24/7 Wall St. » VG

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (MO, VZ, TSO, LNKD, GE, CHKR, BTH, PBY, UEC, AZO, DRI, TOL, LQDT, DMND, SAI, VRA, FRO, CTIC, CRK, VG, HL)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:11:36 +0000

Equities opened a little weaker this morning, but by 10:00 a.m. markets had turned slightly positive and have remained in positive territory for the rest of the day. The gain has not been huge, but it is a gain. The lack of enthusiasm from either buyers or sellers reflected the mood from European bourses as well. WTI crude oil rose 0.11%, to near $101.10 just before today’s close. Gold was off -0.02%, at $1,730.30/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 52 points to 12,150.13 (0.43%), the NASDAQ fell more than 6 points (-0.23%) to 2,649.56, and the S&P 500 rose 0.11% or nearly 5 points to 1,258.47.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) started as ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank. Other ratings action include Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $44 price target at Argus; Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) cut from ‘outperform’ to ‘neutral’ with a $34 price target at Credit Suisse; LinkedIn Corp. (NASDAQ: LNKD) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) raised to ‘outperform’ by Berstein.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (NYSE: CHKR) is up 0.7% at $19.94; Blyth, Inc. (NYSE: BTH) is down -0.05% at $66.33; Pep Boys-Manny, Joe, and Jack (NYSE: PBY) is down -5.5% at $11.21; Uranium Energy Corp. (AMEX: UEC) is up 0.66% at $3.06; AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) is down -0.12% at $338.56; Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) is down -12% at $41.95; Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) is up nearly 3% at $21.37; and Liquidity Services Inc. (NASDAQ: LQDT) is up nearly 5.5% at $36.74, after posting a new 52-week high of $37.05 earlier in the day. Earnings releases coming after markets close today include Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND); SAIC Inc. (NYSE: SAI); and Vera Bradley Inc. (NYSE: VRA).

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO) is up more than 19%, to $4.23. The oil tanker company has been suffering from low day rates and lack of cargoes, but today’s injection of $500 million from a Norwegian bank controlled by the company’s major shareholder, John Fredriksen, has pumped up interest in the stock.

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) is up 14%, at $1.31. The drug-maker received notice from the FDA that its new drug application for a treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma is complete.

Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK) is up nearly 15%, at $19.39. The oil & gas E&P company has acquired new acreage in the Delaware Basin of west Texas and reported that it had drilled five new producing wells in its Eagle Ford shale acreage.

Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG) is down nearly -5%, at $2.52. The VoIP provider did not report any significant news, but the stock has been quite volatile over the past month.

Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) is up more than 9%, at $6.57. The miner benefited from today’s investors’ interest in gold mining stocks.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. We have noted Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin moderating a panel on grass-roots participation at Baltimore branch of Richmond Fed. Here are other noteworthy events scheduled for Tuesday (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
3:00 p.m. – Report on outstanding consumer credit

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AZO, BTH, CHKR, CRK, CTIC, DMND, DRI, FRO, GE, HL, LNKD, LQDT, MO, PBY, SAI, TOL, TSO, UEC, VG, VRA, VZ

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AWK, C, JPM, CAT, DE, VLO, PNX, NOR, HGG, CECO, END, VG, AMRS, DMND, PG, SINO, OXGN, RTK, RNF)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:08:58 +0000

Stocks opened higher this morning and the gains held up pretty well all day. The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee report contained no big surprises, with interest rates continuing to be held between 0%-0.25%. The dollar is a bit weaker, leading to a small rise in oil and commodity stocks. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s prepared remarks were issued prior to his press conference, and the Fed has lowered its estimate of US economic growth for the year from 2.7%-2.9% to 1.6%-1.7%. The growth forecast for 2012 has also been trimmed, from 3.3%-3.7% to 2.5%-2.9%.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly more than 177 points to 11,835.74 (1.52%), the NASDAQ rose more than 33 points (1.27%) to 2,639.98, and the S&P 500 rose 1.61% or more than 19 points to 1,237.89.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including American Water Works (NYSE: AWK) added to Zack’s Strong Buy List. Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) cut to ‘hold’ at S&P Capital IQ; Caterpillar Corp. (NYSE: CAT) started at ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) started at ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley; and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) reiterated ‘buy’ at Argus with a price target of $35.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Phoenix Companies Inc. (NYSE: PNX) up more than 27%, at $1.73; Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. (NYSE: NOR) is up more than 21%, at $10.44; hhgregg, Inc. (NYSE: HGG) up more than 16%, at $14.09; Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO) is down nearly -467%, at $8.38, a new 52-week low; Endeavor International Corp. (NYSE: END) is down nearly -14%, at $7.66; and Vonage Holding Corp. (NYSE: VG) is down about -15%, at $2.65.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Career Education Corp., in addition to posting an awful quarterly report, also got hit by the resignation of the company’s CEO. Shares are down more than -47%, at $8.38, to give the shares a new range of $8.68-$27.60.

Amyris Corp. (NASDAQ: AMRS) is down more than -20%, at $15.41, having posted a new 52-week low earlier to give the stock a new range of $15.21-$33.99. The company’s earnings report revealed an EPS loss of -$0.97, much worse than expected. Shares were downgraded by Robert Baird from ‘outperform’ to ‘neutral’.

Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) is down more than -17%, at $53.01, in a 52-week range of $43.14-$96.13. The company’s board is reviewing how walnut growers are being paid and will delay the annual report into next year. The company’s deal to by Pringles snack foods from Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG) could be in jeopardy because the company planned to use stock to make the acquisition.

Sino-Global America Shipping, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SINO) is up more than 81%, at $3.05, in a 52-week range of $1.20-$9.16. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with a South African firm to act as Sino’s agent in that country. In shipping these days, any positive signal is a rare treat.

Oxigene, Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN) is up nearly 12%, at $1.69, in a 52-week range of $0.82-$6.38. The company has set its third-quarter earnings release for next week, and investors are expecting good news on the company’s drug development efforts.

Rentech, Inc. (AMEX: RTK) is up about 21%, at $1.95, a new 52-week high, and a new 52-week trading range of $0.72-$1.95. The company continues to get a boost from the IPO of its spin-off of Rentech Nitrogen Partners, L.P. (NYSE: RNF).

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

8:30 a.m. – Initial unemployment claims
10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
10:30 a.m. – EIA Natural gas report
4: 30 p.m. – Federal Reserve Balance Sheet

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AMRS, AWK, C, CAT, CECO, DE, DMND, END, HGG, JPM, NOR, OXGN, PG, PNX, RNF, RTK, SINO, VG, VLO

Vonage Fights Negative Subscriber Count With Earnings Growth (VG)

Administrator — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:12:28 +0000

Vonage Holdings Corporation (NYSE: VG) is getting thrashed this morning on what appeared to be a decent to good earnings report on the surface. It is always in the details where the devil lurks. The VoIP telephony leader reported that net income tripled to $24 million or $0.11 EPS and its adjusted EBITDA was $40 million. Revenue was up $3 million from a year ago to $217 million, but this is down from $218 million just one quarter sequentially. We had estimates of $0.10 EPS and $219.95 million in expected revenues.

Gross line additions increased and the company showed that churn was slightly higher than expected because of the no contract policy. Vonage noted for ahead, “We expect improvements over the next few months as we will no longer experience the churn spike customarily associated with contract expirations. We anticipate stable to lower churn in the fourth quarter.”

The company also noted that it is focused on international expansion, but more importantly it noted that it expects to announce its first partnership early next year. Vonage now set the stage that it must announce a deal in early 2012.

The real problem is that Vonage has just found it very difficult to grow. The company ended with 2,388,721 net subscribers lines, down from 2,397,660 at June 30, 2011 and also down from 2,399,035 as of September 30, 2010. More details are as follows:

Gross line additions were 170,000, up from 163,000 the prior year and 158,000 sequentially;
Net loss of 9,000 lines, compared to a loss of 5,000 lines in the year-ago quarter and 11,000 net line losses sequentially.
Churn was 2.7%, up from 2.4% in the year ago quarter and 2.5% sequentially; expects fourth quarter churn to be at or below third quarter levels.

As far as guidance goes, the company expects to achieve adjusted EBITDA of at least $165 million for the year 2011 and is also expects to report gross line additions that exceed prior year levels. Vonage now sees full year churn of about 2.6%, at the high-end of its previous guidance of the “mid-2% level.” Full year 2011 net line additions are likely to be slightly negative. Capital expenditures for the year are expected to be at or under $40 million.

Vonage shares are down 12% at $2.75 versus a $3.13 close and the 52-week trading range is $2.10 to $5.39. Unless Vonage can figure out a way to get some growth going again, this stock is likely to keep bouncing around back and forth.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Earnings, Internet, Telecom Tagged: VG

Vonage Is A Win, But Competition & Metrics Remain Key Issues (VG, MSFT, CALL, EGHT)

Administrator — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:55:17 +0000

Vonage Holdings Corporation (NYSE: VG) is now a consistently profitable company. Concerns remain, but the focus so far seems to be more on the positive side of the equation. The VoIP telephony outfit has reported adjusted earnings of $0.10 EPS, up from $0.08 a year ago. Revenues remain a challenge as the firm turned in sales of $218 million, down from $220.6 million a previously. There are probably too few analysts covering the stock to have a reliable consensus target, but Thomson Reuters lists $0.08 EPS and $220.58 million in sales as the consensus price target.

Even if you back out the adjusted figures, the net income was $0.09 EPS or $22 million versus a $1 million net loss a year ago. The VoIP telephony outfit has managed to keep its costs from rising, and it is projecting that its gross subscriber line additions will grow in 2011 and that it should have $165 million in reported EBITDA.

Along with revenues, there are still some concerns that need to be addressed. The ARPU, or average revenue per user, came down to $30.14 from $30.71 in year-ago quarter. The company’s gross line additions came to 158,000, but the net came to a loss of 11,000 lines as the churn increased to 2.5%. This is too high of a churn. The company sees 2011 churn in the “mid two percent range.” Vonage ended with 2,397,660 subscriber lines at June 30.

Marketing costs are also higher, another concern. This was $52 million versus $49 million a year ago and sequentially. The key measure of subscriber line acquisition costs also ticked higher to $330 from $318 a year ago and from $282 sequentially.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) has become the number one problem here. The acquisition of Skype is THE biggest pressure. The threat from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and its free inter-call features is one thing, but unleashing Microsoft on the domestic and global phone market is much more concerning with the Facebook integration that if Skype had just gone public and struck its own deals. Skype had an average of 145 million connected users per month in the fourth quarter of 2010.

VocalTec Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ: CALL) continues to be a threat as well with its magicJack low-cost phone line service, which has sold more than seven million magicJack device since the launch in 2008.

8×8 Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) remains a competitor in VoIP, but the reality is that this $32 million market value is just not in the same league even if it claims more than 25,000 businesses using its VoIP, video conferencing, and unified communications services.

The gain is that Vonage’s operating expenses came down by a factor of 7% in the quarter. The cost per line was cut to $8.03, down from $8.34 sequentially and down from $8.72 a year earlier. Another boost may come with some mixed results at first but should pay off. The company is effectively doubling its store distribution channel to 6,000 spots. That will raise costs but will help to boost sales, at least it would seem to be the case.

Another boost is coming from a debt refinancing. It has cut what appears to be some $43 million annually due to a LIBOR-plus-3.50% pact. That is a saving which makes up for many losses elsewhere.

Along with a retail distribution expansion, the company has launched its global pay-per-call application for the iPhone as well. That means that as long as you can get a wireless connection, you can use your iPhone whether your phone can travel and be carrier-compatible globally or not.

Vonage shares are up 1% after an hour of trading at $3.75 after having hit $3.88 earlier today. The 52-week trading range is $1.92 to $5.39, and the stock was down almost 30% since its report in early May. The market cap is now $830 million.

The report was taken as a positive one despite some obvious concerns. Now the company just has to worry about an eight-day losing streak turning into nine days, as well as that heavy competition.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Consumer Electronics, Earnings, Internet, Technology Companies, Wireless Tagged: CALL, EGHT, MSFT, VG

The 24/7 Wall St. Top 7 Analyst Calls of the Week (BRCD, DNDN, DRYS, SIRI, SZYM, TASR, VG, DELL, TINY)

Administrator — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 15:20:54 +0000

Each morning we give a quick hit to the top Wall Street analyst upgrades and downgrades that we see. As you might expect, some calls are much better, are much more aggressive, or have much deeper insight than others. On Saturday we prefer to give you the biggest standout calls from the week. The top analyst research calls in the last week by our take covered shares of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD), Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN), DryShips, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS), SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), Solazyme, Inc. (NASDAQ: SZYM), TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR), and Vonage Holdings Corporation (NYSE: VG).

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) saw a big move on Thursday and shares hit a new 52-week high on both Thursday and Friday. Paul Mansky at Canaccord Genuity noted that Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) should acquire the company and this sent shares off to the races. The stock was at $6.67 on Wednesday and closed at $7.13 Friday for a gain of about 7%. When the call was made, the shares traded 5-times normal volume. Our take: Mansky’s call is one we agree with.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) was given yet another top-call of the week as Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and issued a $50.00 price target objective. Goldman Sachs sees Provenge being a very successful drug in te fight against late-stage prostate cancer. This flies against a very cautions call recently from Credit Suisse where that firm gave a $29 price target.

DryShips, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) was given a large upgrade by Goldman Sachs and you rarely see analysts upgrade or downgrade this stock. The firm raised the rating to Buy from Neutral and it raised the price target objective to $6.00 from $5.50. This is not even a year-high as the 52-week range is $3.28 to $6.44. The pop on Friday was considerable. Before the call, DryShips was trading at $3.83 and that implied upside of 56% to that $6.00 target. The call does not even get too aggressive compared to other research calls as the consensus price target is actually $6.45.

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) now has a new street-high target of $2.75 from Zacks. The rating company also raised its rating to “Outperform” and it was touted as the “Bull of the Day” in the call. More details are here.

Solazyme, Inc. (NASDAQ: SZYM) is the new hot renewable energy company that we noted may have gotten the nanotech sector back on the map. It has only been public for a week, but Raymond James initiated coverage with an “Outperform” rating and gave it a $25 price target. This one priced at $18.00, closed at $20.71 on its first day and closed this last Friday at $23.47. The value and interest around this IPO has also generated close to a 10% higher valuation for holder Harris & Harris Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TINY).

TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) is not one you routinely see coverage in and there is irony here despite a drop of almost 5% for the week. This week TASER was “Tased” by J.P.Morgan with a downgrade from an already cautious Neutral rating down to a worse “Underweight” rating. Effectively that is a “Sell” rating but the firm does not have a “Sell” rating in its official coverage. Oddly enough, there is some irony here. The price target on the call is $5.00, so there is actually an implied upside of almost 13% from Friday’s close of $4.43.

Vonage Holdings Corporation (NYSE: VG) is one company you rarely see analysts give coverage on. This week came a report from Janco Partners, initiating coverage with a “Buy” rating and a $6.00 price target. Janco’s report is based upon growing penetration of the ILD market, which it thinks will help with the churn rates and will help increase EBITDA margins. Also noted was that Vonage’s free cash flow profile should improve considering the capex is flat around $40 to $50 million, which should help the company pay down debt. Because the market was soft this did not create a massive run, but shares the prior Friday were at $4.67 and the close on Friday was $4.80.

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, The Week Tagged: BRCD, DELL, DNDN, DRYS, SIRI, SZYM, TASR, TINY, VG

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ATML, CMA, CBRL, DNDN, DV, EDMC, GIS, GFI, IPSU, JNS, LPS, MTL, MHS, MPEL, QLTY, SIG, SIRI, VG, ZUMZ)

Administrator — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:07:27 +0000

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

Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Reiterated Buy and $17 target at Gleacher & Co.
Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) Reiterated Buy at BofA/ML.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. (NASDAQ: CBRL) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
DeVry, Inc. (NYSE: DV) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Education Management Corporation (NASDAQ: EDMC) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE: GFI) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Imperial Sugar Co. (NASDAQ: IPSU) Raised to Buy with $30 target at Janney Capital.
Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: JNS) Reiterated Underperform but cut target to $11 at BofA/ML.
Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL) Started as Buy at UBS.
Medco Health Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MHS) Reiterated Buy with $69 target at Argus.
Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $13.30 at Citigroup.
Quality Distribution Inc. (NASDAQ: QLTY) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE: SIG) Maintained Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Vonage Holdings Corporation (NYSE: VG) Started as Buy at Janco Partners (Wednesday).
Zumiez, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) Cut to Neutral at Janney Capital.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ATML, CBRL, CMA, DNDN, DV, EDMC, GFI, GIS, IPSU, JNS, LPS, MHS, MPEL, MTL, QLTY, SIG, SIRI, VG, ZUMZ

Secondary Valuation Winners After Skype-Microsoft Deal (MSFT, GOOG, CSCO, CTXS, EBAY, PGI, CALL, VG, RVSN, PLCM)

Administrator — Tue, 10 May 2011 12:51:20 +0000

Skype is no longer going to be one of our Top 17 IPOs to Watch in 2011 any longer… Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) has wiggled in and cut Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Facebook out of their negotiations with Skype. This morning Microsoft confirmed that it would acquire Skype for some $8.5 billion from private equity group Silver Lake.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Facebook would be the first losers here. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) has already been under fire from many angles, but it has its Telepresence efforts and it owns WebEx and bought Tandberg for its web communications. This s just one more established strong competitor for Cisco. Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) also owns GoToMeeting, and you can argue that this drives the value up for GoToMeeting or you can argue that it is just one more competitive threat.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: is the immediate winner here in this Skype-Microsoft tie-up. eBay is still a partial owner of close to 30% of Skype after selling its majority interest. $8.5 billion is much higher than what the IPO value was going to be, and now eBay can realize an instant win here. In effect it will have sold Skype twice if you think about it. Shares are up about 4% at $34.45 pre-market.

Premiere Global Services, Inc. (NYSE: PGI) has now shed its old legacy fax business via PGiSend. The company brings together more than 15 million people in nearly 4 million virtual meetings each month. It also recently launched its new iMeet.com site for these meetings and the video compression for live meetings is incredible. Its most recent quarterly revenues were up almost 4% to $116.9 million and the company is both profitable and trades like a value stock.

VocalTec Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ: CALL) is one that is hard to say will be a direct winner based upon a “valuation boost” but the company did turn out to be a huge win for those who bought shares upon the announcement that it was acquiring magicJack that you see advertised as the dirt-cheap phone service on TV commercials. It has sold over seven million magicJacks and recently gave guidance for its first quarter of $30.9 million and approximately $0.22 EPS.

Vonage Holdings Corporation (NYSE: VG) was hit last week after earnings and shares dipped back under $5.00. Its income from operations increased to $30 million from $25 million in the year ago quarter although revenue was down marginally to $220 million. Subscriber lines are not really growing, but it listed some 2,408,228 subscriber lines at the end of the quarter.

RADVision Ltd. (NASDAQ: RVSN) and Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) are two other players for video conferencing and they might be able to claim higher relative valuation as a result. The problem is that higher valuation here might be counteracted by tighter competition and further sector lock-out as a result.

This Skype-Microsoft deal may act as a lesson learned for Facebook and its super-young management team… Until Facebook goes public, you will continue to not be able to adequately fight these other buyouts if you want to chase them.

You can 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: Business Services, Consumer Electronics, Editor's Picks, Internet, IPOs, Mergers and Buy Outs, Private Equity, Software, Technology Companies, Telecom Tagged: CALL, CSCO, CTXS, EBAY, GOOG, MSFT, PGI, PLCM, RVSN, VG

Top Earnings Previews for Wednesday (AGN, AOL, GRMN, GG, JDSU, MET, NWS-A, PCG, TSLA, TWX, RIG, VG, WFMI)

Administrator — Tue, 03 May 2011 19:56:05 +0000

This week marks the beginning of the end of corporate earnings season for the first quarter of 2011. Many off-calendar quarters will be seen starting next week or the week after. Wednesday is a big earnings day and we have compiled some previews for the following: Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN); AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL); Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN); Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG); JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU); MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET); News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA); PG& E Corp. (NYSE: PCG); Tesla Motors, Inc. (NYSE: TSLA); Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX); Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG); Vonage Holdings Corporation (NYSE: VG); and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI).

Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) is due Wednesday morning and shares were down 2.3% at $78.52 late on Tuesday. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.74 EPS and $1.22 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.92 EPS and $1.32 billion in revenues. Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target objective of $80.75 and the 52-week trading range is $56.26 to $80.70.

AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is due Wednesday morning. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.17 EPS and $536.35 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.22 EPS and $521.22 million in revenues. The shares were trading around $20.30 late on Tuesday. Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $24.77 and the 52-week trading range is $18.51 to $27.65.

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) has managed to hold up despite competition and changing demand concerns. The stock was around $33.50 late on Tuesday with earnings early Wednesday morning. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.33 EPS and $413.09 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.65 EPS and $637.04 million in revenues. Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target objective of $31.53 and the 52-week trading range is $26.11 to $39.05.

Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) may trade around gold more than earnings. Shares were down 3.3% late in the day at $51.00. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.48 EPS and $1.26 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.53 EPS and $1.36 billion in revenues. Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target objective of $64.50 and the 52-week trading range is $38.07 to $56.20.

JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) will come Wednesday afternoon and shares have come back to about $20.25. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.20 EPS and $448.17 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.25 EPS and $470.18 million in revenues. Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target objective of $24.74 and the 52-week trading range is $9.05 to $29.12.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) is due Wednesday morning and Thomson Reuters has estimates of $1.26 EPS and $15.89 billion in revenues. Shares were around $46.32 late Tuesday and Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target objective of $55.44 and the 52-week trading range is $35.38 to $48.72.

Filed under: Calendar, Earnings Tagged: AGN, AOL, GG, GRMN, JDSU, MET, NWS-A, PCG, RIG, TSLA, TWX, VG, WFMI

The Big Vonage Forecast (VG, CALL)

Administrator — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:36:16 +0000

Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG) is surging early this morning ahead of a presentation from the company’s CEO ahead of the Citi 21st Annual Global Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications Conference today.

The CEO gave several key bits of data looking back and looking forward into 2010. Some figures include the following:
Net line additions of 6,000, the first quarter of positive net line additions in more than two years; the Churn will be 2.4% and that is the lowest fourth quarter churn in four years; Gross line additions will increase sequentially to 167,000; and EBITDA is expected to be in the $40 million range.

The company also will discuss continued progress penetrating international calling markets and building customer loyalty with its Vonage World plan for unlimited calls to more than 60 countries for one flat rate. With expectations of strong cash flow and a better balance sheet, the following projections are being made for 2011:

expects gross line additions above 2010 with positive net line additions in 2011;
2011 churn is expected to be stable with fourth quarter 2010 levels;
current initiatives will begin to meaningfully impact revenue growth during the second half of 2011;
and continued EBITDA growth in 2011.

Some of these figures seem rather small on the surface. Apparently the gains are more than enough for the Vonage bulls as shares are higher. The stock is trading up 6.5% at $2.45 on nearly 400,000 shares right before the market opens. The 52-week range is $1.30 to $2.79. Vonage’s market cap is $489 million as of the $2.30 close on Tuesday.

Investors may also want to watch shares of VocalTec Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ: CALL) for a secondary move if Vonage shares remain high like this. VocalTec now has the magicJack low-cost VoIP telephone offering you have seen advertised so much on TV. At $24.11, its 52-week range is $1.20 to $39.88 on a split-adjusted basis.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Cult Stock, Internet, Software, Telecom Tagged: CALL, VG

Stocks That Have Risen From The Dead

247wallst — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:34:08 +0000

As investors ready themselves for Halloween, images of the macabre are hard to escape. The stock market also is filled with death metaphors. Companies SLASH costs and stocks are PUMMELED by bad news. Meanwhile, VULTURE investors feast on the flesh of dead and dying companies.

Occasionally, investors are able to find bargains among companies that everyone has given up for dead. Sometimes they get lucky. Sometimes they outsmart everybody else. Whatever the reason, their powers would make Dr. Frankenstein proud.

Here are some recent examples of the phenomena.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) — The internet retailer was seen by many on Wall Street as a low-margin business headed nowhere with oodles of competition from larger players. CEO Jeff Bezos ignored that advice and began marketing the Kindle and the rest is history. Shares of the Seattle-based company fetched about $33 in 2000. They now fetch more than $159 and have increased 16.5 percent this year..

Citigroup (NYSE: C) – Remember when the bank was given up for dead? CEO Vikram Pandit was due to be fired in the dark days of the recession. The shares traded at 97 cents on March 5, 2009. By December, the New York-based firm repaid the $20 billion in federal aid. Pandit is still on the job and the shares are trading at $4.14. The stock is nowhere near its earlier glory but it’s up 25 percent this year.

Ford (NYSE: F) — The automaker seemed headed toward oblivion before CEO Alan Mullaly’s turnaround. He foresaw the sharp decline in auto sales and in 2006 borrowed$23.6 billion by mortgaging all of Ford’s assets. Ford is the only automaker in the U.S. that did not need a bailout. Shares traded at around $3.40 in 2008 and are now priced at $13.39.

Sirius XM (NASDAQ: SIRI) — For years, the company could no right. Pundits said that CEO Mel Karmazin paid shock jock Howard Stern too much and would never get the merger with XM approved. Of course, the decline in auto sales was supposed to be the nail in the coffin. None of that happened. Sirius is less dependent on Stern. S&P analyst Tuna Amobi says Sirius will probably add 1.1 million subscribers this year to the 18.8 million it had at the end of 2009 and may add 1.4 million in 2011, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Its 52-week low is 52 cents. Shares are now trading at $1.27, a gain of 111 percent this year

Vonage (NYSE: VG) — Vonage was supposedly headed to the scrap heap after its disastrous IPO in 2006. Jim Cramer was especially critical, repeatedly calling the VOIP provider a “dog.” Every pundit argued that larger rivals would destroy the Internet phone pioneer. Well, the company is still standing. Shares are up more than 79 percent this year. Its 52-week is $1.13. The stock now trades at $2.52.

–Jonathan Berr

Filed under: Banking, Bankruptcy, Cult Stock, Research Tagged: AMZN, F, SIRI, VG