Posts for Ticker ‘VSE’

Valero’s Ethanol Dreams Via VeraSun Refineries (VLO, VSE)

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE:VLO) has submitted a “stalking horse” bid for six properties offered by VeraSun Energy Corp. (formerly NYSE:VSE) as part of VeraSun’s bankruptcy sale. All told the six plants have a capacity to refine about 670 million gallons of ethanol annually. Valero’s bid totals about $280 million, about a third of what it probably cost to build the plants.

It’s pretty hard to believe that Valero actually wants to buy these facilities. We’ll know soon, though. Bids for these and other VeraSun properties are due March 13th.

Paul Ausick
February 9, 2009

Posted on: February 9, 2009 – 10:18 am in Alternative Energy, Oil & Gas, , , , ,

Pacific Ethanol Follows the Fold (PEIX, VSE, AVR)

Pacific_ethanol_logoPacific Ethanol (NASDAQ:PEIX) reported third quarter numbers this morning and any resemblance to VeraSun and Aventine (NYSE:AVR) is purely familial. Pacific had revenue of $184 million, compared with analysts’ estimates of $219 million, and an EPS loss of $0.98, compared with estimates of $0.16. It’s hard to imagine how it could have been worse.

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Posted on: November 10, 2008 – 10:41 am in Alternative Energy, Earnings, Oil & Gas, , ,

ADM Shows Issues in Corn vs. Crude (ADM, VSE, APC, HOC, PEIX, AVR)

Adm_logoThis morning’s earnings report from Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) offers proof that if a company is going to be in the ethanol business, it had better have a fallback position.  ADM blew past analysts’ estimates of $0.69 per share and $15.98 billion in revenue, hitting EPS of $1.63 on revenue of $21.16 billion. Both figures are more than double those for the same period last year.

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Posted on: November 4, 2008 – 10:36 am in Agriculture, Alternative Energy, Earnings, Trading Alert, , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (MCK)(VSE)(ATRC)(CLZR)

Sad_clownMcKesson (MCK) Sales slowdown and downgrade. Drops to $35.81 from 52-week high of $68.43.

Verasun Energy (VSE) Chapter 11. Sells down to $.20 from 52-week high of $17.75.

Atricure (ATRC) Department of Justice probe. Roth Capital downgrade. The daily double. Drops to $3 from 52-week high of $14.38.

Candela (CLZR) Looking at strategic alternatives and posted poor earnings.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: November 3, 2008 – 4:16 pm in HI/LOW, , , ,

Commodities, Stagflation, And Recession

AngrybearIf memory serves, commodities prices were too expensive at mid-year. Corn was too high for ethanol companies to make money. One of the largest, Verasun (VSE), just went bankrupt. Oil prices were so high that people could not drive and would not buy new or used cars.

The agricultural products used to make most food jumped up so much that the normal consumer could not get a loaf of bread for under $50.

Apparently, all of that has changed.

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Posted on: November 3, 2008 – 6:15 am in Commodities,

As Verasun (VSE) Goes Chapter 11, The Ethanol Industry Faces Serial Failures

95129cThe most prominent ethanol energy company in the US, Verasun (VSE), is filing for Chapter 11. Among other things the firm has been pinched by falling oil prices, which make ethanol less attractive, and rising corn prices, which makes production more expensive.

When oil was at $147 a barrel, ethanol was a savior for car and truck drivers everywhere.

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Posted on: November 1, 2008 – 7:11 am in Alternative Energy, , ,

The Burning Man Visits Ethanol (PEIX, AVR, VSE)

BurningmoneyEthanol stocks have been getting pounded since their IPOs and the sector has lost its luster.  Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX) was the exception for a while as it has Bill Gates as an investor ahead of the great ethanol boom.  But share prices for Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings (NYSE:AVR) and VeraSun Energy Corp. (NYSE:VSE) have fallen so far from their IPO prices that if you looked at a chart without a time period attached you might assume you were looking at any dot-com flame-out from 2000 to 2002. The bloom was off the rose from the beginning.

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Posted on: October 31, 2008 – 9:21 am in Alternative Energy, , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (VSE)(WSM)(PPC)(MCK)(VPRT)(CLNE)

Sad_clownVerasun Energy (VSE) Rumor that ethanol company may go Chapter 11. Drops to $.40 from 52-week high of $17.75.

Williams-Sonoma (WSM) Who can afford to decorate a home? Earnings fall. Sells off to $7.26 from 52-week high of $31.88.

Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC) Lenders extend debt, but market is still nervous. Down to $1.10 from 52-week high of $30.15.

McKesson (MCK) Weak guidance. Slips to $35.50 from 52-week high of $68.43.

Vistaprint (VPRT) Bad forecast and downgrades. Daily double. Plunges to $16 from 52-week high of $48.60.

Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) Plan to raise money hurts shares. Falls to $6.62 from 52-week high of $19.95.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: October 29, 2008 – 2:50 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , ,

Google (GOOG) Burns More Money To Save The World

GoogLeaving aside its huge and immensely profitable search business, Google (GOOG) has managed to lose money in almost every other business it has started or bought. YouTube is probably at the top of that list.

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Posted on: October 28, 2008 – 4:56 am in Internet, , ,

Ethanol Wars: Xethanol Vs. Pacific & VeraSun (XNL, PEIX, VSE)

After the market closed yesterday, Xethanol Corporation (AMEX:XNL) announced that a Federal Court had approved the settlement Xethanol had reached in a class action suit alleging that the company had misled investors. The settlement was reached in November 2007, and will cost the company $400,000. Xethanol’s insurer will pay $2.4 million plus up to $300,000 in legal costs.

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Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 10:24 am in Alternative Energy, , ,

The 52-Week Low Club 9/17/2008 (MS)(GS)(VSE)

Sad_clown_2Morgan Stanley (MS) tumbles on fears it will be the next victim of credit crisis. Shares  falls to $16.08 from a 52-week high of $69.87.

Goldman Sachs (GS) Even the premier US investment bank is not immune. The stock drops to $97.78 from its 52-week high of $250.70.

Verasun Energy (VSE) was hurt by new public offering. It plummets to $1.37 from a 52-week high of $17.75.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: September 17, 2008 – 2:47 pm in HI/LOW, , ,

Day Trader Alert: VeraSun Energy (VSE)

VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) is about to get pounced this morning.  Last night, the ethanol producer announced that it now expected a quarterly loss.  Analysts are looking for -$0.02 per share loss before the warning and estimates were as high as $0.05 about three months ago.  It is also selling 20 million shares of common stock through Morgan Stanley and UBS.  We have also seen Oppenheimer downgrade its rating on VeraSun to perform from outperform.  Shares closed at $5.22 yesterday and are indicated down 29% at $3.69 right before the open.  The last official NYSE Indication showed $3.00 to $5.00. This one is looking ugly today.

Jon C. Ogg
September 17, 2008

Posted on: September 17, 2008 – 8:28 am in Alternative Energy, Analyst Calls, Earnings Warning, Secondary Offering,

VeraSun Proves It: Size Matters (VSE, PEIX, AVR)

Verasun_logoVeraSun Energy (NYSE:VSE) reported second quarter 2008 earnings before the market opened today. The company’s revenues soared by 499% to $1.015 billion, compared with $170 million for the same period in 2007. Net earnings also increased to $24 million (EPS of $0.15) from $15 million a year ago. Analysts estimated earnings of $0.02 EPS on revenues of $924 million.

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Posted on: August 12, 2008 – 8:28 am in Alternative Energy, Earnings, , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (JOBS, AUO, AVR, CRDN, CLX, DKS, GR, MPEL, PLXS, VSE)

These are not all of the downgrades or negative calls we have seen, but these are some calls moving shares this Monday morning:

  • 51jobs (JOBS) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  • AU Optronics (AUO) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
  • Aventine Renewable (AVR) Cut to Underweight at Lehman.
  • Ceradyne (CRDN) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
  • Clorox (CLX) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  • Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
  • Goodrich (GR) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
  • Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Plexus (PLXS) Cut to Neutral  at Baird.
  • VeraSun Energy (VSE) Cut to Underweight at Lehman.

Jon C. Ogg
July 28, 2007

Posted on: July 28, 2008 – 6:24 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AVR, BLL, CE, ETR, HCP, HR, MRK, PTNR, PTEN, UAUA, VSE)

These are not all of the upgrades or positive analyst calls seen this morning but these are some of the top calls seen this Friday morning:

  • Aventine Renewable (NYSE: AVR) Raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  • Ball Corp (NYSE: BLL) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
  • Celanese (NYSE: CE) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  • Entergy (NYSE: ETR) Raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
  • HCP (NYSE: HCP) Raised To Buy From Neutral By Goldman Sachs.
  • Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE: HR) Started as Outperform at Wachovia.
  • Merck (NYSE: MRK) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
  • Partner Communications (NASDAQ: PTNR) Started as Outperform at RBC Capital.
  • Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ: PTEN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  • UAL (NASDAQ: UAUA) Raised to Overweight from Underweight at JPMorgan.
  • Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) Raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.
  • VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) Raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
July 18, 2008

Posted on: July 18, 2008 – 6:48 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Downgrades (CXR, ETM, ROCK, LUX, MAN, NVLS, VSE, ZUMZ)

These are some of the top DOWNGRADES we are seeing from Wall Street analysts this Thursday morning:
Cox Radio (NYSE: CXR) Cut to Sell from Hold at Citigroup.
Entercom (NYSE: ETM) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ: ROCK) Cut To Sell From Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Luxottica (NYSE: LUX) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Manpower (NYSE: MAN) Cut to Neutral at Banc of America.
Novellus (NASDAQ: NVLS) Started as Sell at Banc of America.
VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) Cut to Sell at Piper Jaffray.
Zumiez (NYSE: ZUMZ) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Jon C. Ogg
July 10, 2008

Posted on: July 10, 2008 – 7:03 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , ,

Goldman Sachs Pans Ethanol (AVR, PEIX, VSE)

In coverage this morning, Goldman Sachs has come out and reiterated the firm’s Cautious analyst coverage view for the corn-based ethanol producers.  Specifically, the firm has reiterated its "SELL" ratings on:

  • Aventine Renewable Energy (NYSE: AVR),
  • Pacific Ethanol NASDAQ: PEIX),
  • and VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE).

The firm notes that corn markets are already short of supply already tight and that spot prices are now much higher because of the Midwest flooding.  It also noted that the next big ramp-up in ethanol capacity will keep pressure on ethanol equities.

As part of this call, Goldman Sachs made wider loss projections for PEIX in 2008 and 2009 and now sees losses rather than gains in VSE as well.  The interesting part of the call besides the reiterated Sell rating is that Goldman Sachs actually now sees a gain in AVR and less of an earnings drop-off in 2009 as a result of likely decelerated plant expansion plans.

Jon C. Ogg
June 27, 2008

Posted on: June 27, 2008 – 6:27 am in Alternative Energy, Analyst Calls, , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (RF)(STI)(TSO)(VSE)(FITB)

Regions Financial  (RF) Another beating for bank stocks. Down to $10.75 from 52-week high of $34.60.

SunTrust Banks (STI) More regional bank pain. Drops to $$35.95 from 52-week high of $90.90.

Tesoro Corporation (TSO) Margins being squeezed at oil refiners. Falls to $20.60 from 52-week high of $65.98.

Verasun Energy (VSE) Corn prices hit ethanol stocks. Down to $3.84 from 52-week high of $17.75.

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) Big dilution coming along with concerns about further write-offs. Sells down to $10.10 from $43.20 as 52-week high.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: June 18, 2008 – 2:48 pm in HI/LOW, , , , ,

Citigroup Pans Ethanol… On Flooding (VSE, BIOF, ADM)

Ethanol stocks appear to be under pressure this morning.  Citigroup has downgraded the group to a SELL rating, partially based upon the Midwest flooding.  VeraSun (NYSE: VSE) and BioFuel Energy (NASDAQ: BIOF) were cut to a "SELL" rating from "BUY" and Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM) was cut to "HOLD" from "BUY."

Over the last week and a half the flooding has caused irreparable damage to this year’s corn market.  Corn prices have risen and are likely to destroy margins despite the subsidy. Cash costs are running above sell-through rates for small and mid-sized producers and Citi even believes some may be  forced to shut down over the coming months. 

Jon C. Ogg
June 12, 2008

Posted on: June 12, 2008 – 7:35 am in Alternative Energy, Analyst Calls, , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ADM, ASMI, CN, CHU, FIG, BEN, MSO, NT, RYL, TER, VSE)

These are ten of the analyst calls we are focusing on this Thursday morning:

  • Archer-Daniels (NYSE: ADM) cut to Hold at Citigroup.
  • ASM Intl NV (NASDAQ: ASMI) started as Underperform at Jefferies.
  • China Netcom (NYSE: CN) and China Unicom (NYSE: CHU) raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.    
  • Fortress Investment (NYSE: FIG) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) raised to Outperform at KBW.
  • Martha Stewart (NYSE: MSO) cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Nortel (NYSE: NT) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL) raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Teradyne (NYSE: TER) started as Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) cut to Sell at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
June 12, 2008

Posted on: June 12, 2008 – 7:14 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,