Analyst calls: MO, SLB, BBY, AAPL, JPM, KR, ALU, GILD, BIDU, CEPH ...

Posted Dec 15th 2008 11:37AM by Eric BuscemiEric Buscemi RSS Feed
Filed under: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Apple Inc (AAPL), Schlumberger Limited (SLB), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Altria Group (MO), Best Buy (BBY), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Kroger Co (KR), Alcatel-LucentADS (ALU), Analyst Initiations, Gilead Sciences (GILD)

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Analyst upgrades:
  • JP Morgan upgraded Altria (NYSE: MO), citing the company's 25% cash return to shareholders by 2010 and its market leadership.
  • RBC Capital upgraded Core Laboratories (NYSE: CLB) based on its solid balance sheet and liquidity, strong market positions, and technology-driven products.
  • RBC Capital believes Schlumberger's (NYSE: SLB) earnings will decrease the least vs. its peers through 2010 and notes its breadth of products/services.
  • Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
  • Bally Tech (NYSE: BYI) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  • Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Analyst downgrades:
  • Goldman downgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) citing consumer spending concerns and valuation.
  • Merrill downgraded JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) citing expectations for credit costs to get worse in the US.
  • Wachovia downgraded a handful of names, including Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK), in the Exploration & Production space as they believe natural gas prices have more downside in order to balance supply/demand fundamentals.
  • Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies.
  • Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Kroger (NYSE: KR) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Analyst initiations:
  • Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) was initiated with a Buy at Merriman. Merriman expects the company's "significant" earnings growth to continue and has a target range of $53-$58.
  • Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU) was initiated with a Sell and a target of $90 at Pali Capital. Pali believes Baidu's short to mid-term outlook is uncertain due to mass media and regulatory risks.
  • Ariba (NASDAQ: ARBA) was initiated with a Hold at KeyBanc. KeyBanc believes the current consensus expectations could be challenging to meet and finds the stock fairly valued.
  • Sepracor (NASDAQ: SEPR) was initiated with a Sell at Goldman.
  • King Pharma (NYSE: KG) was initiated with a Neutral at Goldman.
  • Cephalon (NASDAQ: CEPH) was initiated with a Buy at Goldman.

Tags: aapl, alu, arba, bby, bidu, byi, ceph, clb, dvn, gild, inthenews, jpm, kg, kr, mo, sepr, slb, tlab

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Last updated: February 10, 2010: 05:33 AM

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