Analyst Upgrades

• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• tw telecom (TWTC) to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Agree Realty (ADC) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Millicom (MICC) to buy from neutral at Nomura.
• BioMed Realty (BMR) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Realty Income (O) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ANF, CA, HBAN, MSFT, NTAP, NVDA, OWW, ORCL, RHT ...

Analyst Calls: ANF, CA, HBAN, MSFT, NTAP, NVDA, OWW, ORCL, RHT ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Expedia, Inc. (EXPE), an online service devoted to travel whose related companies include Orbitz Worldwide (OWW) and Priceline.com (PCLN), issued its Q4 results after the bell today. According to the report, which you can find at the company's investor site, adjusted net income increased 10% to 32 cents per share. TheFly says that this number came in below the estimate by a disappointing four pennies.

You can't always beat Wall Street's prediction. Shortly after the data was posted, the stock experienced a drop of 3.7%, making the quote equal to $24.74.

Continue reading Expedia Reports Q4 Results

Expedia Reports Q4 Results originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN), which was recently added to the S&P 500, is scheduled to discuss its third-quarter 2009 financial results in a conference call Monday, November 9, at 4:30 PM ET. You can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website.

During the three months that ended in September, Priceline announced a partnership with Ticketmaster (TKTM) and launched a rewards Visa card. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect this leading online travel services provider to report that earnings for that period jumped 18.2% from a year ago to $2.92 per share. And revenue for the quarter is expected to be 23.6% higher to $693.9 million.

Continue reading Priceline.com earnings preview: A sweet deal in Q3?

Priceline.com earnings preview: A sweet deal in Q3? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Alkermes (NASDAQ: ALKS) to Overweight from Neutral on valuation, as they believe the current share price undervalues Risperdal Consta and provides little to no value for other pipeline drugs.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q1 results, as they believe further estimate reductions are unlikely.
  
• UBS expects ITT Educational (NYSE: ESI) to benefit from strong enrollment growth and they see less private student lending risk. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Neutral.
• BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman and added to the firm's Conviction Buy List.
  
• Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Covance (NYSE: CVD) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at First Analysis.

• UBS downgraded Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) to Neutral from Buy and added shares to its Short-term Sell list citing the significant reduction in 2009 coal prices and estimates.
  
• Friedman Billings cut Century Aluminum (NASDAQ: CENX) to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered its target to $8 from $18 shares to reflect a lowered aluminum price forecast and financing concerns.
  
• Bernstein downgraded eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) to Market Perform from Outperform citing recent share performances and the difficult macro environment.
• CommVault (NASDAQ: CVLT) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman and added to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• TomoTherapy (NASDAQ: TOMO) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at William Blair.
  
• Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) was lowered to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

• Morgan Keegan initiated Brinker (NYSE: EAT) with a Market Perform citing the difficult macro economy, relative debt levels and the competitive environment.
  
• Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) was initiated at Oppenheimer with an Outperform rating and $12 target. The firm expects the company to benefit from growing demand for higher acuity assisted living.
  
• Baird initiated Healthcare Realty (NYSE: HR) with an Underperform rating and $19 target citing the company's premium valuation vs. the group.
• UBS initiated Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE), Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN), and Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) with Neutral ratings citing the difficult near-term demand environment.
  
• FedEx (NYSE: FDX) was started at Jesup & Lamont with a Hold rating.

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ALKS, CS, EBAY, AMZN, EXPE, FDX ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) reported lower quarterly profits and cut its full-year outlook.
• Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) beat Q4 earnings expectations but revenues tumbled.
• Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) reported a big loss in Q3, like many other private equity firms.
• Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) posted a deeper-than-estimated Q3 net loss due to restructuring costs.
• Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY) warned that it expects to swing to a net loss in Q4.
• Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) fell to a three-year-low despite expected growth in profits and revenues.
• Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) lowered its revenue forecast for Q4, which was bad news for PC makers.
• Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS) beat low earnings expectations by a penny as same-store sales declined.
• Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: LGF) narrowed its net loss in Q2 but fell short of estimates.
• Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) said its Q3 profit tumbled as its same-store-sales declined.
• Orbitz Wordlwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW) reported a wider net loss, which led to a analyst's downgrade.
• Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) raised its forecasts after finalizing the sale of Folgers brand.
• Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) halved its Q3 net loss and revenues and subscriber numbers rose.
• TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) reported a Q3 earnings decline and offered a cautious outlook.
• Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) posted better-than-expected profits but warned of softness ahead.
• Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) beat analyst estimates for Q3 and warned of a profit squeeze.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Walmart, Google, Intel, P&G, Sirius, Blackstone and others

Earnings highlights: Walmart, Google, Intel, P&G, Sirius, Blackstone and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Carnage and mayhem, day 6; AXP, NAT, MELI, OWW, LVS

Closing Bell: Carnage and mayhem, day 6; AXP, NAT, MELI, OWW, LVS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Baird upgraded Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to Outperform from Neutral citing valuation and long-term earnings power.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded shares of Nationwide Financial (NYSE: NFS) to Outperform from Market Perform as it believes the deal is not at risk and will close at the agreed upon $52.25 price.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) to Outperform from Market Perform citing valuation.
• Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Natixis.
• W.W. Grainger (NYSE: GWW) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at RW Baird.
• Fidelity National (NYSE: FIS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.

• Credit Suisse downgraded Eli Lilly NYSE:(LLY) to Neutral from Outperform citing the increased risk profile from the ImClone (IMCL) deal.
• Soleil downgraded Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) to Hold from Buy as it believes Google's cost management may lag revenue weakness and that the falling stock price implies employee defections. The firm lowered its target to $350 from $580.
• Piper downgraded shares of Orbitz (NYSE:OWW) to Sell from Neutral to reflect deteriorating travel industry fundamentals and the company's levered balance sheet.
  
• US Steel (NYSE:X) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
• Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at ING Group.
• Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Soleil.
• Cemex (NYSE:CX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
  

• Bidz.com (NASDAQ:BIDZ), American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC) and Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSH) were today's noteworthy initiations:
  
• Bidz.com (NASDAQ:BIDZ) was initiated with a Hold at Stamford, as the firm does not want to recommend a company that has never been tested during difficult economic times, but is positive on BIDZ's growth potential.
• American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC) was initiated with a Hold at Stanford, as the firm believes the Euro decline and global market turmoil are near-term risks.
• Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSH) was initiated with an Underperform at RBC Capital, as the firm views shares as overvalued.
• Regis Corp (NYSE:RGS) was initiated with a Neutral at RW Baird.
• CommVault's (NASDAQ:CVLT) coverage was resumed with a Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BAC, AEO, GOOG, X, BIDZ ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) said Q4 profit plunged, missing analysts' expectations.
• Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) posted yet another solid quarter and topped analysts' expectations.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) reported solid results and reaffirmed its revenue guidance.
• General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) performance despite rising commodities costs impressed Jim Cramer.
• Hansen Natural Corp. (NASDAQ: HANS) Q2 earnings surged on popularity of Monster energy drink.
• Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) beat Q2 expectations, sending shares of health insurers higher.
• LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: LF) narrowed its Q2 loss, sending shares up near its 52-week high.
• MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) Q2 profit tumbled but revenues topped analysts' expectations.
• NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N) cut its Q2 loss and revenues surged on 400 new customers.
• Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW) narrowed its net loss while revenues inched upward.
• Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) easily topped Q1 expectations and raised its full-year guidance.
• Pzena Investment Management Inc's (NYSE: PZN) CEO admits that its Q2 was "awful, just terrible."
• 3Com Corp. (NASDAQ: COMS) raised its Q1 profit and sales forecasts due to gains in China.
• Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) net income fell due to the strong yen and rising materials costs.
• Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE: WMG) reported a smaller-than-expected Q3 net loss.
• World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) flat year-over-year earnings fell short of estimtates.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Toyota, Cisco, ADM, MGM, General Mills, Warner Music and others

Earnings highlights: Toyota, Cisco, ADM, MGM, General Mills, Warner Music and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The shares of Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW) are skidding all over the charts today following the company's second-quarter earnings release. Orbitz confessed to a net loss of $5 million, or six cents per share, much improved from its year-ago loss of $32 million. Revenue for the recently concluded quarter inched 1% higher to $231 million.

While the results were better than the same quarter in 2007, analysts were looking for an even smaller loss of three cents per share on more robust revenue of $234 million.

Gross bookings increased 4% to $3 billion, thanks to a little help from overseas -- international bookings rocketed 41% higher, compared to a 1% slump in domestic bookings. Orbitz's international business now accounts for 23% of its revenue, up three percentage points from the year prior.

Despite the challenges facing Orbitz, president and CEO Steven Barnhart professed his enthusiasm about some new initiatives to drive growth. Specifically, the travel firm is launching a new "Price Assurance" functionality, and the company just entered a multi-year partnership with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to serve as the online provider for MSN.com's travel portals. Barnhart said these initiatives "will accelerate our domestic growth in the second half of the year and help offset any impact from current economic and travel industry uncertainty."

Continue reading Orbitz Worldwide (OWW) plunges on second-quarter loss, domestic weakness

Orbitz Worldwide (OWW) plunges on second-quarter loss, domestic weakness originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Merrill downgraded AMR Corp (NYSE:AMR), Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL), Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL), US Airways (NYSE:LCC) and UAL Corp (NASDAQ:UAUA) to Neutral from Buy citing earnings risk this year from higher energy costs.
  
• Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Chelsea Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CHTP) to Perform from Outperform after their survey suggested physicians believe currently available generic treatments are adequate in neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, which could impact the company's lead drug Droxidopa.
  
• Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) was cut to Sell from Hold at Citigroup on valuation, as they estimate fair value at $13.

• Goldman downgraded Kellogg (NYSE:K) to Neutral from Buy and Hershey Foods (NYSE:HSY) to Sell from Neutral.
  
• Piper lowered Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE:OWW) to Neutral from Buy.

Analyst downgrades: Airlines, CHTP and CLWR originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 May 2008 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Piper downgraded shares of U.S. Auto Parts (NASDAQ: PRTS) to Neutral from Buy following the company's Q4 results.
  
• JMP Securities cut DealerTrack (NASDAQ: TRAK) to Market Perform from Strong Buy as they believe future market share losses to RouteOne are more significant than previously believed.
  
• Oppenheimer has concerns that most of AspenBio Pharma's (NASDAQ: APPY) market value is tied to the AppyScore test for appendicitis, while available clinical data may not be sufficient to drive adoption. The firm lowered APPY to Perform from Outperform.

• Wachovia cut Reddy Ice (NYSE: FRZ) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• Deutsche Bank lowered its rating on Valspar (NYSE: VAL) and Airgas (NYSE: ARG) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Goldman downgraded Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) to Neutral from Buy.

Analyst downgrades: PRTS, TRAK and APPY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Delek US Holdings (NYSE: DK) and Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) to Buy from Hold to reflect their more positive stance on refiners.
  
• Bear upgraded American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) to Outperform from Peer Perform, citing positive risk/reward given its favorable positioning relative to the teen sub-sector, sustainable margins, and healthy balance sheet.

• Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  
• National Australia Bank (OTC: NABZY) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.
  
• Lehman upgraded Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) to Overweight from Equal Weight.

Analyst upgrades: DK, TSO and AEO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) was initiated by a host of firms today:
  
• Thomas Weisel and Morgan Stanley started Orbitz with an Overweight rating.
  
• Pacific Crest and Piper Jaffray started shares with Overweight ratings, and $18 and $16 targets, respectively.
  
• Stifel initiated Orbitz with a Buy rating and $16 target, while JP Morgan started shares with a Neutral rating.

• Citigroup finds the valuation of Agilent (NYSE: A) attractive at current levels and started shares with a Buy rating, They expect a recovery in the company's Electronic Measurement business to drive shares to $43.

• Citigroup initiated National Instruments (NASDAQ: NATI) with a Hold rating and $40 target, saying that shares could suffer if PMI decelerates in 3Q07 or negatively inflects in 1Q08.

• Ametek (NYSE: AME) is is CIBC's top pick in the mid-cap Industrial Diversified area, due to the company's attractive asset portfolio and growth opportunities. CIBC initiated Ametek with a Sector Outperformer rating and $45 target...

• Jefferies initiated WNS Holdings (NYSE: WNS) with a Hold rating.

• Cuisine Solutions (AMEX: FZN) was initiated with a Buy rating at BB&T.

• Gabelli initiated Interpublic Group (AMEX: IPG) with a Buy rating and $19 target.

• Ferris Baker Watts initiated DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) with a Buy rating and $29.50 target.

Analyst initiations 8-29-07: A, DTV, NATI and OWW originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Insider buying at Orbitz (OWW) a good sign for the industry originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to the Wall Street Journal's (subscription required) "Heard on the Street" column, some investors are speculating that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A) could buy struggling mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC).
• Five insiders bought $592.7K in Orbitz Worldwide Inc's (NYSE: OWW) stock at per-share prices ranging from $9.55 to $10.10, reported Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Inside Scoop" column.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) is believed to be considering the sale of Lake, its Japanese consumer finance subsidiary.

• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (NYSE: LEH) has bought a 26% stake in ECL Finance, the non-banking finance company of India's Edelweiss Capital, for about $4.3M, reported the Business Standard.
• Brookfield Asset Management Inc (NYSE: BAM) has shelved its plan to buy Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE: CP) due to the global credit crunch and the current lack of funding for leveraged buyouts, reported the Globe and Mail.

• According to security company Symantec Corporation's (NASDAQ: SYMC) blog, there is a new Trojan called "infostealer.monstres" which is attacking online recruitment site Monster.com (NASDAQ: MNST).

Newspaper wrap-up: Buffett interested in Countrywide (CFC)? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Aug 2007 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan upgraded CACI Int'l (NASDAQ: CAI) to Overweight from Underweight, considering the company an attractive, defensive stock and a "safe haven" based on the government exposure.

• Friedman Billings upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) to Outperform from Market Perform citing ongoing cost-cutting and MG&A lines.

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) to Buy from Neutral citing valuation and successful execution of its marketing, merchandising and store expansion plans.

• Bear Stearns upgraded the software sector to Market Weight from Underweight on valuation...

• UBS upgraded Home Depot (NYSE: HD) to Neutral from Sell.

• JP Morgan raised Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) to Overweight from Neutral.

• FTN Midwest upgraded to Seagate (NYSE: STX) to Buy from Neutral.

• Soleil upgraded Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) to Buy from Hold.

• JP Morgan added Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) to its Focus List.

Analyst upgrades: ANF, BBI, HD and KSS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Aug 2007 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY

• Baird is positive on Old Dominion's (NASDAQ: ODFL) growth opportunities, valuation, 2008 improving truck fundamentals, and a potentially seasonally stronger Q4, starting shares with an Overweight rating and $36 target.

• Merriman initiated Jamba (NASDAQ: JMBA) with a Buy rating, as the company aggressively expands its store base beyond California.

• BMO Capital believes AMD (NYSE: AMD) may lose the Intel platform integrated graphics market, and sizeable Intel platform discrete graphics market share. The firm initiated AMD shares with an Underperform rating and $10 target.

• Soleil has concerns regarding Orbitz Worldwide's (NYSE: OWW) decelerating growth and poorer business mix vs. competitors and started shares with a Hold rating and $13 target.

• Credit Suisse initiated Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) with a Neutral rating and $61 target, citing the recent UnitedHealth (UNH) contract loss, slowing growth, and valuation for its Neutral rating...

• McDermott (NYSE: MDR) and Capella Education (NASDAQ: CPLA) were initiated with Buy ratings at Citigroup.

• JMP Securities started ShoreTel (NASDAQ: SHOR) with a Market Outperform rating.

• Credit Suisse initiated LabCorp (NYSE: LH) with an Outperform rating.

• FTN Midwest started Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) with a Buy rating.

Analyst initiations: AMD, DGX, NWA and ODFL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For internet company IPOs, the results were mixed this week. The online career site, Dice Holdings (NYSE: DHX), saw its share price increase about 4.2% (with the IPO priced at the top of its range). But there was also the meager performance of Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW), whose shares fell 3.3% on its debut. Despite this, we are still seeing filings from Net companies.

The latest filing: Internet Brands. In fact, back in 2000, the company filed for an IPO -- but it was too late (as the dot-coms turned into dot-bombs). But much has happened since then -- and the company looks a lot different. Through aggressive M&A, Internet Brands now has more than 40 principal websites -- focused on consumer categories. Examples include: CarsDirect.com, Wikitravel.org, FlyerTalk.com, ApartmentRatings.com, and DoItYourself.com.

As of June, the network attracted about 24.5 million unique visitors. This is up 161% from the same period a year ago. The business model is primarily driven by advertising. Last year, Internet Brands posted about $84.8 million in revenues. However, there is fierce competition. Just some of rivals include Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

The lead underwriter on the IPO is Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS).

Internet Brands' prospectus is located on the SEC website. Also check out other recent IPO filings.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Internet Brands: Clicking for an IPO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There's been lots of dealmaking with online travel portal, Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW). Back in 2003, the company went public, and then a year later sold out to Cendant. Cendant then meshed its online travel properties into a new unit, called Travelport, which was then sold to the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX).

And the dealmaking continued this week as Orbtiz raised a cool $510 million in an IPO. Unfortunately, investors were not impressed. The IPO was priced at $15, which was below its $16-$18 range. The stock then fell 3.3% on its first day of trading.

But the IPO proceeds won't go to Orbtiz. Rather, the cash will flow back to the parent company, Travelport (in a special dividend). In other words, the IPO is really a cash-out -- not a way to help build Orbitz.

True, Orbitz has some nice brands - such as CheapTickets.com and eBookers.com. But the fact is that the online travel space is highly competitive, with players like Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) and Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN).

Another big issue: the company has never posted net income. So, I can understand why Wall Street has some concerns.

Also check out some of the other IPOs of the past week.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

See also:
Jonathan Berr: The appeal of Expedia and Orbitz eludes me
Tom Taulli: Blackstone wants payback with Orbitz IPO

Falling out of Orbitz originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 21 Jul 2007 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.