Posts for Ticker ‘WDC’

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

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

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

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

JON C. OGG

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

Seagate Sets Tone for Western Digital (STX, WDC)

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

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

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

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

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

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

JON C. OGG

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

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

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

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

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (ACOR, IP, OPEN, PBR, SPWRA, ASML, LAZ, PETD, TRW, WDC)

These are this morning’s top 10 pre-market analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations which we have seen early from Wall Street research firms:

Acorda (NASDAQ: ACOR) Raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford; Raised to Outperform at Baird.
International Paper (NYSE: IP) Started as Outperform at RBC.
OpenTable (NASDAQ: OPEN) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
PetroBras, or Petrobras Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR) Started as Outperform at Bernstein.
Sunpower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) Cut to Sell at Citi.
Lazard (NYSE: LAZ) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Petroleum Development (NASDAQ: PETD) Cut to Neutral at Sun Trust.
Travelers Cos (NYSE: TRV) Cut To Market Perform at KBW.
Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates each morning on analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s and secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG
OCTOBER 15, 2009

Posted on: October 15, 2009 – 8:27 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Key Tech Majors Hit New 52-Week Highs (AAPL, BIDU, CIEN, CTXS, EBAY, GOOG, JNPR, TLAB, WDC)

Money Stack ImageBurning Money PicWhile the markets have started to sell off by what feels almost as ’sharply,’ we have noticed late morning that a huge number 0f major technology stocks have hit 52-week highs on an intra-day basis.  Traders used this is a chance to lock in gains.  We have some added color on each below to see where these are coming from and where they were in the past.  In fact, most of these are back to or above pre-Lehman levels…

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is still positive and shares hit a new high of $186.79 today.  This is the highest level since June-2008 and is still under the highs of January 2008 and December-2007 when Apple was north of $200.00.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is now down on the day and under $400.00 but the stock hit an intra-day high of $408.00.

Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) hit a new high of $16.63 and is now challenging levels not seen since August and September of last year.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) must be doing well with its Xen virtualization, GoToMeeting and GoToMyPC.  Its shares are still up and it hit a new high of $37.95… highs not seen since February-2008.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) seems to be carefree over the Skype suit.  This hit a new high of $24.62 today, but keep in mind that this was a $40.00 stock two years ago.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) almost took out $500… The search leader stock is still in positive territory but it was up almost 2% this morning and hit $497.37… Two years ago this was north of $700.00 and we were all goo-goo eyed over whether $900 or $1,000.00 was a reality.

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) hit $27.53 this morning and was up close to 2% at the time.  That is up over 100% from year-lows and still well under the $30’s highs of two years ago.

Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) is back under $7.00 now, but this one hit a high of $7.15 this morning.  Two years ago, this was a $10.00-plus stock.

Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) is magically back up to $37.00, up a whopping 300% from the death-blow lows over the last year.  This is now within striking distance of its early-2008 highs of $40.00 for one day in June-2008.

Traders are taking advantage of these highs now based on the notion that the future is still not going to be as robust the past and the expectations of growth in the past.  Some of us might even say, they are finally taking advantage of the opportunity to lighten up after monumental gains.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 17, 2009 – 1:51 pm in HI/LOW, Technology Companies, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , ,

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

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

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

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

JON C. OGG

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

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AFL, CPB, ECL, ISIS, MGM, NE, NSC, PERY, TER, WDC)

These are the ten top Wall Street analyst calls with upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have this Wednesday morning:

Aflac (AFL) Cut to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
Campbell Soup (CPB) Raised to Sector Perform at RBC.
Ecolab (ECL) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Isis Pharmaceuticals (ISIS) Started as Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.
MGM Mirage (MGM) Cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
Noble Corporation (NE) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Norfolk Southern (NSC) Cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
Perry Ellis (PERY) Cut to Neutral at SunTrust.
Teradyne (TER) Started as Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Western Digital (WDC) Cut to Neutral at Baird.

Jon C. Ogg
July 27, 2009

Posted on: July 29, 2009 – 7:53 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top Day Trader Alert Stocks (CIT, DELL, WDC, DDSS, INFY, ASML)

These are some of the top stocks to watch for active trading today based on pre-market and after-hours volume activity.  There are links through to more detailed coverage and volume analysis at VSInvestor.com:

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) are down about 17 percent in the premarket on reports that the FDIC is unwilling to guarantee CIT’s bond sales.

Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL) is trading higher in the premarket on a Goldman Sachs upgrade ahead of the company’s annual analyst meeting scheduled for July 13 and 14.

Labopharm Inc. (Nasdaq: DDSS) shares are up about 4% in premarket trade. The company expects an approval decision on its depression drug Trazodone OD in coming weeks.

Infosys Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: INFY) shares are up following an 8-cent a share EPS beat and higher Q2 guidance.

ASML Holding N.V. (Nasdaq: ASML) shares are down about 2.5 percent ahead of earnings scheduled  for July 15.

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 8:06 am in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , ,

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

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

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

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

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

Jon C. Ogg
July 10, 2009

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

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

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

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

JON C. OGG

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

Seagate Gets Used To Losses (STX, WDC)

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

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

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

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

JON C. OGG

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

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

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

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

5 Friday Stock Winners Despite Market Carnage (CLS, COLM, INSU, IPCR, WDC)

The few winners out there on this ugly friday morning are few and far between, but here are some of the stocks that have managed to actually trade higher despite futures having traded limit down and despite the massive tank at the open.

  • Celestica (NYSE: CLS) is trading up 13% at $4.15 on valuation after yesterday’s earnings. Its 52-week range is $3.60 to $9.86.
  • Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ: COLM) is up almost 6% at $32.65 after yesterday’s earnings,  52-week range is $29.02 to $52.99.
  • Insituform Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: INSU) is up 7% at $10.55 after earnings yesterday, but only 23,000 shares; prior 52-week range $9.26 to $19.15.
  • IPC Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: IPCR) up 14% at $23.00 after earnings and note conversions yesterday.  52-week range $19.05 to $33.75.
  • Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) is up almost 7% at $13.96 after yesterday’s earnings were better then rival Seagate; its 52-week range is $12.00 to $40.00.

Jon C. Ogg
October 24, 2008

Posted on: October 24, 2008 – 8:53 am in HI/LOW, Technology Companies, , , , ,

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

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

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

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

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

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

With Financial Stocks Off Limites, Shorts Move To Tech (AAPL)(DELL)(ORCL)(INTC)(AMD)(TXN)

AngrybearThe cut-off for the last short interest data was September 15, before a number of financial stocks got protection from the SEC. Before the ban, short sellers were already moving out of some bank and brokerage shares. Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE), Citigroup (C), and Bank of America (BAC) all had big drops in total shares sold short. The only large spike up in the group was Washington Mutual where the short interest spiked 12% to 429 million shares.

Short sellers moved their money elsewhere with the primary target being technology shares.

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Posted on: September 24, 2008 – 7:11 pm in Short Interest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Seagate Tanking Disk Drives & Storage (STX, WDC)

Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX) is seeing some pain after the storage device and disk drive maker said results were going to fall short of current Street estimates.

The company said income fell 70% to $160 million, or $0.32 EPS (was $0.44 non-GAAP), on a 5.6% gain in revenues to $2.9 billion.  We had First Call estimates at $0.42 on $2.89 Billion in revenues.  Shipments during the quarter grew 10% year over year to 43 million.

Seagate’s fiscal Q1 guidance was the scourge here with revenues expected to be $3.15 to $3.3 billion and non-GAAP EPS at $0.22 to $0.26.  This is a huge disappointment to First Call’s estimates of $3.23 Billion and $0.58.

Shares closed up 1.3% at $17.30 in regular trading but shares are now down almost 8% at $15.92 in after-hours trading.  With a prior range of $16.50 to $28.91, you can count that as a new 52-week low.

Its key competitor is Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC), who is expected to report earnings on July 24.  Western Digital shares closed up 0.3% at $33.88 in regular trading and its shares were down over 4% at $32.39 in after-hours in sympathy.

Jon C. Ogg
July 15, 2008

Posted on: July 15, 2008 – 4:27 pm in Earnings, Earnings Warning, Technology Companies, ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AU, APOL, CLF, DRI, ETR, EXC, EXPD, F, MELI, OSIP, STX, WDC)

These are not all of the analyst calls out there affecting shares, but these are the top 10 analyst we are focusing on this Monday morning:

  • Anglogold (NYSE: AU) Raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) cut to Sell at Banc of America.
  • Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
  • Entergy (NYSE: ETR) & Excelon (NYSE: EXC) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • Expeditors International (NASDAQ: EXPD) Raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Ford Motors (NYSE: F) cut to Sell at Citigroup.
  • MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) raised to Outperform at RBC Capital.
  • OSI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OSIP) raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
  • Seagate Tech (NYSE: STX) raised to Overweight at JP Morgan; Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) downgraded to Underweight at JP Morgan.

Jon C. Ogg
March 3, 2008

Posted on: March 3, 2008 – 7:55 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (A, BBBY, BBY, DTV, ECL, EP, IBM, NTAP, LRCX, MOT, CRM)

These are not all of the calls affecting stocks, but these are the top analyst calls that 247WallSt.com is looking at this Thursday morning:

  • Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Borg Warner (NYSE: BWA) cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD) cut to Underweight at KeyBanc.
  • CDC Corp. (NASDAAQ: CHINA) started as Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.
  • Chimera (NYSE: CIM) started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Lear (NYSE: LEA) cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) downgraded to Hold at Jefferies.
  • Sotheby’s (NYSE: BID) raised to Outperform at JMP Securities.
  • Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) and Seagate (NYSE: STX) were both cut to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
  • Varian (NASDAQ: VARI) raised to Buy at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
February 28, 2008

Posted on: February 28, 2008 – 8:08 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,