GSV Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: GSVC) is down 3.4% at $12.70.   Firsthand Technology Value Fund, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVVC) is down 2.4% at $18.80 on over 17,000 shares.

SINA Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) got a huge bump ion on its “Chinese version of Twitter” pop last week but after peaking above $59.00 mid-week the stock is indicated down less than 1% under its $53.11 close from Friday.  Keep in mind that this one may act differently as its 52-week range is $46.86 to $128.17.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD), Facebook’s only real competitor based in the U.S., is trading down 2% at $97.01 on 50,000 shares.

Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN) is down 8.3% at $4.52 on over 300,000 shares.

Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL) will follow these lower if all of these remain where they are.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is up 4% at $16.04 on 2 million shares and AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) has not traded due to its NYSE listing but is indicated higher along with Yahoo!  Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is up 0.4% at $602.40.

JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down 156 points to 12,442.49 (-1.24%), the NASDAQ fell more than 60 points (-2.10%) to 2,813.69, and the S&P 500 fell -1.50% or nearly 20 points to 1,304,87.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) raised to ‘neutral’ at Sterne Agee; IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) raised to ‘strong buy’ at Raymond James; SINA Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) reiterated as ‘buy’ but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs; Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) reiterated as ‘buy’ with target price of $96 at Argus.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) is down -7.3% at $4.09; Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) is down -5.6% at $95.60; E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE: DANG) is down -16.6% at $6.25 (more coverage here); GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) is down -10.1% at $18.72 (more coverage here); Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is up 3.9% at $52.84; and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is up 4.7% at $61.97 (more coverage here).

On Friday we are scheduled to get earnings from ANN Inc. (NYSE: ANN), Brown Shoe Co. Inc. (NYSE: BWS), JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR), and Footlocker Inc. (NYSE: FL).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG) is down -17.7% at $4.11. The medical diagnostics firm priced a secondary offering this morning. More coverage here.

Dendreon Inc. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is down -11.3% at $7.65. The company’s prostate cancer drug got another challenge from a competing product from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). More coverage here.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) is down -21.4% at $1.68 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.63. The solar component maker lost its CFO today. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Friday. We don’t have anything on the schedule for tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll have a quiet day.

Paul Ausick

Dangdang said it expects second quarter revenue of about $187.5 million, substantially lower than the consensus estimate of $202.5 million. As with first quarter results, revenue continues to grow by 50% or better year-over-year, but that’s not good enough. Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN), China’s answer to Facebook, posted higher revenue in the first quarter, but costs soared 90% and the company’s forecast came in lower than the consensus estimate.

SINA Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA), which owns the country’s largest Twitter-like site Weibo, showed significant growth in its first quarter results as well, but it forecast higher costs and continued weakness in advertising as weighing down future results. Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU), China’s third largest search engine, also forecast weak advertising sales for the second quarter. China’s search engine leader, Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), recently shuttered an e-commerce competitor to Dangdang and launched its own low-cost Android-based phone as the company continues to extend its reach beyond search. Baidu forecast lower-than-expected second quarter revenues as well.

Youku Inc. (NYSE: YOKU), a YouTube look-alike, is scheduled to announce results after markets close today. The company is expected to post an EPS loss of -$0.21 on revenue of $41.2 million. Another Internet video player, Tudou Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: TUDO) is scheduled to announce results next Monday and is expected to post an EPS loss of -$0.88 on revenue of $21.75 million.

China’s Internet users now number more than 550 million, according to a report at Mashable, but the annual growth rate has tumbled from a mind-boggling 50%+ to around 12%. And China trails only the US in the number of Internet shoppers, with 145 million people having made online purchases last year. The average number of purchases per month per customer is 8.4, well-above the second place US, where a customer averages 5.2 purchases a month.

But Chinese Internet companies have had a difficult time translating these numbers into yuan. The prevailing view among analysts appears to be that the revenue dam will burst real soon now, but not a single one of these companies has a higher share price today than it did a year ago. Dangdang is down a whopping -68% over the past 12 months and both SINA and Renren are off more than -50%. Baidu, which has lost just -9% in the past year, is the best performer. That’s a pretty sorry showing. Expecting this to change anytime soon may be wishful thinking.

Shares of Dangdang are off -15% in the early afternoon today, at $6.36 in a 52-week range of $4.11-$22.45. Shares of the other Chinese Internet players are also down this afternoon, but most by less than -3%.

Paul Ausick

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) Raised to Neutral at BNP Paribas.

CME Group Icc. (NASDAQ: CME) Cut to Market Perform at Raymond James.

Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) Started as Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Reiterated Buy with $96 target at Argus.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Raised to Neutral at Stern Agee.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) Reiterated Buy and Raised target to $58 at Argus.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) Raised to Buy at Caris; David Einhorn did not discuss the issue at the Value Investing Congress on Wednesday; Reiterated Buy with $76 target at Canaccord Genuity.

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP) Raised to Buy with $55 target at Argus.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN) Maintained Outperform but cut 2012/2013 estimates and maintained $8 target at Credit Suisse.

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) Raised to Strong Buy at Raymond James.

Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

SINA Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Maintained Buy but removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

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.

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

JON C. OGG

This may be a mixed blessing, but the number of mobile posts has now passed its desktop use.  Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) devices using iOS amounted to roughly 33% of Weibo’s mobile traffic.

SINA’s growth news comes at a great time, because shares were only about 10% above the 52-week low.  After closing at $51.68, and against a 52-week trading range of $46.86 to $128.17, shares are trading up 11% at $57.57.

The news is interesting because the company warned that future results might be dragged down because of the increased investment in Weibo.  The company even noted that another operational loss may be expected in the second quarter. Another warning was that the Chinese advertising market is expected to remain weak.

As a reminder, SINA makes up more than 8% of the current weighting in the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL).

Shares of Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN), which is called the Facebook-equivalent of China, are up 4.5% at $5.84 this morning.  RenRen makes up almost 4.2% of the Social Media ETF.

JON C. OGG

Included in the previews are some pricing data and color on each preview.  Estimates are the consensus targets from Thomson Reuters.

Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) is now up 35% from last year’s low and within about 6% of a 52-week high after many of the chip names have had phenomenal 2012 moves.  Estimates are $0.48 EPS on $662.3 million in sales.

Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) is set to see its first public earnings release.  We have always wondered about its lack of earnings as sort of unacceptable, but so far Wall Street has stayed by it.  Estimates are -$0.11 EPS on $25.38 million in sales.  At $15.20, the post-IPO range is $10.77 to $18.75.

Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM) remains at a premium value on its earnings at 24-times expected 2012 earnings estimates. Estimates are $1.12 EPS and $131.6 million in sales.

Chico’s FAS Inc. (NYSE: CHS) is still trying to get its ship back in order.  Estimates are $0.11 EPS and $546.66 million in sales.

Clean Harbors Inc. (NYSE: CLH) has remained highly valued and it has recently split its stock after an incredible share move in recent years.  Estimates are $0.48 EPS and $506.04 million in sales.      4Q   0.49

Express Scripts Inc. (NASDAQ: ESRX) is still pending a review by the FTC in its attempt to acquire Medco.  Many feel that the deal could be blocked.  Earnings estimates are $0.85 EPS on sales of $11.6 billion.

Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) still remains well off of its highs and is still at a premium at 16.5-times expected 2012 earnings for this infrastructure design leader.  Estimates are $0.82 EPS and $6.38 billion in sales.

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) is expected to report $0.66 EPS on $769.9 million in sales.  The turnaround continues here as it continues to move away from being dependent upon Garmin sales for in-car navigation.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is still just getting a plan underway for its Meg Whitman-lead turnaround.  Estimates are $0.87 EPS on $30.7 billion in sales.

Limited Brands Inc. (NYSE: LTD) is expected to post $1.46 EPS and $3.47 billion in sales.

Pan American Silver Corporation (NASDAQ: PAAS) is expected to report earnings of $0.51 EPS on $229.59 million in revenues.  We will be looking for its cost per ounce of production in silver.

SINA Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) is expected to report $0.21 EPS on $129.34 million in sales. This stock remains down by more than half from last-year’s highs.

TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) remains at a premium valuation and shares hit a new all-time high on Tuesday.  Estimates are $0.62 EPS on $6.72 billion in sales.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) is expected to report $0.02 EPS on $360.8 million in sales.  Home builders are profitable again, often from ‘other’ activities.  Shares just hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday.

Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) is expected to post its “money quarter” that includes the holiday sales.  Estimates are $0.77 EPS on $657.38 million in revenue.  Keep in mind that this company is still expected to lose money for its full year ending in July.

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

JON C. OGG

What was unique about this IPO is that the entire Class A share voting class, the shares which the initial public offering investors were buying last week, appear to have a whopping total of 1.8% of the voting rights after you tally up the B Shares and the C shares into the equation.

The new investors were buying into a public valuation of $7 billion after the company sold $1 billion worth of the common stock.  The social video game company is taking a toll elsewhere.

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) is down 2.8% at $22.40 with a post-IPO range of $14.85 to $31.14. LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) is down 0.1% at $65.76 with a post-IPO range of $55.98 to $122.70. Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) is down almost 4% more at $52.88 against a 52-week range of $46.86 to $147.12 as China regulation on microblogs increases.

Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL) has not traded, signs that “social media” in stock ETFs can be skipped.

GSV Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: GSVC) is trading higher as a beneficiary of owning Twitter shares now that Prince Walid bin Talal of Saudi Arabia has taken a $300 million stake in Twitter.  GSV owns Twitter shares (and Facebook shares) and its shares are up 1.3% at $14.19 on the day.

Zynga shares are trading down another 4.7% at $9.05 after closing at $9.50 on Friday.  Unfortunately, Zynga’s IPO price was $10.00 per share.

JON C. OGG

To qualify as a busted IPO all that has to happen is that the stock has to trade under the formal initial public offering price.  The reasons don’t matter. The logic does not matter. The tale of the ticker tape on any given days does not matter. All that matters is the share price versus the IPO price.  In the case of Zynga, the IPO is currently hovering about two-cents above the $10.00 pricing at 11:36 AM EST with some 72.5 million shares traded.  Shares were trading down as low as $9.50 earlier.

• UPDATE 1:17 PM EST: A boutique firm named BTIG has reportedly issued a “Buy” rating on Zynga but shares are still down around $9.47 on more than 95 million shares traded.
• UPDATE 12:54 PM EST: Shares are at $9.60 on just over 91 million shares… Busted!
• UPDATE 11:55 AM EST: Underwriters appear to have been holding this up at $10.00 after having been in the red earlier.have been

As far as some fundamental data, Cowen & Co. initiated coverage with a “Neutral” rating due to its valuation.  Earlier than today, Stern Agee started coverage with a rare “Sell” rating before the IPO even was priced.

The real question boils down to whether or not this valuation can be maintained due to justified growth.  Zynga has a huge dependence upon Facebook for its games.  It is trying to diversify away from that Facebook dependence, but nothing ever happens overnight (even at software companies).

Another big question is just how much time people can and will spend playing each one of these social network games.  Empires & Allies, Farmville, CityVille, CastleVille, Mafia Wars, and Adventure World… Is it fair to ask just what percentage of the people who are actively playing these games are employed?  It is hard to imagine that entrepreneurs and busy-bee workers have endless time to play all of these games.

Still, video games are larger than movies. Social networking is larger than life itself if you ask the younger generation.  LinkedIn Corporation (NASDAQ: LNKD) is down 2.5% at $64.70 today and that is down almost 50% from its post-IPO high.  Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) is down over 5% at $21.80 today.  Even Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) is down 5% at $50.13 on news that Beijing is telling Sina that the site has to know the real identities before users can start or post to microblogs.  Is it any surprise that the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL) has not even traded today?

Sadly, the investors who bought $1 billion worth of the Zynga stock at the IPO price this morning only have a combined 1.8% voting power if you look through the prospectus because of the larger voting B Shares and the super-voting B Shares.

Whether or not Zynga remains a busted IPO will be known at the end of the day and in the coming days.  If it falls too much ahead then perhaps the investment community will not allow companies coming public in 2012 to dictate such terms where the new shareholders who are coming in far later at a far higher price can have such little power over a company.

JON C. OGG

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) rose after reporting earnings of $0.67 EPS on revenues of $1.15 billion, while Thomson Reuters for earnings of 60 cents a share in the quarter on revenue of $1.09 billion. Adobe sees non-GAAP profits of ranging from 54 to 59 cents a share for its fiscal first quarter ending in February and $2.37 to $2.47 a share for the full year. Those views compare to the current average analyst estimates for earnings per share of 58 cents and $2.44 in the respective periods. Shares are up 4.7% at $27.70.

athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) is trading up about 3% at $50.50 after both Leerink Swann and Oppenheimer raised their analyst ratings.

Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) is indicated down 7% after COO Rutledge resigned from the company. Interestingly enough, Reuters said that this means Cablevision could end up being in play after the resignation.

Cameron International Corporation (NYSE: CAM) is trading up about 2.2% at $45.85 after BP agreed to indemnify Cameron against current and future claims in the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

CryptoLogic Limited (NASDAQ: CRYP), which would win from any loosening online gambling regulations in America, surged in the after-hours on news that it has agreed to a buyout offer by the Amaya Gaming Group at $2.50 per share.  Shares were up 35% last night at $2.14 and the 52-week trading range was $0.84 to $2.19.

Ista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISTA) is seeing a major pop with shares up more than 60% after the proposed $6.50 per share acquisition and buyout proposal from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX).  Valeant is about 75-times the size of Ista, and the $6.22 share price of Ista compares to a $3.89 close on Thursday and compares to a 52-week range of $2.88 to $11.39.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) has not yet traded but is indicated higher by almost 1% after increasing its share buyback plan by $500 million last night.

Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) just cannot get its act together.  Despite what appeared to be an earnings beat, RIM guided lower, delayed a new launch due to chipset concerns, it keeps remaining on the same path, and it keeps losing market share despite having nearly 75 million Blackberry subscribers.  This company just needs new management and it really needs to figure out a way to show that its security is far superior than that of smartphones from Apple or Google. Shares are down 10% at $13.58 in the pre-market session.

RSC Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RRR) is going to be up about 50% on the United Rentals buyout at $18.00 per share.

Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) is trading lower by more than 4.3% at $50.50 after China is going to start requiring microblog users (which Sina hosts) to get users’ real names before allowing them to access posting privileges.

All of these are pre-market trading indications and some are likely to change substantially throughout the trading day.

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

JON C. OGG

The top calls of the week were seen in the following companies: Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX: AVL); Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B); Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO); Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ); Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: GT); Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG); Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR); Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ); Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU); Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM); Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA); and Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC).

We have outlined the research summaries here on each, and we have added color or linked to more details on the calls if applicable. 

Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX: AVL) is considered the speculative step child in the field of rare-earth metals.  Still, this week came coverage from Citigroup with a “Buy” rating this last Monday. The prior closing price had been $2.63 and the stock ramped mid-week.  The high close was $3.34 on Wednesday even though it closed down over 5% on Friday at $3.05.  The high close in the week would have given a gain of 27% and the gain for the week was still up 16%.  The 52-week range is $2.29 to $10.11, making this a leveraged call with huge upside if things work out at the company.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) very rarely shows up in research calls, so it was a surprise when Zacks came out and named Warren Buffett conglomerate as the Bull of the Day with a $91.00 target for the next six-months.

Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO) was only a reiterated Buy rating on Thursday by Canaccord Genuity but the implications offer huge upside if the firm is right.  The firm called it a top small cap idea with multiple ways to win and with a “valuation too tepid.” The new $49.00 price target implies upside of 71%. 

Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) was a cautious call because of valuation, but it may offer insight into how much investors should be willing to pay for the pizza delivery leader.  The stock was started as Hold at KeyBanc on Friday, which was also the day that this hit a 5-year high.  24/7 Wall St. originally went out with the “buy the value here” call early in 2011 when shares were under $20.00 and we had already taken this one off the list because of value concerns.  Friday’s call may point to more and more peak-values here.