Posts for Ticker ‘STX’

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (ADI, ACI, ISRG, BTU, PHM, RIMM, STX, SPWRA, TGT, WDC)

These are this Wednesday’s top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls:

Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) Started as Overweight at HSBC.
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) Started as Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) Started as Overweight at HSBC.
Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Research-in-Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Market Perform at BMO.
Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) Cut to Underperform at BofA Merrill Lynch.
Sunpower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Cut to Neutral at Janney Montgomery Scott.
Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) Cut to Underperform at BofA Merrill Lynch.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, mergers and acquisitions, Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: November 18, 2009 – 7:53 am in Analyst Calls, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , , ,

Seagate Sets Tone for Western Digital (STX, WDC)

Seagate LogoSeagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) just gave us earnings ahead of disk drive and storage rival Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) earnings due on Thursday.  Internal guidance from the sector and higher analysts’ estimates had already helped both companies recover exponentially from 52-week lows.  Seagate turned in earnings of $0.35 EPS (after items of $0.23 from EPS) and $2.66 billion in revenues. Thomson Reuters had estimates at $0.46 EPS on $2.62 billion in revenues.

The company offered guidance of $2.75 – $2.85 billion in revenues and Thomson Reuters has next quarter estimates of $0.55 EPS and $2.75 billion in revenues.

The company said gross margins came in at 24.5% and it guided next quarter margins at 22% to 26%.  It also said it had 46.3 million disk drive unit shipments.

Be advised that this should all be considered incomplete data as the company said it would offer updated fiscal 2010 guidance in its conference call.  But one thing the company said was cautious:

  • “While visibility has improved throughout the calendar year, the ongoing uncertainty in global economic conditions makes it difficult to predict product demand and other related matters, which makes it more likely that Seagate’s actual results could differ materially from current expectations.”

Again, consider this unfinished business until after its guidance for 2010 in the conference call. After the guidance come out from the conference call, this will have likely just set the tone for Western Digital stock for its earnings later in the week.  Seagate closed flat today at $15.55.  Shares seem to be trading around $15.59 or $15.60 in the after-hours and the 52-week trading range is $2.98 to $16.40.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: October 20, 2009 – 4:11 pm in Earnings, Technology Companies, ,

Major Tech Earnings on Deck (AAPL, TXN, SNDK, STX, WDC, YHOO, EBAY, VMW, EMC, AMZN, BRCM, JNPR, SYNA, MSFT)

This week is going to make last week’s earnings flood look like elementary school.  We have the floodgates opening for technology, web, software, hardware, and IT, and 24/7 Wall Street has previewed 14 of the top technology stocks that are on deck to report earnings this coming week:  Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN), SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK), Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX), Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM), Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR), Synaptics Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNA), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT).

We have provided the first details for earnings, Thomson Reuters consensus data, added color of our own on the earnings trends, listed key issues to watch, and included the performance from the June 30 close and from the March 9 close that traders are using as the key pivotal turning day where the bear market died and a new bull market run began.
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Posted on: October 17, 2009 – 11:25 am in Calendar, Earnings, Internet, Semiconductor, Technology Companies, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Day Trader Alerts (AMR, XLNX, ALTR, NTES, PALM, STX)

These are this morning’s top pre-market day trader alert stocks and active trader stock.  We have more detailed data and analysis on historic price, volume, and trends with a link through on each stock at VSInvestor.com:

AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) is holding up rather well considering it boosted its secondary offering size considerably.

Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX) is soaring enough on its September guidance that it is also lifting Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR).

Netease.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES) is down on a single block trade of over 437,000 shares.

Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) is holding up rather well considering its juiced up secondary.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) is up close to 4% on higher guidance.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top day trader alerts, analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 23, 2009 – 8:52 am in After-Hours Activity, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (BLK, KMX, CTL, INET, LOW, STX, LUV, WWWW)

These are the top pre-market early bird analyst upgrades and positive research calls seen from Wall Street early this Wednesday morning:

Blackrock (BLK) upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
CarMax (KMX) upgraded to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
CenturyTel (CTL) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Internet Brands (INET) Started as Buy at Canaccord.
Lowe’s (LOW) upgraded to Outperform at FBR.
Seagate (STX) upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank; upgraded to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Soutwest Air (LUV) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Web.com (WWWW) upgraded to Outperform at FBR Capital.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 23, 2009 – 8:06 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (MT, AVGO, CAH, EBAY, NFLX, NVS, STX, WDC, XRX)

These are this Tuesday morning’s top analyst upgrades and positive research calls that we have seen from Wall Street research with about two hours until the market opens:

ArcelorMittal (MT) Raised to Buy at Citigroup
Avago Tech (AVGO) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank; started as Overweight at Barclays; started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Cardinal Health (CAH) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
eBay (EBAY) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Netflix (NFLX) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Novartis (NVS) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Seagate Tech (STX) Started as Buy at UBS.
Western Digital (WDC) Started as Buy at UBS.
Xerox (XRX) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Yahoo! (YHOO) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 15, 2009 – 7:43 am in Analyst Calls, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , ,

Goldman Sachs Upgrades & Downgrades in Tech (IBM, EMC, NTAP, CA, DELL, ARW, HPQ, STX, WDC, AAPL, MSFT, ORCL, SYMC)

Goldman Sachs is out with some key calls in technology sector today.  While some calls are positive, our take on this is more of a cautious stance due to the broad nature of some of the downgrades.  Among the individual calls is a downgrade of IBM (NYSE: IBM) to Neutral rather its prior “Buy” rating based on limited upside to its $120 target.  Both EMC (NYSE: EMC) and NetApp, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP) were resumed with coverage with “Neutral” ratings. CA, Inc. (NYSE: CA) was also downgraded to Neutral from Buy.

The firm raised Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) to the Conviction Buy List based on its operating leverage and a return in teh second half for PC sales.  Goldman is also reiterating the “Buy” ratings on both Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: ARW) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ). Arrow is based on its operations and its relative underperformance.  The call in H-P is based upon some recovery in the printer business and on some expected strength in the second half for the PC sector.  On the storage side, Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) was raised to “Buy” from Neutral, while Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) was cut to Neutral from Buy.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was maintained as Buy rating and saw its price target raised to $160 from $145.  On the software side, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), and Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) remain its favorite picks.

The ratings for the sector are attractive.  There is good news here, but the sector call is broad enough that the impact may be limited.  And some of the caution may further weigh on the otherwise would-be winners today.

Jon C. Ogg
July 10, 2009

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 7:49 am in Analyst Calls, Semiconductor, Software, Technology Companies, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (BEN, KLAC, NVLS, LRCX, JWN, OSK, STX, WDC, S)

These are the top analyst upgrades and positive research calls from Wall Street this Monday morning with about two hours until the market opens:

Franklin Resources (BEN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
KLA-Tencor (KLAC), Novellus Systems (NVLS) and Lam Research (LRCX) were all three Raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Nordstrom (JWN) Raised to Neutral and off Conviction Sell List at Goldman Sachs.
Oshkosh (OSK) Raised to Buy at KeyBanc.
Seagate Tech (STX) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill.
Western Digital (WDC) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill.
Sprint (S) Raised to Buy at Auriga.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: July 6, 2009 – 6:35 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (GLW, CPN, DYN, DE, EIX, IR, LM, STX, SLM, WOOF)

These are this Thursday’s top ten independent analyst calls with upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street brokerage firms with more than two hours until the market opens:

Corning (GLW) Started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
Calpine (CPN) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Dynegy (DYN) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Deere (DE) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Edison (EIX) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Ingersol-Rand (IR) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Legg Mason (LM) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Seagate Tech (STX) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
SLM Corp. (SLM) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
VCA Antech (WOOF) Raised to Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.

Jon C. Ogg
June 25, 2009

Posted on: June 25, 2009 – 6:37 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Ten Women Who Should Be Big Company CEOs

jp-morganTwelve of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women. Just twelve. Over the next year, that number is likely to go up considerably because of a confluence of economic and financial factors that have not existed in years. The first of those is that because of the economy there will probably be higher turnover rates of chief executives at large companies. Next, there are a relatively large number of extremely talented women in the tier of senior management just below the CEO level.  Many of these women who are in the No.2 or No.3 spots at their firms are the same age or older than their current CEOs.  It is then very unlikely that they will become CEO at their current firm. Read More »

Posted on: May 6, 2009 – 8:46 pm in Airlines, Banking, Management Change, Retail, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Seagate Gets Used To Losses (STX, WDC)

burning-money-pic18Seagate Technology (Nasdaq: STX) posted its fiscal third quarter earnings, with non-GAAP EPS coming in at -$0.56 EPS on $2.15 billion in revenues.  Estimates from Thomson Reuters were -$0.45 EPS on $2.01 billion for the quarter.  This will likely set the tone for Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) earnings this Thursday as well.
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Posted on: April 21, 2009 – 3:39 pm in Earnings, Technology Companies, ,

Top Technology Analyst Calls (BBND, CSC, ELX, GRMN, QCOM, STX, WBSN, WDC)

We have seen several influential analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiation calls in the technology sector from Wall Street early this Wednesday morning.  These are the key tech calls we have seen with about two hours until the open:

  • BigBand Networks (NASDAQ: BBND) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
  • Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC) Started as Sell at Citigroup.
  • Emulex (NYSE: ELX) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
  • Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
  • Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) Started as Outperform at FBR.
  • Seagate Tech (NASDAQ: STX) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
  • Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: April 8, 2009 – 6:41 am in Analyst Calls, Technology Companies, , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Downgrades (APOL, STD, BA, BRKR, CHU, CME, GR, PCP, STX)

These are the top pre-market analyst downgrades or negative calls we have seen from Wall Street this Wednesday morning:

Apollo Group (APOL) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Banco Santander (STD) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Boeing (BA) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Bruker Corp. (BRKR) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
China Unicom (CHU) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
CME Group (CME) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Goodrich (GR) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Precision Castparts (PCP) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Seagate Tech (STX) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: April 1, 2009 – 6:46 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

52-Week Low Club (AXP, COF, NILE, CLX, RDEN, FDX, HOG, ISRG, KF, MSCC, PII, RAX, RNWK, STX)

Burning_money_pic_3Today’s market looked more like an advanced yo-yo session rather than a regular stock market trading day.  Since stocks gapped down so much, there were many new names on the list of 52-week lows.  What is interesting is that many other stocks hit 52-week lows but bounced back to being positive on the day.

  • American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Capital One (NYSE: COF) both graced the list of lows as GE’s consumer losses only added fuel to the fire.
  • Blue Nile Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE) tankola, again.  Forget Valentine’s Day this year.
  • Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) burns investors’ eyes as bad as it burns its client’s eyes.
  • Elizabeth Arden (NASDAQ: RDEN) keeps falling after the bad news from it and its peers over the last week and a half.  Brittney Spears can’t help.
  • FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) keeps dropping. 
  • Harley Davidson (NYSE: HOG) caught another case of HAGS and is believed to be in trouble all year after earnings.
  • Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) keeps getting pounded.  Down close to 70% from highs now.  Leonardo DaVinci would now sue over the use of his name.
  • The Korea Fund (NYSE: KF) was down almost 7%.  We don’t like to put country funds or ETF’s today, but that Kim Chee from last night just didn’t sit well today.
  • Microsemi (NASDAQ: MSCC) on earnings warning.
  • Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII)… weak HOG sales from Harley, weak motorcycle and snowmobile relative?  Works every time.
  • Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX)… Racking the Rackers, in the server room….
  • RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK), a surprise but think of peers.  And when was the last time you bought anything from them?
  • Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX) again… with the earnings it put up this week, you can call it Floodgate.

Jon C. Ogg
January 23, 2009

Posted on: January 23, 2009 – 4:14 pm in HI/LOW, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Expected Earnings Woes At Seagate Technology (STX)

Seagate_logoSeagate Technology (NYSE: STX) is set to report earnings after the close. Shares are up 4% despite the softening of expectations to the point that the company is now expected to lose money.

Read More »

Posted on: January 21, 2009 – 1:25 pm in Earnings, Technology Companies,

Seagate & Storage Sector: More Pain, More Change (STX, WDC, EMC)

Seagate_logoYou know times are more than tough when an industry’s leader is caught like a roach on its back.  That is the position that Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX) finds itself in at the onset of 2009.  The implications will not stop with Seagate, as consumer trends challenge the traditional storage business.

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Posted on: January 12, 2009 – 12:06 pm in Consumer Electronics, Labor & Unions, Shareholder Issues, Technology Companies, , ,

Major S&P Stocks On Decade Lows (AA, AMAT, AMD, DOW, EK, GCI, HOG, INTC, IP, JNY, M, MU, MSFT, NWL, NWS, SLE, STX, LUV, HOT, YRCW)

Broken_merger_torn_moneyCovering any part of the positives in this market has been literally as rewarding as jumping in the bear cage with the bears at the zoo.  We have been refraining from doing as many stocks which are on 52-week lows as the list is just too many companies.  But after the close we perused the entire S&P 500 and a few more large companies.  We reached down in the barrel and found an extensive list of stocks which are now trading at lows of the entire decade.   Fortunately for the seriously depressed, we took out the stocks which are financials, autos, housing, REIT’s, and penny stocks.  Below is the full list.

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Posted on: November 20, 2008 – 6:39 am in HI/LOW, Technical Analysis, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Low Cost Computing Poses Major Risk At PC & Tech Companies (DELL, HPQ, IBM, INTC, AMD, MU, STX, AAPL)

Hp_logoDell_logoWith earnings from the top two PC giants roughly two weeks away, we have many about what lies ahead for the tech sector.  Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) reports earnings on November 20, and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) reports on November 24.  It is far too soon to preview these earnings, but it is becoming clear that they along with their competitors and suppliers are being hurt by the slowing economy.

We have seen plenty of evidence from the likes of Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), Micron (NYSE: MU), Seagate Tech (NYSE: STX), and even from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to know about the slow PC season.  This will be seen in the evidence below, but the rapid decline in orders from the end of September into October has been too difficult to not observe, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down.

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Posted on: November 8, 2008 – 8:31 am in Consumer Electronics, PC Companies, Technology Companies, , , , , , , ,

Seagate, From Growth to Value to Warning (STX, WDC)

Seagate_logoSeagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) has just reported earnings after the close, and the stock has gradually gone from a growth stock to a value stock.  The maker of drives and storage devices posted $0.12 EPS and $3.03 billion in revenue, while First Call estimates were $0.22 EPS and $3.16 billion in revenue.  The company said that it had an impact for items against earnings of roughly $0.14 against its EPS.

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Posted on: October 22, 2008 – 4:25 pm in Earnings, Earnings Warning, PC Companies, Technology Companies, ,

Despite Turbulent Times, Disk & Storage Drives A Cheap Port O’ Call (WDC, STX)

Seagate_logoWestern_digital_logoThis last weekend we began screening for technology stocks with extremely low P/E multiples which are still showing growth.  The two giant independent disk drive and hard drive data storage stocks of Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) and Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX) showed some almost shocking values today and ahead.  There are of course caveats as this has been a major growth sector and there are likely to be more analyst estimate cuts in the sector even after the slight cuts seen since last week.  There is fierce competition among the top players, and Wall Street has perpetually given these discounted valuations to the market for several reasons.

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Posted on: October 1, 2008 – 10:51 am in Technology Companies, Value Investing, ,