Continue reading U.S. Stock Futures Down as Investors Await Economic Data

U.S. Stock Futures Down as Investors Await Economic Data originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Amgen (AMGN) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Goodrich Petroleum (GDP) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Tutor Perini (TPC) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Covidien (COV) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Sara Lee (SLE) and Comcast (CMCSA) to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
• Research In Motion (RIMM) to outperform from sector perform at FBN Securities.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AMGN, CMCSA, GDP, FAST, FLR, KBR, PGR, RIMM, SLE, WAG ...

Analyst Calls: AMGN, CMCSA, GDP, FAST, FLR, KBR, PGR, RIMM, SLE, WAG ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Red Hat (RHT) and American Public (APEI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• KBR (KBR) and Foster Wheeler (FWLT) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Bio-Rad (BIO) to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Oceaneering (OII) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• ASM International (ASMI) and Avid Technology (AVID) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Dominion Resources (D) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Nationwide Health Properties (NHP) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Vivus (VVUS) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Intersil (ISIL) to buy from hold at Canaccord.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ALTR, CBOE, D, ETR, JCI, KBR, MMM, NFLX, OII, RHT, WY ...

Analyst Calls: ALTR, CBOE, D, ETR, JCI, KBR, MMM, NFLX, OII, RHT, WY ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Much of the attention this week will no doubt be on how the impending General Motors (NYSE: GM) bankruptcy will shake out, as well as the usual economic concerns: Has the housing market bottomed? Will oil prices keep rising? Is the employment situation getting any better? And so on (see highlights of the economic calendar below).

What probably won't get much attention are quarterly earnings, as the earnings season for this quarter winds down. But there are a few reports that analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters have high hopes for.

Continue reading The week in preview: DynCorp, Joy Global, Shanda and more

The week in preview: DynCorp, Joy Global, Shanda and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 31 May 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• UBS upgraded Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to Buy from Neutral as it believes the company's product portfolio is recovering.
  
• Canaccord upgraded Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $450 from $300. The analyst said industry checks indicate deteriorating search conditions have started to improve in late March and notes that the market is already pricing in a weak Q1.
  
• Wachovia upgraded CGI (NYSE: GIB) to Outperform from Market Perform. In addition to valuation, the firm cited the company's defensive profile, comfort with its fiscal 2009 estimates, and its expectation that the company will continue to have strong signings.
• Siliconware Precision (NASDAQ: SPIL) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at HSBC.
  
• Matrixx Initiatives (NASDAQ: MTXX) was lifted to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: NOK, GOOG, IHG, PETS ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: NOK, GOOG, IHG, PETS ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While the release of economic data doesn't stop next week (see economic schedule highlights below), the earnings season does wind down dramatically. Most of the S&P 500 companies already have reported on the past quarter, which means dismal earnings news is largely behind us, at least for a while. About the only companies of note expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters to report falling earnings this week are Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. (NYSE: WEN), Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL), Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), and Steinway Musical Instruments Inc. (NYSE: LVB).

While PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) and Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) quarterly profits are expected to be about the same as a year ago, Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ), Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. (NYSE: KCP), Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN), and Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) are expected to have swung to losses in the most recent quarter.

Continue reading The week in preview: Earnings season winds down

The week in preview: Earnings season winds down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the parade of earnings declines to continue into the final week of February, with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (NYSE: MSO), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN), Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M), DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA), Limited Brands Inc. (NYSE: LTD), Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE: RY), Del Monte Foods Co. (NASDAQ: DLM), Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB), RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH), and H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) all expected to post lower earnings for the most recent quarter. Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP), Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS), and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: CTB) are expect to have swung to a loss.

Continue reading The week in preview: Eye on Marvel, KBR, First Solar, Deckers and more

The week in preview: Eye on Marvel, KBR, First Solar, Deckers and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Infrastructure stocks have been laid low by the economic downturn; but once massive government stimulus programs get growth going again, these companies should be among the surest winners," says Stephen Leeb.

In The Complete Investor newsletter, the advisor explains, "We've found four top infrastructure stocks, now at bargain-basement levels, that we think will surge. All are all astonishingly cheap when you consider how vital their role is in worldwide economic growth."

"It would be difficult to find a group of stocks more leveraged to economic growth yet whose valuations imply there will be no growth.

"If you have any faith in the world's future, these stocks are for you, and we think they will be dramatic outperformers as stimulus spending starts to kick in.

"Most diverse among the four is Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC), which serves the chemical, pharmaceutical, building/infrastructure, and oil and gas industries. Nearly 20% of its revenues come from government sources, domestic and foreign.

"The company has nominal debt and has been generating hefty free cash flow, which management has indicated it may use to acquire beaten-down compatible firms, adding to future growth.

Continue reading Engineering gains from Obama's infrastructure proposals

Engineering gains from Obama's infrastructure proposals originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of a special report, A Dozen Ways to Play an Obama Building Boom.

"President-elect Obama recently announced that he is working on a stimulus package that could be as large as $1 trillion," notes BizRadio host Daniel Frishberg in The MoneyMan Report.

"This money would be used on infrastructure. Items such as new roads, bridges, etc. would be on the 'to do list.'

"The theory is that this would bring jobs and thus help stimulate the economy. On this news, many of the infrastructure companies rallied. These are the same companies that have been severely beaten up due to global growth slowing.

"Thus, with a new stimulus package focused on infrastructure spending imminent, not only in the U.S. but some emerging countries, we are using some of our cash to invest in various infrastructure companies.

"We are purchasing Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR). This is a global engineering firm that will be a huge beneficiary from all the infrastructure spending.

"Even though the stock has recovered the last few weeks, it is still down over 50% from its high. Given their prospects and valuation, we believe this is a great company to invest in at present levels.

"We are also purchasing KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR). The company was spun off from Halliburton and they focus on engineering & construction. KBR gets a lot of their sales from contracts in Iraq and other countries.

"The stock fell 75% before recovering somewhat. However, the stock is still down 63% in the last 12 months and we believe the prospects for their business are excellent."

Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a daily look at the latest market commentary and favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

Obama's to-do list: Bridges and roads originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 20 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

From TheStreet.com Network

• Warren Buffett Proves He's Human
• Detroit Pleads for $25B in Federal Aid

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Shaw is actually cheap

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Shaw is actually cheap originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of a feature on companies and products that our bloggers think are in need of a makeover. See all 26.

Remember Dick Cheney? He hasn't emerged from his spider hole since shooting his buddy in the face at a quail hunt. But last time I was in Washington, I was walking along the street near George Washington University Hospital and suddenly all the cars disappeared and an armada of police cars and black suburbans whizzed by. I was later told that it was Cheney getting his stent checked up.

Prior to his stint in the administration of the 43rd president, It turns out that Cheney's heart beat for Halliburton (NYSE: HAL). In 2004, for example, taxpayers provided Halliburton's KBR subsidiary with $7 billion to provide services in Iraq while it took hundreds of millions of dollars in improper charges. With its 2% profit over costs, the more taxpayer money Halliburton spent, the higher its profits. Fortunately, Halliburton spun off that pesky KBR subsidiary in April 2007.

But it has other problems. The SEC is investigating Halliburton for paying bribes in Nigeria; its KBR subsidiary did a lousy job replacing bolts on an undersea pipeline that will cost Halliburton up to $220 million; the SEC investigated Halliburton for bogus contract revenue accounting; it settled asbestos litigation; a competitor of Hallburton accuses it of antitrust violations; and it received a $108 million judgment for dumping hazardous waste.

Continue reading Makeover needed: Halliburton

Makeover needed: Halliburton originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• Allegiant Travel Co. (NASDAQ: ALGT) beat estimates with soaring Q1 revenues, bucking the airline trend.
• Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) Q1 profits doubled but fell short of expectations.
• Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) posted solid Q1 results despite negative operational cash flow.
• Centex Corp. (NYSE: CTX) posted a Q4 loss well below analyst estimates.
• Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) profits plunged in the first quarter on litigation charges.
• Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) posted another big loss, way off estimates of a small profit.
• Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) posted its first quarterly loss since 2003 on write-downs.
• Gardner Denver Inc. (NYSE: GDI) beat Q1 expectations and raised its outlook for the year.
• International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) fell short of Wall Street's Q1 earnings estimates.
• Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: JEC) beat Q1 estimates and offered fully-year guidance.
• KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) Q1 profit more than doubled on arbitration benefit.
• MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) topped analysts' expectations as Q1 profits more than doubled.
• Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) Q1 profits tumbled 55% but still beat analysts' estimates.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Countrywide, Visa, MasterCard, KBR, Office Depot and others

Earnings highlights: Countrywide, Visa, MasterCard, KBR, Office Depot and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 03 May 2008 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analysts had been expecting revenue of $2.30 billion, but KBR surprised everyone by posting $2.52 billion in sales, a 24.3% increase, during the quarter. This is a nice rebound from the same period last year when the military contractor's sales were $2.03 billion.

Continue reading KBR reports surprising first-quarter earnings on arbitration award

KBR reports surprising first-quarter earnings on arbitration award originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 02 May 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Merriman upgraded shares of Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE) to Buy from Neutral on valuation following the recent pullback and believes shares can reach $50-$60 with some positive near term headlines, including price increases across the board and an additional cut in interest rates.
  
• Wachovia upgraded Discovery Holdings (NASDAQ: DISCA) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation, uptick in ratings, and strong scatter market.
  
• KBR, Inc (NYSE: KBR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS, as they see potential for significant awards of major energy and chemicals projects.

• JMP Securities raised Gevity HR (NASDAQ: GVHR) to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Cybex (NASDAQ: CYBI) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Baird upgraded Integrys Energy (NYSE: TEG) to Outperform from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades: RATE, DISCA and KBR originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lots more quarterly reports rolled out this past week, and here are some highlights of earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) reported more losses and more job cuts.
• Alvarion Ltd.'s (NASDAQ: ALVR) record quarter fuels speculation of a Cisco (NYSE: CSCO) buyout.
• Avon Products Inc.'s (NYSE: AVP) profit rose 61%, buoyed by strength in emerging markets.
• Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) fell short of expectations due to tighter margins.
• CIGNA Corp. (NYSE: CI) had a solid quarter but warned about 2008 earnings.
• Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) blamed profit loss on materals costs, and announced acquistion of Burt's Bees.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) beat estimates by a penny and had strong sales overseas.
• Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) beat earnings estimates and revised its full-year forecast.
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) announced it would restate revenues, ahead of its November quarterly report.
• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) missed expectations, also due to tighter margins.
• Given Imaging Ltd. (NASDAQ: GIVN) cited FDA approval delays for disappointing results.
• Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) posted record revenues and appointed a new CFO.
• Humana Inc.'s (NYSE: HUM) positive surprise lifted the share price to a new all-time high.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Crocs, Exxon, Kraft, P&G, Sirius, and others

Earnings highlights: Crocs, Exxon, Kraft, P&G, Sirius, and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 03 Nov 2007 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading KBR beats estimates only after one-time gains

KBR beats estimates only after one-time gains originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Top Dividend Stocks From Buffett, Soros and Icahn
• Cramer: How to Play Options in This Market

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Infrastructure stocks grab market's sweet spot originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Oct 2007 07:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan upgraded Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) to Overweight from Neutral on expectations for U.S. bookings growth and margin stabilization.

• YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW) was raised to Neutral from Underperform based on valuation.

• Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV) was upgraded to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC following the CheckFree (CKFR) acquisition.

• Banc of America upgraded Citadel Broadcasting (NYSE: CDL), Cox Radio (NYSE: CXR) and Entercom Comm (NYSE: ETM) to Neutral from Sell as they believe it is time to cover short positions with the expected Q3 weakness likely priced into shares. They caution that this upgrade is not a buy signal as downside risk remains...

• Wachovia upgraded Cabela's (NYSE: CAB) and KBR Inc (NYSE: KBR) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Baird raised Lear (NYSE: LEA) To Outperform from Neutral.

• Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

• Pacific Crest upgraded shares of eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) to Outperform from Sector Perform.

Analyst upgrades: EBAY, EXPE, NOK and YRCW originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) today reported better-than-expected results, proving its many naysayers wrong. The oil service giant posted EPS at $0.63 and revenues at $3.7 billion, both above the $0.56 EPS and $3.5 billion revenue expectations from Thomson Financial.

We already knew about the gain from the past KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) spin-off (not included in above numbers for ease of comparison), so that was already baked into the cake. The company noted a rebound in North America, saying "in June we experienced the highest monthly United States well stimulation revenue in our history." The Canadian operations, though, continued to be weak.

Halliburton has been redefining itself for the future, and the naysayers who have been arguing against the stock are probably scratching their scalps as they try to find a fault in the report today. Its corporate move to Dubai should help it compete for more Middle East contracts, its investments in Russia are paying off, it is still buying back shares (25.746 million at an average price of $35.37 in Q2 alone) and it's already spun-off KBR.

This was also one of Jim Cramer's "Top 9 for 2007" and is performing quite well, with shares up almost 3% at 52-week highs in early trading. Compared to other oil services stocks, this one is not at all-time highs, since it did trade north of $40.00 in early 2006 before some of its woes came to light.

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Halliburton earnings show naysayers had it wrong originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A number of engineering firms are described as "leading global providers of service." Few are as entitled to that description as a Houston outfit that is particularly noted for its work in the energy and government service arenas.

KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) is an engineering, construction, and services company supporting the energy, petrochemical, government and civil infrastructure sectors. Its Energy and Chemicals unit designs and constructs onshore and offshore oil and gas production facilities, pipelines, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, refineries and petrochemical plants. The Government and Infrastructure unit provides program management, contingency logistics, operations and maintenance, construction management, and engineering to military and civilian branches of governments and private customers. The Ventures unit helps to finance and manage entities to which the other units are providing services. Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) spun off about 20% of KBR through a 2006 IPO and divested the rest earlier this year.

The firm got some good news earlier in the week, when it was awarded a $2.8 billion engineering, procurement and construction contract for the Sonatrach Skikda LNG project, to be constructed at Skikda, Algeria. The share price popped on the news and has since been consolidating the gain in a bullish "pennant" pattern. Prices frequently exit pennants moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with one "strong buy," one "buy" and four "holds." Analysts see a 29% growth rate, through the next year. The KBR Price to Sales ratio (0.54), Price to Book ratio (2.86), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (4.12) and EPS Growth rate (21.43%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions own about 40 percent of the outstanding shares. Since going public last November 16th, the stock has traded between $19.66 and $31.91. A stop-loss of $27.40 looks good here. Note that the firm is next expected to report quarterly results on August 2nd.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

KBR, Inc: Big engineering, at work around the world originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.