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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CNX, MA, CAT, MHS ...

Analyst upgrades:
  • Citigroup upgraded shares of Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX) to Buy from Hold following the company's lowered guidance as 2009 is fully contracted with a 26% price increase. The firm raised its target to $40 from $38.
  • Deutsche Bank upgraded AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Buy from Hold on valuation as it thinks the sell-off on the company's Q4 miss and cautious guidance is overdone.
  • Wachovia upgraded Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) to Outperform from Market Perform because the firm thinks the outlook of the company's two main markets is improving. The firm believes the company's valuation is attractive. Thomas Weisel upgraded Boston Scientific to Overweight from Market Weight citing valuation and improving fundamentals.
  • Goldman added MasterCard (NYSE: MA) to the Conviction Buy List.
  • Accuray (NASDAQ: ARAY) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CNX, MA, CAT, MHS ...

Analyst calls: AMAT, CSCO, PFE, DAI, INTC, COP, MNST, SGP ...

Analyst upgrades:
  • Goldman upgraded Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) to Buy from Sell and added shares to its Conviction Buy List citing valuation. The firm also upgraded the Semiconductor Capital Equipment Sector to Attractive.
  • Morgan Keegan believes Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) will emerge from the slowdown as a stronger company with greater market share and expansion into adjacent markets. Shares were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform.
  • Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
  • Daimler (NYSE: DAI) was upgraded at UBS to Neutral from Sell.
  • Friedman Billings upgraded Mariner Energy (NYSE: ME) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation and the company's upcoming catalysts in the deepwater GOM.
  • Swiss Reinsurance (OTC: SWCEY) was raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
Analyst downgrades:
  • Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
  • Deutsche Bank cut Hess Corp (NYSE: HES) and Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) to Hold from Buy and Suncor (NYSE: SU) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) to Sell from Hold after cutting their oil price forecast for 2009 to $60/bbl and 2010 to $58/bbl.
  • Merrill downgraded Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) to Neutral from Buy on expectations the company's coatings end markets will worsen and chemicals division will see pressure next year.
  • Monster (NASDAQ: MNST) was lowered at Citigroup to Hold from Buy.

Continue reading Analyst calls: AMAT, CSCO, PFE, DAI, INTC, COP, MNST, SGP ...

Analyst initiations: Cable and Satellite Pay TV industry and FPIC

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The Cable and Satellite Pay TV industry and FPIC Insurance were today's noteworthy initiations:
OTHER INITIATIONS:

Which stocks to buy ahead of earnings

[Update: Find more from Timothy Sykes here, and more stocks to buy here.]

Each quarter brings a new batch of earnings plays, so which ones should you trade?

I've had my fair share of successful calls, but I've also been burned badly before. One time, I put in a solid week's worth of research (pdf) to pick Vasco Data Systems (NASDAQ: VDSI) right before earnings, and what happened, they totally blew it. A 30% drop. It still stings. This is just the latest reminder that you can't trust companies, analysts or really anyone on Wall Street.

So far, in this latest round, Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG), E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC), Mastercard (NYSE: MA), VistaPrint (NASDAQ: VPRT) and Concur Technologies (NASDAQ: CNQR) have performed well while Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Accuray (NASDAQ: ARAY), Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ: CDNS), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) [editor's note - this was written prior to today's news], VMware (NYSE: VMW), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA) have all bombed.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) all had very solid quarters, but where did it get investors? Nowhere -- all three stocks are flat since then.

Continue reading Which stocks to buy ahead of earnings

Analyst initiations 6-11-07: CAVM; TA and PCS

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cavium Networks Inc (NASDAQ: CAVM), Travel Centers of America LLC (AMEX: TA) and MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE: PCS) were today's noteworthy initiations:
  • Cavium Networks was initiated with a Strong Buy rating and $25 target at JMP Securities. The firm's checks indicate significant momentum for Cavium's products and cites good visibility. Cavium was also initiated with a Market Weight rating at Thomas Weisel, which finds shares fairly-valued at current levels, with a Buy rating and $25 target at Needham, with an Equal Weight rating and $22 target at Lehman Brothers, with an Equal Weight rating at Morgan Stanley and with a Buy rating and $26 target at Deutsche Bank, which expects over 50% revenue growth from 2006-2009 due to the growth in the company's network processor product line.
  • TravelCenters of America was initiated with a Buy rating and $54 target at Ferris Baker Watts and with a Buy rating and $70 target at BWS Financial, as the firm is positive on TA's earnings power and valuation.
  • Citigroup initiated shares of MetroPCS with a Buy rating and $40 target. The firm believes the company's coupled with deepening penetration in its core markets should produce revenue and FCF growth that exceeds the maturing industry average.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
  • IntercontinentalExchange Inc (NYSE: ICE) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Credit Suisse.
  • Janco initiated shares of Foundry Networks Inc (NASDAQ: FDRY) with a Buy rating and $19.50 target, as the firm believes the company's new products put it in a position to gain market share.
  • CIBC World Markets initiated shares of Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ: ARAY) with a Sector Underperformer rating and $19 target.

Analyst initiations 6-1-07: WFMI, INTC, Oshkosh ...

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The truck industry, Roo Group (RGRP), Accuray (ARAY) and TomoTherapy (TTPY) were today's noteworthy initiations:
  • In the trucking industry, FTN Midwest initiated shares of Cummins Inc (NYSE: CMI) and Navistar International Corp (NASDAQ: NAVZ) with Hold Ratings and Oshkosh Truck Corp (NYSE: OSK) and PACCAR Inc (NASDAQ: PCAR) with Buy ratings.
  • ROO Group (NASDAQ: RGRP) was initiated with a Buy rating and a $3.75 target at Think Equity, which believes RGRP is positioned to capitalize as the Internet continues to grow as a broadcast medium for video.
  • Soleil initiated shares of Accuray Inc. (NASDAQ: ARAY) with a Buy rating and $30 target. The company is Soleil's top pick in radiation oncology.
  • Soleil also initiated shares of TomoTherapy Inc. (NASDAQ: TTPY) with a Buy rating and $25 target, as the firm believes all-in-one imaging and radiation oncology system in HiArt could become the new standard of care.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
  • Elan Corp (NYSE: ELN) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $40 target at Leerink Swann, which added shares to the firm's Focus List as it is positive on the Tysabri opportunity.
  • Cree Inc (NASDAQ: CREE) was initiated with a Buy rating and $50 target at Amtech, as the firm believes the time for LED adoption has finally arrived and will accelerate in the future.
  • Nollenberger initiated shares of ZipRealty (NASDAQ: ZIPR) and Move, Inc (NASDAQ: MOVE) with Neutral ratings.
  • CIBC World Markets initiated shares of Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) with a Sector Underperformer rating and $38 target, expecting the company to be impacted by increasing competition.
  • BMO Capital Markets initiated shares of Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) with an Outperform rating and $10 target.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+130.1410,448.30
NASDAQ+29.582,175.62
S&P 500+15.641,107.02

Last updated: November 23, 2009: 12:01 PM

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