MOST NOTEWORTHY: Abbott Labs, Barclays, SanDisk, Mission West Properties and Texas Instruments were today's noteworthy downgrades:
- Wachovia downgraded shares of Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT) to Market Perform from Outperform reflect several challenges to the company's key franchises. In particular, Wachovia cites the potential delay of the drug-eluting stent Xience launch in the U.S. and decelerating growth of Humira.
- ABN Amro downgraded shares of Barclays (NYSE: BCS) to Hold from Buy to reflect the capital markets, lower UK bank non-interest income and higher bad debts.
- Oppenheimer downgraded shares of SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Neutral from Buy as they expect many of the advantages that drove shares to unwind in Q4 and into 1H08.
- Mission West Properties (NYSE: MSW) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel, as they now believe the possibility of a sale is 50%/50% and could be pushed back to 1H08.
- Think Equity downgraded shares of Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) to Source of Funds from Accumulate as they believe competition could hinder Q4 and 2008 growth for wireless.
OTHER DOWNGRADES: