Continue reading Correction: Phil's Masters Win Costs Sponsors $1M

Correction: Phil's Masters Win Costs Sponsors $1M originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Is Aldila's complaining about the golf market believable?

Is Aldila's complaining about the golf market believable? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 May 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Are golf stocks a good bet for a troubled economy?

Are golf stocks a good bet for a troubled economy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Keefe Bruyette resumed coverage of Old Republic (NYSE:ORI), MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG), PMI Group (NYSE:PMI) and Radian (NYSE:RDN) with Market Perform ratings and a $16 target, $13 target, $7 target and $6.50 target, respectively, as they expect increased capital needs to generate operational headwinds in the near-term.
  
• JMP Securities expects FDA approval of Thoratec's (NASDAQ:THOR) next generation HeartMate II VAD any day now and for the company to meet/beat 2008 sales guidance. Shares were started with an Outperform rating and $20 target.
  
• Callaway Golf (NYSE:ELY) was assumed at Stephens with an Overweight rating and $19 target. The firm is positive on Callaway's leadership position, strong balance sheet, new products and international opportunity.

• Kaufman Bros. initiated Bancscares of Florida (NASDAQ:BOFL) with a Buy rating and $15.50 target.
  
• Raymond James started Dialysis Corp of America (NASDAQ:DCAI) with a Strong Buy rating and $9 target.
  
• Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) was initiated at Lazard with a Buy rating and $420 target.

Analyst initiations: Mortgage insurers, THOR and ELY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Canaccord Adams expects Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) growth to be driven by its expanding international reach, mix shift to third-party revenue, product innovation, and category expansion. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating and $78 target.
  
• UBS is positive on Altria's (NYSE: MO) growth, low likelihood of downward EPS revisions, and best-in-class cash flow distribution; shares were started with a Buy rating.
  
• Skilled Healthcare (NYSE: SKH) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Morgan Keegan, as they believe nursing home reimbursement risk is already reflected in its valuation.

• KeyBank assumed Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) with a Buy rating and $19 target.
  
• Credit Suisse initiated Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) with an Outperform rating and $35 target.
  
• Broadpoint initiated Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) with a Buy rating.

Analyst initiations: Amazon, Altria Group, Skilled Healthcare originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Jefferies upgraded Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) to Hold from Underperform to reflect the strong recent results from SurfControl as well as the possibility for 2H software seasonality.

• Lehman upgraded shares of OSI Pharma (NASDAQ: OSIP) to Overweight from Underweight on valuation as well as expectations for price increases and growth in Europe.

• Susquehanna upgraded shares of Gap (NYSE: GPS) to Positive from Neutral citing management's ability to control costs & manage inventories, share buybacks, and streamlining of organizational structure.
  

• Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) was upgrade to Accumulate from Neutral at Buckingham based on valuation and strong worldwide luxury trends outside of Japan.

• Matrix upgraded shares of Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) to Strong Buy from Hold to reflect positive fundamentals and the recent share weakness...

• Valueclick (NASDAQ: VCLK) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham.

• WestLB raised Swisscom (NYSE: SCM) to Add from Hold and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Buy from Hold.

Analyst upgrades: ELY, GPS, TIF and VCLK originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A) acquired a stake in Kraft Foods Inc (NYSE: KFT) that was below 5%, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported.
• R.H. Donnelley Corporation (NYSE: RHD) has paid about $350M for Business.com, the marketing directory Web company, beating out Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) and the New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) in the process, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY), which closed Wednesday at about $17.42, could swing lower as the peak summer season wanes amid continued concern about overall consumer discretionary spending, according to Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Weekday Trader" section.

• The U.K. Times reported that the global debt market crisis may delay or cancel the sale of Cadbury Schweppes plc's (NYSE: CSG) U.S. drinks arm.
• Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) and Danone are in talks with Ramesh Chauhan to buy Bisleri, the bottled water brand that has become a generic name for the product category, reported the Economic Times.

Newspaper wrap-up 7-26-07: Berkshire invests in Kraft originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• William Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management, whose firms holds about 15% of Ceridian Corporation (NYSE: CEN), doesn't like the proposed $5.3B sale of the company to Thomas H. Lee Partners and Fidelity National Financial Inc (NYSE: FNF), and says he's going to find higher bidders, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times reported that British bank Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) has drawn up plans to sweeten its $86B all-share offer for Dutch bank ABN Amro Holdings (NYSE: ABN), by substituting cash for some of the shares it is currently offering for ABN.
• Beginning today, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is embedding its iTunes internet music download service in the British and Irish social networking site Bebo, reported the Financial Times.

• The New York Post has learned that a private-equity firm owned by the Dubai government is close to buying Barneys New York from the Jones Apparel Group (NYSE: JNY).
• The New York Times reported that the Wall Street Journal is set to "shake up its newsroom" by reassigning and replacing several top editors.
• Golf equipment maker Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) is suing Fortune Brands Inc.'s (NYSE: FO) Acushnet Co, for allegedly violating five Callaway patents for golf clubs, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Newspaper wrap-up 6-13-07: Apple embeds iTunes in Bebo originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I would argue that Adams Golf (OTC BB: ADGO) is among the most flagrantly undervalued stocks on the market today. As a company on the cutting edge of golf technology, Adams has had tremendous success with its recent hybrid irons. Since 2002, sales have increased from $38 million all the way up to 2006's total of $76 million. For the first quarter of 2007, Adams Golf saw its sales surge 25% year over year and, in the second quarter, launched its new Idea A3 hybrid iron set, the next-generation in the hugely successful Idea line of products. The company is growing rapidly, and the brand appears to be gaining traction; it's the number-one hybrid on the three major tours combined. Adams has been profitable every year since 2003 and, excluding the recording of a deferred tax asset, it trades at around 15 times 2006's earnings.

Continue reading The BloggingActivist: Increasing shareholder value at Adams Golf

The BloggingActivist: Increasing shareholder value at Adams Golf originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of Advance Auto Parts to Neutral from Underweight citing increased confidence in the company's turnaround efforts.
• Solectron was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse to reflect the company's acquisition by Flextronics International (NASDAQ: FLEX).
• Carnival was upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform and Royal Caribbean was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

• BHP Billiton Ltd (NYSE: BHP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup on valuation and their expectations for higher commodity prices.
• Matrix USA upgraded shares of Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) to Hold from Strong Sell, as the firm believes growing demand for new products is driving positive fundamental trends.
• Lehman upgraded Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) to Overweight from Equal Weight, citing the potential for an accretive acquisition of buyback.

Analyst upgrades 6-05-07: AAP, SLR, CCL and RCL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Jun 2007 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Merriman initiated Callaway Golf Co (NYSE: ELY) with a Buy rating and believes new management could get the company back on track.
  

• Genentech (NYSE:DNA) was initiated at Prudential with a Neutral rating and $92 target. The firm believes the lack of a new product launch before 2010 is a concern for long-term growth.

• American Technology believes shares of LSI Logic (NYSE: LSI) are undervalued, initiating the company with a Buy rating and $13 target, given synergies and revenue opportunities from the merger with Agere Systems, Inc (AGR).

• Bank of America initiated Evergreen Solar Inc (NASDAQ: ESLR) with a Sell rating and $8 target to reflect the lack of visibility on its growth, which puts the company at a competitive disadvantage.

• Salary.com, Inc (NASDAQ: SLRY) was initiated at Pacific Crest and Wachovia with an Outperform rating and at Thomas Weisel with an Overweight rating.

• Prudential started Gilead Sciences, Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) with an Overweight rating and $90 target.

• BMO initiated Smithfield Foods, Inc (NYSE: SFD) with with an Outperform rating and $36 target.

• Kaufman Brothers started VeriChip Corp (NASDAQ: CHIP) with a Buy rating, believing the company's growth position is compelling given its patented, FDA-approved microchip that can be implanted into humans for a variety of applications.

• Citigroup started Amgen, Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) with a Hold rating and $64 target.

Analyst initiations 3-27-07: Callaway Golf, Amgen & Genentech initiated today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTABLE:

• Cabela's inc (NYSE: CAB) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $30 target. The firm is confident in Cabela's outlook given the company's substantial store expansion opportunities, encouraging operating environment and valuation.

• Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) was started with a Buy rating and $25 target at UBS.

• Benchmark initiated Open Text Corp (NASDAQ: OTEX) with a Sell rating.

• Tortoise Capital Resources (NYSE: TTO )was initiated by both Ferris Baker and Stifel with a Buy rating.

• CIBC initiated Volterra Semiconductor Corp (NASDAQ: VLTR) with a Sector Performer rating.

• Goldman initiated Savvis, Inc (NASDAQ: SVVS) with a Buy rating and $50 target.

• Cowen started Cogent Communications Group, Inc (NASDAQ: CCOI) with an Outperform rating.

• Avondale initiated Callaway Golf Co (NYSE: ELY) with a Market Outperform rating and $20 target.

• ThinkEquity started Adventrx Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NYSE: ANX) with a Buy rating and $5 target.

Analyst initiations 3-16-07: Cabela's, Time Warner & Callaway Golf initiated today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Mar 2007 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• RBC Capital Markets initiated three Chinese Internet companies this morning: Baidu.com Inc (NASDAQ: BIDU) with a Sector Perform and a $124 price target, SINA Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) with a Sector Perform and a $39 price target, and Sohu.com Inc (NASDAQ: SOHU) with an Outperform and a $33 price target. RBC believes Sohu.com is well positioned to benefit from secular growth in online advertising and is the most direct beneficiary of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as it hosts the official site.

• Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) was initiated by JP Morgan with an Overweight. The firm sees performance in international, corporate and investment banking improving.
• Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) was initiated by Morgan Joseph with a Buy and $19 price target.

Analyst initiations 2-23-07: Citigroup started with an Overweight originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Bear Sterns downgraded Roche Holdings AG (OTC: RHHBY), to Peer Perform from Outperform after they lowered estimates to reflect higher taxes, slowing pharmaceutical sales, increased payments to third-party groups and reduced diagnostics profitability. Bernstein also downgraded Roche to Market Perform from Outperform.

• CIBC downgraded U.S. Steel Corp (NYSE: X) to Sector Performer from Sector Outperformer based on valuation. Bank of America also downgraded shares to Neutral from Buy with a $90 target citing the good news is reflected in the valuation.

• Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ: PENN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy on valuation with a $48.50 target.

• Silicon Image Inc (NASDAQ: SIMG) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold with a $7.50 target at Jefferies to reflect slow 1.3 HDMI adoption, aggressive 2007 guidance and deteriorating ASPs and margins; the firm recommends investors sell the stock. Silicon Image was also downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stanford and Needham, to Sector Performer from Outperformer at CIBC and to Neutral from Buy at DA Davidson.

• Spectrum Brands Inc (NYSE: SPC) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with a $7 target at Prudential following the company's disappointing first quarter results.

• Bear Stearns downgraded Forward Air Corp (NASDAQ: FWRD) to Underperform from Peer Perform.

• AG Edwards downgraded Callaway Golf Corp (NYSE: ELY) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

Analyst downgrades 2-09-07: Roche & Callaway Golf downgraded originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Feb 2007 11:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Citing an unattractive valuation, Nollenberger initiated Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) with a Neutral rating.

• Susquehanna initiated Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL) with a Positive rating, expecting strong earnings momentum for the foreseeable future driven by the success of licensed properties and the release of feature films.

• Rochdale Research initiated shares of Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) with a Neutral rating and $12.50 target, citing valuation

• Prudential initiated MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG) with an Underweight rating and $65 target; as they prefer business models that are less reliant on the U.S. mortgage insurance, the firm sees an unfavorable risk/reward.

• Merriman initiated TheStreet.com Inc (NASDAQ: TSCM) with a Buy rating. Merriman said TheStreet.com is transitioning to a Media Business model leveraging unique content assets and high organic user traffic. The firm likes the company's strategy to increase its mass market appeal towards the retail and professional investors.

Analyst initiations 1-18-07: Susquehanna is positive on Marvel's superheroes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.