Analyst upgrades:
- Goldman upgraded General Electric (NYSE: GE) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $15 from $13 citing reports that U.S. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank has indicated regulatory reform will not require a separation of GE Capital.
- Syntel (NASDAQ: SYNT) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform by Wells Fargo. The firm upgraded the stock following the company's much better than expected Q2 EPS.
- Canaccord upgraded USANA (NASDAQ: USNA) to Outperform from Market Perform citing the strong Q2 report and earnings momentum. The firm has a $40 target on the stock.
- Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
- Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at FBR Capital.
- Tyco Electronics (NYSE: TEL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
- Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Analyst downgrades:
- Jefferies downgraded Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) to Hold from Buy on concerns about the company's aggressive pricing strategy. The firm lowered its target on shares to $20 from $25. Merriman downgraded Akamai to Neutral from Buy to reflect the company's lower than expected guidance and aggressive pricing.
- Morgan Stanley downgraded McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) to Equal Weight from Overweight citing better upside in other names in the group. Note that the firm upgraded Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) to Overweight from Equal Weight. The firm has a $65 price target on McDonald's.
- Deutsche Bank downgraded Digital River (NASDAQ: DRIV) to Hold from Buy following the company's Q3 results to reflect limited revenue visibility and higher operating expenses in the second half of 2009. The firm lowered its target on shares to $37 from $42.
- Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Societe Generale and to Neutral from Buy at Nomura.
- Cathay General (NASDAQ: CATY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley.
- Copa Holdings (NYSE: CPA) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
Analyst initiations:
- Jefferies believes Chiquita's (NYSE: CQB) Fresh Express business is receiving zero value at current share levels. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $15 target.
- Deutsche Bank initiated Monsanto (NYSE: MON) with a Buy rating and $100 price target. The firm believes Monsanto's seeds and traits pipeline is as strong as ever following last week's approval of SmartStax, and expects 15%-plus earnings growth to return in 2011.
- Disney (NYSE: DIS) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $24 target at Piper Jaffray.
- GSI Commerce (NASDAQ: GSIC) and InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) were initiated with Buy ratings at UBS.
- Discovery (NASDAQ: DISCA) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $25 target at Piper Jaffray.
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
