Analyst Upgrades

• Bunge (BG) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Textron (TXT) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• CSX (CSX) to buy from neutral and Pulte Group (PHM) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Aol (AOL) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Kohlberg Capital (KCAP) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Owens Corning (OC) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Jefferies (JEF) to buy from neutral at Ticonderoga.
• Harris (HRS) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AOL, BG, CCL, CP, CSX, HRS, NE, OC, PHM, RIG, SBUX, TXT ...

Analyst Calls: AOL, BG, CCL, CP, CSX, HRS, NE, OC, PHM, RIG, SBUX, TXT ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Google (GOOG) to outperform from neutral at Wedbush.
• Nike (NKE) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Apollo Group (APOL) to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• JDSU (JDSU) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• NetApp (NTAP) to overweight from equal weight and Verigy (VRGY) to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• RSC Holdings (RRR) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Exelon (EXC) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Aon (AON) and Willis Group (WSH) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• BMC Software (BMC) to outperform from neutral at Cowen.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AON, APOL, EXC, GOOG, NKE, NTAP, RIMM, UA, VRGY ...

Analyst Calls: AON, APOL, EXC, GOOG, NKE, NTAP, RIMM, UA, VRGY ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Red Hat (RHT) to overweight from neutral.
• Honeywell (HON) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Regal-Beloit (RBC) and Actuant (ATU) were upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• RW Baird upgraded MedAssets (MDAS) to outperform from neutral.
• Savvis (SVVS) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at William Blair.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: COST, HON, NFLX, NOC, PCP, RHT, TGT, TXT, WMT ...

Analyst Calls: COST, HON, NFLX, NOC, PCP, RHT, TGT, TXT, WMT ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Textron: First TARP recipient from defense sector

Textron: First TARP recipient from defense sector originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN) reported strong Q1 numbers as its clients sought ways to cut costs.
• Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) may interest short sellers despite its earnings prospects for 2009.
• International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) to shed dead wood to reduce the impact of the recession on earnings.
• Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) withdrew Q4 profit and revenue guidance, sending shares lower.
• Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) lowered its Q4 earnings forecast to well below analysts' estimates.
• Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) forecast its first-ever loss for the fiscal year on lower demand/higher yen.
• Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) missed Q1 expectations and announced cost cutting and store redesign.

Also, bank earnings will be hit next by cancelled M&A deals.

Earnings releases scheduled for early January include Navistar (NYSE: NAV), Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ), Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO), and Monsanto (NYSE: MON).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Earnings highlights: Walgreen, Toyota, Best Buy, International Paper and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Textron (TXT) revises forecast downward originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Lehman downgraded AbitibiBowater (NYSE: ABH) to Equal Weight from Overweight citing dilution from the recent $350M convertible offering, cost pressures, and a more cautious outlook near-term for pulp markets.
  
• JP Morgan cut GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Underweight from Neutral on long-term earnings growth concerns.
  
• Keefe Bruyette lowered Capital One (NYSE: COF) to Underperform from Market Perform to reflect the company's credit outlook.

• Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS and to Underweight from Overweight at JP Morgan.
  
• Textron (NYSE: TXT) was cut at Credit Suisse to Neutral from Outperform.
  
• Merriman downgraded Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI) to Neutral from Buy.

Analyst downgrades: ABH, GSK, AZN and COF originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Boeing, Textron secure $10.4 billion V-22 Osprey U.S. DOD contract originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Textron looks to the skies for earnings

Textron looks to the skies for earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to the Sunday New York Times, conglomerates are back. Companies like ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT) and Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) are trading near multi-year highs. William Holstein writes:

To some extent, the new conglomerates have simply become lucky. They are riding a global infrastructure spending boom for airports and airlines, power systems, waste water and environmental projects, and hospitals and health care systems, not to mention record government spending on military projects and security surveillance. Their ability to assemble product offerings from different industries is a source of strength, they say.

While I'd be extremely skeptical if someone referred to the recent strength of conglomerates as some sort of new paradigm, it really may be different this time. The conglomerate boom of the 1960s and 1970s ended in disaster for many of the high-fliers, but changes have been made. Private equity firms have employed a conglomerate-like model to generate huge returns for their investors, and smarter management and more competent deal-making is leading to better-crafted hodgepodges of divergent businesses.

Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) CEO David Cote is also quoted in the Times piece: "When you look back at the history, the companies were put together without any real integration. They were really just holding companies. They didn't try to do anything to make the businesses better."

The old-time model of hyping the stock of a conglomerate and using it to acquire companies at a lower price/earnings multiple is no longer in vogue, mercifully.

For an interesting, although not entirely enjoyable, look at the history of the conglomerate business model, pick up a copy of The Rise and Fall of the Conglomerate Kings by Robert Sobel.

Conglomerates are back! Has anything changed? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 05 Aug 2007 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Transporting the executive stylishly is a demanding business, but there is an outfit in Providence, Rhode Island that has several of the avenues covered. Their planes, helicopters and golf carts are well thought of by the business crowd. In fact, their products are popular with the military set, too.

Textron, Inc. (NYSE: TXT) specializes in general aviation aircraft. The firm's Bell segment makes helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft for both military and commercial applications. This segment also manufactures weapons, surveillance systems, aircraft landing systems, hovercraft, rescue vessels, armored vehicles and turrets. The Cessna unit manufactures business jets, single engine turboprop caravans, and single engine piston aircraft. The Industrial division offers golf carts, off-road utility vehicles, lawn care machinery and power tools. The Finance segment handles commercial loans. Major competitors include General Electric (NYSE: GE) and United Technologies (NYSE: UTX).

The company pleased investors last week, when it reported Q2 EPS of $1.69 and revenues of $3.23 billion. Analysts had been expecting $1.45 and $3.09 billion. Management also guided Q3 EPS to $1.45-$1.55 ($1.53 consensus), FY07 EPS to $6.35-$6.55 ($6.31 consensus) and FY07 revenues to about $12.87 billion ($12.6B consensus). Further, the company announced a 2-for-1 stock split (8/24/07), a 19% increase in its annualized dividend rate and a 24 million share repurchase program.

Continue reading Textron: By air and by land

Textron: By air and by land originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.