Analyst Upgrades

• Boeing (BA) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Alcoa (AA) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• BP (BP) to outperform from market perform at Raymond James.
• Office Depot (ODP) and Staples (SPLS) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• ON Semiconductor (ONNN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Kennametal (KMT) and Polyone (POL) to buy from hold at KeyBanc.
• Airgas (ARG) to outperform from market perform at William Blair.
• EchoStar (SATS) to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AA, BA, BP, BSX, COH, GM, INTC, NSM, STJ, TIF, TSN, UA ...

Analyst Calls: AA, BA, BP, BSX, COH, GM, INTC, NSM, STJ, TIF, TSN, UA ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Procter & Gamble (PG) upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Capital One (COF) upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Airgas (ARG) upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Broadcom (BRCM) upgraded to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Lululemon (LULU) upgraded to hold from underperform at Jefferies.
• DryShips (DRYS) upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AVB, BRCM, COF, DRYS, IFF, LULU, NSM, OII, OSG, PG ...

Analyst Calls: AVB, BRCM, COF, DRYS, IFF, LULU, NSM, OII, OSG, PG ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Bulls Say 'Who Cares!' on Europe and Jobs (BP, NBG, BRCD, TEVA, DRYS, MOT)

Closing Bell: Bulls Say 'Who Cares!' on Europe and Jobs (BP, NBG, BRCD, TEVA, DRYS, MOT) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Late Wednesday, DryShips (DRYS) reported that its third-quarter profit climbed 57% to $49.3 million, or 18 cents per share, while revenue increased 1.5% to $225.5 million.

On an adjusted basis, earnings for the quarter arrived at 38 cents per share. Operating margin improved to 48% from 40.4%. The results surpassed analysts' expectations, which called for a profit of 25 cents per share on $217 million in revenue.

Continue reading DryShips Sails Higher on Solid Q3 Report

DryShips Sails Higher on Solid Q3 Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

DryShips Inc. (DRYS) is on the move after the company announced that its offshore unit scored a four-well drilling contract valued at roughly $135 million. Under the terms of the deal, DryShips will commence drilling in West Africa in the first or second quarter of 2011 for a period of approximately 300 days.

The positive news propelled DRYS substantially higher right out of the gate, with the shares staging a bullish gap above short-term resistance in the $4.50 region. Going forward, this area could now switch roles to act as a technical backstop for the shares.

Continue reading DryShips Surges on News of $135M Drilling Contract

DryShips Surges on News of $135M Drilling Contract originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Franklin Resources (BEN) to outperform from market perform and raised its target price for shares to $127 from $105 to reflect its belief the company is well positioned in the current environment.
• UBS upgraded Nuance (NUAN) to buy from neutral and has an $18 price target on the stock. The firm upgraded shares based on valuation and believes the company could be an acquisition target.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded DryShips (DRYS) to equal weight from underweight and has a $5.50 target on the stock. The firm cites the firmer ultra-deepwater drilling market for the upgrade.
• Becton Dickinson (BDX) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Edwards Lifesciences (EW) was upgraded to market perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
• Arkansas Best (ABFS) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BCR, BEN, DRYS, INT, ISRG, NKE, NOK, NUAN, VCLK, ZMH ...

Analyst Calls: BCR, BEN, DRYS, INT, ISRG, NKE, NOK, NUAN, VCLK, ZMH ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Call volume was unusually heavy on DryShips Inc. (DRYS) Thursday, with roughly 41,000 contracts crossing the tape. This surge in activity represented about 1.75 times DRYS' expected daily call volume. By contrast, fewer than 4,400 puts changed hands on the drybulk shipper during the course of Thursday's trading, falling short of the equity's predicted put volume.

Taking a closer look at Thursday's trading, most call players set their sights on DryShips' May 7 call, with 10,485 contracts crossing the tape. The majority of these calls traded at the ask price, suggesting they were purchased, and implied volatility on this soon-to-be front-month option climbed 1.7% by the close. Open interest on the May 7 call rose overnight by 5,046 contracts, confirming that new bullish bets were added here yesterday.

Continue reading Short-Term Bulls Buy Calls on DryShips

Short-Term Bulls Buy Calls on DryShips originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple (AAPL) closed at $242.02 on Friday. On April 8, AAPL announced its new iAd platform for its mobile devices. AAPL is expected to announce Q2 EPS on April 20. May and July is at 32; verses its 26-week average of 33 contracts according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

DryShips (DRYS) closed at $6.56. DRYS April put option implied volatility is at 65, June is at 59, September is at 57; below its 26-week average of 74. Options were active on April 9th with 115,489 contracts trading according to Track Data. Average daily volume is 56K contracts according to IVolatility.

Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Options Update: Apple Volatility Flat into EPS and iAd Sales Outlook originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

DryShips Inc. (DRYS) has a date in the earnings spotlight after Thursday's closing bell, with the drybulk shipper slated to release its fourth-quarter results. Analysts are expecting DryShips to report a profit of 23 cents per share, modestly lower than its year-ago earnings of 25 cents per share. The company has a decidedly mixed history on the earnings front; during the past four reporting periods, Dryships has topped analysts' consensus expectations twice and fallen short on two other occasions.

Ahead of the report, calls are the options of choice among speculative investors. During the past 10 days, traders on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and the International Securities Exchange (ISE) have bought to open 6.87 calls for every put on DRYS. In other words, option players have purchased nearly seven times more bullish bets than bearish.

Continue reading Call Volume Pops Ahead of DryShips' 4Q Report

Call Volume Pops Ahead of DryShips' 4Q Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Bank of America (BAC) to outperform from market perform to reflect its positive view of the company's $20.5M common equity raise and $45B TARP repayment. The firm believes the $20.5B capital raise is lower than some expected and that Bank of America could potentially announce a new CEO by year-end. FBR raised its price target on shares to $20 from $15.
• JPMorgan upgraded Kennametal (KMT) to overweight from neutral. The firm, which has a $30 target on the stock, cites the recent pullback in shares and believes increased industrial production in 2010 could be a positive catalyst for the company.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Ternium (TX) to outperform from neutral and raised its target to $40 from $31. The firm upgraded shares based on expectations for further improvements in profitability.
• G-III Apparel (GIII) was upgraded to overweight from market weight at Thomas Weisel.
• Cubist Pharma (CBST) was raised to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• AvalonBay (AVB) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AAPL, AMZN, BAC, DRYS, GENZ, REG, S ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AAPL, AMZN, BAC, DRYS, GENZ, REG, S ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: An almost recovery (AMD, AXP, DRYS, ETFC, FTNT, VVUS)

Closing Bell: An almost recovery (AMD, AXP, DRYS, ETFC, FTNT, VVUS) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

From TheStreet.com Network

• Union Pacific, FedEx Lead High-Flying Stocks
• Obama the Spender Warns on Debt: Today's Outrage

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Ag and shippers are the newest bull markets

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Ag and shippers are the newest bull markets originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: The bad good day (BIDU, BP, COMV, DRYS, IACI, LDK)

Closing Bell: The bad good day (BIDU, BP, COMV, DRYS, IACI, LDK) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Bulls win in the end (DELL, GM, DRYS, LVLT, MA)

Closing Bell: Bulls win in the end (DELL, GM, DRYS, LVLT, MA) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 May 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Transportation company DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) started the session on a positive note this morning after announcing a new waiver agreement with Deutsche Bank.

DRYS, which is struggling under the weight of a hefty debt burden, said it has reached a pact with Deutsche Bank regarding the waiver terms for a credit facility worth $1.125 billion. The facility covers two drillships that are currently under construction.

"We are delivering the waivers as promised and we hope to conclude discussions with the rest of the lenders in the near future," stated CEO George Economou.

Continue reading Volatile DryShips shares rally on new debt agreement

Volatile DryShips shares rally on new debt agreement originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 May 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Profit taking to hibernating bulls (ANF, AXP, BBI, DRYS, NKE, YHOO)

Closing Bell: Profit taking to hibernating bulls (ANF, AXP, BBI, DRYS, NKE, YHOO) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 May 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Today was a very light event day outside of two DJIA components reporting earnings. We saw another instance where stocks held on to gains and did not sell the news too bad. It looks like the indexes actually have made it six straight weeks up now. Here are today's closing bell levels:

DJIA: 8,131.33
S&P500: 869.57
NASDAQ: 1,673.07

Continue reading Closing Bell: What recession? Earnings make six-week run (C, GE, DRYS, ERTS, MAT, GOOG)

Closing Bell: What recession? Earnings make six-week run (C, GE, DRYS, ERTS, MAT, GOOG) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Government puts stocks on sale, redux (AMZN, AIG, DRYS, INTC, GM, JAVA UBS)

Closing Bell: Government puts stocks on sale, redux (AMZN, AIG, DRYS, INTC, GM, JAVA UBS) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN) said revenues and bookings both declined in the most recent quarter.
• Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) reported strong Q4 results in the wake of Circuit City's demise.
• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) sailed past analysts' Q1 projections, sending shares higher.
• ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) Q3 results topped analysts expectations and drove shares higher.
• DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) swung to a larger-than-expected Q4 loss and revenue slipped.
• DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) reported a bigger-than-expected Q4 loss as same-store sales declined.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Best Buy, Walgreen, Tiffany, Research in Motion, KB Home and more

Earnings highlights: Best Buy, Walgreen, Tiffany, Research in Motion, KB Home and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 28 Mar 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: The almost great and almost poor day (AXP, AIG, BRK-A, DRYS, IBM, PG)

Closing Bell: The almost great and almost poor day (AXP, AIG, BRK-A, DRYS, IBM, PG) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.