JP Morgan lowered its 2009 North American light vehicle production estimate by 13% to 11.2M and Europe by 10% to 19M. The firm upgraded Borg-Warner (NYSE: BWA) to Overweight from Neutral citing balance sheet and revenue growth.
Jefferies upgraded shares of Kroger (NYSE: KR) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $32 from $28 as they expect the company's value image to benefit in the current environment.
Leerink upgraded AMAG Pharma (NASDAQ: AMAG) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation as they believe current data is sufficient for some form of first cycle approval of Ferumoxytol.
Watsco (NYSE: WSO) was raised to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
UBS upgraded Invitrogen (NASDAQ: IVGN) to Buy from Neutral.
Analyst downgrades:
Jefferies downgraded shares of Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) to Underperform from Buy and lowered its target to $9.50 from $23 on the worsening macro environment, which they believe is "overwhelming" the company's ability to drive even flat comps in Q4 and FY09.
Deutsche Bank cut Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) to Hold from Buy and lowered its target to $19 from $28 following the company's worse-than-expected outlook, as they expect shares to be range bound.
Banc of America downgraded the Dry Bulk Shipping sector to Equal Weight from Overweight to reflect the "depressed" charter rate environment, tighter credit markets and the weakening macroeconomic outlook. The firm downgraded Britannia Bulk (NYSE: DWT), Navios Maritime (NYSE: NM) and TBS International (NASDAQ: TBSI) to Neutral from Buy.
Eaton (NYSE: ETN) was lowered to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
AXA (NYSE: AXA) was downgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Overweight.
Aracrus (NYSE: ARA) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Even though tomorrow is a holiday in the U.S., there are a handful of companies planning to report quarterly earnings nonetheless. Perhaps some may be trying to keep a low profile; others may simply not be concerned with the American holiday schedule. Regardless, here's a quick peek at some of those companies, with the consensus earnings per share estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial compared to the previous quarter and year-ago quarter, the share price at the close on Friday (with charts behind the links), and consensus recommedations.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: InfoSpace, Parexel and Idearc Inc were today's noteworthy initiations:
B. Riley believes InfoSpace (NASDAQ: INSP) is now positioned to further leverage the growing online search market following divestitures. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $13 target.
Oppenheimer assumed coverage of Parexel (NASDAQ: PRXL) with an Outperform rating and $70 target, as they believe the company is well-positioned to benefit from positive CRO industry trends and sees room for continued growth.
Wachovia initiated Idearc (NYSE: IAR) with an Underperform rating, citing the challenging industry and cyclical pressures.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
Morgan Keegan initiated GMX Resources (NASDAQ: GMXR) with an Outperform rating.
Goldman assumed coverage of Cigna (NYSE: CI) with a Buy rating.
Merrill started PharMerica (NYSE: PMC) with a Neutral rating.
Progenics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PGNX) was added to Friedman Billings' Top Picks list and its Outperform rating was maintained. The firm has a high degree of confidence in the success of the MNTX Ph III studies in post-operative ilieus, as well as the FDA approval of the subcutaneous injection in terminally ill patients with opiod-induced constipation around the 1/31/07 PDUFA date.
RBC believes margin expansion will drive long-term appreciation in Tyco Electronics Ltd (NYSE: TEL) and started shares with an Outperform rating and $41 target.
PharMerica Corporation (NYSE: PMC) was initiated with an Underperform rating at Bear Stearns. The firm believes PMC will be pressured by customer losses and generic reimbursement cuts and sees shares trading in $12-$13 range.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
Ryanair Holdings (NASDAQ: RYAAY) was initiated with a Market Outperform rating at Avondale.u
MOST NOTEWORTHY: MoneyGram (MGI), F5 Networks (FFIV), ARK Restaurants (ARKR), Nara Bancorp (NARA) and St. Jude Medical (STJ) were today's noteworthy initiations:
AG Edwards initiated MoneyGram (NYSE: MGI) with a Buy rating because it believes the recent pullback in the shares provides an attractive entry point; Stephens started shares of MoneyGram with an Overweight rating, and believes the company is well positioned to create strong transactional growth and take market share.
CIBC expects F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) to benefit from strong fundamentals in application networking solutions and started shares with a Sector Outperformer rating and $85 target.
Morgan Joseph initiated ARK Restaurants (NASDAQ: ARKR) with a Buy rating and $43 target; they believe ARK is well positioned to benefit from strong SSS & earnings leverage given its strong store locations, wide ranging price points, and stable unit development pipeline.
Sandler is positive on Nara Bancorp (NASDAQ: NARA), starting shares with a Buy rating and $17 target, based on the company's long-term prospects.
ThinkEquity believes St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) is poised to take market share in the ICD markets and started shares with a Buy rating and $56 target...
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Polo Ralph Lauren (RL), Alcan (AL), Alcoa (AA) and Conn's, Inc (CONN) were today's noteworthy initiations:
Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at Piper Jaffray. The firm feels the risk/reward is balanced at current levels given the near-term risks from increased investment and exposure to inconsistent U.S. wholesale markets.
Goldman Sachs resumed coverage of Alcan (NYSE: AL) and Alcoa (NYSE: AA) with Neutral ratings and a $101 target and $48 target, respectively.
Morgan Joseph is positive on Conn's Inc's (NASDAQ: CONN) strong track record of growth, new store growth and easy comps, and initiated shares with a Buy rating and $34 target.
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Analyst upgrades:
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