AKS posts
FeedPosted Oct 28th 2009 10:30AM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Intel (INTC), Target Corp. (TGT), Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Analyst initiations
Analyst upgrades:
- Target (NYSE: TGT) was upgraded two ratings to Buy from Sell at Citigroup, and it raised its price estimate on shares to $61 from $44. The firm sees significant earnings upside as the company's same-store sales improve and finds the valuation attractive at current levels.
- Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital citing valuation, new product launches, and expectations that the Mobile Devices division will be profitable. The price target is $11.
- AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup as it believes the company's Q3 results were solid and the China steel market is stabilizing. The firm raised its target to $21 from $17.
- Ceradyne (NASDAQ: CRDN) was upgraded at Wells Fargo to Market Perform from Underperform. The firm thinks that earnings expectations for the company have now reached more reasonable levels, limiting risk.
- FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital ahead of the company's Q3 results due to valuation as it views the risk/reward on shares compelling. The firm raised its price target to $25 from $19.
- Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) was upgraded at Goldman to Buy from Neutral, citing 2H10 margin expansion and analog share gains. Target was raised to $29 from $27.
- Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ: BBSI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital as the firm thinks the company will benefit from a labor market recovery next year. Roth notes that the stock's valuation has lagged behind most of its peers in recent months and it set an $18 target.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ADM, CIEN, INTC, MOT, TGT, TXN ...
Posted Oct 9th 2009 11:50AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Viacom (VIA), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Dean Foods (DF), Research in Motion (RIMM), Starwood Hotels Worldwide (HOT), Marriott Intl'A' (MAR), Analyst initiations
Analyst upgrades:
- Piper Jaffray upgraded Viacom (NYSE:VIA) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect the improving ad market and better ratings at key cable networks. The firm raised its target on shares to $35 from $29.
- Baird upgraded Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) to Outperform from Neutral on valuation as it views the recent weakness as a buying opportunity. The firm keeps an $84 price target on shares.
- Jefferies upgraded Usana (NASDAQ:USNA) to Buy from Hold as it believes direct selling companies have been gaining momentum. The firm raised its target on shares to $44 from $37.
- AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
- First Merit (NASDAQ:FMER) was upgraded to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
- Spectra Energy (NYSE:SE) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: VIA, RIMM, ARO, JPM, BMY
Posted Jul 25th 2009 3:40PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, General Electric (GE), 3M Corporation (MMM), Caterpillar (CAT), Halliburton (HAL), Boston Scientific (BSX), duPont(E.I.)deNemours (DD), Texas Instruments (TXN), United Technologies (UTX), Eaton Corp (ETN)
Continue reading Earnings highlights: Caterpillar, DuPont, GE, Halliburton, Texas Instruments ...
Posted Jun 12th 2009 11:20AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Analyst initiations
Analyst upgrades:
- Deutsche Bank upgraded Spartech (NYSE: SEH) to Buy from Hold as it sees further upside following the company's "strong" Q2 results. The firm raised its target on shares to $10 from $2.50.
- Oppenheimer upgraded Clorox (NYSE: CLX) to Outperform from Underperform. The firm believes the company's FY10 outlook is conservative, providing room for upside, and that the valuation is compelling at current levels. Opco set a $70 price target on the stock.
- Goldman upgraded Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $20 from $16, citing reduced balance sheet concerns following the capital raise. Note that AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy.
- PG&E (NYSE: PCG) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
- Pool Corp. (NASDAQ: POOL) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair.
- Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LRY) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CLX, ED, JBHT, HMC, PCG ...
Posted Apr 13th 2009 12:30PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Applied Materials (AMAT), Corning Inc (GLW), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Intuit Inc (INTU), Analyst initiations, Wells Fargo (WFC), salesforce.com inc (CRM)
Analyst upgrades:
- Jefferies upgraded shares of SourceFire (NASDAQ:FIRE) to Buy from Hold as they believe the company is benefiting from recent spending by the U.S. Federal government and private enterprises to improve cybersecurity. The firm raised their price target on the stock to $11 from $7.
- Piper Jaffray upgraded Brocade (NASADAQ:BRCD) to Buy from Neutral as they believe an expanded OEM announcement with IBM (NYSE:IBM) could be announced as early as the end of April, creating a positive catalyst. The firm raised their price target on the stock to $6 from $4.
- UBS upgraded Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) to Buy from Sell but lowered their target to $4 from $21 citing reduced churn and cashflow concerns, expectations for FY10 to be a trough year, and a potential reacceleration in deferred growth.
- AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
- Strattec (NASDAQ:STRT) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.
- Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) was upgraded at William Blair to Outperform from Market Perform.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations
Posted Jan 8th 2009 11:26AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Marriott Intl'A' (MAR), Analyst initiations, Deere and Co (DE)
Analyst upgrades:
- KeyBanc upgraded Epicor (NASDAQ: EPIC) to Buy from Hold based on several near-term catalysts that include possible convertible debt repurchases, reasonable Q4 results, a proxy fight, and a boost from the Epicor 9 product cycle in 2H09.
- KeyBanc also upgraded AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) to Buy from Hold based on relative valuation and said the company could benefit from lower iron ore, scrap natural gas, and labor inputs.
- JP Morgan upgraded Lennar (NYSE: LEN) to Overweight from Neutral based on relative valuation.
- Marriott (NYSE: MAR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
- Raymond James (NYSE: RJF) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.
- Deere (NYSE: DE) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.
Analyst downgrades:Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AKS, LEN, MAR, DE, KLAC, VIVEF ...
Posted Jan 7th 2009 11:58AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Analyst initiations, Urban Outfitters (URBN)
Analyst upgrades:
- Oppenheimer upgraded OceanFreight (NASDAQ:OCNF) to Perform from Underperform on valuation and a lack of negative catalysts following the recent weakness.
- UBS raised Micron (NYSE:MU) to Buy from Neutral citing supply cuts which should improve prices. The target remains $5.
- Jesup & Lamont upgraded Atlas Air (NASDAQ:AAWW) to Buy from Hold is positive on the company's 20 year blocked space agreement with DHL and expects the stock to continue higher.
- AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List and upgraded to Buy from Neutral.
- Goldman also upgraded Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) to Buy from Neutral.
- Digital River (NASDAQ:DRIV) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Stanford.
Analyst downgrades:
- Stephens downgraded shares of Titan Machinery (NASDAQ:TITN) after their survey of farmers indicated declining sales of agricultural equipment. The firm lowered their target to $19 but believes Titan Machinery's long-term growth story remains intact.
- Jefferies downgraded Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) and Blyth (NYSE:BTH) to Underperform from Hold as they believe the further deterioration in the U.S. consumer macro environment could pressure near-term results. The firm lowered its target on Helen of Troy to $13 from $16.50 and on Blyth to $5.50 from $8.
- UBS cut Indevus (NASDAQ:IDEV) to Neutral from Buy and lowered its target to $5.50 from $5 following the acquisition offer by Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENDP).
- AECOM Tech (NYSE:ACM) was lowered to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
- Amerisafe (NYSE:AMSF) was downgraded at Oppenheimer to Perform from Outperform.
- Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Piper Jaffray.
Analyst initiations:
- KeyBanc initiated Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) with a Buy rating and $22 target. The firm believes the Urban Outfitters and Antropologie divisions are under penetrated and have visible growth.
- Kaufman Bros. started SuccessFactors (NASDAQ:SFSF) with a Hold rating and $7 target and believes the current demand backdrop could be worse than reflected in current consensus estimates.
- CarMax (NASDAQ:KMX) was initiated at Baird with a Neutral rating and $10 target. The firm is impressed with CarMax's business model but does not see a way around the near-term economic headwinds.
- Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) and Sunlife Financial (NYSE:SLF) were assumed with Equal Weight ratings at Morgan Stanley.
- Oppenheimer started Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ:PSUN) with a Perform rating.
- Kite Realty Trust (NYSE:KRG) was initiated with a Buy rating at Janney Montgomery.
Posted Dec 31st 2008 12:30PM by Jamie Dlugosch (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newsletters, Bargain stocks, Stocks to Buy

It takes nerves of steel to buy stocks in this market. Although much of the carnage has passed and is presumably
priced into stocks, there is still risk in this market.
Thus far, investors are avoiding those risks preferring the safety of Treasury securities.
Despite the Federal Reserve doing everything in its power to support the economy and to encourage risk-taking, investors are not taking the bait.
What are they waiting for?
Granted, my own analysis of the market suggests that another round of selling may be right around the corner, creating a real buying opportunity in March or April.
That said, in many instances there is no point in waiting or trying to exactly time the market. Many stocks have absolutely caved to the point that there is little downside remaining.
One such stock is AK Steel (NYSE: AKS).
Continue reading AK Steel (AKS): An easy double
Posted Nov 26th 2008 8:30AM by Paul Foster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Nucor Corp (NUE), Options
Nucor (NYSE: NUE), an operator steel mills and marketer of steel products, closed at $32.27 Tuesday. NUE December option implied volatility of 91 is above its 26-week average of 73 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.
AK Steel (NYSE: AKS), a producer of steel products, closed at $6.86 Tuesday. AKS December 7.5 straddle is priced at $2.40, January 7.5 straddle is priced at $3.50. AKS January option implied volatility of 158 is above its 26-week average of 102 according to Track Data, indicating larger price movement.
Mechel Steel (NYSE: MTL) closed at $4.59 Tuesday. MTL is a Russian mining, steel and power company. MTL December 5 straddle closed at $2.25, January 5 straddle closed at $3.15. MTL April option implied volatility of 185 is above its 26-week average of 117 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.
Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com
Posted Oct 22nd 2008 12:05PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Apple Inc (AAPL), Boeing Co (BA), Analyst initiations
Analyst upgrades:
- Jefferies upgraded shares of Genentech (NYSE: DNA) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $100 from $95 on increased likelihood of an acquisition after Roche (OTC: RHHBY) reaffirmed commitment to its $100/share offer.
- Baird expects Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) to gain market share in 2009 in mobile phones, IPTVs, and digital TVs. Shares were upgraded to Outperform from Neutral.
- Keefe Bruyette upgraded shares of Torchmark (NYSE: TMK) to Outperform from Market Perform as they see limited earnings risk and an attractive risk/reward.
- Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was raised to Buy from Add at Calyon.
- Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS and to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.
- Goldman upgraded AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) to Neutral from Sell and Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD) to Buy from Neutral.
Analyst downgrades:
Continue reading Analyst calls: AAPL, BA, BRCM, MGM, LNC, AEO . . .
Posted Sep 29th 2008 6:20PM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major movement, Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN), Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Bank of New York (BK), Boeing Co (BA), , CIT Group (CIT), Research in Motion (RIMM), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), Nucor Corp (NUE), Freep't McMoRan Copper (FCX)
There were two big trades on Wall Street today: One was the bailout trade, which included financial stocks obviously, but other than the big banks, investors also went after the second-tier firm -- the smaller, regional banks. The other big trade was the economy. As the U.S. and global economy slows down, retailers, techs and a variety of materials and industrials will suffer. Investors showed their concerns over the economy today, hammering down many of these stocks down.
Here are a few big losers from today:
Financials - obviously, financials depended on the bailout plan more than others, at least in the immediate future:
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:
BAC) declined 17.6%, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:
JPM) slumped 15%. Citigroup (NYSE:
C) declined nearly 12%, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:
GS) sank 12.5% and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:
MS) plunged over 15%.
American Express Co. (NYSE:
AXP) was the Dow's biggest loser today with a 17.5% drop thanks to Citigroup cutting profit estimates of the credit card company.
Second-tier banks declined much more:
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE:
BK) slipped over 27%, CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:
CIT) lost 25.5%, Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:
FITB) fell 43.6%, FirstFed Financial Corp. (NYSE:
FED) tumbled over 25%, First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE:
FHN) slipped 35.7% and National City Corp. (NYSE:
NCC) tumbled 63.3%.
Continue reading Some of today's biggest losers: BAC, AXP, BK, FITB, NCC, FHN, MT, FCX, AAPL, CC
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