Last week's preview raised the question of whether consumers were turning to comfort foods in these uncertain times, specifically in terms of second quarter earnings of Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) and Krispy Kreme (NYSE: KKD). Campbell's strong earnings growth topped expectations, while Krispy Kreme narrowed its loss, though it fell short of estimates.

This coming week should bring reports from more food-related companies, from cereal maker General Mills and food packager CongAgra to grocery chain Kroger, to the parent companies of restaurants Cracker Barrel, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Carl's Jr., and Hardees. Also look for reports from tech-related companies such as Oracle, Adobe, and Palm, as well as from financials Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, and from economic bellwether FedEx.

Here's what analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are expecting from some of the companies reporting earnings this week, as compared to their results from the same period of last year:

Continue reading The week in preview: Eyes on Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, FedEx

The week in preview: Eyes on Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, FedEx originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Citigroup upgraded Verizon Commuications (NYSE: VZ) to Buy from Sell and raised their target to $48 from $33 as the firm believes earnings-per-share growth will override cap ex concern.

• Citigroup also upgraded shares of Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) to Buy from Hold on valuation as the firm believes the company's growth prospects are underestimated in the stock following the recent sell-off.

• Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch citing the company's robust product road map and its ability to compete against Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

• JP Morgan upgraded NYXE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) to Neutral from Underweight and believes the risks that attributed NYX's downgrade in February have played out and sees limited downside at these levels.

• Cantor upgraded Top Tankers (NASDAQ: TOPT) to Hold from Sell following better-than-expected Q1 results...

• UBS upgraded shares of CACI International Inc (NYSE: CAI) to Buy from Neutral.

• Leerink Swann raised United Therapeutics Corp (NASDAQ: UTHR) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Calyon upgraded Nabors Industries Ltd (NYSE: NBR) to Add from Neutral.

• Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE: MUR) was raised to Hold from Sell at Benchmark.

• Banc of America upgraded shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc (NYSE: SKT) to Buy from Neutral.

• Baird upgraded Brady Corp (NYSE: BRC) to Outperform from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades 5-18-07: INTC, NYX, PCLN and VZ originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 May 2007 10:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Citigroup cut CV Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: CVTX) to Sell from Hold with a $6 target due to the diminished market potential for Ranexa and its high operating expenses. First Albany downgraded shares to Neutral from Strong Sell to reflect the lack of catalysts.

• Matrix USA cut Stone Energy Corp (NYSE: SGY) to Strong Sell from Hold, believing significant cost increases are driving negative fundamental trends.

• Deutsche Telecom AG (NYSE: DT) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns as the firm believes evidence of a turnaround needs to be seen before shares move higher.

• Thomas Weisel cut Brady Corporation (NYSE: BRC) to Market Weight from Overweight to reflect lower confidence in management's ability to deploy capital effectively.

• Overseas Shipholding Group Inc (NYSE: OSG) was downgraded to Hold from Strong Buy at Matrix USA.

• American Technology downgraded Sigma Designs, Inc (NASDAQ: SIGM) to Neutral from Buy with a $28 target.

Analyst downgrades 3-28-07: CV Therapeutics, Deutsche Telecom downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Goldman Sachs downgraded Embarq Corp (NYSE: EQ) to Sell from Neutral based on valuation and potential margin dilution.

• Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE: BSX) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns based on regulatory and competitive challenges.

• Despite expectations of strong Q4 results and 2007 guidance, Needham downgraded Garmin Ltd (NASDAQ: GRMN) to Hold from Buy based on valuation, as they believe the multiple the market is willing to give the stock is likely to decline as PNDs continue to increase as a percentage of revenue.

• Roth Capital downgraded China BAK Battery Inc (NASDAQ: CBAK) to Hold from Buy.

• DA Davidson downgraded Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE: WY) to Neutral from Buy.

• BMO Capital Markets downgraded Brady Corp (NYSE: BRC) to Market Perform from Outperform.

• Wachovia downgraded Boyd Gaming Corp (NYSE: BYD) to Market Perform from Outperform, expecting weakness in 2007 from the Las Vegas locals market and Atlantic City.

• Penn National Gaming Inc (NASDAQ: PENN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank citing valuation.

Analyst downgrades 2-12-07: Embarq, Garmin & Boyd Gaming all downgraded originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Feb 2007 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.