24/7 Wall St. » UTX

11 DJIA Reporting Earnings This Week (DD, JNJ, MCD, TRV, VZ, BA, UTX, T, CVX, PG)

Administrator — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:56:32 +0000

This coming week is going to be yet another action packed week of big corporate earnings which will move markets or will move their sectors. 24/7 Wall St. has identified each of the DJIA components reporting this week and we have 11 of the 30 DJIA stocks on deck. Earnings are coming from the following DJIA stocks by day:

Tuesday: E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD); Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ); McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD); Travelers Cos. Inc. (NYSE: TRV); and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ)

Wednesday: Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX)

Thursday: AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT)

Friday: Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) and Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG).

We have compiled Thomson Reuters estimates, when the earnings are due, and what the share pricing has been on each, and added in additional color if applicable.

TUESDAY

E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), or just DuPont, just declared its normal dividend but it reports on Tuesday morning. The chemicals giant is expected to have earnings of $0.33 EPS and $8.53 billion in revenues. Shares are just under $50.00 and the 52-week range is $37.10 to $57.00.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has news of a patent loss ahead of its earnings report due Tuesday morning. The drug, medical products, and consumer products giant is expected to report earnings of $1.10 EPS and $16.28 billion in sales. With shares close to $65.00, the 52-week range is $57.50 to $68.05.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) reports on Tuesday morning and the Golden Arches’ estimates for the fast food giant are $1.29 EPS and $6.80 billion in sales. Shares are within yet another hair of another all-time high and it has recently talked up sales and has already raised its dividend.

Travelers Cos. Inc. (NYSE: TRV) is still probably the most forgotten financial stock of the DJIA components. The insurer is expected to report earnings of $1.52 EPS and $5.47 billion in sales. With shares above $61.00, the 52-week trading range is $45.97 to $64.17.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is due to lead of the telecom sector on Tuesday morning and earnings are expected to be $0.53 EPS on $28.4 billion in revenues. With shares around $39.00, the 52-week range is $32.28 to $40.48.

WEDNESDAY

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) may have a boost from the rival A380 having cracks in its wings, if the rationale is not one that “all super-jumbos ar scary.” Boeing reports Wednesday morning and the aerospace and defense giant is expected to report $1.00 EPS and $19.4 billion in revenues. With shares around $75.50, the 52-week range is $56.01 to $80.65.

United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) still appears to be the conglomerate with the most upside in 2012 according to analysts and GE’s recent earnings reaction has not done much to really amp-up expectations. The earnings are due Wednesday morning and the consensus targets are $1.46 EPS and $15.07 billion in revenues. With shares under $77.00, the 52-week range is $66.87 to $91.83 and the consensus price target is $89.44.

THURSDAY

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is due on Thursday morning and estimates are $0.45 EPS and $31.94 billion in sales. Shares are back above $30 around $30.40 and the 52-week range is $27.20 to $31.94.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is expected to report Thursday morning and estimates are $1.73 EPS and $16.04 billion in sales. With shares back above $105.00, the 52-week range is $67.54 to $116.55 and the consensus price target is now $115.28.

FRIDAY

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is due with earnings Friday morning and the oil giant’s consensus estimates are $2.93 EPS and $71.08 billion in sales. With shares around $106.40, the 52-week range is $86.68 to $110.99 and the consensus price target is $124.95. Keep in mind that Chevron is the second highest weighting in the DJIA due to its high share price.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) is due to post the consumer product giant earnings report Friday morning. The consensus estimates are $1.08 EPS and $22.2 billion in sales. Shares are trading around $66.10 and the 52-week range is $57.56 to $67.72 and the consensus target is $72.37.

We will be releasing more detailed previews on each of these the day ahead of each earnings report this week. Additional data will be around forward earnings estimates for guidance, what the implied valuations are, color on what to look for in addition to earnings, as well as opinions from analysts, what the charts are showing, and what the options traders are expecting for a price move.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Calendar, Earnings Tagged: BA, CVX, DD, JNJ, MCD, PG, T, TRV, UTX, VZ

11 DJIA Earnings Previews For The Week Ahead (DD, JNJ, MCD, TRV, VZ, BA, UTX, T, CVX, PG)

Administrator — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:34:28 +0000

The coming week is going to be yet another action packed week of big corporate earnings which will move markets or will move their sectors. 24/7 Wall St. has identified the DJIA components reporting next week and we have 10 of the 30 DJIA stocks reporting earnings. Earnings are coming from the following DJIA stocks: E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD); Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ); McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD); Travelers Cos. Inc. (NYSE: TRV); Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ); Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA); United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX); AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T); Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT); Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX); and Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG).

We have compiled Thomson Reuters estimates, when the earnings are due, and what the share pricing has been on each, and added in additional color if applicable. There are a few additional themes we would watch: dividend coverage, how a strong dollar is impacting earnings and competitiveness, making earnings on cost monitoring while revenues may be soft, and exposure to Europe.

TUESDAY

E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), or just DuPont, reports on Tuesday morning. The chemicals giant is expected to have earnings of $0.33 EPS and $8.53 billion in revenues. Shares are just under $50.00 and the 52-week range is $37.10 to $57.00.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is due Tuesday morning. The drug, medical products, and consumer products giant is expected to report earnings of $1.10 EPS and $16.28 billion in sales. With shares close to $65.00, the 52-week range is $57.50 to $68.05.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is due to report on Tuesday morning and estimates for the fast food giant are $1.29 EPS and $6.80 billion in sales. Shares are within yet another hair of another all-time high and it has recently talked up sales and has already raised its dividend.

Travelers Cos. Inc. (NYSE: TRV), the most forgotten financial stock of the DJIA, is expected to report earnings of $1.52 EPS and $5.47 billion in sales. With shares above $61.00, the 52-week trading range is $45.97 to $64.17.

WEDNESDAY

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is due Wednesday morning and the aerospace and defense giant is expected to report $1.00 EPS and $19.4 billion in revenues. With shares around $75.50, the 52-week range is $56.01 to $80.65.

United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) may be the conglomerate with the most upside in 2012 according to analysts. The earnings are due Wednesday morning and the consensus targets are $1.46 EPS and $15.07 billion in revenues. With shares under $77.00, the 52-week range is $66.87 to $91.83 and the consensus price target is $89.44.

THURSDAY

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is due on Thursday morning and estimates are $0.45 EPS and $31.94 billion in sales. Shares are back above $30 around $30.40 and the 52-week range is $27.20 to $31.94.

FRIDAY

We will be releasing more detailed previews the day ahead of each DJIA earnings report this coming week. Additional data will be around forward earnings estimates for guidance, what the implied valuations are, color on what to look for in addition to earnings, as well as opinions from analysts, what the charts are showing, and what the options traders are expecting for a price move.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Calendar, Conglomerates, Earnings, Editor's Picks, Telecom Tagged: BA, CAT, CVX, DD, JNJ, MCD, PG, T, TRV, UTX, VZ

Full 360-Degree Earnings Preview For GE (GE, UTX, MMM)

Administrator — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:34:41 +0000

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is set to report earnings on Friday morning of $0.38 EPS on revenues of almost $40.2 billion. If the stock’s performance is any barometer, let’s just say that expectations are high and GE probably cannot dribble out a so-so quarter to keep the investors happy. GE has been the best performing conglomerate of late, but in our year outlook analysis it was United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) which may offer the most upside of all conglomerates this year. We would be looking for close response in shares of 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) based upon Friday morning’s earnings.

GE continues to improve its internal workings and continues to improve its customer credit metrics in the GE Capital operations faster than most expected. The company’s dividend hike came sooner than expected and this conglomerate is returning to normal sooner than expected even if the total portfolio changes is going to look like a decline in revenues on the surface. While United Tech might have been the cheapest conglomerate, it was still General Electric which we included in the 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio.

GE was also listed as one of Jim Cramer’s 4 Favorite DJIA Stocks For 2012.

After a 0.7% rise on Thursday to $19.15, GE shares are up 6.9% year to date. What is more impressive is that after you adjust for the dividend payment the stock of the conglomerate is up a massive 21.5% from the end of November and shares are up a massive 31.5% if you were lucky enough to buy shares on the day after Thanksgiving and hold them.

The manner in which GE is acting is that it wants to go well back over $20.00. That is what its chart action is indicating at any rate. At some point, it will take more continued good news of some sort from the company to make that sustainable.

In case GE manages to disappoint the street, the 50-day moving average is $16.89 and the 200-day moving average is $17.32. The first support level would come in around $18.00 if any serious disappointment comes up and then down in the $17.60 area if the news is somehow much worse than investors are expecting. Shares are now back up at levels not seen since last July and the historic 1-year chart shows that all sorts of resistance will come back into play in the $20.10 to $20.30 areas.

Thomson Reuters has a consensus (mean) price target objective of $21.21.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Conglomerates, Earnings, Infrastructure Tagged: GE, MMM, UTX

United Tech May Be The Best DJIA Conglomerate Stock In 2012 (UTX, GE, MMM, GR)

Administrator — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:10:19 +0000

United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) may actually be the best stock in 2012 out of the three conglomerates which are in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. While we have had a long-standing positive bias for General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and been only a bit warm on 3M Co. (NYSE: MM), the analyst community currently has the highest marks for United Tech, followed by GE and 3M. Some of this is simply due to GE’s price gains over the last few weeks and United Tech made our list of most undervalued DJIA stocks.

Analysts according to Thomson Reuters have a consensus price target objective of $88.79 over the next year versus a current share price of $74.90. That gives an implied upside of about 18.5% and its 2.6% dividend yield is likely to be raised sometime around this coming summer if all goes well.

One key issue is that much is price-based because United Tech is also down from its 52-week high the most of the three DJIA conglomerates with a drop of more than 18% from its 52-week high. The market cap of $68 billion keeps United from being in the mega-cap or super-cap group and not that much higher than the $58 billion worth of 3M and only one-third of GE’s market cap.

There is a wild card here, a very big wild card… The Goodrich Corporation (NYSE: GR) acquisition which has been a huge overhang. That is the trick, and a clean deal will allow it to soar but a troubled deal could act as as a continued thorn in its side.

With a 52-week trading range of $66.87 to $91.83, United Tech does not even to reach a 52-week high to reach the consensus analyst price target.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Conglomerates, Index, Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: GE, GR, MMM, UTX

The 5 Most Undervalued DJIA Stocks For 2012 (AA, BAC, CAT, JPM, UTX, DIA)

Administrator — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:43:08 +0000

At the start of each year, 24/7 Wall St. reviews and updates price targets looking for stocks which offer the most upside or the least upside for the year ahead. After looking at Thomson Reuters consensus data, there are several stocks which may significantly outperform the market this year. We came up with an alternative calculation for predicting the DJIA performance in 2012 and the peak value came to 13,678 for the DJIA.

Of the DJIA components, the five with the most implied upside were Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA), Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX). If the model is right on the near-12% gains, then the peak on the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) would be roughly $136.47 assuming that the ETF tracks the index tick by tick. Remember, that “cheapest” does not always mean that these stocks will go much just higher just because an analyst thinks so. There is a saying that “cheap stocks usually get cheaper.”

Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) closed out 2011 at $8.65, leaving an implied price target gain of 44.2% to the $12.48 consensus price target. Alcoa’s game is simple and that is that it has to still maintain that the aluminum market can double by the year 2020. Shares were brutalized last year as the 52-week range was $8.45 to $18.47. It is hard to imagine that this was a $30 stock and higher before the recession.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is of course the “most upside” stock because it was the worst performing DJIA stock of 2011. It lost more than half of its value. At $5.56, it has an implied upside of what is truly unbelievable at 72.3% to the $9.58 target. This frankly sounds too good to be true even if Warren Buffett tried to prop it up. The problems are almost too great to bother naming here at BofA.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is heavily dependent on emerging markets for mining and infrastructure, so it is of course highly cyclical. The 2011 close-out price of $90.60 compared to a 52-week range of $67.54 to $116.55. The consensus Thomson Reuters price targets of $114.50 implies an upside of 26.3% and the dividend is about 2%. As go the emerging economies, as goes Cat!

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is hard to argue against for a management team, but it is in the battered banking sector. This now trades well under book value and the sector is its anchor. If the sector improves, investors will probably seek safety behind Jamie Dimon. At $33.25, there is an implied upside of 39.3% to the $46.33 price target from Thomson Reuters. Keep in mind that the 52-week trading range is $27.85 to $48.36 so even the leader is down by a third of its value.

United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) was a bit surprising to see on the list as the conglomerate was shown to have 21.5% upside from the current $73.09 price to a target of $88.79. That would still not even be a year high, as the range of the last year was $66.87 to $91.83.

These were meant to just be some of the caveats and expectations for the 5 DJIA components with the most implied upside of the 30 components making up the index. As we noted with out implied 13,678 peak value in the DJIA for 2012, it almost sounds too good to be true.

There is something to consider, and it may be serious. What happens when you question your own numbers that a model generates?

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls, Banking, Index, Special Report Tagged: AA, BAC, CAT, DIA, JPM, UTX

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CTRN, CSTR, FNFG, IBKR, LNKD, MFRM, NWS.A, UTX)

Administrator — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:28:26 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Thursday morning. The number of research calls is dropping significantly and this week is usually very light in research calls as many departments are on skeleton crews this week.

Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) maintained Underperform and named Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.

Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) named as the value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.

First Niagara Financial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: FNFG) Started as Buy at Jefferies.

Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ: IBKR) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Started as Buy at Collins Stewart.

Mattress Firm Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: MFRM) Started as Outperform at William Blair.

News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS.A) Raised to the Top Pick List at RBC Capital Markets.

United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) Cut to Hold from Buy at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: CSTR, CTRN, FNFG, IBKR, LNKD, MFRM, NWS-A, UTX

All 30 DJIA Dividend Trends into 2012, Stock by Stock (DIA, AA, AXP, T, BAC, BA, CAT, CVX, CSCO, KO, DD, XOM, GE, HD, HPQ, IBM, INTC, JNJ, JPM, KFT, MCD, MMM, MRK, MSFT, PFE, PG, TRV, UTX, VZ, WMT, DIS)

Administrator — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:17:11 +0000

The economic choppiness is coming to a head with the age of dividend hikes. The pressure is going to remain for companies to continue returning capital to shareholders while also looking for selective global growth opportunities. The established Dow Jones Industrial Average components traditionally offer far higher dividend yields than the other top indexes, and 24/7 Wall St. is offering a case-by-case outlook for what investors should expect in DJIA dividend trends in the weeks, months and even in the year ahead.

If you add up the past 12 SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) dividend payments, the DJIA yield has been almost 2.5% over the last year. The good news is that the yield is already higher if you include the hikes that are likely to be announced. The price of the DJIA today should offer what will be closer to a 3% dividend yield in 2012.

The list of the 30 DJIA components is very long, but we have reviewed each and all of the following: Alcoa (NYSE: AA), American Express (NYSE: AXP), AT&T (NYSE: T), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), DuPont (NYSE: DD), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT), McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), 3M (NYSE: MMM), Merck & Company (NYSE: MRK), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), Walmart Stores (NYSE: WMT) and finally Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS).

We have broken out each DJIA component to review the history and expected dividend action individually. While this is a no short read, dividend and income investors better pay close attention here. Value investors should pay attention as well. It is these DJIA components that are often considered as the prize of the sector and many peers are facing the same trends today and tomorrow. Our review focuses on when the last hikes have been seen, when the next dividend hike will come, and what the price and implied upside to the Thomson Reuters consensus price target offers. We also even have shown an expected income payout ratio on each if applicable to further show which companies can boost their payouts ahead.

Alcoa is still hanging its hat on the notion that the aluminum market will double by 2020, so we have to at some point expect the DJIA component to boost its dividends again in the years ahead. Still, the company is trying to accumulate more liquidity and the current climate is a choppy one for metals players. The dividend has been stuck at $0.03 since the first of 2009 and it was $0.17 per quarter before then. Any hikes might only be nominal until the business climate becomes a bit more steady and predictable. The 1.1% is very unimpressive for a DJIA component and we have no great dividend ambitions in the near-term for Alcoa, even if only 10% to 15% of expected 2012 income is slated for payouts. At $10.35, the consensus price target of about $13.25 is well under the 52-week high of $18.47.

American Express has had its dividend steady at $0.18 per quarter since its January 2008 payment and the current yield is only 1.4%. The company’s credit metrics keep improving and its payout is not quite 19% of expected earnings next year. Still, this is a financial stock and it is hard to a financial stock to boost dividends right now. It has no branch bank operations but the climate remains tenuous. At $49.70, the consensus price target is around $55.75 if you trust price targets on financial firms.

AT&T has had four quarters in a row of $0.43 and it has a history of raising its dividend each year. The question that hangs over it is the regulatory block over the T-Mobile buyout and the huge penalty that AT&T will ultimately have to pay out of it cannot clear regulatory hurdles. This is one of the dividend stars with a 5.8% yield but it also pays out more than 70% of its expected income. Another hike is possible, but our take is that the dividend yields are now so high that telecom giants will only ratchet them up slightly. At $29.20, the consensus price target is $31.90.

Filed under: Compensation, Conglomerates, Corporate Governance, Dividend, Economy, Editor's Picks, Financial Stocks, Index, Large Cap Stocks, Mutual Funds, Oil & Gas, Personal Finance, Shareholder Issues, Value Investing Tagged: AA, AXP, BA, BAC, CAT, CSCO, CVX, DD, DIA, DIS, GE, HD, HPQ, IBM, INTC, JNJ, JPM, KFT, KO, MCD, MMM, MRK, MSFT, PFE, PG, T, TRV, UTX, VZ, WMT, XOM

3M, No Indicator of Conglomerate Business & Upside (MMM, GE, HON, UTX)

Administrator — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:55:11 +0000

3M Co. (NYSE: (NYSE: MMM) is standing apart from its competing conglomerate peers. Not for the better. United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) have all turned in more respectable earnings reports than what we saw from 3M. This may be the quarter that separates the men from the boys. We took a look at which companies in the world of U.S. conglomerates have the most upside to the Thomson Reuters consensus data and implied a news bias to each.

3M reported $1.55 EPS and $7.53 billion in sales, but we had estimates of $1.61 EPS and $7.77 billion in sales. Because of Europe and because of customers growing weary, organic volume growth being soft, and because of weak electronics sales, 3M guided 2011 to $5.85 to $5.95 EPS from a prior range of $6.10 to $6.25 EPS. 3M’s shares are down 4.2% at $78.88, its 52-week range is $68.63 to $98.19, and the consensus price target before this morning’s news was $103.29.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) has listed lower since Friday’s earnings report. At $16.21 after a 1.5% drop today, the 52-week range is $14.02 to $21.65 and the consensus analyst price target is $20.79.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) went up on earnings and is up even today. The gain is only 0.1% at $51.82, but its 52-week range is $41.22 to $62.28 and the consensus price target is $58.67.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) has risen from last week and the 0.8% drop to $76.06 today compares to a 52-week range of $66.87 to $91.83 and to a consensus price target of $89.65.

3M would have an implied 28% expected gain to the consensus price target had its news not eliminated that today. We will soon see what the implied upside is, but the negative news flow is not going to do it well. Implied upside for peers is as follows: GE at over 28%, Honeywell over 13% and United Tech at almost 18%.

3M may prove to be a drag on conglomerates and on the market, but it looks as though General Electric still offers the most implied upside.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Conglomerates, Earnings, Earnings Warning Tagged: GE, HON, MMM, UTX

Full 360-Degree GE Earnings Preview (GE, BRK-A, MMM, UTX, HON)

Administrator — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:03:31 +0000

General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) is due to report earnings early on Friday morning in the pre-market hours. Thomson Reuters has estimates for the DJIA component and conglomerate of $0.32 EPS and $34.86 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.40 EPS and $39.54 billion in revenue.

Shares are trading around $16.75, its 52-week trading range is $14.02 to $21.65 and analysts have a consensus price target that has slid further to $20.93. Keep in mind that GE shares have recovered more than $2.50 per shares as recently as the lows of October 4.

General Electric has also noted that it is paying back Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) from Warren Buffett’s late-2008 investment in the 10% preferred shares. While we have already seen some conglomerates report their earnings, we would expect that GE’s report will set the tone much more firmly for how 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) trade in the week ahead.

The chart is a bit of a conundrum here if you look at the stockcharts.com chart below. Since GE recovered so much it became a bit overbought on a near-term basis this week. Simultaneously, the stock also cleared a very obvious triple-top after bouncing off the lows. If the company manages to show strong reports there is really nothing but dead space between today’s price and somewhere around $17.90 to $18.00.

The 50-day moving average is $15.69 and the 200-day moving average is $18.36.

Options traders appear to be pricing in only a move of up to $0.35 or so in either direction. That is only just about 2%, but we would note that options expiration date is tomorrow as well.

We would note that Jeff Immelt has said in recent months that he is happier with the GE portfolio than he has ever been. We’ll have to see if he stocks by that in the conference call. Another expectation we expect to hear clarification or direction on is just how much business is suffering in Europe after so many companies have said that business in Europe is suffering. Also, look for Jeff Immelt’s comments on the overall business environment in China.

Another conglomerate’s earnings are due as well on Friday morning. Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) will report and Thomson Reuters has estimates of $1.00 EPS and $9.26 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $1.08 EPS and $9.64 billion in revenue.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Conglomerates, Earnings Tagged: BRK-A, GE, HON, MMM, UTX

24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Calls of the Week (AMD, AMZN, AAPL, CHTR, CMA, GXP, GMCR, NFLX, RVBD, TEVA, UTX, VLO)

Administrator — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 11:45:07 +0000

This last week was a bad end to a bad quarter and the research calls were very mixed. We went through the numerous upgrades and downgrades to identify which calls were insightful as well as to identify some of the big winning calls and the losing calls.

The top analyst calls of the last week from Wall Street research firms were in the following: Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD); Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN); Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL); Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR); Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA); Great Plains Energy Incorporated (NYSE: GXP); Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR); Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD); Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA); United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX); and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO).

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) was a stock that burned UBS this week pretty bad. On Raised came word that UBS raised the rating to Buy. On Wednesday the company dropped the hammer that it is having manufacturing issues that is enough for a lower revenue and margin forecast. Shares went from close to $6.50 up over $6.60 the following day, but the stock closed out te week at $5.08 and hit a new 52-week low of $5.07 on Friday as well. Too bad, but AMD was a bad break for UBS and it took at least 4 downgrades after the news.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was maintained with a “Buy” rating and with $255 target at Bank of America Merrill Lynch this last week after the new Kindles were released. There is just one problem, we noted over the weekend that Amazon doesn’t appear to be making money off the new products.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, The Week Tagged: AAPL, AMD, AMZN, CHTR, CMA, GMCR, GXP, NFLX, RVBD, TEVA, UTX, VLO