MOST NOTEWORTHY: SuccessFactors, Taleo and Penn National were today's noteworthy initiations:
Oppenheimer initiated SuccessFactors Inc (NASDAQ: SFSF) with an Outperform rating and $15 target. The firm believes the company's double-digit revenue growth will continue as its differentiated HCM solutions gain broad-based adoption. Deutsche Bank believes the company has a strong opportunity to build a highly profitable business as it broadens its footprint, and started shares with a Buy rating and $15 target.
Deutsche Bank also reinstated coverage of Taleo Corporation (NASDAQ: TLEO) with a Buy rating and $35 target. The firm believes the Vurv acquisition will create significant accretion in 2009 and that investors should take advantage of the recent share weakness.
Oppenheimer assumed coverage of Penn National Gaming Inc (NASDAQ: PENN) with an Outperform rating and believes the termination of Penn's acquisition by Fortress Investment and Centerbridge will be catalysts for the stock, as they think it provides the company with financial flexibility. In addition, the firm believes Penn's management team has historically made prudent capital decisions.
Taleo Corporation (NASDAQ: TLEO) offers software that allows businesses to efficiently manage their staffing processes. Products help to automate recruitment, background screening, regulatory compliance, skills assessment and tracking of professional, hourly, and temporary employees. The firm's professional services division provides implementation and technical support. Customers range from small businesses to global enterprises. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) are among Taleo's large-cap clients.
Investors were pleased last month, when the company affirmed its Q2 EPS and revenue guidance figures. Management also said it expected this week's acquisition of talent management software maker Vurv Technology to add to its 2008 results, projecting EPS of 62 cents (60 cent consensus) and revenues of $175-$177 million ($162.8M consensus).
ThinkPanmure reiterated its "buy" rating on Taleo (NASDAQ:TLEO) ahead of the company's analyst meeting, according to the AP.
Goldman Sachs upgraded International Paper (NYSE:IP) from "buy" to "neutral", according toBriefing.com. The news service also writes that Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from $185 to $210.
EMC Corp (NYSE:EMC) was cut to "neutral" at Bernstein, according to 24/7 Wall St.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Taleo, Hatteras Financial and Harmonic were today's noteworthy initiations:
Baird initiated Taleo (NASDAQ:TLEO) with a Neutral citing uncertainty regarding the integration plan and financial guidance regarding the Vurv acquisition.
Wachovia believes Hatteras Financial (NYSE:HTS) is well-positioned to capitalize on opportunities in the Agency RMBS sector given the steep yield curve & slow mortgage payments, low expense structure, and Agency-only strategy. Shares were initiated with an Outperform rating.
Brean Murray expects Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) to benefit from an increased competitive environment among cable, telco, and satellite operators and their need for encoding and video stream processing equipment. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating and $13 target.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
Jesup & Lamont initiated GP Strategies (NYSE:GPX) with a Buy rating and $12.50 target.
Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) was initiated at BMO Capital with a Market Perform rating.
UBS assumed Genesis Energy (AMEX:GEL) with a Neutral rating and $22 target.
Update: See the latest posts about stocks to buy from BloggingStocks.
After nailing the top in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and warning investors this would be a painful year, I've been getting hundreds of emails from people asking me what to do next? As if suddenly after two correct predictions, I'm Nostradamus or David Blaine!
Make no mistake, I'm neither a forecaster nor a magician, I'm just a trader who bases his decisions around these key elements: a distrust of everyone and every company on Wall Street (made easier by the likes of MBIA (NYSE: MBI), E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) and Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC); a respect, bordering on religion, for charts and a quick trigger finger if the charts turn against me. I know people want longer term predictions, but I believe those to be 100% guessing games and potentially hazard to your investment health. Pregnant women should avoid them at all costs. Just kidding, it's fine for some people, but I like to make my predictions and cash out, so I can enjoy stress-free weekends if you catch my drift.
So, here's what I see right now: two weeks in and we're already halfway to my 10%-down market prediction, and Apple is down 15% (take that you stereotypical cheerleaders, go date some football players)! The markets are definitely rolling over, and while it's usually a long, drawn-out process, the charts seem to have little concern for what's normal as all the major indices have formed perfect head-and-shoulders patterns (a very bearish sign) and investors are rightfully freaking out.
Corporate strategy expert Sramana Mitra had a nice post yesterday that looked at a broad spectrum of the burgeoning Software as a Service (SaaS) market. Companies like salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) are revolutionizing the software industry by providing hosted versions of traditional software packages and essentially renting them to customers. Customers benefit by paying less money upfront and don't assume the cost of ownership, opting instead to rent software from SaaS companies. Updating and maintenance of software is handled by SaaS firm.
I've been looking at Concur Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNQR). Concur's solutions address automate corporate travel and expense management. Larry Schutts had a good post on the firm saying:
Its flagship program provides the process and information for management to reduce manual processing, improve internal controls, increase business policy compliance, speed up reimbursement, and increase expense report accuracy. The software features Web-based modules for tracking, submitting, and processing reports.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) has struck again -- that is, another acquisition. This time, Dell purchased Everdream, a privately-held firm based in Fremont, California. The price tag was not disclosed.
Started in the heyday of the internet, Everdream has displayed staying power. The company has been able to build software tools that allow for remote management of computers -- such as dealing with patches, backups, and antivirus updates. The company uses an on-demand approach, which is gaining lots of traction in the tech sector. Just look at the success of companies like Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), NetSuite, and Taleo Corp. (NASDAQ: TLEO).
Currently, Everdream manages about 140,000 desktops. Although, with the power of Dell, that footprint will likely spike. What's more, the deal should be a nice fit with Dell's recent acquisition of SilverBack Technologies, which is also a remote services player.
Credit crunch? Not so for the venture capital space. According to various surveys, there is still lots of strength.
For example, the MoneyTree Report (from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association) shows $7.1 billion in VC investments for the third quarter. A report from Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ) VentureOne shows about $8.1 billion in fundings.
It certainly helps that there has been a pick-up in the IPO market. Oh, and the tech sector has had a nice rally. The most popular categories for VCs include software and biotech.
As for software, there has been a megatrend for on-demand offerings. As seen with the growth of companies like Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), VMware (NYSE: VMW) and Taleo (NASDAQ: TLEO), the enthusiasm is certainly understandable.
However, I'm not so sure about biotech. The sector has been fairly weak in terms of public offerings. But, then again, it seems biotech companies always need to raise gobs of money, right?
Something else: There's been a pick-up in cleantech deals. After all, with high energy prices, there appears to be lots of opportunity.
Visit DealProfiles.com if you want to see other recent VC fundings.
Human resources can be kind of boring (except when there are lawsuits). And it is often an area that is largely neglected in terms of the budget. Yet this is not stopping venture capitalists from investing in the space.
The latest funding in the space is a $22.5 million round for Authoria, which "provides talent management solutions," according to the company's website. It's the firm's fifth round. The investors include Horizon Technology Finance, Velocity Financial Group, Menlo Ventures, Austin Ventures and Van Wagoner Capital Management.
It does help that Authoria takes an on-demand approach. That is, the technology is delivered via the Web, which tends to be cheaper and easier. More importantly, it's a red-hot trend in tech, as seen with Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) and Taleo Corp. (NASDAQ: TLEO).
It's not clear if Authoria is profitable, but the company says that its bookings surged 40% for the first half of this year.
With a plethora of IPO filings for on-demand software – which include companies like NetSuite – we'll probably see Authoria take the same path at some point.
If you want to check out other venture capital fundings, click here.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cypress Bioscience, Banc of America, Insulet, Taleo and Vocus Inc were today's noteworthy initiations:
Friedman Billings started shares of Cypress Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ: CYPB) with an Outperform rating and $22 target, and is positive on the company's lead product milnacipran, in Phase III studies for fibromyalgia. The firm expects a 1Q09 launch and believes the U.S. market could be as large as $7B.
Goldman resumed coverage of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) with a Buy rating and $63 target as they believe the company has around $22.5B of unrealized gains in its strategic investment portfolio. Goldman also added BAC to their Americas Buy List.
Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ: PODD) was initiated at William Blair with an Outperform rating. The firm believes the unique features of the OmniPod will allow PODD to capture a meaningful portion of the 300,000 current insulin pumpers in the United States.
Soleil started shares of Taleo Corporation (NASDAQ: TLEO) with a Buy rating and $35 target and believes the company's recent growth pace can continue.
Shares of Vocus Inc (NASDAQ: VOCS) were also initiated at Soleil with a Buy rating and $39 target. The firm believes the company can gain share in the early stage market for public relations software given its on-demand model and low price entry point.
Deutsche Bank believes new product leverage can bring upside to consensus operating margin expectations at Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and they view shares as attractively valued given its growth profile. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $33 target.
Keybanc initiated shares of Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) with a Hold rating and sees slowing growth rates for revenue and net subscriber additions throughout the remainder of FY08 and beyond and thinks investor expectations are too high.
Keybanc also started shares of Taleo Corporation (NASDAQ: TLEO) with a Buy rating and $27 target, as it is well-positioned to gain market share in the Human Capital Management space.
Thomas Weisel believes McAfee Inc (NYSE: MFE) will benefit from PC market growth, enhanced awareness of the company's brand, and its renewed focus on product development for the midmarket corporate segment, and started shares with a Market Weight rating and $37 target.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) was started at William Blair with an Outperform rating and at UBS with a Neutral rating and $37 target.
Merrill Lynch initiated shares of Zoltek Companies Inc (NASDAQ: ZOLT) with a Buy rating and $50 target.
Most young companies dream of getting their first heavyweight customer -- a huge player, central to their industry, like Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), or better yet, a General Electric (NYSE: GE).
Snaring such a customer can change an entrepreneur's fortunes overnight. Of course. But how do you gain the attention and trust of a large and important company? It's certainly tough -- but there are some strategies to help out.
First of all, make sure you are in a niche that large companies don't consider core to their business, advises Steve Waldis, who is the CEO and founder of Synchronoss Technologies (NASDAQ: SNCR). The company develops software for the telecom industry and even powers the activation for Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone. This was the result of a deep customer relationship with AT&T (NYSE: T).
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Dendreon Corp (DNDN), Cubic Corp (CUB), Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDO), Northrop Grumman (NOC) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) were today's notable downgrades:
JMP Securities downgraded shares of Dendreon Corp (NASDAQ: DNDN) to Market Underperform from Market Perform based on the company's uncertain product pipeline and the recent SEC filing that revealed that certain officers and directors are facing potential shareholder lawsuits regarding trading activities.
Friedman Billings cut Cubic Corp (AMEX: CUB) to Underperform from Market Perform on valuation.
RBC Capital downgraded Endo Pharmaceuticals (OTCBB: ENDP) to Sector Perform from Outperform following the company's withdrawal of guidance pertaining to its NDA for the Ketoprofen patch.
Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) was cut to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan on valuation. UBS cut Royal Dutch Shell to Neutral from Buy on valuation...
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Robinson Humphries downgraded Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT) to Neutral from Buy.
Montgomery downgraded shares of Taleo Corp (NASDAQ: TLEO) to Hold from Buy.
Credit Suisse downgraded AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) to Neutral from Outperform.
Baird started TomoTherapy Inc with an Outperform rating, saying the Hi-Art system has several key competitive advantages that include a more conformal beam pattern, potential to better measure radiation dose delivery and greater ability to treat complex cases.
William Blair and Piper Jaffray both believe the company has a substantial infrastructure to manufacture and support strong growth beyond the current 125 systems in the field, and started shares with an Outperform rating.
Deutsche Bank initiated Anthracite Capital (NYSE: AHR) with a Hold rating, expecting the company to continue growing its portfolio by acquiring commercial real estate securities and CRE loans...
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MOST NOTEWORTHY: SuccessFactors, Taleo and Penn National were today's noteworthy initiations:
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Update: See the latest posts about 
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Credit crunch? Not so for the venture capital space. According to 
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Stock picks and pans for troubled times: RIMM, ED, ISRG, GLW, LEA, SLB, GOOG ...
Is Berkshire Hathaway better than S&P Index?
Closing Bell: Torch Passing on a Friday Rally
