24/7 Wall St. » WDFC

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AAPL, LNKD, DIS, MJN, GOLD, WDFC, GBX, SVU, AA, AOL, MSFT, CKSW, WOLF)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:07:35 +0000

Markets opened lower this morning on the first trading day in the US following last week’s poor report on non-farm payrolls. Higher-than-expected inflation in China also caused led some observers to suggest that the Chinese government may introduce more measures to cool the economy. The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.21% at 79.720. Commodities were mixed, with wool posting the largest gain and orange juice the biggest loss. WTI crude oil closed down -0.8% at $102.46/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -0.60% at $122.69/barrel. Gold settled up 0.9% today, at $1,643.90/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA more than 130 points to 12,929.59 (-1.0%), the NASDAQ fell more than 33 points (-1.08%) to 3,047.08, and the S&P 500 fell -1.14% or nearly 16 points to 1,382.20.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) cut to ‘neutral’ at BTIG; LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) started as ‘hold’ at Needham; Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (NYSE: MJN) reiterated ‘outperform’ with target price of $82 at Credit Suisse; and Randgold Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ: GOLD) raised to ‘buy’ at Stifel Nicolaus.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ: WDFC) is up 0.56% at $45.03, and Greenbrier Companies (NYSE: GBX) is down -6.4% at $18.45. The new earnings season begins in earnest tomorrow with Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) reporting before markets open and Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) reporting after the markets close.

Here’s our preview of the coming week’s top earnings reports.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is up 43% at $26.37 after posting a new 5-week high of $27.47 earlier today. The company sold a package of patents to Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) More coverage here.

ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CKSW) is down nearly -16% at $10.56. The workforce management software company lowered its first quarter outlook. More coverage here.

Great Wolf Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: WOLF) is up more than 12% at $7.39 after posting a new 52-week high of $7.45 earlier today. The company is the target of a bidding war. More coverage here.

Soon-to-be-public Facebook Inc. paid $1 billion in cash and stock for photo-sharing site Instagram. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, Minneapolis Fed President Naryana Kocherlakota, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart are all giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – NFIB small business optimism index
10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade
11.30 a.m. – 4-week bill auction
1:00 p.m. – 3-year note auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AA, AAPL, AOL, CKSW, DIS, GBX, gold, LNKD, MJN, MSFT, SVU, WDFC, WOLF

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GOOG, CMA, AIG, DE, PNRA, ANGO, HWD, PSMT, STZ, LEDS, WDFC, PLCM, ALTH, WOLF, NDAQ, RT)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:09:11 +0000

Markets opened lower this morning and there was no news sufficient to unleash significant buying. The report on new claims for unemployment benefits came in about as expected (our coverage here), and investors are waiting for tomorrow’s official unemployment report, which is expected to be flat at 8.3%. The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.38% at 80.080. Commodities were mostly higher, with lumber and wool posting the largest gains. WTI crude oil closed up 1.8% at $103.31/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 0.90% at $123.44/barrel. Gold settled up 1% today, at $1,630.10/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 14 points to 13,060.14 (-0.11%), the NASDAQ rose more than 12 points (0.40%) to 3,080.50, and the S&P 500 fell -0.06% or less than 1 point to 1,398.08.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a target price of $730 at Argus; Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a price target of $40 at BofA/ML; Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a price target of $104 at BofA/ML; and Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) started as ‘outperform’ with a $190 target price at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: AngioDynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGO) is down -3.6% at $11.82 after posting a new 52-week low of $11.73 earlier today; Harry Winston Diamond Corp. (NYSE: HWD) is down -3.9% at $13.89; PriceSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT) is down -4.7% at $74.41; Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) is down -11.8% at $21.78; Pier One Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) is up 3.1% at $18.83 (more coverage here); Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) is down -4.5% at $33.34; and SemiLEDS Corp. (NASDAQ: LEDS) is down -9.9% at $3.56 (more coverage here). After markets close today we get earnings from WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ: WDFC).

Next week marks the start of a brand new earnings season. See our preview here.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) is down more than -20% at $14.51 after posting a new 52-week low of $14.41 earlier today. The videoconferencing/enterprise phone maker cut its first quarter outlook today. More coverage here.

Allos Therapeutics Inc.(NASDAQ: ALTH) is up nearly 27% at $1.82. The drug maker is being acquired. More coverage here.

Great Wolf Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: WOLF) is up 15.8%% at $6.60 after posting a new 52-week high of $6.65 earlier today. The company could be the prize in a bidding war between two private equity firms. More coverage here.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is up 1.2% at $25.53. The company gets the stock listing for Facebook. More coverage here.

Ruby Tuesday Inc. (NYSE: RT) is down -18.2% at $7.27. The restaurant operator missed earnings expectations this morning.

Stay tuned for Friday. US markets are closed for Good Friday, but we have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll and unemployment rate
3:00 p.m. – Consumer credit

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AIG, ALTH, ANGO, CMA, DE, GOOG, HWD, LEDS, NDAQ, PLCM, PNRA, PSMT, RT, STZ, WDFC, WOLF

Early-Bird Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CDNS, BEAT, CMVT, HSY, IM, LMNX, MAN, RHI, TWGP, WDFC)

247wallst — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:20:22 +0000

These are not all of the early calls from analysts out there, but these are some of the calls that may impact the prices of these shares this summer Monday morning:

Cadence Design (CDNS) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
CardioNet (BEAT) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.

Comverse Tech (CMVT) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Hershey Co. (HSY) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Imgram Micro (IM) Cut to Neutral at B of A.
Luminex (LMNX) Cut to Market Perform at Thomas Weisel.
Manpower (MAN) Cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
Robert Half (RHI) Cut to Underweight at Lehman.
Tower Group (TWGP) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
WD-40 Co. (WDFC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
August 18, 2008

Early-Bird Analyst Downgrades (CMVT, CTRP, GET, DNA, HAR, JNJ, PTRY, WDFC)

247wallst — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:13:09 +0000

These are some of the early analyst calls we are seeing early this Friday morning:

Comverse Technology (CMVT) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Ctrip.com (CTRP) Cut estimates and maintained Buy but target cut 1/3 to $53 by Citigroup.
Gaylord Entertainment (GET) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Genentech (DNA) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Harman (HAR) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
J&J (JNJ) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Pantry (PTRY) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
WD-40 (WDFC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
August 15, 2008

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AFL, AW, CPB, MWV, NYX, ODFL, PDLI, PCZ, SPIL, WDFC)

247wallst — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:51:04 +0000

There are other calls out there, but these are ten of the early morning analyst calls that we are focused on this Friday 13th:

Aflac (NYSE: AFL) Started as Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Allied Waste (NYSE: AW) Raised To Buy From Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) Raised To Overweight from Equalweight at Lehman.
MeadWestvaco (NYSE: MWV) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ: ODFL) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
PDL Biopharma (NASDAQ: PDLI) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) raised to Buy at Banc of America.
Siliconware Precision (NASDAQ: SPIL) Raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
WD-40 (NASDAQ: WDFC) Cut to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
June 13, 2008

Pre-Market Stock News (July 10, 2007)

247wallst — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:08:07 +0000

(AA) Alcoa $0.81 EPS vs $0.81e; will likely have to sweeten Alcan bid before getting any approval from Alcan.
(BOT) CBOT holders approve the CME merger offer.
(CACS) Carrier Access lowered guidance.
(CAKE) Cheesecake Factory put revenues at $373.2 million vs $371 million consensus estimate.
(CVTX) CV Therapeutics identified possible anti-diabetic characteristics in Ranexa.
(DELL) Dell has new smaller business initiative being released today.
(ENCY) Encysive announced its CFO is resigning.
(FORM) Form Factor in strategic pact with Elpida for test cost reductions.
(GMST) Gemstar TV-Guide hired UBS to explore strategic alternatives.
(HD) Home Depot issued earnings warning, but stock called flat to marginally higher.
(LXK) Lexmark issued earnings warning.
(SHLD) Sears lowered guidance to %0.98-1.24 EPS (vs. $2.12 est.) because of home appliances and other sales being weaker; increased share buyback plan.
(THRX) Theravance announced positive results from phase II clinical study that met primary endpoints fot staph and other skin based infections.
(UNCA) Unica lowered guidance.
(WDFC) WD-40 $0.44 EPS vs $0.47e; lowered annual EPS guidance.

Jon C. Ogg
July 10, 2007