- Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) was upgraded to Buy at Citigroup. The firm views the recent sell-off in home building stocks as a buying opportunity and thinks Toll Brothers offers the best risk/reward in its coverage universe. Citi keeps a $23 price target on the stock.
- Kellogg (NYSE: K) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup following the Q3 results, as it believes the company's reduced spending and share buyback will serve as catalysts. The firm raised its price target on shares to $63 from $50.
- Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) and Telus (NYSE: TU) were upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital, which said the CRTC unexpectedly denied Globalive's wireless application. The analyst said Globalive was potentially the biggest of new wireless competitors and the decision removes a big threat to the group. Rogers price target was raised to $40 from $33; Telus to $44 from $36.
- Stanley (NYSE: SXE) was upgraded at Wells Fargo to Outperform from Market Perform after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its FY10 guidance.
- Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) was upgraded at Bernstein to Outperform from Market Perform. The analyst believes Texas Instruments' core business earnings power is underappreciated and valuation is attractive. Target raised to $30 from $28.
rci posts
FeedAnalyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: JCG, K, MON, TOL, TXN ...
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: JCG, K, MON, TOL, TXN ...
Before the bell: DB, GM, AAPL, AZN
Before the bell: Futures higher on SBUX, YHOO, ahead of inventory reportDeutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) shares are trading 4.2% higher in premarket action after the bank, seeking to calm investors, said it expects a profit in its second quarter.
While AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) unveiled its pricing strategy for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s 3G iPhone to go on sale July 11 with a $199 and $299 (with contract) price points as expected, Canadians are outraged over Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE: RCI)'s 3G iPhone rates and have created an online petition that collected over 19,000 signatures already.
AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) rose in Europe and is rising over 2.7% in premarket trading after winning a court case against Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: TEVA) and the Sandoz unit of Novartis (NYSE: NVS) over patents on its Seroquel schizophrenia drug.
A day after car sales were seen as "not as bad as expected," comes Merrill Lynch and downgrades General Motors (NYSE: GM). Shares are down over 3% in premarket trading.
Apple iPhone -- working toward worldwide domination
- From the Vodafone deal we have: Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey
- From the SingTel deal we have: Singapore, India, the Philippines and Australia
- From the Orange deal we have: Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and African markets
- Also, America Movil SAB (NYSE: AMX) will start selling the iPhone in 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
- Rogers Communications Inc (NYSE: RCI) signed a deal to sell the iPhone in Canada
- Telecom Italia SpA will also sell the iPhone in Italy
- The iPhone is already being sold by AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) in the United States, O2 in Britain, T-Mobile in Germany and Orange in France.
Continue reading Apple iPhone -- working toward worldwide domination
Before the bell: MRK, BP, ADM, MA, CFC, AAPL ...
Before the bell: Street awaits Fed (V, DB, GM)Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) shares are dropping over 8% in premarket trading after it said its cholesterol pill Cordaptive failed to win approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, less than a week after it was recommended for marketing in the European Union. While Merck intends to submit more data to the FDA, it is unclear it will succeed given even some European doctors said more research is needed on one of the drug's main components safety.
Who said higher oil prices aren't good? If you ask Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) and BP (NYSE: BP), high oil prices are fantastic as the two oil giants beat forecasts when posting quarterly earnings Tuesday, reporting that net income, excluding unrealized gains from changes in inventory values, rose 12% to a record $7.8 billion and 48% to $6.6 billion respectively. Shell shares are climbing 5.7% in premarket trading and BP's over 4.8% as it seems investors think oil above $100 a barrel is here to stay.
Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), the world's largest grain processor, said third-quarter profit rose 42% to $517 million or 80 cents per share, topping analyst estimates of 69 cents per share, as it traded more grains and crushed more soybeans. Sales climbed 64% to $18.7 billion. Seems that being in agriculture lately is a positive and ADM shares are rising 3.75% in premarket trading.
Continue reading Before the bell: MRK, BP, ADM, MA, CFC, AAPL ...
Analyst downgrades: HBC, PJC and RCI
MOST NOTEWORTHY: HSBC Holdings, Piper Jaffray and Rogers Communications were today's noteworthy downgrades:- ABN Amro downgraded shares of HSBC (NYSE: HBC) to Sell from Hold as they believe the realignment of the American business could take 3-5 years. ABN expects a $2.5B loss in 2008.
- Wachovia downgraded Piper Jaffray (NYSE: PJC) to Market Perform from Outperform citing weaker market conditions.
- CIBC downgraded Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) to Sector Performer from Outperformer. Shares were also downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns following the Canadian government's new wireless spectrum rules to only allow new entrants to bid in the upcoming AWS spectrum auction in May 2008.
Analyst initiations 7-17-07: BRCD, CME, IACI and NTAP
MOST NOTEWORTHY: The Wet Seal (WTSLA), Brocade Communications Systems(BRCD), IAC/InteractiveCorp (IACI), CME Group (CME) and Rogers Communications (RCI) were today's noteworthy initiations: - Merriman believes the turnaround at Arden B is well underway and both it and the Wet Seal chains have tremendous opportunities for long-term growth, initiating The Wet Seal (NASDAQ: WTSLA) with a Buy rating.
- Pacific Growth is positive on Brocade's (NASDAQ: BRCD) diversification into new products and services, starting shares with a Buy rating.
- Banc of America initiated shares of InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) with a Neutral rating.
- William Blair believes the newly-formed CME Group (NYSE: CME) has an even more dominant competitive position within the growing futures exchange industry, reinstating shares with an Outperform rating.
- JP Morgan said Canada is an attractive wireless market and that Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) is well positioned, starting shares with an Overweight rating...
- Deutsche Bank initiated Waters Corp (NYSE: WAT) with a Hold rating.
- Goldman started Infinera Corp (NASDAQ: INFN) with an Equal Weight.
- Pacific Growth initiated Network Appliance (NASDAQ: NTAP) with a Buy.
The iPhone will cost you, if you keep it or if you don't
According to TUAW, I'd have only 14 days to return my coveted iPhone and at the original point of purchase no less. I would have to return it unopened and shrink wrapped or else I'd "be charged a 10% open box restocking fee." Canceling the agreement will cost me as well, especially if I was slow and did it after three days.
Basically, TUAW calculated the rough costs of returning the phone and it ain't cheap: $50.00 for trying it out, returning and canceling the service within three days, or $86.00 within 14 days. I already mentioned before I was upset with some of iTunes policies, now this makes me a little uneasy as well.
Well, I'm not going to get an iPhone today, nor tomorrow and probably not even when it is finally released in Canada (September?) as my plan is with Bell (NYSE: BCE), not Rogers Communications, Inc. (NYSE: RCI). Even if I could get it today, you'd probably not see me standing in line for it (yes, yes, it's the bitterness talking...) However, TUAW already has two people in line and is inviting you to join them as "die-hard Mac zealots" dissect the device over the weekend.




