"Walgreen (WAG) a holding on our recommended buy list, reported a 10% increase in its fiscal second-quarter profit," notes Geoffrey Seiler.

The editor of BullMarket.com explains, "Although investors hammered the stock, we think the company delivered solid sales growth. We continue to believe the best is yet to come for Walgreen, with several notable catalysts in the wings.

Continue reading Walgreen: Overreaction Creates Opportunity

Walgreen: Overreaction Creates Opportunity originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With a name like Drugstore.com (DSCM), there is little doubt what the company does. Unfortunately, the stock price has been miserable since the dot-com bust. All in all, it has remained in the low single digits. Then again, the company has had to deal with tough rivals, like Amazon.com (AMZN).

But Thursday, investors got a nice surprise. Walgreen (WAG) has agreed to buy Drugstore.com for $429 million. In early trading, DSCM was up a whopping 112% to $3.79.

Continue reading Walgreens Strikes a $429 Million Deal for Drugstore.com

Walgreens Strikes a $429 Million Deal for Drugstore.com originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Earnings reports continue to dribble in as the quarter winds down. Much of the attention this week will be on homebuilders KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) as investors look for any sign that the housing sector has bottomed (home sales numbers are also due out this week; see below). Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipate that both companies will report that they narrowed their losses in the most recent quarter.

KB Home's expected $1.25 per share loss, on revenue of $725.5 million, compares to the previous quarter loss of $3.30 and to a year-ago loss of $6.19. However, KB Home's losses in the past few quarters have been deeper than expected. The Los Angeles-based homebuilder's long-range earnings growth forecast is 10.5%, less than the S&P 500. Analysts continue to recommend holding KB Home, and have for at least 120 days. Shares, however, reached a new 52-week high of $31.69 on Friday, and they are up 10.5% year to date.

Lennar is expected to post a loss of 52 cents per share, on revenue of $1.1 billion. That compares to the previous quarter's per-share loss of 76 cents and to a year-ago loss of $3.25. While Lennar also has tended in the past few quarters to miss expectations, the Miami-based company managed a positive surprise in the first quarter of 2008. Lennar's long-range earnings growth forecast is 10.3%, about the same as KB Home's. Analysts also recommend holding Lennar. Friday, shares of Lennar also reached a 52-week high, $27.75, but they are down 6.4% year to date.

Continue reading The week in preview: A bottom for the housing sector?

The week in preview: A bottom for the housing sector? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of a series on some of the most memorable companies that have disappeared.

What goes up, must come down. It was a cute ad. Who knew it would turn out to be so prophetic?

Pets.com will go down in history as a textbook example of dot-com flame-out, going from IPO to liquidation in nine short months.

Founded in 1998, the company, which had the bright idea of selling pet food and supplies to the public via the internet, went public in February 2000 and raised $82.5 million.

Continue reading Companies that vanished: Pets.com -- the sock puppet dies

Companies that vanished: Pets.com -- the sock puppet dies originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Jefferies initiated AU Optronics (NYSE: AUO) with a Buy rating and $25 target and believes LCD trends will be healthy in 2008 despite a soft economy.
  
• General Steel (NYSE: GSI) shares were started at Merriman with a Buy rating, as the firm believes strong demand for steel in China should last for years and finds the valuation attractive at current levels.
  
• Cantor believes Sequenom (NASDAQ: SQNM) is positioned to establish sustainable market leadership as a provider of genome analytical products and molecular diagnostics. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating and $12 target.

• UBS initiated Altria Group (NYSE: MO) with a Buy rating and $30 target.
  
• Canaccord Adams assumed Drugstore.com (NASDAQ: DSCM) with a Buy rating and $3.50 target.
  
• Goldman Sachs initiated DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) with a Buy rating and $30 target.

Analyst initiations: MO, AUO, GSI and SQNM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Oppenheimer started shares of Shutterfly Inc (NASDAQ: SFLY) with a Buy rating and $42 target. The firm believes secular growth in digital photography and increasing adoption of user generated print publishing will drive EBITDA growth of 30%-40% over the next 2-3 years.
  
• Oppenheimer also initiated Drugstore.com Inc (NASDAQ: DSCM) with a Buy rating and $5 target, as they expect growth in the company's higher margin beauty segment could drive EBITDA above consensus estimates.
  
• Baird is positive on S.Y. Bancorp Inc's (NASDAQ: SYBT) valuation, capital-rich balance sheet, and top-tier profitability and resumed coverage with an Outperform rating.
  
• The firm also started shares of Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ: SRCL) with a Neutral rating, noting it would be more aggressive on shares in the mid-$40s or if earnings catch up with the passing of time.

• UBS initiated Praxair Inc (NYSE: PX) with a Buy rating and $94 target and added shares to its Strategic Stock Selection List.
  
• Lehman initiated Infosys Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ: INFY) with an Equal Weight rating and Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) with an Underweight rating.
  
• William Blair reinstated coverage of the commercial real estate services sector, starting FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ: FSRV) with an Outperform rating, Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL) with a Market Perform rating and CB Richard Ellis Group Inc (NYSE: CBG) with a Market Perform rating.

Analyst initiations: SFLY, DSCM, SYBT and SRCL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Morgan Stanley assumed coverage of Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) with an Overweight rating, Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) with an Equal Weight rating and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) with an Underweight rating.
• Voltaire Ltd (NASDAQ: VOLT) was started with a Buy rating and $29 target at Goldman Sachs, with a Neutral rating at JP Morgan, with an Overweight rating and $12 target at Thomas Weisel and with an Outperform rating and $15 target at RBC Capital. Thomas Weisel said the market gives Voltaire very little credit for its strong position in the rapidly growing Infiniband switch market and RBC Capital believes the stock has impressive growth and gross margin momentum.
  
• Perfect World Co Ltd (NASDAQ: PWRD) was initiated with a Positive rating at Susquehanna, as the firm is positive on its growth potential in the online gaming industry in China.
• Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: ASPV) was initiated with a Sector Perform at RBC Capital, as the firm believes the current valuation is not attractive, and recommends $17 as an attractive entry point. The firm set a target of $22 on the shares.

• Drugstore.com Inc (NASDAQ: DSCM) was started with a Market Perform rating at JMP Securities.
• Wachovia started shares of BladeLogic Inc (NASDAQ: BLOG) with an Outperform rating and $17 target. The stock was also initiated at Morgan Stanley with an Equal Weight rating and at Citigroup with a Hold rating and $27.50 target.
• Lehman initiated Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc (NYSE: SPR) with an Overweight rating and $43 target.
• Goldman Sachs started shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc (NYSE: MMC) with a Sell rating and $25 target.

Analyst initiations 9-4-07: VOLT, PWRD and ASPV originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.