Sprint Nextel (S) reported this morning that it paid off an outstanding loan worth $1 billion on its $4.5 billion revolving credit facility. As a result, the wireless company no longer has an outstanding balance on its revolving credit facility. At the end of the third quarter, Sprint had $5.9 billion on hand in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, plus $1.6 billion in borrowing capacity under its revolving bank credit facility.

In other Sprint news this morning, Sprint shares were upped from "neutral" to "outperform" at Credit Suisse. Analyst Jonathan Chaplin set his price target at $6, asserting that the company will benefit from cost cutting, stronger sales of prepaid service, and improved customer retention trends. Sprint's stock settled Friday at $3.10, so Chaplin's price target implies expected upside of nearly 94%.

Wall Street is cheering the latest earnings report from Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST), with the shares adding more than 3% within the first hour of trading. This morning, as Tom Johansmeyer reported, the wholesale club reported a 6% slide in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, but the results nevertheless exceeded analysts' expectations.

In the wake of COST's report, analyst Brian Sozzi of Wall Street Strategies reiterated his Buy rating and $66 price target on the equity. "In our view, 4Q09 will go a long way in supporting a higher valuation for Costco," wrote Sozzi in a research note this morning. "The company has managed to control costs, drive traffic to its warehouses consistently throughout the economic downturn, paid $300 million in annual dividends in FY09 (payout ratio of 26.0% second to only Wal-Mart in the sector), and has catalysts on the horizon to showcase earnings power above currently modeled for consensus EPS."

Snacks-and-soda stalwart PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is scheduled to unveil its third-quarter results before the market opens this Thursday, Oct. 8. Heading into the report, analysts are expecting PEP to bank a profit of $1.02 per share, according to Thomson Reuters, fractionally lower than its year-ago earnings of $1.06 per share.

PepsiCo has a healthy history in the earnings spotlight, having exceeded Wall Street's consensus expectations in each of the previous three quarters. Judging by recent option activity, traders are speculating on another upside surprise from the Frito-Lay firm.

Bright and early this morning, Goldman Sachs downgraded gaming guru Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) from Conviction Buy to Buy. In a note to clients, the brokerage firm explained that it sees greater relative potential for near-term price appreciation in other stocks. Goldman maintains a six-month price target of $16 on ATVI, implying expected upside of more than 29% from the shares' closing price on Wednesday.

ATVI is a ripe target for downgrades, if only because analysts are so lopsidedly optimistic toward the "Guitar Hero" parent. Zacks reports that the equity has attracted no fewer than 18 Strong Buy recommendations, plus two Buys -- with not a single Hold, Sell, or Strong Sell to be found.

Late Wednesday, Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) stepped into the earnings spotlight to release its fiscal first-quarter results. The firearm firm raked in a profit of $12.6 million, or 21 cents per share, sharply higher from its year-ago earnings of $2.3 million, or 5 cents per share. Revenue for the period jumped 30% to $102.2 million, buoyed by a 30% increase in firearm sales and a 39% gain in non-firearm sales.

The results soared past analysts' expectations, which called for a fiscal first-quarter profit of 10 cents per share on $94.1 million in revenue. SWHC's bottom line received a boost of 5 cents per share during the recently concluded quarter from its acquisition of Universal Safety Response Inc.

E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) reported Wednesday morning that its chairman and CEO, Donald Layton, will step down at the end of the year. He will retain all of his current responsibilities through the end of 2009, by which time E*Trade hopes to have named a successor.

In a warm and fuzzy press release, Layton summed up his tenure at E*Trade: "It was an exciting but very challenging time as E*TRADE dealt successfully with the severe financial distress of the last two years. Now that our major recapitalization is complete and the online brokerage business is growing again, I have accomplished what was needed for me to end my time as CEO on schedule. I wish to thank everyone involved -- it was a great team effort."

Isle of Capri Casinos (NASDAQ: ISLE) is getting hammered today in the wake of its latest earnings report. This morning, the company reported that it swung to a fiscal first-quarter profit of $900,000, or 3 cents per share, while revenue for the period slipped 6.3% to $259.9 million. The results were far worse than expected, with consensus estimates on Wall Street predicting a profit of 13 cents per share on $273 million in revenue.

On the cost-cutting front, ISLE's previously planned departure from the international market is on pace, reported Chairman and CEO James B. Perry. "... we remain on track to exit our international operations in the near term, as we will exit the Bahamas no later than October 31, and expect to exit our remaining UK operations by the end of the calendar year."

Brokerage firm Barclays this morning raised its price target on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) from $188 to $208. The new target represents a premium of 25.8% to AAPL's closing price on Wednesday. Additionally, Barclays reiterated its upbeat Overweight rating on the shares.

In a note to clients, analyst Ben Reitzes cited Apple's solid product pipeline and strong free cash flow outlook. "New products should begin to flow again within a few weeks," said Reitzes. "We are more upbeat about the long-term prospects for the iPhone & Mac lines with potential new products."

Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL) pleased Wall Street this morning with an upwardly revised 2009 forecast. Thanks to a strong third-quarter performance from its Jennie-O turkey unit, along with solid results in its refrigerated foods and grocery products divisions, Hormel now expects fiscal 2009 earnings of $2.36 to $2.42 per share.

"We also benefited from better investment performance in our rabbi trust," commented Chairman, President, and CEO Jeffrey M. Ettinger in a company release.

El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP) reported this morning that Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) has agreed to invest $700 million in EP's Ruby Pipeline project, which will transport natural gas from the Rocky Mountain region to the Western United States. Under the terms of the deal, GIP will receive a 50% equity interest in three major traunches of the project.

News of the lucrative investment has propelled EP to a gain of 1.7%, despite a downside bias in the broader equities market. The shares are positioned above support at their 10-week and 20-week moving averages, but potential resistance lies overhead in the $11 region. This area previously capped the stock's rally attempt in mid-June.

Brokerage house Charles Schwab & Co. (NASDAQ: SCHW) is facing the wrath of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The state's top attorney sent a letter to Schwab last Friday, warning that he plans to sue the firm for civil fraud in relation to its marketing and sales of auction-rate securities (ARS). Cuomo added that he is open to a possible settlement, although Schwab must be willing to repurchase ARS from its investors who are still holding them.

In response, Schwab is defending itself. "The Attorney General's allegations are without merit," stated the brokerage firm. "They unfairly lay blame on our company for an illiquid market and improper behavior by the large Wall Street firms."

Late Thursday, Moody's Investors Service announced that it might downgrade its credit ratings for Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV). In a statement, the ratings agency said the airline's Baa1 senior unsecured rating is at risk, due to the likelihood of weak demand trends persisting into 2010.

The downgrade warning comes shortly after LUV slashed airfares dramatically to remain competitive, with some one-way flights running as low as $30 during a recent promotion. "Even with the benefits of Southwest's advantageous cost structure, the current yield environment is likely to challenge Southwest to restore credit metrics to levels supportive of the current rating," said Moody's in a statement.

In addition to the fundamental concerns cited by Moody's, LUV is also facing some challenges on the charts. The stock has shed 52.8% during the past 52 weeks, and long-term resistance from its 10-month moving average looms directly overhead. This trendline hasn't been toppled on a monthly closing basis since September 2008.

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: CY) joined the parade of companies reporting their latest quarterly results today. The firm swallowed a second-quarter loss of $45.3 million, or 32 cents per share. Excluding items, CY recorded a net loss of just 3 cents per share, besting analysts' consensus expectations for a loss of 9 cents per share. Revenue also came in better than expected, arriving at $155.8 million, compared to Wall Street's forecast of $152.0 million.

In the wake of this upside surprise, CY surged to a new multi-decade high of $9.83 early in today's session. It seems that bearish bettors were caught off-guard by the stronger-than-expected results; during the 10 days leading up to the report, option traders on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) bought to open 6.75 times more puts than calls on CY. Speculative investors on the ISE have purchased the stock's puts over calls at faster pace just 3% of the time.

Late Tuesday, insurance issue MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) reported that it will combine its U.S. operations into a single division. The company's institutional and individual business segments, as well as its home and auto units, will be merged into one under the aegis of William Mullaney, the current head of MET's institutional business. The metamorphosis is set to begin Aug. 1, although a full integration isn't expected to be complete until 2010.

"With this realignment, we are recognizing that we can better serve both employee benefit plan sponsors and individual customers through a single, integrated organization, while preserving our unique franchises," commented CEO and chairman C. Robert Henrikson. "A unified U.S. business organization creates a stronger growth platform and builds on our financial strength and our strong brand."

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) fell short of Wall Street's second-quarter earnings expectations, with the industrial supply firm confessing to a 43% slide in net profit for the period. Specifically, FAST raked in earnings of $43.5 million, or 29 cents per share, while revenue dwindled 21% to $474.9 million. Analysts were looking for a more robust quarterly profit of 33 cents per share on $487 million in revenue.

"As we saw in the previous two quarters, the weakened economy continues to have a substantial impact on our business," reported Fastenal in a press release. "These impacts continue to negatively affect our sales, particularly related to our industrial production business . . . and, more recently, our non-residential construction business."