24/7 Wall St. » TLAB

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GD, ABB, HOG, COP, S, ALU, MO, PEP, TLAB, XOM, AET, BMY, BG, JBLU, LIZ, MJN, REGN, SWY, SWC, TASR, UPS, YNDX, NRGY, SPH, LEAP, AKAM)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:06:31 +0000

Markets opened a few ticks lower this morning after a poor report on new claims for unemployment benefits in the US (our coverage here). The report that pending home sales jumped 4.1% lit a fire under investors and pushed equities higher (our coverage here). The EIA report on natural gas supplies held gas prices higher although they’ve dropped back by late afternoon (our coverage here). Yields on 7-year US Treasury notes were at a record low following Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s clarification of what “exceptionally low” interest rates mean (our coverage here). The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.17% at 78.932. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.04% at 677.57, with commodities mixed on the slightly weaker dollar. WTI crude oil closed up 0.4% at $104.55/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 0.65% at $119.89/barrel. Gold settled up 1.1% today, at $1,660.50/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 114 points to 13,204.70 (0.87%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 21 points (0.69%) to 3,050.61, and the S&P 500 rose 0.67% or more than 9 points to 1,399.99.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) cut to ‘equal-weight’ at Morgan Stanley; ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) raised to ‘neutral’ at Macquarie; and Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) maintained as ‘hold’ at Argus.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) is down -16.9% at $19.71 (our coverage here); Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is up 0.9% at $31.96 (our story here); Pepsico (NYSE: PEP) is down -0.3% at $66.44 (our story here); Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) is down -5.1% at $3.83 (our coverage here); Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is down -0.8% at $86.13 (our coverage here); Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is down -8.4% at $45.22; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is down -1.7% at $33.72; Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) is down -2.6% at $65.69; JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) is down -0.1% at $4.64; Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) is up 9.4% at $13.87; Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (NYSE: MJN) is up XX% at $XX; Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) is up 4% at $86.38 after posting a new 52-week high of $87.26n earlier today; Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) is down -2.8% at $21.00; Stillwater Mining Co. (NYSE: SWC) is down -4.6% at $10.69; TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) is up 5.7% at $4.39; United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) is down -1.8% at $78.25; and Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) is down -5% at $23.31.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Inergy L.P. (NYSE: NRGY) is up 17% at $19.71. The company is being acquired by Suburban Propane Partners LP (NYSE: SPH). More coverage here.

Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) is down -20.2% at $6.16. The wireless carrier fell sharply on disappointing quarterly results. More coverage here.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is down -14.8% at $33.03. The technology provider beat estimates but issued weak guidance.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

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

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ABB, AET, AKAM, ALU, BG, BMY, COP, GD, HOG, JBLU, LEAP, LIZ, MJN, MO, NRGY, PEP, REGN, S, SPH, SWC, SWY, TASR, TLAB, UPS, XOM, YNDX

Tellabs Shows Mixed Earnings Report (TLAB)

Administrator — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:58:04 +0000

Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) may be still down on its luck, but we are looking through telecom equipment company’s earnings report to try to find some extra direction. The company reported first quarter revenues fell to $258 million from $322 million a year ago. This is said to be consistent with industry trends but the net loss was $15 million or -$0.04 EPS versus -$15 million or -$0.03 EPS a year ago. Thomson Reuters had estimates of -$0.03 EPS pn sales of $276.9 million.

As far as what lies ahead, Tellabs sees revenue growth and profitability on a non-GAAP basis for the second quarter based on solid bookings. The company sees second-quarter revenue in a range from $280 million to $305 million, while estimates are only for a breakeven quarter and $291 million in revenue from Thomson Reuters.

Gross profit as a percentage of revenue 37.1% this last quarter versus 37.9% a year ago broken down as follows: Gross profit as a percentage of revenue – products 38.6% this last quarter versus 41.4% a year ago; Gross profit as a percentage of revenue – services 30.5% this last quarter versus 18.8% a year ago.

Tellabs shares closed at $4.03 on Wednesday and the 52-week trading range is $3.67 to $4.99. It is difficult to tell how investors will treat this one today.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Earnings, Technology Companies, Telecom Tagged: TLAB

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AIG, BV, BIIB, BX, CIEN, IBM, MCD, NVO, SNDK, SON, LUV, SBUX, SYY, TLAB, UAL)

Administrator — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:24:39 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Wednesday.

American International Group (NYSE: AIG) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein.

Bazaarvoice Inc. (NASDAQ: BV) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse; Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank..

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) added to Top Pick list at Citigroup.

Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) removed from Conviction Buy List but maintained as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Cut to Outperform at RBC.

Sonoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON) Started as Equal-weight at Barclays.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Added to Conviction Buy List as Goldman Sachs.

Sysco Corporation (NYSE: SYY) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.

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.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIG, BIIB, BV, BX, CIEN, IBM, LUV, MCD, NVO, SBUX, SNDK, SON, SYY, TLAB, UAL

24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Calls of the Week (AVP, BBBY, FSLR, KND, NFLX, POT, RSH, RGLD, SIRI, S, TLAB, WFM, CSCO, BIDU)

Administrator — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 11:01:56 +0000

Each morning 24/7 Wall St. issues its list of some of the key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms. We review these calls and other calls made throughout the week to see which stand out the most. Some are great calls that were greatly insightful. Other calls may be relevant well into the future, and some calls turn out to be total duds that were very painful for the analysts who made them (and the traders that listened). After reviewing and filtering all of these research reports, we end up with the top analyst calls of the week.

This weeks top analyst calls were in the following stocks: Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP); Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY); First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: KND); Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT); RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH); Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD); Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI); Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S); Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB); and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM).

We have a runner up call in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and we also have a highlight on Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) despite some valuation concerns.

We have compiled the ratings news and relevant data around the reaction to each or around the implications on each. Color has also been provided if relevant on the name.

Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) had an awful post-earnings week due to a drop and due to an SEC investigation. On Friday came news that Citigroup was reiterating a “Buy” rating as the worst is likely price in. The problem is that Citi highlighted more negative than positive and it cut the target to $22 from $29 in the call. Around $19.00, that is not really enough upside even if the stock is now getting “cheap.” Avon was cut to “Neutral” by UBS on Friday.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) rarely pulls back very much, Shares were down over 3% on Friday because Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with a quite boring “Underweight” rating. Interesting considering that its client base never spends like there is a recession. On Wednesday Bed Bath & Beyond was reiterated at “Buy” and the target was raised to $70 at Argus.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) may have taken more downgrades after its CEO firing/resignation SNAFU, but at least one analyst is defending the position. Argus came out and lowered the price target to $90.00 but the firm is maintaining its “BUy” rating. This one has gotten so ugly that perhaps there is some value. We just hate trying to think about former high-flying stocks as “value” because it means things went really bad. Interestingly enough, shares bounced more than 20% from the lows of the week.

Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: KND) may have been beaten up too much during the malaise around healthcare reimbursement rates. We would caution that earnings are due this coming Thursday (NOV 3). In July this was above $20.00 then the reimbursement rate woes came on at the time as a bad sell-off. Zacks has finally said enough is enough and named it the Value Stock of the Day this last Thursday as the research shop sees this trading well under ten-times next year’s earnings estimates.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Research, The Week Tagged: AVP, BBBY, BIDU, CSCO, FSLR, KND, NFLX, P, POT, RGLD, RSH, S, SIRI, TLAB, WFM

Tellabs… Wall Street Sees More Pain Coming (TLAB, ALU, RVBD)

Administrator — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:21:37 +0000

We have been reviewing technology and telecom equipment providers of late to see if the worst is truly behind or if more pain is yet to come. After seeing the action in Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) this week, we are being nice by only asking “What the hell?”

Tellabs ended last week strongly but we have to wonder if the slowing capital spending in telecom and communications providers is not adequately built into the share price. The company did lose money at this week’s report, but less than expected. Revenues were down almost 30% from a year earlier and the range is flat to plus or minus a few percent for the coming quarter.

We have conducted similar review for Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) to see if it has found a plateau, as well as noting what looks to be a “back from the dead” attitude for Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD).

We have seen literally one analyst downgrade per day this week and these are all basically “sell” ratings:

Wednesday: J.P. Morgan cut it to Underweight from an already cautious neutral;
Tuesday: S&P Capital IQ cut the rating to “Sell” from Hold;
Monday: Zacks cut the rating to Underperform.

Shares closed up on Monday at $4.69 before earnings, but now the stock is down to $4.20 after earnings and after the analysts have weighed on the stock. Its 52-week trading range is $3.67 to $7.31. No one wants it even though it is effectively now trading close to its tangible book value. The only good news here is from Motley Fool saying “don’t get too worked up” on the earnings.

The issue is that the company is not sure if even the hurricane and the Verizon slow orders have signaled a bottom domestically and it has international risk now that more than half its sales come from outside of North America. In a world of consolidating telecom and communications providers, the business climate often looks like a boom and a bust for companies of this size.

No love for Tellabs. Apparently none tomorrow either, if the analysts are right.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Technology Companies, Telecom Tagged: ALU, RVBD, TLAB

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AET, A, DECK, GPN, TV, HMIN, ITC, IVN, ERIC, MMC, MCD, PAL, RGLD, TEVA, TLAB, TCBI)

Administrator — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:25:13 +0000

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

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) added to Strong Buy List at Zacks.
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Started as Buy at UBS.
Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NASDAQ: DECK) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Grupo Televisa S.A. (NYSE: TV) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. (NASDAQ: HMIN) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ITC) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (NYSE: IVN) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) maintained Neutral but cut target and estimates by Goldman Sachs.
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MMC) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Maintained Outperform on Focus List and target raised to $104 at Credit Suisse.
North American Palladium Ltd. (NYSE: PAL) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) Raised to Outperform at National Bank.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut to Underperform at Zacks.
Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: TCBI) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: A, AET, DECK, ERIC, GPN, HMIN, ITC, IVN, MCD, MMC, PAL, RGLD, TCBI, TEVA, TLAB, TV

Earnings Season Arrives, Top Earnings Previews For The Week Ahead (NVLS, AA, ADTN, HST, PEP, GOOG, JBHT, JPM, SWY, MAT)

Administrator — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:15:40 +0000

They’re Here! Next week will launch the corporate earnings season for the third quarter. The media is going to tell you that this is the most important earnings season in quite some time. The media always says that, but this time it is true because investors want to know whether to still model in growth or whether they need to dig in for a recessionary climate.

24/7 Wall St. has compiled detailed earnings previews for the following companies: Novellus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS); Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA); ADTRAN Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN); Host Hotels and Resorts Inc. (NYSE: HST); Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP); Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG); J. B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT); J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM); Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY); and Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT).

Some of these companies will not really seem on the surface to be sector-movers or market-moving companies, but these have been selected because they are the first ones of their peer groups to be reporting earnings.

We have created a detailed earnings preview for each with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters and added color in on each for investors to see what exactly is worth consideration this earnings season. We have also added in recent price history and named where to look for additonal action (or fallout).

Monday, October 10

Novellus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) is the first chip equipment player to report for this earnings season. it has been a few weeks since we have had earnings reports or guidance in the sector so we will be paying close attention since so many companies that are chip equipment customers have talked down their numbers in recent weeks. Our belief is that expectations are very low for the quarter ahead. Estimates are $0.68 EPS and $311.9 million in revenue; next quarter estimates are $0.50 EPS and $278.5 million in revenue. With shares hovering around $30.00 on Friday, the 52-week range is $25.26 to $41.82 and shares were above $36 in early July. After Novellus reports, we would be watching the following: Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC), and Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX).

Tuesday, October 11

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) has already talked down aluminum prices and we have already seen slowing demand out of China talked about by many sectors. Alcoa keeps maintaining that it can double its business by 2020 and we do not expect that to be changed by management even if it guides lower expectations ahead. Estimates are $0.23 EPS and $6.24 billion in revenue; next quarter estimates are $0.23 EPS and $6.11 billion in revenue. At $9.80 on Friday, the 52-week range is $8.45 to $19.47 and this one was above $16 at the start of July. There are many metals stocks to watch, some in aluminum and some in other metals: Century Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ: CENX), Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE: RS); Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (NASDAQ: KALU); Titanium Metals Corporation (NYSE: TIE); and Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE).

Filed under: Calendar, Corporate Governance, Earnings, Earnings Warning, Economy, Editor's Picks Tagged: AA, ADTN, AMAT, BAC, C, CENX, CHH, CIEN, GOOG, HAS, HST, JBHT, JPM, KALU, KLAC, KO, KR, LRCX, LSTR, MAR, MAT, NUE, NVLS, PEP, RS, SWY, TIE, TLAB, WFC

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMD, AXP, AZN, CCI, DF, HBAN, ERIC, MHS, NFLX, SNDK, SZYM, TLAB, UNH)

Administrator — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:16:40 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Friday morning.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) Raised to Market Perform at Wells Fargo; Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $65 at Argus.
AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE: CCI) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) Reiterated Buy with $19 target at Argus; Raised to Buy at S&P Equity Research.
Medco Health Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MHS) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Maintained Outperform with $280 target at Credit Suisse.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Maintained Sell at Zacks; Reiterated Buy at Gleacher.
Solazyme, Inc. (NASDAQ: SZYM) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.

You are invited to 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: AMD, AXP, AZN, CCI, DF, ERIC, HBAN, MHS, NFLX, SNDK, SZYM, TLAB, UNH

24/7 Wall St. Top 10 Analyst Calls of the Week (ACTV, AAPL, EL, GERN, GOOG, NFLX, SZYM, TLAB, WNR, YUM)

Administrator — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 15:26:55 +0000

24/7 Wall St. usually covers ten to fifteen analyst calls each morning that are having an impact on shares. After going through these research calls at the end of the week (and during the week), there are always some key analyst calls which standout above and beyond the others. What is interesting is that some calls end up being rather awful while others offer keen insight. This week’s top analyst calls were in shares of The Active Network, Inc. (NYSE: ACTV), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL), Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), Solazyme, Inc. (NASDAQ: SZYM), Tellabs, Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB), Western Refining Inc. (NYSE: WNR), and Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM).

We included the research summaries, included price action data, and added in color if applicable. At the end we also have three macro-calls which are bonus calls that are not really equity calls but which need to be considered by investors.

The Active Network, Inc. (NYSE: ACTV) is a strange company and one which we figured would be given ratings like Neutral, Hold, Market Perform, and the like as it is an online community that offers application services technology and marketing access to community service and sports organizations. It has a $1 billion market cap as well. Shares closed at $18.89 on Friday, up from $18.01 the week before and versus a $15.00 IPO price which has never been breached. Still, the analyst community was entirely positive as the post-IPO quiet period came to an end:

Citigroup- Buy
RBC- Outperform
Stifel Nicolaus- Buy
ThinkEquity- Buy

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may not seem like much on the surface because it was a reiterated Buy and the target was raised only $15 to $500 for the stock, but this call from Canaccord Genuity did actually move the meter. Apple shares closed up 0.7% at $359.71 on a day that the NASDAQ closed down 0.45%. What is amazing is that this was actually the highest closing price since the $360.00 close on March 4 and it was about ten days ahead of the earnings report.

Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) is being dubbed “The Misnomer Call of the Week” after Credit Suisse started coverage with a “Neutral” rating and gave a $95.00 price target objective. By our take, Neutral implies no direction or no real value for the stock to move either way. What makes this one dubious is that the price was already just above $105 going into the call. This was really a “Stealth Sell Rating” by our take. The Thomson Reuters consensus price target is $105.29 now, which implies that the rest of the analysts on average are “Neutral.”

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) was given a key analyst call and shares were up almost 10% at $4.39 on Friday. J.P.Morgan started coverage with an “Overweight” rating for the stem cell leader and assigned a $6.00 price target. The call was timed almost perfectly as all stem cell shares rallied on reports that Swedish doctors were able to use stem cells to replace the trachea of a patient suffering from advanced cancer. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good, but the call had to impact the overall group as well.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) took a downgrade on Friday from Morgan Stanley, where the rating was cut to Equal-Weight from Overweight and the target was cut to $600 from $645 in the call. With this being 4 trading days before earnings, we could not help but notice the impact. Google was started with a Buy rating at Collins Stewart earlier in the week and it was given that street-high $800 target from Canaccord Genuity just the week before.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) saw a major jump after the entertainment research team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating. What mattered was that it was a street-high price target objective at $325.00 as the bogey. We already opined that calling a top or predicting when this major run ends is nearly impossible, but we would caution one thing: that is only 10% left in implied upside to the highest analyst target. After the run this one has seen, its earnings or another event could easily take out 10% of the share price.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, The Week Tagged: AAPL, ACTV, EL, GERN, GOOG, NFLX, SZYM, TLAB, WNR, YUM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AET, AIG, AXAS, AMAT, FST, FOSL, IBM, KAI, KLAC, NFLX, NE, NOR, OPEN, RAVN, STX, SBUX, TLAB, WDC, YUM)

Administrator — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:27:10 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Thursday morning.

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $51 at Argus.
American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) Reinstated as Neutral with $32 target at Credit Suisse.
Abraxas Petroleum Corp. (NASDAQ: AXAS) Maintained Buy with $6 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Maintained Buy but cut price target to $19 at Argus.
Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE: FST) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Fossil, Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Wednesday).
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Kadant Inc. (NYSE: KAI) Maintained Buy as Value at Zacks.
KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $325 at BofA/ML.
Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE) Cut estimates and Target at Canaccord Genuity; Reiterated Buy at Argus.
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. (NYSE: NOR) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Reiterated Buy with $115 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Raven Industries (NASDAQ: RAVN) Reiterated Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Tellabs, Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AET, AIG, AMAT, AXAS, FOSL, FST, IBM, KAI, KLAC, NE, NFLX, NOR, OPEN, RAVN, SBUX, STX, TLAB, WDC, YUM