24/7 Wall St. » YRCW

Top Earnings Previews For Thursday (BZH, PHM, BX, CME, DOW, GNW, GILD, IP, K, MA, MRK, RCL, HOT, TRMB, VRTX, YRCW)

Administrator — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:43:53 +0000

Earnings season is still upon us. There are going to be many big earnings reports Thursday and we would consider Thursday as the climax for the companies reporting their normal fourth quarter results of 2011 which have fiscal year-end dates of December 31.

We have two homebuilder earnings due from Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) and PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM). Other key earnings to watch will be from the following: Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX); Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX); CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME); Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW); Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW); Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD); International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP); Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K); MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA); Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK); Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL); Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT); Trimble Navigation Ltd. (NASDAQ: TRMB); Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX); YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW).

We have included Thomson Reuters consensus estimates on each company. On most we have included pricing data and/or other bits of color for traders to consider.

We have two different homebuilders on deck to report. Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is expected to post -$0.36 EPS on $211.4 million in sales and we would watch cancellation rates on contracts as well as the quality of the earnings. Second is PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM) with an expected positive earnings of $0.07 EPS on $1.14 billion in sales. Pulte’s cancellation rates and quality of earnings will also have to be monitored.

Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) will show private equity wealth and earnings in the morning. The firm is expected to report earnings of $0.38 EPS on revenues of $986.75 million.

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) has been down and out for longer than any current and past holder would like to consider. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.08 EPS on $1.91 billion in sales.

CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) is expected to report earnings of $3.71 EPS and $754 million in sales before the market opens. With a possibility of a state-relocation and the ongoing pressure of exchange mergers we would be watching this one. At roughly $244.50, the 52-week trading range is $224.69 to $317.27.

Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) is expected to turn in earnings of $0.30 EPS on $14.19 billion in sales. The report is due in the morning.

Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is expected to report earnings of $0.19 EPS on $2.58 billion in sales. The shares are now up over 60% from the lows of the last year and the stock still remains pressured due to the mortgage insurance overhang that has been in place for quite some time.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) has shocked the market by outperforming despite what appears to be a bad use of effort and capital in the large acquisition. Still, shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $1.05 EPS and $2.18 billion in sales.

International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) is close to being within striking range of a 52-week high and it pays well above a 3% yield today. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.61 EPS and $6.5 billion in sales.

Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) is lagging and actually close to a 52-week low with shares around the $49.50 mark. The estimates are $0.63 on $2.99 billion in sales. The bar is set very low here.

MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) will show just what the interchange fee problems look like, but that is not fully reflected at all in current numbers. The consensus estimates are $3.92 EPS and $1.73 billion in sales. With shares around $357 some are concerned over valuations here.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is reporting early Thursday morning and the company’s higher dividend hike has shares trading very close to 52-week highs with a price of close to $38.70 andf a 52-week range of $29.47 to $39.43. Estimates are $0.95 EPS and $12.53 billion in sales. To show just how low growth is the estimates of $3.76 EPS and $48.23 billion in sales for all of 2011 are only expected to be $3.83 EPS on $47.62 billion in sales for all of 2012.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) may or may not release. With its rival’s disaster, we are not doing much legwork here. Thomson Reuters has a projection of $0.15 EPS and $1.78 billion in sales.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) is key for hotel investors and this one is expected to post $0.57 EPS on $1.42 billion in sales. Starwood has over $1 billion in cash but is still trading at a high 3.7-times book value.

Trimble Navigation Ltd. (NASDAQ: TRMB) is not so widely watched on its own, but it is used as a barometer reading for Garmin. Trimble estimates are $0.48 EPS and $419.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) has been in the news with new FDA approvals. We have Thursday as the tentative date and estimates are $0.73 EPS and $523.66 million in sales.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) is set to report and it is a puzzlement as to how this stock is still alive. On a reverse split basis the $12.83 price compares to a 52-week range of $7.94 to somewhere over $1,000. The consensus is listed as -$6.97 EPS but we have no idea how these targets are composed on this company.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Calendar, Earnings Tagged: BX, BZH, CME, DOW, GILD, GNW, HOT, IP, K, MA, MRK, PHM, RCL, TRMB, VRTX, YRCW

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (ALU, WBMD, URBN, RL, AWK, LEN, SVU, SHIP, LEDS, SNX, JASO, YRCW, CROX, HL, HRC)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:05:20 +0000

Equities opened modestly down this morning and the three major indexes have stayed within a few points of flat all day. The NASDAQ composite has remained in positive territory as the technology sector has benefited from a sharp buying trend in solar stocks. The EIA’s weekly petroleum report came in with a crude build of 5 million barrels, way above an expected gain of 1 million barrels. The report weighed on energy stocks since mid-morning. The euro has also been weaker today, adding a bit of push to equity buying. Crude oil is ending the day down, with WTI crude down about -1.3% at $100.92/barrel and Brent crude is down 0.64% at $112.55/barrel. Gold closed higher, at $1,640.50/ounce, after posting a four-week high earlier today.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 13 points to 12,449.08 (-0.11%), the NASDAQ rose more than 8 points (0.31%) to 2,710.76, and the S&P 500 rose 0.03% or less than 1 point to 1,292.44.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank; WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; and American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) raised to ‘buy’ at Ladenburg Thalmann.

Earnings reports since markets closed yesterday have led to some price changes: Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) is up 6.3% at $22.07 after posting a new 52-week high of $22.53 earlier today; Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) is down nearly -13% at $7.33; Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHIP) is up more than 5.5% at $2.65; SemiLEDS Corp. (NASDAQ: LEDS) is more than 5% at $3.69; and Synnex Corp. (NYSE: SNX) is up more than 8% at $34.80.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is up more than 37% at $1.97. The Chinese solar maker is among several Chinese solar companies getting a boost today from news that solar panel prices appear to be stabilizing. We have more coverage here.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) is up nearly 16% at $11.38. The transportation company has said it will auction 62 of its surplus US sites.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) is up more than 17% at $18.73. The funny-shoe company has estimated that sales in the current fiscal year will top $1 billion for the first time.

Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) is down about -22% at $4.55, after posting a new 52-week low of $4.25 earlier today. The silver miner has lowered its production estimate due to a forced closure of a shaft at its Nevada mine.

Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HRC) is down nearly -12% at $30.45. The medical equipment maker and services provider lowered fourth-quarter and full-year guidance last night.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Initial unemployment benefits claims report
8:30 a.m. – Census Bureau retail sales report
10:00 a.m. – Census Bureau business inventories report
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas status report
1:00 p.m. – 30-year bond auction
2:00 p.m. – US Treasury budget
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: ALU, AWK, CROX, HL, HRC, JASO, LEDS, LEN, RL, SHIP, SNX, SVU, URBN, WBMD, YRCW

24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Calls of the Week (ALU, AMZN, AAPL, CSCO, CSC, CXW, DF, EPD, GNW, GMCR, GRPN, HD, MPEL, PIR, SRDX, TEVA, VRTX, YRCW, ALIM)

Administrator — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:19:38 +0000

Each morning 24/7 Wall St. issues a summary list of key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations issued by Wall Street research firms. We review these calls and other calls made throughout the week to see which stand out the most. Some are great calls that were full of insight, while others were total flops. After reviewing and filtering all of these research reports, we end up with the top analyst calls of the week.

We had many key calls that stood out this week in shares of the following: Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU); Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN); Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL); Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO); Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC); Corrections Corporation of America (NYSE:CXW); Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF); Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD); Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW); Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR); Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN); The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD); Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL); Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR); SurModics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRDX); Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ: TEVA); Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX); and YRC Worldwide. Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW).

We have broken each of these calls out and added in color where applicable.

Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) can’t get off the floor and it keeps disappointing. Shares even closed at $1.99 after seeing a year low of $1.92 on Friday. Alcatel’s chart looks almost the same as the chart of late-2008, but it cannot blame the market this time. We saw three downgrades worth noting this last week: Cut to Sell at Citigroup; Cut estimates and target at Argus; and Cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) had two big calls this last week. The main call was on Friday when Nomura issued a very unenthusiastic NEUTRAL rating. The other call came on Thursday when Zacks added it to the STRONG SELL list. With valuations still very high and with profit margins running razor-thin, it seems that at least some caution should prevail unless the holiday season is going to blow the doors of the hinges here.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Research, The Week Tagged: AAPL, ALIM, ALU, AMZN, CSC, CSCO, CXW, DF, EPD, GMCR, GNW, GRPN, HD, MPEL, PIR, SRDX, TEVA, VRTX, YRCW

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (K, ALU, TOL, PAY, YRCW, GRPN, TESO, BSFT, CCJ,CDE,KWK, NAT, FRPT, ADPI, TKLC, OVTI, DMND)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:09:51 +0000

Markets opened up a bit this morning, but by 10:00 a.m. equities had turned back down, with the DJIA sliding down nearly -200 points before rallying back to its opening mark in the early afternoon. Shares simply couldn’t get any traction in any sector, with heath care stocks losing the least. Crude oil rose to just above $95/barrel, and the firing of two California state oil & gas officials by the governor has raised hopes for speedier permitting in that state, where an estimated trove of 15 billion barrels of shale oil is at stake. In the last half hour of trading, equities rebounded on their way to a gain for the day.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 85 points to 12,068.39 (0.71%), the NASDAQ rose more than 9 points (0.34%) to 2,695.25, and the S&P 500 rose 0.63% or nearly 8 points to 1,261.12.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) cut to ‘market perform’ at William Blair. Other changes included Alcatel-Lucent SA cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) started at ‘buy’ at Citigroupl; YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) maintained at ‘underperform’ with a price target of $0.05 at Credit Suisse; and Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) started at ‘buy’ at Benchmark.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Tesco Corp. (NASDAQ: TESO) is down about -18%, at $13.34; BroadSoft, Inc. (NASDAQ: BSFT) is down less than -0.5%%, at $36.28; Cameco Corp. (NYSE: CCJ) is down nearly -7%, at $20.00; Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE) is up nearly 8%, at $29.42; Quicksilver Resources Inc. (NYSE: KWK) is down more than -9%, at $7.62; and Nordic American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) is down nearly -4%, at $13.64.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Force Protection, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT) is up more than 30%, at $5.50. The armored truck maker is being acquired by General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD for $5.52/share in a deal worth $360 million.

American Dental Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADPI) is up nearly 79%, to $18.57. The company is being acquired by a private equity firm for $317 million, or $19/share, an 83% premium to Friday’s closing price.

Tekelec (NASDAQ: TKLC) is up more than 13%, at $11.20. The telecom equipment maker is being acquired by a private equity firm for about $760 million.

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) is down nearly -18%, at $14.23. The company revised its outlook to include a sharp drop in fourth-quarter revenues. Shares are down about -50% since the beginning of the calendar year.

Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) is down about -15.5%, at $39.21, after posting a new 52-week low of $38.45 earlier in the day. The company’s stock continues to get beaten up due to a delay in its acquisition of the Pringles business from Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and an investigation into payments to walnut growers.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Philadelphia Federal Reserve president Charles Plosser is giving a speech in the morning and Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Narayana Kocherlakota gives a speech in the afternoon. We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

7:45 a.m. – International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs same-store sales
8:55 a.m. – Redbook weekly report on retail sales
1:00 p.m. – US Treasury 3-year note auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ADPI, ALU, BSFT, CCJ, CDE, DMND, FRPT, GRPN, K, KWK, NAT, OVTI, PAY, TESO, TKLC, TOL, YRCW

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALU, AIG, DK, GRPN, HD, ING, K, MDVN, PIR, DGX, TOL, VE, PAY, WES, YRCW)

Administrator — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:22:59 +0000

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

Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) Cut to Sell at Citigroup; Cut estimates and target at Argus.
American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: DK) named value stock of the day at Zacks.
Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) Started as Buy at Benchmark.
The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
ING Groep NV (NYSE: ING) Cut to Hold at Soc-Gen.
Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Medivation, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Veolia Environnement S.A. (NYSE: VE) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
VeriFone Systems, Inc (NYSE: PAY) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Western Gas Partners. L.P. (NYSE: WES) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
YRC Worldwide. Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) Maintained Underperform and target cut to $0.05 at Credit Suisse; maintained neutral with losing share at Zacks.

See the top analyst upgrades and downgrades of the prior week here.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIG, ALU, DGX, DK, GRPN, HD, ING, K, MDVN, PAY, PIR, TOL, VE, WES, YRCW

24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Calls of the Week (AWK, NLY, ARMH, INTC, BAC, C, JPM, CAT, DAL, DNDN, DMND, HGSI, OPEN, SNDK, VLO, VICL, YRCW)

Administrator — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 11:15:03 +0000

Each morning 24/7 Wall St. issues a list of some of the key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms. We review these and other calls from the week to see which stand out the most. Some are great calls that were greatly insightful. Other calls may be relevant well into the future. And then there are some calls which turned out to be total duds that were very painful for the analysts who made them and to the traders that listened.

After reviewing and filtering all of these research reports, we end up with the top analyst calls of the week. The top analyst calls of the week were in the following stocks: American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK); Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY); ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH); Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C); J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM); Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT); Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL); Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN); Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND); Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI); OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN); SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK); Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO); Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL); and YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW).

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) was down on Friday, but earlier in the week it was added to the #1 Strong Buy List at Zacks. Despite its performance and valuations, we still see this one as a favorable stock for most investment portfolios.

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) saw shares slide this last week but we had an analyst duel. Wells Fargo raised Annaly to Outperform on Thursday, but Ladenburg Thalmann cut the rating to Neutral from Buy.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) was given a much better upside call against Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) by BMO Capital Markets mid-week, but this call goes against what the consensus analyst group is calling for. BMO raised ARM to Outperform and simultaneously downgraded Intel to Market Perform in the call.

Banking Sector Alert: On Tuesday afternoon came a bank sector downgrade by S&P Capital IQ, where Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) were both downgraded to “Hold” from “Buy.” On Wednesday morning Credit Suisse actually raised Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) to “Outperform” and it gave a $48 price target.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was one of the few infrastructure players given a positive call by a new round of research calls by Morgan Stanley this last Wednesday. The firm started Caterpillar with an “Overweight” in a call which was cautious among many infrastructure and farming equipment makers.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, The Week Tagged: ARMH, AWK, BAC, C, CAT, DAL, DMND, DNDN, HGSI, INTC, JPM, NLY, OPEN, SNDK, VICL, VLO, YRCW

Top Active Trader Stocks This Morning (ALU, CEDC, CHK, ENTR, FSLR, LNKD, MTZ, OXGN, SBUX, SPWRA, VVUS, YRCW)

Administrator — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:44:04 +0000

We have several big movers in the after-hours session. We have compiled a news summary and shown the after-hours moves in the following shares this Thursday evening: Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU); Central European Distribution Corp. (NASDAQ: CEDC); Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK); Entropic Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTR); First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD); MasTec, Inc. (NYSE: MTZ); OXiGENE Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN); Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX); SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA); VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS); and YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW).

Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU) is getting a smackdown after earnings and after dialing its expectations back down. The pain continues and shares are down 13.4% at $2.39.

Central European Distribution Corp. (NASDAQ: CEDC) missed earnings and lowered its estimates again for ahead. Shares are down 23.6% at $3.85 in active pre-market trading.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) beat earnings at $0.72 EPS versus $0.66 estimates; shares are up 5.5% at $30.64 before the open.

Entropic Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTR) is down less than the 11% drop last night after it managed to beat estimates at $0.12 EPS. Shares are down almost 8% at $5.46.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was up another 4% at $50.08 last night after the company announced manufacturing consolidation moves that will delay a Vietnam plant from opening. Shares are up only about 1.7% this morning at $49.00 due to a downgrade and due to poor earnings from competitors.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) reported a loss and said it was selling $100 million in new stock. Shares are down 10.6% at $78.16 before the open.

MasTec, Inc. (NYSE: MTZ) is indicated down over 10% on no volume; shares were down 12.8% last night. It beat earnings but guidance was mostly in-line.

OXiGENE Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN) is now down 34% at $1.20 after showing its final data from Phase 2 FALCON study for its ZYBRESTAT in treating Non-Small Cell Lung cancer. This is even worse than it was last night.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) is up 3.5% at $42.85 after earnings on Thursday. The coffee destination retailer posted a 29% rise in profits and it raised the dividend and increased shares under a buyback plan.

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) is indicated down over 6% at $8.20 after reporting mixed earnings and lowering guidance. Should this really still be a surprise?

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is higher on an upgrade and on news that Qnexa’s Phase III data published in obesity showed a 14.4% average weight loss in severely obese patients completing one year of treatment. Shares are up 3.8% at $9.85.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) was doing better after an analyst removed the “Sell” rating and after a new CFO has been named. Earnings were released and shares are now up less than 2% but on well over 3 million shares in pre-market trading.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: ALU, CEDC, CHK, ENTR, FSLR, LNKD, MTZ, OXGN, SBUX, SPWRA, VVUS, YRCW

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BIG, CHS, DAL, ERII, PPG, PLXS, GOLD, RGLD, SD, SWK, SPWRA, RIG, TSL, VICL, VVUS, YRCW)

Administrator — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:25:18 +0000

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

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) Raised to Outperform at Wedbush.
Chico’s FAS Inc. (NYSE: CHS) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Energy Recovery Inc. (NASDAQ: ERII) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE: PPG) named as Value stock of the Day at Zacks.
Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Randgold Resources Limited (NASDAQ: GOLD) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) Cut to Sector Perform at National Bank.
SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SD) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK) Raised to Buy at Argus.
SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Cut to Underperform at Macquarie.
Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) Cut to Underperform at Macquarie.
Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.
Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL) Started as Outperform with $7 target at Credit Suisse.
VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) Started as Outperform with $15 target at Credit Suisse.
YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) Raised to Hold fro Sell at Stifel Nicolaus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BIG, CHS, DAL, ERII, gold, PLXS, PPG, RGLD, RIG, SD, SPWRA, SWK, TSL, VICL, VVUS, YRCW

Another Day, Another Lifeline for YRC Worldwide (YRCW)

Administrator — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:10:27 +0000

YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) appears to have gotten yet one more lifeline, one which continues to dilute and dilute by the looks of it. This troubled trucking company has endured possible delisting fears, a reverse stock split, fears of bankruptcy that would wipe out shareholders entirely, heavy shareholder dilution, union woes, and analyst abandonment. Yet here we are, another day and another huge gain.

The company announced today that it has negotiated commitments for a $400 million three-year asset-based loan that will replace its existing asset-based financing. The company reports that key stakeholders provided support for its financial restructuring. The Teamsters union confirmed that they approved final terms for the new asset-backed facility along with lenders and with YRC’s management. The company announced it remains on track to close the restructuring later this month.

Caught in a liquidity squeeze for a number of months, YRC management emphasized the role that the new asset-based loan will play in its continuing operations. It said that it helps is meet “our industry’s seasonal pattern of revenues and provides the financial flexibility and run room we need to grow the business.” That is from John Lamar, YRC’s chief restructuring officer and lead director.

As we have noted before, this “now” $60 million market capitalization rate is very misleading. The decline is more than evident as its 2008 revenues were $8.9 billion, but that was down to a dismal $4.33 billion in 2010. Not all of that at all can be tied solely to the recession.

After the close of trading on Friday came an SEC filing for an offer to exchange notes and all of this appears to be just more dilution to the common stockholders who have already been almost gutted entirely. This is one of those circumstances where, “sometimes, less is really more.”

As far as the restructuring’s progress, YRC noted in its filing, “The weak economic environment negatively impacted our customers’ needs to ship and, therefore, negatively impacted the volume of freight we serviced and the price we received for our services. In addition, we believe that many of our then-existing customers reduced their business with us due to their concerns regarding our financial condition. In 2010 and continuing into 2011, market conditions started to rebound and our customer base stabilized and as a result our volumes stabilized in the first quarter of 2010 and began to grow sequentially, seasonally adjusted, throughout the remainder of 2010 and into 2011. Pricing conditions in the industry, however, remain competitive and we believe that we will continue to face competition stemming from excess capacity in the market in the near term. As a result, we continue to experience lower year-over-year revenue (primarily a function of declining volume), operating losses and net losses.”

It also noted, “Notwithstanding the restructuring, our balance sheet would remain significantly leveraged, a significant portion of our debt would mature prior to or during 2015 and we would continue to face potentially significant future funding obligations for our single and multi-employer pension funds. Assuming we are able to complete the restructuring, we expect that cash generated from operations, together with the proceeds of the ABL facility and the Series B Notes, will be sufficient to allow us to fund our operations, to increase working capital as necessary to support our strategy and to fund planned expenditures for the foreseeable future.”

Apparently, that is all shareholders needed to hear…. or maybe all that penny-stock and low-priced stock traders needed to hear. The shares closed at $1.15 Friday and shares were up more than 21% earlier in pre-market trading. At 1:00 PM EST we have shares up 9.6% at $1.26 on more than 7.1 million shares. The adjusted 52-week price range is $0.55 to $11.00 and volume appears to be set to hit 10 million shares rather than the traditional 2.6 million shares on average.

Judging YRC depends upon where you are in the capital structure. Some consider it a turnaround, while some consider it a cult stock. Many still consider it a bankruptcy candidate. We’ll leave that posturing up to you to decide how to judge YRC Worldwide.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Bankruptcy, Bonds, Cult Stock, Labor & Unions, Transports, Turnarounds Tagged: YRCW

Revenge of the Cult Stocks (SIRI, MCP, REE, AVL, LVLT, SLV, ZSL, YRCW, BIDU, LOCM, REDF, SIFY)

Administrator — Tue, 03 May 2011 18:14:24 +0000

There is a common belief of the skeptics that the market is designed to cause the most financial pain possible, and the moves in cult stocks can be more painful than most investors can withstand. There have been some very surprising moves in the world of cult stocks today. The most surprising move today has been seen in SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), which feels like true revenge after having grown cautious at $2.00. The rare earth bubble continues with big surprising moves in the cult stocks of Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP), Rare Element Resources Ltd. (AMEX: REE), and Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX: AVL). Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) is another surprising move. Silver is living up to the Devil’s Metal all over again as silver via iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) and the inverse by the ProShares UltraShort Silver (NYSE: ZSL) is making and breaking some speculators.

YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) is living up to a death sentence and Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is showing how fast the Chindia growth trade can die. Lastly, we are seeing these death trades in Groupon-like shares of Local.com Corporation (NASDAQ: LOCM), Rediff.com India Limited (NASDAQ: REDF), and in Sify Technologies Limited (NASDAQ: SIFY).

SIRUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is now up 8% at $2.075 today and shares hit a new 52-week high of $2.09. We have even seen about 175 million shares trade with more than two and a half hours until the close. We noted some slowing growth headwinds, but Gabelli maintaining its BUY stance may be the culprit for today’s rally. We had been very bullish after this one was battered into a penny stock and then we remained bullish as the fundamentals got better and better. Our view changed, however, as the stock approached $2.00 and frankly, today’s move seems baffling. We have said a new breed of shareholders would be needed to run this higher, and it seems that is what is happening despite caution from us and others about its value.

The ‘rare-earths’ is another sector we have been watching in bubble-land. That call was holding true as the stocks started petering out in mid-March. As we cautioned, no one knows how much bubbles can inflate… Now we have Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) up yet another 8.4% at $77.59. We heard that Dahlman Rose gave a BUY rating with a $125 target. Rare Element Resources Ltd. (AMEX: REE) is up 1.2% at $14.02 and Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX: AVL) is up 2.8% at $9.08, and both of these rare-earth outfits were started with BUY ratings at Dahlman Rose. Be advised, some extra volatility may be coming Wednesday as CNBC is going to highlight the best companies in the rare-earth sector.

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) is one that seems like a sleeper considering that its revenue rose and that its loss was narrower than expected. This has a whole new host of shareholders to accommodate now that it is acquiring Global Crossing Ltd. (NASDAQ: GLBC). Level 3 shares were at $1.44 before the deal was announced, then they jumped to $1.70. The high print was $1.84 and the high close since has been $1.73. Shares today are up about 1.2% at $1.66 and volume is 27 million shares.

The Devil’s Metal is living up to its name… iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) was not supposed to be a cult stock but the speculative trading volume has been so massive in this ETF that it has become the biggest trading vehicle on Wall Street. The Silver ETF is down by another 4.6% at $40.86 after the margin requirements have been changed. This was above $48 just late last week. To show how shocking the move has been, the ProShares UltraShort Silver (NYSE: ZSL) is up 9.2% at $17.38 versus $13.64 just on Friday.

YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) continues to be the re-implosion, all over again. This is on continued news that the restructuring is only going to leave common holders with about 2.5% of the company after the company restructures with creditors, the Teamsters, and debtholders this summer. But wait, there’s more… YRC also noted further dilution is possible. Shares are down over 13% at $1.31 and the trading pattern went as follows: $2.06 on Thursday, $1.98 on Friday, and then $1.51 on Monday… to the $1.31 today.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is taking it on the chin from “The Chindia Slowdown” trade. This ADR is down almost 5% at $140.26 after having just hit a high of $156.04 on last Thursday. There are two “Groupon Alternatives getting whacked today. Local.com Corporation (NASDAQ: LOCM) is down 16% at $3.74 on more than 2.7 million shares (about 4-times normal volume) after earnings were treated as a disappointment. Rediff.com India Limited (NASDAQ: REDF) is another one touted as the ‘Groupon of India.’ It is getting crushed after Sify Technologies Limited (NASDAQ: SIFY) earnings have SIFY shares down 14% at $5.82. Rediff shares are down 10% at $12.79 on about 2.2 million shares. Rediff was almost challenging $18 just a week ago.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Cult Stock, Trading Alert Tagged: AVL, BIDU, LOCM, LVLT, MCP, REDF, REE, SIFY, SIRI, SLV, YRCW, ZSL