24/7 Wall St. » WYN

Expedia Sails, Lifts All Boats (EXPE, HOT, HST, WYN, MAR, OWW, PCLN, TRIP)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:00:35 +0000

Internet travel company Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) absolutely pasted revenue and EPS expectations last night, sending the stock on a 25%+ express ride. The company posted revenue of $816.5 million, significantly higher than the consensus estimate of $790.1 million. Adjusted EPS came in at $0.26 versus an estimate of $0.14.

The profit driver was the company’s hotels.com site, which should raise expectations for hotel and resort players like Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT), Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: HST), Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: WYN), and Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR). All these companies have already reported March quarter results, so we have to wait until June.

Other online travel sites aren’t waiting to move though. Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW), priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN), and TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) have all posted nice gains today.

Orbitz reports results next Thursday and is expected to post an EPS loss of -$0.08 on revenue of $190.3 million. priceline.com reports the following week and is expected to deliver EPS of $3.94 on revenue of $1.04 billion. TripAdvisor is expected to post EPS of $0.34 when it reports next week.

The boost in travel and hotel stocks shouldn’t be too big a surprise, given the higher traffic numbers put up by many US airlines. All those people have to book those flights someplace and stay somewhere once they get to their destinations. These symbiotic relationships could be worth watching as we roll toward the next quarter.

Expedia’s shares are up 26.5% at $41.28 in a 52-week range of $27.28-$65.78. Orbitz is up 7.7% at $3.65 in a 52-week range of $1.57-$4.49, priceline.com is up 4.5% at $766.00 in a 52-week range of $411.26-$774.96, and TripAdvisor is up 8.8% at $37.39 after posting a new 52-week high earlier today of $37.85.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Earnings, Internet Tagged: EXPE, HOT, HST, MAR, OWW, PCLN, TRIP, WYN

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (CHK, WYN, CMCSA, RL, DELL, CEG, ENB, SPWR, HNZ, CPB, DMD, BDCO, CTIC, GILD, SCON)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:06:23 +0000

US stocks opened mixed this morning, with the Nasdaq opening lower than both the DJIA and the S&P 500. The Nasdaq briefly crossed into positive territory this morning, but has traded lower otherwise. There was no further news from Europe today, and the dollar traded weaker against both the euro and the British pound. Most commodities traded higher on the weaker dollar. Crude oil finished the day mixed, with WTI up 1.17% at $103.51/barrel and Brent crude down -0.46% at $119.56/barrel. Gold settled at $1,725.90, down -0.1%, and flat for the week.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 46 points to 12,949.95 (0.36%), the NASDAQ fell more than 8 points (-0.27%) to 2,951.78, and the S&P 500 rose 0.23% or more than 3 points to 1,361.22.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) raised to ‘buy’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NYSE: WYN) reiterated as ‘outperform’ with a target price of $145 at Credit Suisse; Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) raised to ‘buy’ with a price target of $202 at Argus; and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) cut to ‘neutral’ at Baird.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Constellation Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: CEG) is down -0.38% at $36.53 (more coverage here); Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB) is down -3.9% at $37.86; SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) is up 11.6% at $8.35 ;(more coverage here); H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) is up 4.3% at $54.35; and Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) is up 2.6% at $32.90 (more coverage here).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) is up nearly 32% at $7.83. The Internet media company reported better-than-expected earnings last night.

Blue Dolphin Energy Co. (NASDAQ: BDCO) is up more than 25% at $10.87 after posting a new high of $11.60 earlier today. The pipeline and oil & gas producer has no news, but crude prices are rising today and Blue Dolphin is likely thought of as an acquisition target.

Cell Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) is up 23% at $1.37. The drug maker received a positive opinion for approval of its non-Hodgkin lymphoma drug from a European regulator.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) is down nearly -15% at $46.74. The drug maker reported a setback on its hepatitis C trials. More coverage here and here.

Superconductor Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SCON) is down nearly -18% at $1.03 after posting a new 52-week low of $0.90 earlier today. The superconductor materials company completed a private placement of 4.6 million shares at $1.05/share. We have more coverage here.

US markets are closed Monday in observance of the President’s Day holiday.

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

11:30 a.m. – 6-month bill auction
1:00 p.m. – 2-year note auction

Have a great holiday weekend.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: BDCO, CEG, CHK, CMCSA, CPB, CTIC, DELL, DMD, ENB, GILD, HNZ, RL, SCON, SPWR, WYN

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (YUM, DMD, NLY, MS, UBS, AGU, CVS, RL, RAI, TWX, DIS, WYN, BWLD, CSCO, CZR, FFN, TNK, AKAM, NURO)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:06:49 +0000

The US equity markets opened slightly higher this morning, but soon turned around and spent the rest of the morning lower before returning to about even by afternoon. Equities could close at or near where they opened today. The lack of a decision on the Greek debt swap deal is leading investors to exercise caution both in Europe and the US. If the new Greek deal is anything like the last dozen or so, it will send markets up as soon as it is announced; and once people have a chance to read the details, markets will turn south again. Crude is higher today, with WTI up 0.51% at $98.91/barrel and Brent up 1.24% at $117.67/barrel. Gold closed down -0.73% at $1,735.60/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 6 points to 12,883.95 (0.04%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 12 points (0.41%) to 2,915.86, and the S&P 500 rose 0.22% or about 3 points to 1,349.97.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) cut to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) cut to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) cut to ‘market perform’ at FBR; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) cut to ‘hold’ at Collins Stewart; and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) cut to ‘sell’ at Deutsche Bank.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) is up 2.16% at $82.95; CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) is up 1.18% at $43.59 after posting a new 52-week high of $44.08 earlier in the day; Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) is up 9.8% at $172.50 after posting a new 52-week high of $178.47 earlier today; Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) is down -1.35% at $39.57; Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) is up 0.3% at $38.21 after posting a new 52-week high of $39.23 earlier today; Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is up 0.95 at $41.34; Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: WYN) is up 5.6% at $43.22 after posting a new 52-week high of $43.36 earlier today; and Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) is up nearly 17% at $82.04 after posting a new 52-week high of $82.45 earlier today.

Our preview of tomorrow’s earnings releases is here. Also see our coverage of earnings for Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) due after markets close today

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Ceasars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR) is up more than 70% at $15.32. The casino owner completed its IPO today, with 1.8 million shares going out at $9/share. We have some issues with this IPO.

FriendFinder Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFN) is up nearly 33% at $1.95. The adult dating site had no news today, so this must just be more halo effect from Facebook — or something else.

Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: TNK) is down more than -12% today at $3.98. The shipping company this morning priced a secondary stock offering of 15 million shares at $4/share.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is up about 2% at $34.33. The internet company acquired a Canadian company today, and reports earnings after markets close today. We have more coverage here.

NeuroMetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: NURO) is down more than -17% at $0.95 after posting a new 52-week low of $0.94 earlier today. The medical device maker priced a secondary offering of 10.5 million shares at $1/share this morning.

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

8:30 a.m. – New unemployment benefits claims
10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade report
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
1:00 p.m. – Treasury 30-year bond auction
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AGU, AKAM, BWLD, CSCO, CVS, CZR, DIS, DMD, FFN, MS, NLY, NURO, RAI, RL, TNK, TWX, UBS, WYN, YUM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (NLY, BSX, CECO, CLX, CNH, DNDN, FCX, HXL, HSP, MDT, COL, SWIR, STJ, SLF, TEVA, TDW, WYN)

Administrator — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:34:47 +0000

These are some of Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls.

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Clorox Corp. (NYSE: CLX) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
CNH Global N.V. (NYSE: CNH) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) Started as Overweight at Barclays.
Hexcel Corporation (NYSE: HXL) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Hospira Inc. (NYSE: HSP) cut to Underperform ar Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) downgraded at Raymond James and Morgan Keegan.
St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Wyndam Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BSX, CECO, CLX, CNH, COL, DNDN, FCX, HSP, HXL, MDT, NLY, SLF, STJ, SWIR, TDW, TEVA, WYN

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ABAX, BUD, AMAT, BX, COF, CECO, DOV, GS, HUM, JDSU, LVS, NDAQ, RFMD, SWKS, THI, TQNT, WYN)

Administrator — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:04:21 +0000

These are some of this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.

Abaxis, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABAX) maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Reiterated Buy with $19 target at Argus.
The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO) maintained Buy but cut target to $21 from $28 at Argus.
Dover Corporation (NYSE: DOV) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Humana, Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Reiterated Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Started as Hold at Kaufman Bros.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
RF Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: RFMD) Started as Underperform with $5.50 target at BofA/ML.
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS) Started as Buy with $25 target at BofA/ML.
Tim Hortons Inc. (NYSE: THI) Reiterated Buy with $56 target at BofA/ML.
TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TQNT) Started as Underperform with $6.75 target at BofA/ML.
Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN) named value stock of the day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ABAX, AMAT, BUD, BX, CECO, COF, DOV, GS, HUM, JDSU, LVS, NDAQ, RFMD, SWKS, THI, TQNT, WYN

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AAP, ADM, COF, CVX, CSCO, CREE, IDTI, ISRG, KGC, NOV, NYX, TEVA, TDW, WYN)

Administrator — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:24:54 +0000

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

Advance Auto Parts. Inc. (NYSE: AAP) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM) maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus; Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Raised to Buy at Gleacher & Co.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Integrated Device Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: IDTI) Started as Buy at Wunderlich.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) Started as Hold at ThinkEquity.
Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) Cut to Neutral at CRedit Suisse.
National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE: NOV) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYSE: NYX) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA) Reiterated Buy with $58 target at Argus.
Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) Reiterated Buy with $65 target at Argus.
Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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 Tagged: AAP, ADM, COF, CREE, CSCO, CVX, IDTI, ISRG, KGC, NOV, NYX, TDW, TEVA, WYN

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BSX, CLF, DMND, EP, JNJ, JNPR, KNX, LPS, MBT, VIP, VMED, WYN)

Administrator — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:22:37 +0000

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

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) Raised to Strong Buy at S&P Equity Research (late-Tuesday).
Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP) Maintained positive and raised target to $26 at Susquehanna.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Hold at Auriga.
Knight Transportation Inc. (NYSE: KNX) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Lender Processing Services (NYSE: LPS) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Mobile Telesystems OJSC (NYSE: MBT) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Vimpel-Communications (NYSE: VIP) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Virgin Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BSX, CLF, DMND, EP, JNJ, JNPR, KNX, LPS, MBT, VIP, VMED, WYN

Top Analyst Downgrades (AVP, CAH, ETR, ETFC, F, IP, ITRI, LAB, NDAQ, NYX, SNDK, WYN)

247wallst — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:45:14 +0000

These are some of the top pre-market analyst downgrades and negative calls we have seen on Wall Street this morning:

Avon Products (AVP) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Cardinal Health (CAH) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Entergy (ETR) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
E*TRADE (ETFC) Cut to Equal Weight at Barclays.
Ford (F) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
International Paper (IP) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Itron (ITRI) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
LaBranche (LAB) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
NASDAQ: OMX (NDAQ) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
NYSE (NYX) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs; Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
SanDisk (SNDK) Cut to Sell at Auriga.
Wyndam Worldwide (WYN) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg
February 2, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AVP, CAH, ETFC, ETR, F, IP, ITRI, LAB, NDAQ, NYX, SNDK, WYN

52-Week Low Club (December 28, 2007)

247wallst — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:01:00 +0000

Some of these stocks hit 52-week lows and recovered off of lows so they won’t have a low close. But these did all touch or breach the 52-week lows. At the end we also broke out retail stocks, financial stocks, airlines & transports, and hotels. A separate report could have been compiled for REIT’s as well, but many of those were left off because of room or volume. There were enough 52-week lows today that you might even wonder if there had been a mini-crash in the markets. Here are the 52-week lows for December 28, 2007:

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD)… imagine if the company got Hector Ruiz to leave.
American Greetings (NYSE: AM)…again.
AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN)… new entrant.
Carmike Cinemas (NASDAQ:CKEC)
ChipMOS (NASDAQ:IMOS)
Corp. Office Property (NYSE: OFC)
Cryptologic (NASDAQ: CRYP)
Diebold (NYSE:DBD)
Fortune Brands (NYSE:FO)
Group 1 Auto (NYSE: GPI)
Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN)
Introgen (NASDAQ:INGN)
Japan Smaller Cap Fund (NYSE: JOF)
Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ: LAMR)
Legget & Platt (NYSE: LEG)
Martha Stewart (NYSE: MSO)
Marvell Tech (NASDAQ:MRVL)
Mattel (NYSE:MAT)
McClatchy (NYSE:MNI)
Micron Tech (NYSE:MU)
NGAS Resources (NASDAQ:NGAS)
Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT)
Owens Corning (NYSE:OC)
Omnicare (NYSE:OCR)
Prestige Brand (NYSE: PBH)
PC-Tel (NASDAQ:PCTI)
Ruth’s Chris (NASDAQ:RUTH)
SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK)
Theravance (NASDAQ:THRX)
Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)
Wendy’s (NYSE: WEN)
World Fuel Services (NYSE:INT)
U-Store-It (NYSE:YSI)

Retail Stocks on 52-week lows: Ann Taylor (NYSE:ANN), Big Lots (NYSE:BIG), Borders Group (NYSE:BGP), Bon Ton Stores (NASDAQ:BONT), Chico’s FAS (NYSE:CHS), Finish Line (NASDAQ:FINL), Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ), Macy’s (NYSE: M), Office Max (NYSE:OMX), Petsmart (NASDAQ:PETM), Stage Stores (NYSE:SSI)

Financial stocks on 52-week lows: Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Canseco (NYSE: CNO), Discover Financial (NYSE: DFS), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB), Fortress Investment (NYSE: FIG), MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI), Washington Mutual (NYSE:WM)… urgh! When does it stop?

Airlines/Transports on 52-week lows: Airtran Holdings (NYSE: AAI)…again. Did they launch a Friends Die Free rewards plan? Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL), Fedex (NYSE:FDX), Mesa Air (NASDAQ:MESA), Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA)… near $100 oil is a real pain.

Hotels Hitting 52-week lows: Host Hotels (NYSE: HST), Lasalle Hotel (NYSE: LHO), Starwood Hotels (NYSE:HOT), Sunstone Hotel (NYSE: SHO), Wydham Worldwide (NYSE:WYN). Maybe these all wish they could get the private equity buyers back in the sector. If only they could still borrow.

These CEO’s new year’s resolutions are all the same: "In 2008 I want to keep my stock off the 52-week low lists."

Jon C. Ogg
December 28, 2007

Cramer on Hotels, Electronic Retailer, and a Broker

247wallst — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:49:07 +0000

Stock Tickers: WYN, MAR, BBY, MS

On today’s STOP TRADING segment on CNBC, Jim Cramer came out discussing Best Buy (BBY-NYSE) ahead of next week’s earnings and said he doesn’t think there is a lot of upside because he thinks it is a rangebound stock. On brokerage firm stocks, Cramer said that Morgan Stanley (MS-NYSE) next week is buyable ahead of next week’s earnings. Wyndham (WYN-NYSE) and Marriott (MAR-NYSE) are hotel names that Cramer believes are good just like Goldman Sachs said because of the timeshare markets.

Jon C. Ogg
June 14, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.