rai posts
FeedPosted Sep 22nd 2009 11:30AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Dell (DELL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Analyst initiations
Analyst upgrades:
- Credit Suisse upgraded Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $55 from $44 based on earnings momentum and a bottom in the Imaging and Printing segment. Note that Dell was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform.
- Jefferies upgraded Covance (NYSE: CVD) to Buy from Hold as it believes investor expectations are more reasonable following the company's conference presentation and that its Late Stage segment should continue to post strong results. The firm raised its target on shares to $65 from $5.
- Stephens upgraded Home Bancshares (NASDAQ: HOMB) to Overweight from Equal Weight to reflect improved capital levels and a better-than-expected near-term outlook. The firm raised its target on shares to $27 from $24.
- Citigroup upgraded Macy's (NYSE: M) to Buy from Hold after meeting with management as it believes the My Macy's localization is gaining traction. The firm raised its target on shares to $30 from $15.
- Gymboree (NASDAQ: GYMB) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital.
- DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
- Baytex Energy (NYSE: BTE) was upgraded to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ADP, DELL, DISH, HPQ, M, PER, VMC ...
Posted Oct 25th 2008 3:40PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Pfizer (PFE), Amazon.com (AMZN), McDonald's (MCD), AT and T (T), 3M Corporation (MMM), Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Gannett Co (GCI), Mattel, Inc (MAT), Hasbro Inc (HAS), Amgen Inc (AMGN), Broadcom Corp'A' (BRCM), Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT), E*TRADE (ETFC)
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:
For more earnings highlights from this week, see Apple, Boeing, Microsoft, Yahoo!, UPS, American Express and others.
Watch for upcoming quarterly reports from Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Estée Lauder (NYSE: EL) , US Steel (NYSE: X), Aetna (NYSE: AET), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Qwest (NYSE:Q), Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Kellogg (NYSE: K), Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT), MetLife (NYSE: MET), Moody's (NYSE: MCO), Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), Avon (NYSE: AVP), CBS (NYSE: CBS), CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA), Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Washington Post (NYSE: WPO).
Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.
Posted Oct 22nd 2008 12:45PM by Jonathan Berr (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Apple Inc (AAPL), Wal-Mart (WMT), McDonald's (MCD), Boeing Co (BA), Merck and Co (MRK)
Setting aside any talk of price-to-earnings ratios or cap ex spending for a second and consider the following:
McDonald's Corp. (NYSE
: MCD) posted
a great quarter, easily beating analysts expectations, as did
cigarette makers Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE:
RAI) and
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:
PM). Philip Morris maintained its outlook while Reynolds raised guidance. Drugmaker Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK)
had lousy results and is laying off 7,200 workers. Selling the coolest phone on the planet (at least for now) did not help the results of
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:
T), which reported
worse-than-expected third quarter results.
Wait, there's more!
Boeing Co. (NYSE:
BA)
reported horrid results because of a machinists' union strike.
Wachovia Corp. (NYSE:
WB) likely last results as a public company
were as awful as people expected.
Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ:
AAPL)
guidance was tepid, though not apparently as awful as some expected since the shares are rising. Let's not forget that the market is down yet again by triple digits, so it's not surprising that some of these stocks are trading down despite their reports.
To recap, smoking and fast-foods are a good thing and making drugs, technology or practically anything else is a bad thing. The best cliche I can come up with is that this market is an order of fries short of a Happy Meal. Its elevator does not go all the way to the top. I just can't think of any more folksy metaphors to explain my frustration. Please respond with any better ones.
Continue reading Market wrap: Unhealthy lifestyles rule in this screwy market
Posted Sep 11th 2008 11:30AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Analyst initiations, Symantec Corp (SYMC), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA)
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Analyst upgrades:
- Goldman upgraded shares of Novartis (NYSE: NVS) to Buy from Neutral as they believe the Alcon (NYSE: ACL) acquisition has diversified the company's business.
- Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight on valuation.
- JP Morgan raised Albermarle (NYSE: ALB) to Overweight from Neutral.
- BMO Capital upgraded Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) to Outperform from Market Perform.
- Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV) was lifted to Buy from Hold at Sterne Agee.
Analyst downgrades:
- Morgan Stanley downgraded Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI) to Underweight from Equal Weight based on the impact from Altria's (NYSE: MO) purchase of competitor UST (NYSE: UST), which may result in pricing pressure.
- Goldman downgraded AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Sell from Neutral as they believe shares do not support near-term fundamentals.
- Max Capital (NASDAQ: MXGL) was downgraded to neutral from Buy at Banc of America.
- AudioCodes (NASDAQ: AUDC) was lowered at Merrill to Neutral from Buy.
- Pinnacle Financial (NASDAQ: PNFP) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird.
Continue reading Analyst calls: NVS, TSN, WYNN, RAI, AZN, HAIN, TEVA, SYMC ...
Posted Aug 16th 2007 8:20PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
.Tonight on CNBC's MAD MONEY, Jim Cramer tauted Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI) as a high dividend stock with a safe yield that out pays US treasury yields. Even with the 5.5% yield he thinks this dividend is not at risk like some other high yield stocks. He sounded like he even likes it better than Altria (NYSE:MO) as the smokeless tobacco is doing well.
I have noted before about defensive stocks being the way to go and those companies' products are the ones you eat, drink, smoke, and use for critical personal hygiene (toilet paper, tooth paste, deodorant... you get the idea). We noted the sector back on our own list we titled "Defensive Stocks For A Crummy Market" recently, although we had others. Defensive investing is what investors will flock to when they have to own stocks but want to be a bit more conservative than chasing the "New Four Horsemen of Tech" or want to go for less aggressive picks than say his TOP NINE STOCKS for 2007.
Jon Ogg is a partner at 24/7 Wall St. and publisher of Special Situation Investing Newsletter. He does not own securities in the companies he covers.
Posted May 3rd 2007 4:30PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and services, Rants and raves, Competitive strategy, Marketing and advertising
Camel, which is an R.J. Reynolds Tobacco company, which is owned by
Reynolds American Inc (NYSE:
RAI), has a new brand of cigarettes out -- Camel No. 9 -- which are targeted at the adult female audience.
I was blissfully unaware of the new brand, being a male non-smoker. However, thanks to a bit of
negative press, I am now conscious of Reynold's "cynical ploy" to lure young females to the world of smoking. Fortunately for Reynold's, so are a host of young women that read the newspaper, because while I may not be intrigued by a cigarette that is "chic, a little European, maybe a little Sex in the City," I am willing to bet more of the girls that read that article will be than not. It is a classic case of the effectiveness of negative publicity.
The worst part is that I am only increasing the new brand's awareness with each keystroke. But I digress.
The bottom line is that no matter how many times America's youth is warned about the dangers of cancer from smoking, it will fall on deaf ears that only read the words "chic," "sleek" and "sophisticated" from the very same negative article. And that spells profit for tobacco companies such as Reynolds America.
Posted Apr 26th 2007 11:18AM by Kevin Shult (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Good news, 3M Corporation (MMM), Corning Inc (GLW), Wendy's Intl (WEN)
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Today's most noteworthy upgrades were Reynolds American, Inc (RAI), PRA International (PRAI), Wendy's International (WEN), 3M Company (MMM) and PMC-Sierra, Inc (PMCS):
- JP Morgan upgraded shares of Reynolds American Inc (NYSE: RAI) to Neutral from Underweight to reflect the company's solid 2007 outlook and improved cigarette mix.
- 3M Company (NYSE: MMM) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Prudential...
OTHER UPGRADES:
- Soleil upgraded the semiconductor sector to Overweight from Underweight, believing a recovery in fundamentals is likely over the next 6 months and expecting shares to outperform over the next 12 to 18 months.
- First Albany upgraded shares of Xilinx, Inc (NASDAQ: XLNX) to Buy from Neutral to reflect operating leverage and the end of the inventory concern.
- Wachovia upgraded shares of Agco Corp (NYSE: AG) to Market perform from Outperform.
- Corning (NYSE: GLW) was upgraded at Goldman to Buy from Neutral with a $31 target.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).Posted Feb 27th 2007 4:28PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the bell, After the bell, Major movement, General Electric (GE), Pfizer (PFE), PepsiCo (PEP), China, Indices, McDonald's (MCD), Altria Group (MO), , Merck and Co (MRK), Duke Energy (DUK), Economic data
DJIA 12,216.24; Down 416.02 (3.29%)
NASDAQ 2,407.87; Down 96.65 (3.86%)
S&P500 1,399.04; Down 50.33 (3.47%)
10Yr-Bond 4.5130%; Down 0.1180
NYSE-Volume 4,164,578,000
NASD-Volume 3,045,369,000
VIX 18.31 (+7.16)
This was the worst drop on the DJIA since the pre-Iraq trading, and since after the market reopened following the September 11, 2001 tragedy; all 30 DJIA components closed down on the day. The massive sell-off seen today was on record NYSE trading volume. Was writing about the
VIX showing a complacency on the 'fear index' part of the reasoning of a drop? Or was it the record margin borrowing on stocks? We can blame China, we can blame a horrible Durable Goods number, we can blame ex-FOMC head Greenspan for hinting at the risks of a recession. Blame whatever you want, but the selling built and built, and when the NYSE trading curbs were lifted, the market took a bungee jump.
There have been reports that many of the stocks actually got stuck at low prices and there is also talk that the programs went unchecked and the electronic trading allowed the markets to suddenly tank. There was a flurry of trades around 3:00 PM EST where all of a sudden the programs took the market from down more than 200 points to down more than 500 points. You can probably bet there were many computing errors from the automated system on such large trading volume. This was a record day on NYSE volume and the system froze on many stocks.
John Thain's argument for creating a trading floor without people [pdf link] just got hosed, and rightfully so. In a world where floor brokers work alongside electronic trading, the market is obligated to maintain a somewhat orderly function.
Here are the basic go-to stocks that holders tend to flock to when the stock market sells off heavily.
Continue reading 20 'defensive' stocks for a crummy market
Posted Feb 23rd 2007 7:48AM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the bell, Major movement, International markets, Earnings reports, Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), Indices, Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Altria Group (MO), H and R Block (HRB), Lowe's Cos (LOW), Alcatel-LucentADS (ALU), Economic data
Stock futures were lower in early morning, indicating a similar start for stock in a relatively quiet Friday morning.
After a strong day yesterday due to sharp drop in U.S. inventories,
oil prices continue their climb today, following further tensions with Iran as OPEC's No. 2 supplier once again defied the Security Council over its nuclear program. After closing near $61 a barrel yesterday, oil prices broke through that mark today.
In corporate news -
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:
MSFT) yesterday was ordered by a U.S. federal jury to
pay $1.52 billion in damages to
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:
ALU) over a patent infringement. While appeals are on their way, some think Alcatel-Lucent might go after Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Sony Corp. (NASDAQ:SNE) and other MP3 makers.
-MSFT shares were down 0.75% in pre-market trading around 6:30 a.m.
-ALU shares are up 0.84% in pre-market as of 7:00 a.m. ALU shares rose as much as 3.5% in Paris.
Lowe's Cos., Inc. (NYSE:
LOW)
reported a fourth-quarter profit decline of 11.5% due to a slowing home improvement market amid a continued slump in the housing sector. Lowe's net income was $613 million in Q4, or 40 cents a share on falling revenue of $10.4 billion (compared to $10.8 billion a year earlier). Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had been looking for net income of 37 cents a share on revenue of $10.36 billion.
H&R Block Inc. (NYSE:
HRB) shares rose 4.3% in after-hours trading yesterday after the company
reported a third-quarter loss. Net loss was $44.7 million, or 14 cents per share on rising revenues (11%) of $860.3 million. Excluding special items, income from continuing operations was $25 million, or 8 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 13 cents per share on revenues of $1.13 billion.
In what would undoubtedly make
Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:
MO) and Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE:RAI) shareholders happy, the suits over the light cigarettes filed against the two
have been thrown out by a federal appeals court.
Some news from overseas:
The Tokyo Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange
announced they would work together to share technology information and possibly develop new products.
After growing in the fastest pace in six years, German economy could be slowing as February
German business confidence fell more than economists forecast.
Posted Feb 9th 2007 3:03PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Cisco Systems (CSCO), PepsiCo (PEP), IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI), Automatic Data Proc (ADP),
Numbers are Actual vs. EstimateExcellent Reports
- InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) 67c vs. 53c
- Retailing revenue increased to offset a lower price point average, and a higher average return rate. International revenue increased slightly, but profits were hurt by higher operating expenses. Ticketing volume increased as ticket sales rose 4% on 7% higher overall revenue per ticket.
- National-OilWell Varco Inc (NYSE: NOV) $1.35 vs. $1.06
- High energy prices stirred demand for drilling equipment which created a backlog of capital equipment orders for the Rig Technology segment.
- Electronic Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: EDS) 47c vs. 36c
- "On balance," said chairman and CEO Mike Jordan, "This was the strongest quarter... since I joined the company in 2003." Performance was driven by $7.6B in fourth quarter contracts, up 43% from the previous year.
Continue reading High (and low) lights from this week's earnings releases
Posted Jan 18th 2007 3:30PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Law
According to a Dow Jones report yesterday, the decisions to three pending Star Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:
STSI) summary-judgment motions in the company's patent-infringement lawsuit against Reynolds American Inc's (NYSE:
RAI) R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. will be available on tomorrow.
The patent-infringement suit has been ongoing since 2001, when Star Scientific filed against Reynolds, alleging that Reynolds had violated the company's process to reduce the level of nitrosamines - a carcinogenic toxin - in tobacco.
Star Scientific's stock rose from $3.39 to $4.40 yesterday on the news the decisions had been reached, and could rise again significantly should those decisions go its way. Additionally, if Reynolds is ordered to pay a significant enough sum, the tobacco giant may decide to simply buy out Star Scientific rather than pay a hefty patent-infringement fine.
Posted Oct 27th 2006 11:09AM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Krispy Kreme (KKD) and Reynolds American (RAI) top today's modest-sized initiation list.
- Krispy Kreme Dough nuts, Inc. (NYSE:KKD) was initiated with a Buy and $15 target at Prudential. The firm is positive on the high brand loyalty and unique business model that has the ability to create strong cash flows and high return on investment capital.
- Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE:RAI) was initiated with a Neutral and $58.50 target at Credit Suisse.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
- The Lodging REITS sector was initiated at Morgan Keegan.
- The firm initiated coverage of Felcor Lodging Trust Inc (NYSE:FCH) with an Outperform rating and
- American Home Products (AHP), Eagle Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE:EHP), Innkeepers USA Trust (NYSE:KPA) and Winston Hotels Inc (NYSE:WXH) with Market Perform ratings.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).
Lions Gate Entertainment: Still waiting for cash flow
Before the bell: Stocks ready for a lower open after reaching 13-month highs
Ray of light: U.S. temp worker hiring increased by 34k in October
