Hot Topic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTT) is higher as a turnaround stock, but it lost $6.2 million for the quarter to come in at -$0.14 EPS.  The boost is from a $25 million share buyback plan.  Shares fell 1% in regular trading to $6.95, but the stock is up 4% at $7.23 in the after-hours.

Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. (NYSE: IVR) had already had one secondary offering not too long ago at the end of June, and now it has signaled that it will sell 20 million more in shares.  Shares are trading down 3.3% at $18.65 in the after-hours session.

JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) is down considerably after turning in a mere $0.04 net EPS on $0.23 adjusted EPS.  The guidance is where the trouble comes into play.  Shares closed down 1.7% at $11.70 and the stock is now down what is approaching double-digits in percentage terms at $10.60.

Limited Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LTD) is bucking some of the margin issues in retail apparel stores.  The company posted $0.48 EPS vs. $0.46 estimates and it raised 2011 guidance to $2.35 to $2.40 EPS after giving same-store sales guidance for the next quarter in the high single-digit range.  Shares were down 1.4% at $34.34 today but the stock is now up 3.6% at $35.50 in the after-hours.

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) is hurting: The company reported earnings of $0.54 EPS before items and gave guidance for earnings down at $0.38 to $0.42 EPS for next quarter.  The company also announced the retirement of its CFO.  Shares were down over 3% at $41.66 today, but now the stock is down more than 11% more at $36.95 in the after-hours session.  What will hurt more than anything is that the prior 52-week low was $38.00.  So much for this one being immune to the market and economy.

PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) looked ok on the surface at $0.54 EPS vs. $0.51 estimates.  The company also put 2011 guidance at $2.40 to $2.48 EPS versus a prior target of $2.32 to $2.42 EPS. The problem is that Thomson Reuters was already at $2.43 EPS.  Shares closed down $0.03 at $41.56 and the after-hours market is down more than 3% at $40.15 in the after-hours.

Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) said revenue rose almost 15% to $386.8 million and gave guidance for next quarter for revenues to be in a range of $386 to $392 million.  It also gave guidance of $1.531 to $1.537 billion in 2011 sales, all of which are slightly above estimates from Thomson Reuters.  Shares closed up 3.8% at $23.44 and the stock is up another 1.5% at $23.80 in the after-hours session.

Gentium S.p.A (NASDAQ: GENT) is getting whacked after announcing that the company was withdrawing its NDA for Defibrotide after recent correspondence from the FDA identifying numerous “Refuse to File” issues regarding the completeness of the datasets for both the treatment and prevention studies. The FDA has also requested that Gentium conduct additional quality reviews and requested additional details regarding the conduct and monitoring of the trials by the independent review committee.  Ouch.  Shares closed down 2% at $8.79 but the stock is down close to 30% at $6.30 in the after-hours session.

Some of these prices may be grossly different after the conference calls and by the morning.

JON C. OGG

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.

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JON C. OGG

Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays Capital.
Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) Cut to Sell at S&P Equity Research (late Tuesday call).
Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Fair Isaac Corp. (NYSE: FIC) Reiterated Sell at Argus.
Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL) Cut to Sell at Soleil.
Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) Raised to Neutral at Macquarie.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) Reiterated Buy and $58 Target at Argus.
Millicom International (NASDAQ: MICC) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) Started as Market Perform at BMO.
OmniVision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) Reiterated Buy and Raise Target to $36 at Gleacher & Co.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Reiterated Buy at BofA/ML.
Shanda Interactive Entertainment (NASDAQ: SNDA) Cut to Sell at Roth Capital.
Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) Reiterated Buy and $38 target at Auriga.

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

• AerCap (AER) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
• Amerigroup (AGP) Started as Neutral at B of A.
• Lehman (LEH) estimates cut at Citigroup.
• Novo Nordisk (NVO) Started as Neutral at UBS.
• Salesforce.com (CRM) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Synopsys (SNPS) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
August 21, 2008