Analyst upgrades:
- Janney Montgomery upgraded Kenexa (NASDAQ: KNXA) and SuccessFactors (NASDAQ: SFSF) to Buy from Neutral on expectations corporate IT spending will accelerate in the second half of 2009. The firm raised its target on Kenexa to $14 from $8 and on SuccessFactors to $12 from $9.
- Jefferies upgraded PSS World Medical (NASDAQ: PSSI) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's cost-cutting measures and efforts to gain market share. The firm raised its target on shares to $25 from $17.50.
- FBR Capital upgraded Sunpower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) to Outperform from Market Perform following the company's Q2 results to reflect increased business prospects in the "rooftop" segment of the market. FBR raised its target on shares to $40 from $22.
- Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
- Temple-Inland (NYSE: TIN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
- Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
Analyst downgrades:
- Citigroup downgraded Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) to Hold from Buy on expectations there will be more bad news than good over the near-term. The firm lowered its target on shares to $18 from $20.
- FBR Captial downgraded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to Market Perform from Outperform following the "soft" quarter on expectations shares will be range bound with no demand improvement in 2009. The firm lowered its price target on Microsoft to $25 from $28.
- Baird said IMS Health's (NYSE: RX) client environment is weakening and they see limited areas of growth for the company. The firm downgraded shares to Underperform from Neutral and cut its target to $11 from $14.
- Hittite Microwave (NASDAQ: HITT) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
- Gladstone Capital (NASDAQ: GLAD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Janney Montgomery.
- Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ: KALU) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
Analyst initiations:
- Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) was initiated with a Buy rating and $38 target at SunTrust.
- Bank of Marin (NASDAQ: BMRC) was initiated with a Market Perform rating and $30 target at Keefe Bruyette.
- Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) was reinstated with a Neutral rating and $30 target at Goldman.
- Psychiatric Solutions (NASDAQ: PSYS) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $30 target at RBC Capital.
- XL Capital (NYSE: XL) was reinstated with a Neutral rating and $15 target at Goldman.
Closing Bell: When We All Love the PIIGS (NBG, SQNM, PG, ERTS, KO)
Serious Money: Cheapest Stocks List Shrinks from 26 to 21
Chasing Value: Hasbro Earnings Makes My Point
