Continue reading Baxter Accelerates out of a Summer-Long Trough

Baxter Accelerates out of a Summer-Long Trough originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Soleil upgraded Baxter (BAX) to buy from hold on expectations the company will benefit from supply disruptions at privately-held plasma manufacturer Octapharma. The firm raised its price target for shares to $56 from $45.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Dolby (DLB) to buy from hold, citing valuation following the recent underperformance of shares. The firm upped its price target to $75 from $70.
• Bernstein upgraded Alexion (ALXN) to outperform from market perform based on increased Soliris forecasts for PNH and potential in aHUS. The firm also raised its price target to $75 from $60.
• Agrium (AGU) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Roche (RHHBY) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• BMO Capital upgraded Energizer (ENR) to outperform from market perform.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ADBE, AXP, BAX, COST, DLB, FDX, HOT, NOK, NVS, TWX ...

Analyst Calls: ADBE, AXP, BAX, COST, DLB, FDX, HOT, NOK, NVS, TWX ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Three Health Care Stocks to Sell: Amgen, Baxter, Becton Dickinson

Three Health Care Stocks to Sell: Amgen, Baxter, Becton Dickinson originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I first discussed Baxter International (BAX) here on March 13, 2009, at a price of $51.16. But shares have been treated rudely by the Street, after Baxter lowered 2010 earnings guidance to $3.92 to $4.00 from the previously released $4.20 to $4.28.

Moreover, Baxter's stock performance is a classic example concerning how even modest bad news can send a stock reeling: BAX fell from about $60 to $40. Even so, the calculation here is to stick with the position, but the sell/stop loss is close by at $37.

Continue reading Has Baxter Put in a Bottom at $40?

Has Baxter Put in a Bottom at $40? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades

• UBS upgraded CF Industries (CF) to neutral from sell. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade. In addition, UBS raised its price target on shares to $84 from $81.
• Baird upgraded Johnson Controls (JCI) to outperform from neutral and raised its price target to $42 from $33. The upgrade was based on improving margins, China growth, and upside from a cyclical recovery.
• Barrington upgraded G&K Services (GKSR) to outperform from market perform ahead of the company's Q3 results to reflect optimism regarding the company's operational turnaround. The firm set a $35 price target for shares.
• LaSalle Hotel (LHO) was upgraded to top pick from outperform at RBC Capital.
• Zimmer (ZMH) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Thermo Fisher (TMO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: CF, JCI, BAX, NWL, UTL, NOK, VMW, ANF, DELL

Analyst Calls: CF, JCI, BAX, NWL, UTL, NOK, VMW, ANF, DELL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Sonoco Products (SON) to buy from hold after the company reported Q1 results and raised guidance. The firm upped its target for shares to $38 from $32.
• Baird upgraded Western Digital (WDC) to outperform from neutral following the solid Q3 report and guidance. The firm raised its target to $50 from $48.
• Goldman upgraded Qwest (Q) to neutral from sell. Qwest is being acquired by CenturyLink (CTL).
• Hershey (HSY) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Principal Financial (PFG) was upgraded to neutral from sell at UBS.
• Monster Worldwide (MWW) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: WDC, Q, HSY, BWLD, NOK, COP, KFT, VZ ...

Analyst Calls: WDC, Q, HSY, BWLD, NOK, COP, KFT, VZ ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Baxter Is Still Undervalued

Baxter Is Still Undervalued originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Baxter International (BAX) benefits from a robust balance sheet, solid operating momentum, and rising earnings estimates," says blue chip advisor Richard Moroney in Dow Theory Forecasts.

The advisor explains, "The first company to commercially prepare intravenous treatments, Baxter has manufactured and distributed medical products since 1931. It primarily works with blood and plasma, a business with recession-resistant tendencies.

"Its BioScience unit produces clotting agents for hemophilia and biotech drugs that treat both immune deficiencies and cancer.

Continue reading Baxter (BAX): Bank on blood products

Baxter (BAX): Bank on blood products originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The earnings crunch ramps up this week, and again expectations are generally low. Among the so-called bellwethers that are expected to report lower earnings year over year are CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX), Gannett Inc. (NYSE: GCI), General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Harley Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR), Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), and Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM). Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters do expect the profits of CSX, Gannett, Mattel, and Nokia to be up from the previous quarter, however.

A number of financial companies, big and small, are scheduled to report second-quarter earnings this week, providing a good look at what's going on in the sector. Perhaps the best news will be coming from Citigroup and Marshall & Ilsley. While they are expected to post further losses, at least they are headed in the right direction by narrowing those losses year over year.

Continue reading The week in preview: Another tough quarter for the big banks

The week in preview: Another tough quarter for the big banks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) Q1 profit edged past expectations despite lower sales of Humira.
• AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) posted a smaller-than-expected Q1 loss, sending shares sharply higher.
• Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, sending share higher.
• BP (NYSE: BP) and other oil companies were downgraded due to higher environmental costs.
• Charles Schwab Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHW) Q1 earnings declined but still topped analysts' expectations.
• Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) said Q1 earnings would be lower due to a weaker dollar and lower oil prices.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, GE, Intel, Nokia and more

Earnings highlights: Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, GE, Intel, Nokia and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Baxter is one company that's on the mend

Baxter is one company that's on the mend originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As the second quarter earnings crunch begins in earnest this week, the bear market has investors jittery and prognosticators spinning out dire warnings. In the wake of mixed results from Alcoa (NYSE: AA) and General Electric (NYSE: GE) kicking things off last week, here's a look at what Wall Street is expecting from many of the companies scheduled to report this coming week.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are expecting the following companies to report a rise in earnings when compared to the same period of the previous year.

• Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE): $1.80 EPS (36.6%) on sales of $6.4 billion (+53.0%)
• Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG): $4.74 EPS (24.9%) on sales of $3.9 billion (+41.6%)
• Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK): 56 cents EPS (23.2%) on sales of $19.9 billion (+17.8%)
• CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX): 90 cents EPS (21.1%) on sales of $2.9 billion (+12.8%)
• Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR): 27 cents EPS (18.5%) on sales of $346.7 million (+8.4%)
• IBM (NYSE: IBM): $1.82 EPS (+17.6%) on sales of $25.9 billion (+9.0%)
• eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY): 41 cents EPS (17.1%) on sales of $2.2 billion (+18.0%)
• W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW): $1.46 EPS (17.1%) on sales of $1.7 billion (+8.0%)
• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT): 47 cents EPS (17.0%) on sales of $15.7 billion (+17.0%)
• Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON): 94 cents EPS (17.0%) on sales of $9.2 billion (+7.9%)

Continue reading The week in preview: Expectations as the earnings crunch begins

The week in preview: Expectations as the earnings crunch begins originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• This year, the International Trade Commission is set to issue rulings on whether Samsung and Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) have infringed patents from InterDigital Inc (NASDAQ: IDCC). If InterDigital, who licenses its patents to iPhone maker Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), wins, fees from the deals could double its revenue over the next few years, the Wall Street Journal contended.
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that Macy's Inc (NYSE: M) is among the retailers that include The Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) and Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) to stop making its monthly disclosure of retail sales.

• According to FDA commissioners, the New York Times reported that Baxter International Inc's (NYSE: BAX) critical blood thinner heparin, which has been linked to nearly 20 deaths and whose base was created in China, contained a "possibly counterfeit" ingredient that "mimicked the real drug."
• In his opening arguments in the state of Alaska's lawsuit against Eli Lilly & Company (NYSE: LLY), an attorney for the state alleged the drug maker failed to warn doctors and patients of dangerous side effects associated with its drug Zyprexa, the Associated Press reported.

Newspaper wrap-up: Patent win may boost multimedia phone supplier originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Know how the companies you own make money

Know how the companies you own make money originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Baird initiated Amag Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMAG) with an Outperform rating and believes concerns regarding ferumoxytol approvability are misplaced.
• JP Morgan assumed coverage of Corn Products (NYSE: CPO) with an Overweight rating and points to the company's growth in emerging markets and improved business economics in its core U.S. market.
• RBC Capital is positive on Alpharma's (NYSE: ALO) Flector opportunity in the U.S. topical NSAID market. The firm started shares with an Outperform rating and $28 target.

• Merrill resumed coverage of Baxter (NYSE: BAX) with a Buy rating.
• Goldman initiated Teradyne (NYSE: TER) with a Neutral rating and $11 target.
• Allianz AG (NYSE: AZ) was initiated with a Buy rating at Societe Generale.

Analyst initiations: AMAG, CPO and ALO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Feb 2008 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Goldman Sachs has made several changes to its Conviction Buy List this morning. Most notably was a removal of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT) from the list. Goldman replaced Wal-Mart's place with Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT).

TGT was given a $68 target and WMT target was cut to $53 from $57 per share. On Wal-Mart, Goldman analysts believe a turnaround is in its early stages and they see little positive momentum into the critical holiday season. Goldman Sachs maintained an official Buy rating for WMT, but simultaneously lowered Fiscal 2006 EPS from $2.87 to $2.83. Target (TGT) EPS estimates were raised by $0.01 to $3.18.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) & Aracruz Celulose (NYSE:ARA) were also trimmed off the Americas Conviction Buy List as was Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX). FLEX shares are down 9% since being added to the list in September and Goldman expects a more of a seasonal slowdown. On the other hand, Crown Holdings (NYSE:CCK) was added to Goldman Sachs Americas Conviction Buy List.

Jon Ogg is a partner in 24/7 Wall St., LLC; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List: Adds Target, dumps Wal-Mart originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.