Stocks in the news: C, BAC, TGT, CPB, S, RIMM, AAPL, TASR, SPWRA, NYT (update)

Posted Nov 24th 2008 8:12AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Deals, Apple Inc (AAPL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Citigroup Inc. (C), Target Corp. (TGT), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), New York Times'A' (NYT), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Bank of America (BAC), Campbell Soup (CPB), Research in Motion (RIMM), Taser Intl Inc (TASR)

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is getting a $20 billion government injection as part of a rescue package that also includes $306 billion of U.S. government guarantees for troubled mortgages and toxic assets to stabilize the bank. Citi will issue $7 billion in preferred stock with an 8% dividend, but is barred from paying quarterly dividend to shareholders of more than 1 cents for three years. The government will also be in the charge of executive compensation. Seems the government is learning a thing or two as it goes... Citi's shares, which lost 60% of their value last week, 87% this year, jumped 56.50% in pre-open trade (7:49 am). Citi shares popped 59% by 11:50 am.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) added nearly 7% in pre-open trade (7:49 am) on Citi's news. BAC shares soared 20.5% by 11:50 am. Other financials gained as well: JPM +13.3%, WFC +13.8%, MS +34.7%.

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) - usually one of the stocks touted as being more defensive -- is scheduled to report earnings this morning. CPB shares declined 6.3% by 11:50 am after reporting slower revenue growth.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) -- after its shares jumped nearly 25% Friday, Barclays Capital cut its price target on Sprint's shares from $10 to $5 and said the possibility of a turnaround at the U.S. mobile service provider anytime soon was remote. S shares jumped another 19.3% by 11:53 am.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) said it's buying Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: OMRI) for $438 million, or $25 a share in cash. The deal will be break even to slightly dilutive to earnings per share in 2009. Omrix closed Friday at $21.16, up $4.64. OMRI shares gained 16% by 11:55 am.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is scheduled to report earnings after the close. The company preannounced better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings last week. Its 2009 guidance was also above forecasts. Competitor Dell INc. (NASDAQ: DELL) beat estimates when it reported last Thursday. Still, investors worry the company might be too optimistic as it is in the midst of a restructuring during harsh times. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect HP to earn $1.01 per share on $33.3 billion in sales for the fourth quarter.

Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) launched Friday its first touch-screen BlackBerry device in the U.S. market -- the BlackBerry Storm. While the launch also attracted many buyers who stood in long line-ups -- although it was nothing to compare to the iPhone launch, it was quite the show during these tough economic times -- it's competitiveness in the consumer market vis-a-vis the iPhone is questionable. What bothers me most is the lack of WiFi, one of the iPhone's most important features. RIMM shares are nearly 2.5% higher in pre-market trading (8:01 am). RIMM shares climbed 6% by midday trading, rival AAPL saw its shares gain 9.8% after JPMorgan boosted its fiscal 2009 profit estimate by 7.3%, on Mac notebook momentum.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) late Friday announced it rejected a proposal by activist investor Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management LP to spin off real estate holdings. TGT shares were up over 7% by midday trading.

[Update 12:00 pm:

Taser (NASDAQ: TASR) shares soared over 31% by midday trading after it received a large order from LAPD.
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) saw its shares gain nearly 50% by midday trading after it announced it completed an 18-megawatt solar power plant in Badajoz, western Spain.
New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) shares soared nearly 18% by midday trading after it was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.]

Tags: bac, c, cpb, hpq, inthenews, jnj, rimm, s, tgt

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-24-2008 @ 8:27AM

glenn said...

as a matter of fact i am going to blog every where ,, cash your paycheck and pay with cash if you are against the bailout ,, if enough people take their money away from the banks they will fail and there will no longer be talk of a bailout,,,please help me to pass this important message,,, copy it and paste it into every blog you read , thanks

11-24-2008 @ 9:28AM

Paul said...

Governments starting to hold shares in companies is the second worst thing that has ever happened. Talk about losing control........
The worst thing? That's easy. Allowing offshore drilling for oil companies. Oil darkens the water, water absorbs more sunlight, ocean heats up......
Well, the basic foundations of our present governments have been corroded away from underneath. Talk about taking the taxpayer to the cleaner. the people in real control of this, have been planning this for years.
Grab hold of something, the next couple of years are gonna be worse than any roller coaster you have ever been on.

11-24-2008 @ 5:12PM

Beltway Greg said...

The market is up 900 points in the last two days and RIMM is up? Shortages, software glitches? Re-stock in Mid-Dec? I've heard that one even burst into flames somewhere in Japan and that they emit toxic fumes. I wonder how RIMM's computers and music devices are selling. Oh yeah, they only sell phones. I forgot but the market won't.

Beltway Greg

11-25-2008 @ 11:12AM