24/7 Wall St. » WPI

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ABMD, MT, BXP, DPZ, DRYS, FET, GPS, BLOX, LYB, OAK, POOL, SNTA, TSLA, URBN, WPI, ZIP)

Administrator — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:31:04 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls this Tuesday.

ABIOMED Inc. (NASDAQ: ABMD) Cut to Neutral at Lazard Capital.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) Reiterated Buy with target price of $120 at Argus.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) Reiterated Buy with target price of $46 at Argus.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) Started as Buy at Global Hunter.

Forum Energy Technologies, Inc (NYSE: FET) Started as Outperform with $28.00 target price at Credit Suisse; Started as Outperform at Howard Weil; Started as Buy at Citigroup.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) Raised to Buy at Lazard Capital.

Infoblox Inc. (NYSE: BLOX) Started as Buy with $21 target at UBS.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE: LYB) Started as Outperform with $60.00 target at Credit Suisse.

Oaktree Capital Group, LLC (NYSE: OAK) Started as Neutral with $45.00 target at Credit Suisse; Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs; Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.

Pool Corporation (NASDAQ: POOL) raised to Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ: SNTA) Started as Buy at Jefferies.

Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) Started as Buy at Maxim Group.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) Maintained as HOLD with $26 target price but lower estimates at Canaccord Genuity.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) Reiterated Buy with $90 target as “Top Idea Post” at Canaccord Genuity.

Zipcar, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ABMD, BLOX, BXP, DPZ, DRYS, FET, GPS, LYB, MT, OAK, POOL, SNTA, TSLA, URBN, WPI, ZIP

Second Look: Is There Any Real Value Left In Savient? (SVNT, DNDN, SVNT)

Administrator — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:31:05 +0000

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT) already had problems before a fund called Tang Capital accused it of being insolvent this week. Over the last year this stock has fallen down steadily just like its stock chart was a staircase… Down, level, down again, level, down again, and so on. A year ago Savient’s share price was $11.00 and it sits at under $2.00 today.

Tang Capital is listed as a creditor and owns some $38.9 million in notes and the firm is opposed to the company supporting a new gout treatment called Krystexxa, which the activist creditor calls a total failure. There is also the generic and branded Oxandrin that includes doses of the anabolic steroid oxandrolone.

We have highlighted the woes here before, most recently the CEO departure to Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN). At that time shares were at $2.22 in early February.

The reason that Savient is still surviving is because back in 2009 it priced a 4.4 million share secondary offering at $13.29 per share in a sale through J.P. Morgan and Wedbush Morgan that raised about $57 million before fees.

Savient’s filing claims that Tang’s allegations are without merit. The December 30, 2011 balance sheet lists roughly $169.7 million in cash and short-term securities, but there is also more than $175 million in long-term debt. Yahoo! Finance showed that the net tangible assets as being negative at -$8.41 million as of the end of 2011. The company is burning through cash at more than $10 million per month according to the listed changes in the last two available quarters.

Who and what Tang’s ambition happens to be is unknown because they are a creditor. The issue is that whether you have high hopes for biotech or not, the balance sheet is now inverted here and that is based on data one quarter back. The company has an active $100 million shelf registration which was filed almost a month ago, but how the company can raise that much capital remains a severe mystery if you look at the issues.

Savient has a market capitalization rate of only $111 million after another 15% drop today to $1.575 per share. This was a $2.37 stock on Monday and the 52-week range is now $1.42 to $11.33.

Thomson Reuters expects only $32.2 million in 2012 revenues and almost $62 million in 2012 revenues, with losses expected in both years.

Whether or not the company can survive or not is still a matter of opinion. What is certain is that this fails probably every bit of suitability requirements for widows and orphans funds.

The company’s partnership page lists:

We have exclusively licensed worldwide rights to the technology related to KRYSTEXXA® and its uses from Duke University and Mountain View Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Duke University developed the recombinant uricase enzyme and Mountain View developed the PEGylation technology used in the manufacture of KRYSTEXXA. Mountain View and Duke have been granted U.S. and foreign patents disclosing and claiming the licensed technology and, in addition, Savient owns or co-owns U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications, which collectively form a broad portfolio of patents covering the composition, manufacture and methods of use and administration of KRYSTEXXA.

We depend on third parties to manufacture pegloticase and have entered into commercial supply agreements with third-party manufacturers.

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) serves as the exclusive U.S. distributor of our authorized generic version of oxandrolone tablets, an Oxandrin® brand equivalent product that we supply to Watson Pharma.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Activist Investor, Bankruptcy, Biotech, Drug companies, Shareholder Issues Tagged: DNDN, SVNT, WPI

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (WPI, AZN, ANF, SPWR, YGE, COST, MERU, ACI, VECO, PBY, ADM, CPO, AVP, DPZ, PFE, VLO, ABX, JDSU, MRO, FSLR, V, PFCB, DAL, CHK)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:03:50 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened flat this morning but started to move higher following the better-than-expected ISM report on manufacturing (our coverage here). Construction spending in the US was a bit lower, but not enough to quell the enthusiasm over the manufacturing report. The US dollar index rose slightly today, now up 0.056% at 78.820. The GSCI commodity index is up fractionally at 684.88, with commodities mostly lower on the rising dollar. Cocoa put up a big gain today, while orange juice posted another sharp decline. WTI crude oil closed up 1.2% at $106.16/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 0.17% at $119.67/barrel. Gold settled up 0.1% today, at $1,662.40/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 67 points to 13,280.31 (0.5%), the NASDAQ rose about 4 points (0.13%) to 3,050.44, and the S&P 500 rose 0.57% or nearly 8 points to 1,405.89.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) reiterated as ‘buy’ at Canaccord Genuity; AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) raised to ‘neutral’ at BofA; Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) raised to ‘buy’ at UBS; SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Yingli Green Energy Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; and Meru Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: MERU) cut to ‘neutral’ at RW Baird.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) is down -3.8% at $9.39 (more coverage here); Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) is up 14.8% at $34.67 (more coverage here); Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack (NYSE: PBY) is down -21.8% at $11.67 (more coverage here); Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) is up 7.9% at $33.25; Corn Products International Inc. (NYSE: CPO) is down -0.14% at $56.98; Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) is down -7.6% at $19.95; Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) is down -9.6% at $34.18; Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is down -0.14% at $22.87; and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is up 0.9% at $24.92.

Tomorrow we get earnings from Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU), Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. (NASDAQ: PFCB) is up 29.7% at $51.46. The company is being taken private in a deal worth $1.1 billion. More coverage here.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) is up 0.8% at $11.05. The airlines bought an oil refinery from newly-public Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX). More coverage here.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is up 6.3% at $19.60. The company’s chairman will be replaced and the company reports earnings after markets close today. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo and Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker are giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
7:30 a.m. – Challenger job cut report
8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ABX, ACI, ADM, ANF, AVP, AZN, CHK, COST, CPO, DAL, DPZ, featured, FSLR, JDSU, MERU, MRO, PBY, PFCB, PFE, SPWR, V, VECO, VLO, WPI, YGE

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ABB, APD, AKAM, COP, GD, HOG, HES, INFY, MAN, MAR, SAP, S, TRV, WPI)

Administrator — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:20:54 +0000

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

ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) Raised to Buy on weakness at UBS.

ConcoPhillips (NYSE: COP) Raised to Neutral at Macquarie.

General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays; Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Infosys Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) Raised to Buy at Argus.

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) maintained Hold at Argus.

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ABB, AKAM, APD, COP, GD, HES, HOG, INFY, MAN, MAR, S, SAP, TRV, WPI

Media Digest (3/22/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:37:55 +0000

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) tries to end a legal case concerning fraud in its CDO sales. (Reuters)

China’s factory activity slows, as evidenced by the HSBC flash PMI of 48.1, a low reading. (Reuters)

A Brazilian court brings charges against Chevron (NYSE: CVS) and Transocean (NYSE: RIG) over an oil spill. (Reuters)

The inspector general at the Federal Housing Finance Agency finds fault with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for spending lavishly on an industry conference. (Reuters)

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) receives permission to drill for shale gas in China. (Reuters)

The Joint Committee on Taxation says the so-called Buffett bill would not raise as much money as anticipated as the rich would often find ways around the levy. (WSJ)

Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) changes the structure of its U.S. operation to skirt Dodd-Frank rules. (WSJ)

Hartford Financial (NYSE: HIG) to leave the annuity business. (WSJ)

Jim Skinner, CEO of McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), to retire. (WSJ)

The U.S. is running out of storage facilities for natural gas. (WSJ)

Gary Pruitt, CEO of McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), will become the CEO of the Associated Press. (WSJ)

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) defend the right of telecoms to buy spectrum from cable companies. (WSJ)

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) says China still blocks sales of some of its products, including versions of its Xbox. (WSJ)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says student loans now total more than $1 trillion. (WSJ)

German politicians intend to balance its budget in two years. (WSJ)

Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI) will buy Actavis for $5.9 billion in a consolidation of the generics industry. (WSJ)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) may speed plans for the brokerage to take over Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. (WSJ)

Bernanke and Geithner praise the financial progress of Europe in testimony before Congress. (NYT)

Homebuilder stocks reach a two-year high as it appears the housing market may have stabilized. (NYT)

Alaska will support a $40 billion gas line project to transport liquid natural gas. (FT)

Jaguar may invest $3 billion in Chinese car company Chery. (Bloomberg)

The head of airline Emirates says more airlines will falter because of fuel prices. (Bloomberg)

Japan posts a trade surplus. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: C, CMCSA, CVS, DB, GS, HBC, MCD, MNI, MS, MSFT, RDS-A, RIG, VZ, WPI

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (BAH, CVC, URBN, WPI, HON, ADES, BAMM, EBIX, LDL, RAVN, XRIT, ASTM, IDT, BBX, OMER, FFFD, CCIX, COOL)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 20:04:41 +0000

Markets opened higher this morning following a solid report on US retail sales. Reports on both consumer and small business confidence both showed improvement in February (more coverage here and here). In the afternoon, the Federal Reserve left the fed funds rate unchanged and did not indicate any other changes to monetary policy (more coverage here). The Fed’s announcement pushed markets even higher to their best levels in nearly four years. The Treasury’s auction of 10-year notes boosted yields by three basis points. Crude oil moved higher today as well, with WTI crude closing up 0.4% at $106.71/barrel and Brent crude up 0.77% at $126.31/barrel. Gold settled at $1,694.20, down -0.3%

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 218 points to 13,177.83 (1.68%), the NASDAQ rose more than 56 points (1.88%) to 3,039.88, and the S&P 500 rose 1.81% or nearly 25 points to 1,395.97.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) maintained as ‘neutral’ but estimates lowered at Credit Suisse (more coverage here); Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) reiterated as ‘buy’ with $70 target price at Argus; and Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) reiterated as ‘buy’ with $70 target price at Argus.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: ADA-ES Inc. (NASDAQ: ADES) is up 2.4% at $25.87 after posting a new 52-week high of $27.00; Books-a-Million Inc. (NASDAQ: BAMM) is up 6.9% at $3.10; Ebix Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIX) is up 5.2% at $23.86; Lydall Inc. (NYSE: LDL) is up 6.3% at $9.75; Raven Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: RAVN) is up 3.8% at $63.77; X-Rite Inc. (NASDAQ: XRIT) is up 1.3% at $4.47; Aastrom Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTM) is up 1.5% at $2.07; and IDT Corp. (NYSE: IDT) is up 16.3% at $9.77.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: BBX) is up nearly 87% at $3.60. The bank holding company received a sweetened deal this morning on its pending acquisition by BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT).

Omeros Corp. (NASDAQ: OMER) is up about 32% at $10.10 after posting a new 52-week high of $10.88 earlier. The biopharmaceutical company’s reported a successful phase III drug trial this morning.

North Central Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: FFFD) is up more than 36% at $30.03 after posting a new 52-week high of $30.10 earlier. The bank holding company is merging with Great Western Bancorporation Inc..

Coleman Cable Inc. (NASDAQ: CCIX) is down more than -20% at $10.35. The electrical equipment maker reported weak quarterly earnings and offered a weak forecast this morning.

Majesco Entertainment Co. (NASDAQ: COOL) is down more than -13% at $2.57. The video game maker reported weak earnings last night. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is giving a speech in the morning. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Import and export prices
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
1:00 p.m. – 30-year Treasury bond auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: ADES, ASTM, BAH, BAMM, BBX, CCIX, COOL, CVC, EBIX, FFFD, HON, IDT, LDL, OMER, RAVN, URBN, WPI, XRIT

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACE, AIV, BAH, CVC, HON, IPCM, M, MYL, UPL, URBN, WPI)

Administrator — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:05:50 +0000

These are some of this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

ACE Ltd. (NYSE: ACE) Added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Apartment Investment & Management (NYSE: AIV) Raised to Outperform at RBC.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) Reiterated Buy with $70 target at Argus.

IPC The Hospitalist Company, In (NASDAQ: IPCM) Started as Buy at Citigroup.

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) maintained Buy and raised target to $27 at Argus.

Ultra Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: UPL) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) maintained Neutral but cut estimates at Credit Suisse.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) Reiterated Buy with $70 target at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ACE, AIV, BAH, CVC, HON, IPCM, M, MYL, UPL, URBN, WPI

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (ACI, NFLX, KMI, KMP, HNZ, AVP, GT, WPI, ARB, BWA, CPLA, FOSL, HSP, OMC, ZIP, KORS, SYNM, CHTP, ENER, JKS)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:10:40 +0000

US stock markets opened lower this morning and gradually lost ground throughout the day. A fractionally lower opening bell has translated to around a -0.6% loss on each of the major indexes about half an hour before closing. Last night’s downgrade of the sovereign debt of six European countries set the tone in both Asia and Europe, but by mid-day, a fairly weak report on US retail sales and a more modest than expected rise in business inventories kept share prices from rising. In the late afternoon, Eurozone leaders canceled tomorrow’s meeting on the Greek bailout saying that Greece had failed to meet several demands related to the proposed $172 billion bailout. Germany’s finance minister even displayed a “who cares?” attitude toward the possibility of a Greek default (our story here). Crude oil was mixed today, with larger early gains lost on the weak news and the stronger dollar. WTI crude rose 0.08% to $100.99/barrel and Brent crude rose 0.25% to $117.68/barrel. Gold was down -0.4%, settling at $1,717.70/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 4 points to 12,878.28 (0.03%), the NASDAQ rose less than 1 point (0.02%) to 2,931.83, and the S&P 500 fell -0.09% or just over 1 point to 1,350.5.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) raised to ‘outperform’ and target price raised to $140 at Credit Suisse; Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank; Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank; and H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) started as ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) is up 1.2% at $17.74; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) is down -5.7% at $13.18; Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) is up 3.8% at $59.89; Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is up 4.4% at $36.94; BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) is up 0.42% at $79.18; Capella Education Co. (NASDAQ: CPLA) is down -13.3% at $39.30; Fossil Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) is up nearly 13% at $118.02; Hospira Inc. (NYSE: HSP) is up 6.7% at $36.50; Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) is down -0.23% at $47.91; and Zipcar Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP) is down -13% at $13.99, a new 52-week low.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) is up nearly 25% at $41.92 after posting a new high of $42.43 earlier today. The apparel company reported better-than-expected earnings today, and the shares have more than doubled since the company’s IPO in mid-December.

Syntroleum Corp. (NASDAQ: SYNM) is up up 20% at $1.32. The biodiesel maker’s joint venture with Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) has signed a deal to distribute synthetic diesel fuel.

Chelsea Therapeutics International Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTP) is up nearly 19% at $3.69. The company’s shares fell almost -40% yesterday, but bargain hunters can’t resist. We mentioned this possibility yesterday.

Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) is down more than -80% to $0.29. The solar maker filed for bankruptcy this morning. We have more coverage here.

JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) is down nearly -12% at $7.95. The solar panel maker is just one more victim among solar stocks today of a proposed cutback in Germany’s solar subsidies and the bankruptcy of ECD. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher is giving a speech. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Empire State manufacturing survey
9:15 a.m. – Industrial production
10:00 a.m. – Housing market index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
2:00 p.m. – FOMC minutes released

Paul Ausick

Filed under: General Tagged: ACI, ARB, AVP, BWA, CHTP, CPLA, ENER, FOSL, GT, HNZ, HSP, JKS, KMI, KMP, KORS, NFLX, OMC, SYNM, WPI, ZIP

Top Earnings & Economic Previews For The Day Ahead (AVP, GT, MET, OMC, WPI, ZNGA)

Administrator — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:13:14 +0000

We have several sector-moving earnings reports due on Tuesday, February 14. These are basic previews for shares of Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP), Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT), MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET), Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI), and Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA).

Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) $0.51 EPS on $3.11 billion; a serial disappointment in shares and current bribery news is just that much uncertainty for turnaround investors. The hope has to be that the bar is set low. The CEO search remains ongoing.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) $0.20 EPS on $5.88 billion in sales. This remains a long-term turnaround story valued at less than 7-times expected earnings.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) $1.24 EPS on $16.81 billion in revenues; shares are mid-way between the 52-week high and 52-week low.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) $0.95 EPS on $3.8 billion in sales.

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) $1.76 EPS on $1.54 billion in sales.. With some generic Lipitor sales in the quarter and with some insurers starting to only cover the generic Lipitor, earnings and guidance could have a swing different from past quarters due to the mega-blockbuster status of Lipitor.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is one which we just do not really have a basis to call on as the analyst coverage is all new and this is the first post-IPO earnings report from the social gaming outfit. Shares are up around $13.60 now and well off of lows due to the Facebook-effect lifting the value on anything tied to social media.

Here are the economic events for Tuesday:

8:30 AM EST January Import Prices expected at +0.3%
8:30 AM EST January Retail Sales expected at 0.8%
10:00 AM EST December Business Inventories expected at +0.4%

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Calendar, Earnings, Economy Tagged: AVP, GT, MET, OMC, WPI, ZNGA

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BWA, CTL, CHKR, CTRN, EXXI, F, HON, ITMN, JEF, JPM, ORCL, RIMM, TDC, WPI)

Administrator — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:03:40 +0000

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

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) Raised to Outperform as the Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (NYSE: CHKR) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) maintained long-term Underperform as the Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (NASDAQ: EXXI) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) Reiterated Buy with $70.00 price target at Argus.
InterMune Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN) maintained Outperform but cut price target down to $20.00 from $37.00 at Credit Suisse.
Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF) Cut to Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Cut to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity; maintained Outperform but cut price target to $40.00 from $42.00 at Credit Suisse.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Raised to Buy from Hold but price target is only $16.00 at ThinkEquity.
Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) Cut to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) maintained Buy with a price target objective of $78.00 per share at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BWA, CHKR, CTL, CTRN, EXXI, F, HON, ITMN, JEF, JPM, ORCL, RIMM, TDC, WPI