Analyst Upgrades

• Aetna (AET) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Kellogg (K) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• PetSmart (PETM) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• NetApp (NTAP) and Scripps Networks (SNI) to buy from hold at Wunderlich.
• Thoratec (THOR) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• ArcelorMittal (MT) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Bristol-Myers (BMY) to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Eaton Vance (EV) to neutral from sell at Ticonderoga.
• Adtran (ADTN) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AET, BMY, DVN, GLW, K, MRK, MT, PETM, SPLS, WY ...

Analyst Calls: AET, BMY, DVN, GLW, K, MRK, MT, PETM, SPLS, WY ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Ryder (R) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• HCP (HCP) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Hertz Global (HTZ) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Lincoln National (LNC) to buy from neutral and T. Rowe Price (TROW) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Protective Life (PL) and Janus Capital (JNS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Newell Rubbermaid (NWL) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• National Instruments (NATI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Team Health (TMH) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BBT, BBY, EV, GDP, HTZ, JNS, LZB, NWL, R, TMK, TROW ...

Analyst Calls: BBT, BBY, EV, GDP, HTZ, JNS, LZB, NWL, R, TMK, TROW ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The editor of The Moneypaper explains, "The pair developed a Net Current Asset Value (NCAV) model to determine if a company was worth its market price. Their formula subtracts all liabilities, including short-term debt and preferred stock, from a company's current asset balance"

Continue reading A Value Shopper's List of Graham and Dodd Stocks

A Value Shopper's List of Graham and Dodd Stocks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) reported better-than-expected Q3 results but shares fell anyway.
• Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) posted strong Q3 results but shares sold off on a disappointing guidance.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) said lower Q1 earnings fell short of analysts expectations.
• Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) topped Q3 profit and revenue estimates, lifting shares.
• Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) posted a narrower-than-expected Q3 loss, sending shares sharply higher.
• Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) reported lower Q2 earnings and sales on weak demand for cars.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Baidu, Dreamworks, Honda, Microsoft, Target, Verizon ...

Earnings highlights: Baidu, Dreamworks, Honda, Microsoft, Target, Verizon ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Even as the battle over health care reform rages on Capitol Hill, we are seeing a flurry of third quarter reports from insurers.

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) reported Thursday that its third-quarter profit rose 18% from a year ago to $308.2 million, or $0.69 per share, topping Wall Street's expectations. Revenue came in at $8.72 billion, versus the consensus of $8.68 billion. Aetna also said share repurchases totaled 3.9 million at a cost of $114 million in the third quarter of 2009.

Continue reading Aetna, Aflac, WellPoint rise following earnings releases

Aetna, Aflac, WellPoint rise following earnings releases originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Q1 earnings were cut almost in half and were lower than expected.
• AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) earnings expectations for 2010 resulted in an analyst's upgrade.
• BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was downgraded following its Q4 earnings report.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) beat Q4 earnings expectations but slashed its quarterly dividend.
• Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) posted a smaller-than-expected Q4 loss but sales and gross margins fell.
• Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Q1 earnings and revenue fell and it offered guidance below estimates.
• Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) was upgraded on confidence ahead of the company's earnings report.
• Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) reported a bigger-than-expected drop in Q1 earnings.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Deere, HP, CBS, Playboy, Intuit, Whole Foods and more

Earnings highlights: Deere, HP, CBS, Playboy, Intuit, Whole Foods and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 21 Feb 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT), Host Hotels (NYSE: HST) and Marriott (NYSE: MAR) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and indications that negative sentiment has reached a bottom.
• Citigroup upgraded Torchmark (NYSE: TMK) to Buy from Hold as they find the valuation attractive and think management can grow earnings and book value in 2009/2010. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered their target price to $37 from $45.
• ASM International (NASDAQ: ASMI) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
• Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) was upgraded at Natixis to Buy from Hold.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: HOT, GOOG, WPI, LYG ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: HOT, GOOG, WPI, LYG ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wall Street's optimism in last week's preview about the earnings of tech stocks wasn't misplaced, as there were many more positive surprises than negative ones among the stocks we looked at. This week will bring plenty more data for investors in and watchers of the sector to mull over. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), for example, are expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial to post modest earnings gains from a year ago, to $1.11 per share (on $8.1 billion in sales), $0.72 per share (on $31.3 billion in sales), and $0.47 per share (on $14.8 billion in sales) respectively. All three of these companies ended the week closer to their 52-week lows than highs, and analysts on average consider them each a buy.

Here's a look at some of the week's biggest expected earnings gainers and decliners in the sector:

• Baidu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU): $1.25 per share (+44.0%) on revenues of $134.7 million (+103.2%)
• Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM): $0.44 per share (+38.6%) on revenues of $1.3 billion (+33.8%)
• QLogic Corp. (NASDAQ: QLGC): $0.31 per share (+29.0%) on revenues of $170.0 million (+21.2%)
• FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR): $0.32 per share (+28.1%) on revenues of $275.2 million (+44.0%)
• Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR): $0.30 per share (+26.7%) on revenues of $927.4 million (+26.2%)
• Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT): $0.75 per share (+17.3%) on revenues of $391.6 million (+11.1%)
• Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX): $0.29 per share (+17.2%) on revenues of $8.7 billion (+57.3%)
• EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC): $0.19 per share (+10.5%) on revenues of $3.7 billion (+12.9%)

Continue reading The week in preview: More hope for techs, doubt about financials

The week in preview: More hope for techs, doubt about financials originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Numbers are Actual vs. Estimate

• 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

High (and low) lights from this week's earnings releases originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.