Analyst Upgrades

• Bunge (BG) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Textron (TXT) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• CSX (CSX) to buy from neutral and Pulte Group (PHM) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Aol (AOL) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Kohlberg Capital (KCAP) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Owens Corning (OC) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Jefferies (JEF) to buy from neutral at Ticonderoga.
• Harris (HRS) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AOL, BG, CCL, CP, CSX, HRS, NE, OC, PHM, RIG, SBUX, TXT ...

Analyst Calls: AOL, BG, CCL, CP, CSX, HRS, NE, OC, PHM, RIG, SBUX, TXT ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With a turn of the calendar page, we drift into the middle portion of the current quarter, but the earnings season rolls on. Among the many companies scheduled to report quarterly results this coming week are Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), and Whole Foods Market International (NASDAQ: WFMI). Let's take a look at which companies Wall Street analysts are expecting to be among the top earnings gainers and decliners this week.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect the following to report strong earnings growth when compared to the same period of the previous year.

• DRS Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DRS): $0.85 EPS (+95.3%) on revenue of $823.8 million (+12.0%)
• Integrys Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: TEG): $0.40 EPS (+70.0%) on revenue of $2.6 billion (+9.7%)
• Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC): $2.53 EPS (+64.4%) on revenue of $599.9 million (+75.4%)
• Forest Oil Corp. (NYSE: FST): $1.51 EPS (+55.6%) on revenue of $456.1 million (+79.1%)
• Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN): $3.28 EPS (+48.5%) on revenue of $4.1 billion (+38.5%)
• CMS Energy Corp. (NYSE: CMS): $0.13 EPS (+46.2%) on revenue of $1.4 billion (+6.7%)
• Transocean Inc. (NYSE: RIG): $3.23 EPS (+43.0%) on revenue of $3.1 billion (+112.9%)
• Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE): $0.26 EPS (+38.5%) on revenue of $3.5 billion (+8.9%)
• Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB): $0.69 EPS (+37.7%) on revenue of $3.4 billion (+20.0%)
• Harris Corp. (NYSE: HRS): $0.99 EPS (+28.3%) on revenue of $1.4 billion (+18.0%)

Continue reading The week in preview: Expectations remain high for energy and oil

The week in preview: Expectations remain high for energy and oil originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Bernstein initiated global pharmaceutical stocks with a Cautious view. The firm initiated Merck & Co Inc (NYSE: MRK), Schering Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) and Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) with Outperform ratings, as well as Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and Eli Lilly & Company (NYSE: LLY) with Market Perform ratings.
  
• CIBC resumed coverage of Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: RIGL) with a Sector Outperformer rating and $16 target. The firm expects near-term upside to be driven by positive phase 2 results of R788 in rheumatoid arthritis, expected in December, and thinks the company's strong scientific platform will support long-term appreciation.
  
• Bear Stearns started Brightpoint Incorporated (NASDAQ: CELL) with an Outperform rating and $20 target, as they are positive on Brightpoint's merger with Dangaard given the significant synergies and diversification it provides.

• Genitope Corporation (NASDAQ: GTOP) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Merriman.
  
• Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE) was reinstated with an Outperform rating at William Blair.
  
• Roth Capital started Emcore Corporation (NASDAQ: EMKR) with a Buy rating and $13.80 target.
  
• Morgan Stanley started ING Groep NV (NYSE: ING) with an Equal Weight rating.

Analyst initiations: Pharmaceutical stocks, RIGL and CELL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Halozyme (NASDAQ: HALO) was initiated with a Buy rating and $14 target at Oppenheimer. The firm is positive on Halozyme's prospects for signing additional multi-product Enhanze deals in the next 12 months and the company's expanding internal pipeline.

• Oppenheimer also initiated shares of Rosetta Genomics (NASDAQ: ROSG) with a Buy rating and $11 target, as the firm is positive on Rosetta's intellectual property position in the emerging microRNA field related to the development and commercialization of research, diagnostic and therapeutic products, and other applications.

• Goldman Sachs resumed coverage of U.S. Steel Group (NYSE: X) with a Neutral rating.

• BioFuel Energy (NASDAQ: BIOF) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Cowen, as the firm sees a lack of catalysts until the company's plants under construction come on line in Q108...

• Brightpoint (NASDAQ: CELL) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $18 target at Credit Suisse.

• MasterCard (NYSE: MA) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at Wachovia on valuation.

• Citigroup initiated shares of Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) with a Buy rating and $39 target and shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) with a Sell rating and $24 target.

• Pacific Growth Equities started shares of Altair Nanotechnologies (NASDAQ: ALTI) with a Neutral rating.

Analyst initiations 7-24-07: CELL, DFS, MA and X originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Jul 2007 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• First Albany cited valuation and churn trends for their Neutral rating on Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX);
• Citigroup initiated McAfee Inc. (NYSE:MFE) with a Neutral, expecting growth to be impacted by competitive pressures.

• Brightpoint Inc. (NASDAQ:CELL) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $14 target based on valuation.
• W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE:GWW) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at Wachovia; while being positive on the stock, a slowing U.S. economy and potentially aggressive 2007 revenue targets makes Wachovia less positive.
• High-end retailers Coach Inc. (NYSE:COH) and Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) were initiated at Oppenheimer; Coach with a Buy and $50 target and Tiffany with a Neutral rating.

Analyst initiations 12-15-06: NetFlix with Neutral originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.