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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AMD, AXP, ACI, NOK, NRP, SYK, WPCS

Posted Aug 24th 2009 12:00PM by Laurie PasternackLaurie Pasternack RSS Feed
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Nokia Corp. (NOK), Advanced Micro Dev (AMD), American Express (AXP), Toll Brothers (TOL), Analyst initiations

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Analyst upgrades:

  • Citigroup upgraded Advanced Micro (NYSE: AMD) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $5.50 from $4.25 citing valuation and expectations for the company's competitive position and gross margins to improve.
  • Barclays upgraded American Express (NYSE: AXP) to Overweight from Equal Weight citing long-term earnings growth as the company benefits from declining charge-offs and credit costs. The firm has a $38 target on the stock.
  • JPMorgan upgraded Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) to Overweight from Neutral and raised its target to $22 from $19 citing the FTC approval for the acquisition of Jacobs Ranch mine and valuation.
  • Bebe Stores (NASDAQ: BEBE) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.
  • Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at Piper Jaffray.
  • Ashland (NYSE: ASH) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.

Analyst downgrades:

  • Deutsche Bank downgraded Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to Hold from Buy citing expectations for increased Q4 competitive pressures in smartphones. The firm notes that the seasonally important Q4 will see an increase of 15-20 competitor models and that Nokia's refresh will be inadequate for any share gains.
  • Citigroup downgraded Natural Resource Partners (NYSE: NRP) to Sell from Hold citing concerns the company will cut the distribution payout. The firm cut its target to $16.50 from $22.
  • Thomas Weisel downgraded Stryker (NYSE: SYK) to Market Weight from Overweight citing relative valuation and slowing growth from its MedSurg division. Note the firm upgraded Zimmer (NYSE: ZMH) to Overweight from Market Weight.
  • Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
  • PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.
  • Cree (NASDAQ: CREE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Kaufman Bros.

Analyst initiations:

  • Merriman initiated WPCS International (NASDAQ: WPCS) with a Buy rating. The firm thinks the company's top and bottom line performance is poised to improve due to its exposure to the government and health care sectors.
  • CareFusion (NYSE: CFN) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Credit Suisse.
  • U-Store It Trust (NYSE: YSI) was reinstated with a Neutral rating and $6.40 target at BofA/Merrill.

Tags: ACI, advanced micro devices, AMD, american express, analyst upgrades, AnalystUpgrades, Arch Coal, ASH, Ashland, AXP, BEBE, Bebe Stores, CAKE, CareFusion, CFN, cheesecake factory, Cree, downgrades, initiations, National Resource Partners, NOK, Nokia, NRP, PNC, PNC Financial, Stryker, SYK, TOL, Toll Brothers, u-store it trust, u-store-it, WPCS, WPCS International, YSI, Zimmer, ZMH

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Last updated: November 22, 2009: 02:44 AM

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