24/7 Wall St. » SONO

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (CSCO, FSLR, SI, BRCM, AFFY, DFS, FDX, PIR, SCHL, WGO, SONO, NVLS, GEVO, ZOLL, BPAX, PEIX)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:05:03 +0000

US markets opened fast this morning, up nearly 1% in the first hour of trading before giving most of the gain back by mid-morning and then wandering around a gain of less than 0.5% for the rest of the day. Better manufacturing data from Europe, and solid manufacturing gains in the US helped the market in the early going. The US dollar was down against the euro, the yen, and the British pound. Crude oil prices fell today, with WTI down more than -1.5% at $93.44/barrel and Brent down about -0.9% at $103.33. Gold continued its slide as well today, down more than -1% at $1,568.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 47 points to 11,869.95 (0.39%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 2 points (0.07%) to 2,541.01, and the S&P 500 rose 0.33% or about 4 points to 1,215.83.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) started as ‘buy’ at Nomura. Other ratings actions today include First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) cut from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ at R.W. Baird; Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) cut from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; and Affymetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFY) raised from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is down -3.2% at $23.06; FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) is up almost 8% at $83.45; Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR) is up 0.23% at $13.17; Scholastic Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHL) is up more than 4% at $26.73; and Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WGO) is down -0.15% at $6.80.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

SonoSite Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO) is up more than 27% at $53.68, a new 52-week high. The ultrasound device maker has been acquired by Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Inc. for $54/share, or about $995 million. Our coverage is here.

Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) is up more than 17% at $40.68, after posting a new 52-week high of $42.50 earlier today. The semiconductor equipment maker is being acquired by Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) for $3.3 billion in an all-stock deal. More coverage here.

Gevo Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) is up more than 13.5% at $6.41. The biofuel and chemical company signed an agreement with The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) to develop a new bio-derived plastic bottle.

Zoll Medical Corp. (NASDAQ: ZOLL) is up more than 29% at $60.47, after posting a new 52-week high earlier today of $63.86. The medical device maker’s wearable defibrillator has been re-affirmed for Medicare coverage.

BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPAX) is down more than -77% at $0.48, after posting a new 52-week low of $0.46 earlier today. The biopharmaceutical company reported that its experimental drug to enhance libido in post-menopausal women failed a late-stage trial.

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is down nearly -18% at $0.87. The ethanol maker announced the completion of a sale of about 12.6 million shares and warrants to 11 private investors for just over $8 million in cash.

Stay tuned for Friday. Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans and Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher are speaking tomorrow. Here is another other noteworthy event on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index for November released

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AFFY, BPAX, BRCM, CSCO, DFS, FDX, FSLR, GEVO, NVLS, PEIX, PIR, SCHL, SI, SONO, WGO, ZOLL

SonoSite, Some Rumored Mergers Come True (SONO)

Administrator — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:58:48 +0000

Some rumors surrounding the world of mergers and acquisitions actually do manage to come true. The newest deal to hit the tape is an acquisition by FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation of SonoSite, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO). The healthcare and materials company is acquiring the outfit for its bedside and point-of-care ultrasound technology.

The deal comes to approximately $995 million if you include the amounts payable in connection with its convertible debt. It has also been approved by the boards of directors of each party.

The tender will come to $54.00 per share in an all-cash offer, and this represents a premium of 50% over SonoSite’s average closing stock price over the three months. It is also a 75% premium over the closing price on November 2, 2011, which was the last day before news broke of a possible transaction.

What is more important than the trailing gains is that this is still about a 27% premium to yesterday’s close of $42.44 and is a full $10.00 per share higher than the 52-week high of $44.00. Ultimately, this transaction also represents an all-time high price for investors. Anyone who bought SonoSite shares at any point in time and who has held on makes a minimum of $10.00 per share in this buyout.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Healthcare, Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: SONO

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (FCX, CECO, CLX, COL, BSX, MDT, FICO, LAMR, OWW, KSWS, RIG, MDVN, SNSTA, SONO, DNDN, ANF, CLWR)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:05:46 +0000

Stock markets. Equity markets opened sharply higher this morning before falling into negative territory before the ISM and factory order reports were released. The ISM index came in lower than expected, but factory orders grew by 0.3%, slightly better than expected. New pressure on Greece to forgo its referendum on the EU bailout package helped push share prices up, as did strength in tech stocks. Crude oil is up nearly 1.5% and gold is up nearly 2%, while the dollar is down against both the euro and the British pound.

Closing bell. The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 207 points to 12,043.19 (1.75%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 58 points (2.2%) to 2,697.97, and the S&P 500 rose 1.87% or more than 23 points to 1,261.10.

Analyst upgrades and downgrades. There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) started at ‘overweight’ at Barclays. Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO), Clorox Corp. (NYSE: CLX), and Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) were cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) and Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) were started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse.

Market reacts to earnings. Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Fair Isaac Corp. (NYSE: FICO) is up about 25%, at $33.95; Lamar Advertising Co. (NASDAQ: LAMR) is up nearly 25%, at $26.18; Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW) is up 40%, at $2.66; K-Swiss Inc. (NASDAQ: KSWS) is down more than -33%, at $3.09; and Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) is down about -13%, at $48.73.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) is up 140%, at $39.74 after posting a new 52-week high of $40.15 earlier today. The company reported that an experimental prostate cancer drug reduced death risk by 37%.

Sonesta International Hotels Corp. (NASDAQ: SNSTA) is up nearly 41%, at $30.65 after posting a new 52-week high of $31.06. The company has agreed to be acquired for $31/share by an affiliate of Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE: HPT).

SonoSite, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO) is up about 29%, at 39.62 after posting a new 52-week high of $40 earlier today. Sonosite is reported to have hired Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for the company and talks are already in progress with potential buyers, including Samsung Electronics.

Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is down more than -37%, at $6.53 after setting a new 52-week low of $6.52 earlier today. The company today reiterated its forecast for only modest sales of its Provenge anti-cancer drug.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) is down nearly -20%, at $59.51. The company reported slowing sales in Europe, a region where the company had pinned its hopes for growth.

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is down about -14%, at $1.75. The company is seeking additional financing and has been unable to get its largest customer and majority shareholder Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) to commit to the financing.

Stay tuned for Friday. The G-20 summit opened today and will continue meeting tomorrow and over the weekend. Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) releases its October report on US online job demand. We have noted the following event (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll data for October

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Market Close Tagged: ANF, BSX, CECO, CLWR, CLX, COL, DNDN, FCX, FICO, KSWS, LAMR, MDT, MDVN, OWW, RIG, SNSTA, SONO

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ASH, BWA, DSX, EGLE, MGM, PAAS, SONO)

247wallst — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:41:59 +0000

These are some of the top analyst downgrades we are seeing from Wall Street this Thursday morning with about two hours to the open:

Ashland (ASH) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Borg Warner (BWA) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Diana Shipping (DSX) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Eagle Bulk Shipping (EGLE) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
MGM Mirage (MGM) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Pan American Silver (PAAS) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
SonoSite (SONO) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg
October 30, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ASH, BWA, DSX, EGLE, MGM, PAAS, SONO