Analyst Upgrades

• Air Products (APD) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Zimmer (ZMH) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• SunPower (SPWRA) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Brocade (BRCD) to buy from hold at Wunderlich and at ThinkEquity.
• Duke Energy (DUK) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• NewStar Financial (NEWS) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Hormel Foods (HRL) to hold from sell at Soleil.
• Inspire Pharma (ISPH) to hold from sell at Duncan-Williams.
• Alnylam (ALNY) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Weight Watchers (WTW) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Raytheon (RTN) and Toreador Resources (TRGL) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BRCD, CREE, DUK, HRL, MOLX, RTN, SPWRA, VCLK, WTW ...

Analyst Calls: BRCD, CREE, DUK, HRL, MOLX, RTN, SPWRA, VCLK, WTW ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Oracle (ORCL) and Alliance Data Systems (ADS) to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Saint Joe (JOE) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Starwood Hotels (HOT) to neutral from underperform at RW Baird.
• Middlesex Water (MSEX) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Consol Energy (CNX) to buy from hold at BB&T.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BAC, CMA, DO, HOT, ORCL, RIG, RTN, SBUX, TLB, WYNN ...

Analyst Calls: BAC, CMA, DO, HOT, ORCL, RIG, RTN, SBUX, TLB, WYNN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• BMO Capital upgraded Noble Energy (NE) to outperform from market perform and raised its target to $85 from $78. The firm upgraded Noble based on Niobrara field potential and record-breaking reserve potential at the Leviathan prospect.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Raytheon (RTN) to outperform from market perform based on relative valuation, strong balance sheet and International sales exposure.
• ThinkEquity upgraded Cerner (CERN) to buy from hold based on valuation and EMR momentum. The firm raised its price target on shares to $86 from $80.
• Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) was upgraded to buy from hold at Societe Generale.
• Cavium Networks (CAVM) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• CSG Systems (CSGS) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AZO, CERN, CIS, INTC, LMT, LULU, NE, RTN, SNY, TXN ...

Analyst Calls: AZO, CERN, CIS, INTC, LMT, LULU, NE, RTN, SNY, TXN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Boeing Co. (BA) announced Friday that delivery of its 787 Dreamliner is going to be delayed until the middle of Q1 2011. This is disappointing news, but don't let it cloud your outlook on Boeing too much.

Goldman Sachs has Boeing on its conviction buy list and recently raised its earnings-per-share estimates for Q3 from $1.02 to $1.09 and for Q4 from $1.12 to $1.15. Goldman is also maintaining a price target of $84 for the stock, which is 37% higher than Boeing's current price of $61.

Continue reading Boeing Ready to Climb to Cruising Altitutde

Boeing Ready to Climb to Cruising Altitutde originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Kenneth Fisher Strategy: A Price-to-Sales Portfolio

Kenneth Fisher Strategy: A Price-to-Sales Portfolio originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Bernstein upgraded Corning (GLW) to outperform from market perform based on Gorilla glass prospects and valuation. The firm raised its price target to $22 from $21.
• RBC Capital upgraded Beckman Coulter (BEC) two rating levels to outperform from underperform, citing valuation and customer checks that indicate high retention rates. The firm upped its target for shares to $65 from $55.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Canadian Pacific (CP) to outperform from underperform. The firm expects Canadian Pacific to have stronger-than-average Q2 volume growth, improved productivity and notes leverage to growth in Asia, among other reasons for the upgrade. The firm raised its target to $75 from $59.
• Freeport McMoRan (FRX) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Solera (SLH) was upgraded to strong buy from buy at Needham.
• Jefferies upgraded IPC The Hospitalist Co. (IPCM) to buy from hold.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BEC, BRCM, CP, CVS, DO, GLW, INTC, LMT, NE, NVDA, RIG, RTN ...

Analyst Calls: BEC, BRCM, CP, CVS, DO, GLW, INTC, LMT, NE, NVDA, RIG, RTN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) lower Q1 earnings were better than expected but it lowered its full-year outlook.
• McDonald's Corp. (MCD) solid Q1 numbers were driven by its value menu, McCafe, and strength overseas.
• Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) topped Q1 earnings expectations and cash from operations rose, but shares declined.
• Netflix Inc. (NFLX) shares were lifted after its strong Q1 earnings beat consensus estimates.
• PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) fell short of Q1 revenue estimates but beat earnings per share expectations by a penny.

Continue reading Earnings Highlights: McDonald's, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Raytheon, Starbucks, Yahoo! ...

Earnings Highlights: McDonald's, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Raytheon, Starbucks, Yahoo! ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This defense contractor has been on the offense for the past two years, during a time when the economy was crumbling, to become one of the steady Eddy's of the market. Raytheon Co. (RTN) reported first quarter earnings today that beat the street with adjusted earnings per share of $1.27 vs. a consensus of $1.12.

Raytheon was one of my 2009 picks that stayed on the list for 2010, and today's powerful results should propel the manufacturer of the Patriot Missile System a lot further. It was up nicely last year and this year its trajectory displays more of the same. Starting out at $52.18 it has added $7.83 in 2010, to close Wednesday at $60.01, for a market beating gain of 15.01%.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Raytheon Launches Postive Earnings

Chasing Value: Raytheon Launches Postive Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Military contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT), whose colleagues include Boeing (BA) and Raytheon (RTN), is up today on first-quarter data. At the time of this writing, shares were higher by 1.3%.

Net income came in at $1.45 per share on a reported basis, a decrease of 23 cents compared to the year-ago period. However, there was a charge of 25 cents for the elimination of a tax deduction related to Medicare included in the current per-share profit number, so that should be taken into account. Wall Street was looking for $1.34 per share, so no matter what, management beat expectations.

Continue reading Lockheed Martin Trading Higher on Q1 Numbers

Lockheed Martin Trading Higher on Q1 Numbers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Communications to Cyber-Security: Four Favorites in Defense

Communications to Cyber-Security: Four Favorites in Defense originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The first quarter of 2010 is closed and the results are in. My picks surpassed the primary indices by a large margin. The original story, Chasing Value: 10 Stock Picks for 2010 , was the culmination of a process presented to our readers and finally narrowed down to the select group using final prices from Monday, December 28, 2009.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 Picks Triple Market Returns

Chasing Value: 2010 Picks Triple Market Returns originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

During my tenure at BloggingStocks I have expressed my opinion often about the contribution that dividends make to your overall return. Most shrewd investors, and especially "my pal Warren," know this and understand why I re-emphasize the point when I make my annual selections.

By now I hope you have had a chance to peruse my picks for 2010. If not the links below will give you another opportunity.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 Dividends for Ten Stock Picks

Chasing Value: 2010 Dividends for Ten Stock Picks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you are in the right place at the right time, then you have the most opportunity. That pretty much explains why I recently bought shares of the Raytheon Company (RTN) -- and why it is one of my picks for 2010.

Raytheon (whose name means "light of the gods") is a top 10 prime contractor to the Pentagon. The list of critical systems it makes include reconnaissance, targeting, and navigation systems. It is a leader in missile defense systems, which include the Patriot, Sidewinder, and Tomahawk systems. Raytheon also makes radios, air traffic control systems and radars, satellite communications systems and provides commercial electronics products and services as well.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 -- #8 Raytheon Company

Chasing Value: 2010 -- #8 Raytheon Company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The recent issue of Fortune magazine discusses how the best of the best train, guide and nurture top managers to become the leaders that will propel their corporations successfully forward. They list the top 25 companies, which I have used as the basis of a new review to see how they would fair against common metric screens.

In the past few months, many articles have posited that large-cap stocks should excel in the coming year based on their lagging the market behind smaller, more volatile stocks flying out of the March lows. I do not believe this is universally true. Plenty of large-cap stocks did well, such as Anadarko Petroleum (APC), Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG), while many small caps went nowhere. Even among the large caps included in Fortune's "Leadership 25," some have doubled.

Continue reading Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders among leaders

Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders among leaders originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A lot of earnings reports were issued last week. The market was busy sorting them all out. I'm going to take a fast look at several of the issuing companies.

American Express (NYSE: AXP): Don't leave home without it. Good advice for the card, perhaps, but what about the company? Should your portfolio leave home and forget this stock? I'd say so. It's not that American Express lost the earnings game. On the contrary, Bloomberg reported a beat. American Express earned 44 cents per share from continuing operations, adjusted. This was six pennies ahead of forecasts. Okay, I applaud such performance. And shares are way off the single-digit 52-week low. Thing is, I'm in love with another card business. Visa (NYSE: V). As I've stated before, I enjoy the beauty of Visa's lower-risk model. It doesn't have to put up with loan risk. Yes, the situation at American Express might be improving, but I'm not going to buy this one.

Continue reading Quick opinions on some quarterly earnings: AXP, MRK, MCD, NYT, UP ...

Quick opinions on some quarterly earnings: AXP, MRK, MCD, NYT, UP ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Credit Suisse upgraded Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to Outperform from Neutral after the close Monday. The firm believes Motorola's devices segment will approach breakeven in 2010 while operating margins in nonhandset segments will expand, and that a break-up story will reemerge. Credit Suisse raised its target on shares to $9.50 from $7.
• UBS upgraded BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) to Buy from Neutral. The firm cites BHP's leverage to iron ore, coking coal, copper, and oil for its upgrade after raising its commodity price forecasts.
• Merriman upgraded Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT) to Buy from Neutral to reflect higher met coal price forecasts. The firm believes Chinese demand is strong and has a target range of $66-$72 on the stock.
• Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
• Coach (NYSE: COH) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AIG, COH, LMT, MOT, MVL, NOK, RTN ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AIG, COH, LMT, MOT, MVL, NOK, RTN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Raytheon (NYSE: RTN), a defense contractor whose related companies include Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) and Boeing (NYSE: BA), posted second-quarter results earlier in the week. The company seems to be performing pretty well, judging by the growth in the stats.

Net sales increased 4%. Okay, that might not sound so robust, but income from continuing operations rose 25% to $1.24 per share. According to Earnings.com, the market was only looking for $1.13 per share from Raytheon. Operating cash flow also looked good, especially once you take into account a timing element related to cash contributions for pension plans.

Continue reading Raytheon increases profit, beats the analysts in Q2

Raytheon increases profit, beats the analysts in Q2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The earnings crunch begins in earnest this week, and analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting a parade of companies reporting profit declines in the just completed quarter. That includes more financials, such as American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK), M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB), Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS), State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT), US Bancorp (NYSE: USB), and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC). On the other hand, Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC), Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF), and Zions Bancorp. (NASDAQ: ZION) are expected to post losses.

This week's anticipated earnings decliners also include tech companies such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE: LXK), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN), and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is expected to post a loss.

Continue reading The week in preview: Earnings crunch expected to reveal lots of lower profits

The week in preview: Earnings crunch expected to reveal lots of lower profits originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading What to invest in now that Obama has taken office

What to invest in now that Obama has taken office originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"As my high school football coach always quipped, 'Offense may win fans, but defense wins games,'" says leading growth stock expert Louis Basenese.

Here, the Oxford Club associate investment director takes a look at his three favorite defense stocks, noting, "When it comes to investing in the current environment, I'm convinced that you can't go wrong with this trio of companies."

"In my view, this sector willl never fall out of favor. The recent development with Russia serves to underscore another point I've been making for years. We always have to be prepared.

"Or, put another way, there will never be a good time for defense cuts, lest we want to leave our country vulnerable.Add it all up, and we can expect defense companies to enjoy steady demand. Even in the face of a recession.

"As the CEO of Rockwell notes, there has been absolutely no fallout in the defense industry as a result of the worldwide credit meltdown or other economic woes. So here's a quick run-down on the three defense companies we prefer for investors.

Continue reading Defensive trio: Lockheed, Raytheon and L-3

Defensive trio: Lockheed, Raytheon and L-3 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.