crude is up 1.02% at $110.93. Gold is higher by 1.27% at $1,724.60.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 22 points to 12,734.63 (-0.18%), the NASDAQ fell about 13 points (-0.46%) to 2,805.28, and the S&P 500 fell -0.57% or nearly 7 points to 1,318.45.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) cut to ‘perform’ at Oppenheimer; Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) started as ‘perform’ at Williams Capital; Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) cut to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley; and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) cut to ‘underweight’ at JPMorgan.

Earnings reports since markets closed on last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) is down -3.66% at $77.29; Arctic Cat Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAT) is up more than 19% at $28.40 after posting a new 52-week high of $29.20 earlier today; AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is down -2.65% at $29.41; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is down -0.92% at $32.40; Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is up 1.95% at $111.18; Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY) is down more than -11% at $17.03; Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) is up 0.95% at $82.51; McCormick & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MKC) is up 0.90% at $78.55; Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) is down more than -20% at $7.18; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) is up 1.61% at $45.96; and Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) is up 0.34% at $49.88.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

VIST Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: VIST) is up more than 62% at $11.20 after posting a new 52-week high of $11.50 earlier today. The bank holding company has agreed to be acquired by Tompkins Financial Corp. (AMEX: TMP) in an all-stock deal at an 86% premium to last night’s closing price, or about $85 million.

RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) is up more than 35% at $9.98. The digital media company has sold a video codec and a number of patents to Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) for $120 million.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) is down nearly -21% at $15.13. The biotechnology company lost its bid for an injunction against certain competitors.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is up about 22% at $116.01. The digital video streaming and rental company reported a better-than-expected number of new subscribers after markets closed last night.

Enterprise Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ: EFSC) is down more than -19% at $12.51. The bank holding company will restate earnings for 2010 and the first three quarters of 2011 and expects to dilute 2010 earnings by half as a result.

Stay tuned for Friday. New York Fed President William Dudley is giving a speech in the morning. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – US GDP report
9:55 a.m. – Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: ACAT, ARG, BMY, CAT, CHK, CY, EFSC, GD, GLW, GMCR, LMT, MKC, MNTA, MWW, NFLX, POT, RNWK, RTN, T, VALE, VIST

Morning Movers (VIST, RNWK, NFLX, EFSC, MWW)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:34:06 +0000

There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include VIST Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: VIST), RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK), Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), Enterprise Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ: EFSC), and Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW)

After the first hour of trading, VIST is up more than 65% at $11.40, a new 52-week high. Volume is nearly 4x the daily average of about 8,300 shares traded. The bank holding company has agreed to be acquired by Tompkins Financial Corp. (AMEX: TMP) in an all-stock deal at an 86% premium to last night’s closing price, or about $85 million.

RealNetworks is up more than 33% at $9.80. Volume is already about 5x the daily average of about 116,000 shares traded. The digital media company has sold a video codec and a number of patents to Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) for $120 million.

Netflix is up more than 22% at $116.35. Volume is already greater than average daily of 8.9 million shares traded. The digital video streaming and rental company reported a better-than-expected number of new subscribers after markets closed last night.

Enterprise Financial Services is down nearly -16% at $13.00. Volume is already equal to the daily average of about 47,000 shares traded. The bank holding company will restate earnings for 2010 and the first three quarters of 2011 and expects to dilute 2010 earnings by half as a result.

Monster Worldwide is down more than -16% at $7.50. Volume is already about 75% of the daily average of 935,000 shares traded. The online employment company missed estimates and has announced that it will cut 400 jobs.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Roundups, The Day Tagged: EFSC, MWW, NFLX, RNWK, VIST

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AIG, BKU, SCHW, CHK, CTXS, DPS, GES, HUM, RNWK, RF, TWI, VMW, YNDX)

Administrator — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:29:08 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Friday (the 13th) morning.

American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) Started as Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE: BKU) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Reiterated Sell and lowered estimates at Argus.
Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.
Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (NYSE: DPS) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES) Cut to Neutral as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Humana, Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) maintained Speculative Buy with $15 price target at Canaccord Genuity.
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Titan International, Inc. (NYSE: TWI) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Cut to Sell with an $80 price target at Citigroup.
Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) Started as Underweight at HSBC.

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: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIG, BKU, CHK, CTXS, DPS, GES, HUM, RF, RNWK, SCHW, TWI, VMW, YNDX

Pandora Coming Public in IPO, What You Need to Know (SIRI, AAPL, RNWK, AMZN, MSFT)

Administrator — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 14:40:39 +0000

Pandora Media, Inc. will likely soon be a public company. The leader in internet radio filed its preliminary IPO paperwork on Friday evening. Terms such as a share count and a price range were not set, but the offering is listed as being “up to $100 million in common stock.” The company has not selected an exchange to list or a stock ticker. The initial joint book-runners in the filing are Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, with co-managers listed as William Blair and Stifel Nicolaus Weisel.

Pandora offers a customized and personalized listening experience based solely upon your artist choices along with The Music Genome Experience and an algorithm geared around the music preferences of each listener to adapt play lists in real-time.

The latest statistics are pretty amazing. As of the end of January 2011, it has more than 80 million registered users and claims a market share that is over 50% share of all internet radio listening time among the top 20 stations and networks in the United States. The Pandora service launched in 2005 and its listeners have created more than 1.4 billion stations. The claim from the company is in excess of 800,000 songs from over 80,000 artists and that is supposed to be the largest analysis of music in the world.

Pandora is no longer just a streaming internet radio for your PC. The service is available through the streaming service to traditional computers, but it also has developed Pandora applications for smartphones (Android, Blackberry, and iPhone) and has partnered with the makers of over 200 consumer electronics devices. The device makers include Alpine, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung and Sony; and it has relationships with Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) , Mercedes-Benz and MINI (BMW Group) and their suppliers to integrate the Pandora service into current and future automotive sound systems. Pandora may not have the same content but it is going after Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI).

There is more competition here. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a competitor as well with its iTunes music store. RealNetworks, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) also competes with its Rhapsody, a subscription and advertising-supported music service at Rhapsody.com. Ultimately, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) for its digital songs and CD sales and even Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) for its Zune system are all competing for a part of the same music-spend dollars.

Fiscal-2010 revenue was $55.2 million and $90.1 million in fiscal 2010 and the nine months ended October 31, 2010, respectively. Its net loss was $16.8 million and $0.3 million in fiscal 2010 and the nine months ended October 31, 2010, respectively. Pandora has to obtain licenses and then pay royalties to copyright owners of both musical compositions and sound recordings, and the royalty expenses from the sound recordings make up the highest expense in the business.

There is still a huge break in advertising dollars versus subscription dollars. In the total revenues picture of $37.689 million for the quarter-end of October 31, 2010, its ad revenues were $32.683 million versus paid subscription revenues of $5.006 million. Pandora had some $40.8 million in cash and cash equivalents as of October 31, 2010.

Some of the venture and private backers include Entities affiliates of Crosslink Capital, Walden Venture Capital, Greylock Partners, Labrador Ventures V-B, The Hearst Corporation, GGV Capital, and more. As of January 31, its outstanding shares are as follows:
151,805,230 shares of common stock held by approximately 137 stockholders;
403,298 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of warrants at a weighted average exercise price of approximately $0.71 per share; and
33,407,775 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options.

There is a question here that is a viable question. Will a larger media player or a larger company acquire Pandora? This was not one of our own selections in the Top 17 IPOs to Watch in 2011, but it easily could have been one.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Consumer Electronics, Entertainment, IPOs, Media, Private Equity, Software Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, MSFT, RNWK, SIRI

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AKAM, DHR, FLEX, FTO, GE, GOOG, HES, RNWK, RVBD, ROC, SVU, SYNA, UNH, VLO, WYNN)

Administrator — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:23:18 +0000

These are some of this Friday’s top analyst calls with upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) Started as Neutral at Collins Stewart.
Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Thursday call).
Flextronics International (NASDAQ: FLEX) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $10 at Credit Suisse.
Frontier Oil Corp. (NYSE: FTO) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Reiterated Neutral and $21 target BofA/ML; Positive comments from Goldman Sachs.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Raised target to $800 at Jefferies; Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $750 at Credit Suisse; Reiterated Buy and raised target to $750 at BofA/ML.
Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Thursday call).
Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Rockwell Collins. Inc. (NYSE: ROC) Raised to Outperform and $85 target at Credit Suisse.
SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) listed as Bear of the Day and maintained Underperform at Zacks Equity Research.
Synaptics Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNA) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Underperform at Needham.
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $50 at Credit Suisse.
Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Raised to Outperform and listed as Bull of the Day at Zacks Equity Research.

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

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AKAM, DHR, FLEX, FTO, GE, GOOG, HES, RNWK, ROC, RVBD, SVU, SYNA, UNH, VLO, WYNN

The Promise Of Online Video Still Unfulfilled

247wallst — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:57:51 +0000

The day on which the promise of online video is fulfilled has still not come. New comScore data shows that YouTube, which has still not found a business model, dominated the use of internet-based video with 2 billion video viewing sessions. The average time spent on the site by users in October was 272 minutes. No site was even close by either measure. That means that the amateur content on YouTube is still much more attractive to people than the premium content shown at other sites.

Hulu, the creme de la creme of high-end video content only had 182 million viewing sessions, which puts it 10th on the list well below not only YouTube but Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) Facebook, and AOL (NYSE: AOL). Facebook has begun to show itself as a force in multimedia and its 5th place spot on the comScore list shows that its power has begun to go well beyond typical social network features.

There was silver lining for Hulu. Of the 4.7 billion video ads viewed online in October, 1.1 billion were viewed on Hulu. The figure is not sufficient to create profits, according to Hulu management. It has set up a premium subscription service, which has not been successful based on Hulu’s ability to keep the price for the service high. Hulu may be planning an IPO for next year, but that may not happen given current trends.

The promise of profits made from online video go back a full decade when video players from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Real Networks (NASDAQ: RNWK) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) controlled the market. As broadband adoption improved and Adobe added high end video software from On2 (now owned by Google), the odds for success in the sector should have improved. But, the really is that it did not, which brings the premium video experiment to today. It is still not much of a business.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Internet Tagged: AAPL, AOL, GOOG, RNWK, YHOO

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AKS, COMV, DCI, EPR, GOOG, GBX, RNWK, RIMM, RS, SOHU, SBUX, SYMC, TLEO)

Administrator — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:56:50 +0000

These are some of this Tuesday’s key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Comverge, Inc. (NASDAQ: COMV) Cut to Neutral at Roth Capital.
Donaldson Co. (NYSE: DCI) Removed from US Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Entertainment Properties (NYSE: EPR) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late yesterday call).
Greenbrier Companies (NYSE: GBX) Started At Outperform By Wells Fargo
RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late yesterday call).
Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Hold at Kaufman Bros.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE: RS) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Sohu.com (NASDAQ: SOHU) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) Maintained Buy but target Raised to $38 at Argus.
Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) Raised to Buy at ISI Group.
Taleo Corp. (NASDAQ: TLEO) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

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

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: DCI, EPR, GBX, GOOG, RIMM, RNWK, RS, TLEO

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CATM, CLNE, ENOC, GFI, HAL, HUM, FSLR, WFR, MYL, POT, SINA, RNWK, WDC)

Administrator — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:42:58 +0000

These are some of this Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades seen from Wall Street research calls:

Cardtronics Inc. (NASDAQ: CATM) Started as Neutral at UBS.
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) Cut to Underperform at National Bank.
EnerNOC, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENOC) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI) Started as Sell at Citigroup.
Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Raised to Market Perform at BMO.
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $175 at Auriga.
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) Cut to Sell at Wunderlich.
Mylan, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Raised to Buy and $124 target at Citigroup; target raised to $120 at UBS.
Sina Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) Started as Outperform at Macquarie.
RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) Cut to Underperform at First Global.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: CATM, CLNE, ENOC, FSLR, GFI, HAL, HUM, MYL, POT, RNWK, SINA, WDC, WFR

Media Digest 2/10/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:50:22 +0000

Reuters: Honda (NYSE:HMC) expanded its recall by 440,000 as more Toyota (NYSE:TM) models were probed.

Reuters: ArcelorMittal sees a slow improvement in steel production in Q1.

Reuters: IMF aid for Greece may be unavoidable.

Reuters: BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) beat numbers and was cautious about China.

Reuters: Investors are questioning the size of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) pay packages.

Reuters: Disney (NYSE:DIS) numbers beat forecasts.

Reuters: Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) expanded Gmail to compete with Facebook and MySpace.

Reuters: Paulson and Buffett said the US needs tough medicine to recover.

WSJ: Germany and other EU nations may offer loan guarantees for Greece.

WSJ: AMR (NYSE:AMR) is ramping up its service to challenge Delta (NYSE:DAL).

WSJ: Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) profits jumped.

WSJ: Steel and mining companies are expected to be helped by rising metal costs.

WSJ: Large European airlines are trying to tap export credits for loan guarantees.

WSJ: GM set a new turnaround plan for Opel.

WSJ: Viacom (NYSE:VIA) and RealNetworks (NASDAQ:RNWK) will spin off the Rhapsody music service.

WSJ: Increases in dividends are lagging the recovery.

WSJ: Coke’s (NYSE:KO) growth rests on its overseas business.

NYT: The Fed will reveal its strategy in increase interest rates.

NYT: China exports rose 21% in January as imports were up 86%.

NYT: Opel will invest $15 billion to restructure the company.

FT: S&P warned Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) on their credit ratings.

FT: The head of Disney (NYSE:DIS) talked about the potential of the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad.

Bloomberg: Default swaps are signaling a rebound for GMAC.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AMR, BAC, BHP, BIDU, C, DAL, DIS, GOOG, HMC, KO, MS, RNWK, TM, VIA

Media Digest 9/11/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:54:26 +0000

Reuters: International bank regulators are looking at Brazil as a model.

Reuters: John Mack will step down at Morgan Stanley’s (MS) CEO.

Reuters: The SEC vowed reforms after its report on Madoff revealed mistakes.

Reuters: GM will sell control of Opel to Magna.

Reuters: Geithner said the need for government support of markets is ending.

Reuters: Studies show that one dose of H1N1 vaccine may be enough.

Reuters: Chinese economic data topped forecasts and officials said its stimulus program will stay in place.

Reuters: Endowments at Harvard and Yale suffered heavy losses.

Reuters: Bank of America (BAC) wants to end a loss-sharing agreement with the government.

Reuters: BHP Billiton (BHP) is bullish on it potash push.

Reuters: Motorola (MOT) released a new phone powered by Google (GOOG) software.

Reuters: Barrick Gold says it expects to raise $4 billion from a share offer.

WSJ: UBS (UBS) e-mails show worries about CDOs.

WSJ: The recession has increased poverty and cut family incomes.

WSJ: Bloomberg is considering a bid for BusinessWeek (MGP).

WSJ: P & G (PG) will cut prices on many of its products.

WSJ: Google is fighting criticism of its deal with book publishers.

WSJ: Expiring tax credits are helping home sales.

WSJ: Dividend payments and stock buybacks may not return for years.

WSJ: US debt sales continue to do well.

WSJ: The question is emerging about what Vivendi will do with its 20% interest in the NBCU unit of GE (GE).

WSJ: Apple (AAPL) approved the use of the RealNetworks (RNWK) music service for the iPhone.

NYT: Journalism Online, a service to help newspaper internet operations, says it has lots of interest.

NYT: Ford (F) will back a federal ban on texting while driving.

NYT: Some media companies and advertisers are looking at measurement data beyond Nielsen.

FT: China’s economic recovery is gaining pace.

FT: Japan’s economy expanded less than expected.

FT: China is opening the door to foreign listings on its exchanges.

Bloomberg: The Microsoft (MSFT) search deal with Yahoo! (YHOO) faces a lengthy review at Justice.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, BAC, BHP, F, GE, GOOG, MGP, MOT, MS, MSFT, PG, RNWK, UBS, YHOO