Analyst Upgrades

• Medicis (MRX) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray, to outperform from market perform at Bernstein, to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital and to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Wellpoint (WLP) to buy from neutral at Davenport.
• Humana (HUM) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Frontier Oil (FTO) to equal weight from underweight and Resources Connection (RECN) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AMZN, CMCSA, FTO, HUM, MRX, PG, STX, WLP, WWW ...

Analyst Calls: AMZN, CMCSA, FTO, HUM, MRX, PG, STX, WLP, WWW ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Monday, Standpoint Research initiated a Buy rating on shares of retailer True Religion Apparel (TRLG). The stock soared more than 6% on the bullish outlook. It closed at $22.07 Tuesday. Given Standpoint's $33 price target -- a potential 58% return from last Friday's closing price -- the move may have been more than justified.

The tide appears to be turning in on TRLG. The stock is down a little less than 20% on the six-month chart, but it has risen more than 14% over the last five trading days, and seems poised to continue its ascent Wednesday. Money is clearly pouring into this name and the retail sector as a whole is heating up.

Continue reading True Religion Could Offer Big Returns

True Religion Could Offer Big Returns originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Option traders appear to be setting up for a bullish move on Cypress Bioscience, Inc. (CYPB). Traders plowed into 1,305 new call option contracts -- 19.19 times the average volume -- on the stock on Friday. And we know that traders were eager to get into this trade because 100% of the trades came in on the ask price.

Cypress has been in a downtrend since hitting a high around $10.00 in July 2009. The stock closed Friday at $3.39, down 10.79% during the past month.

Continue reading Cypress Bioscience Calls and NetSuite Puts Heating Up

Cypress Bioscience Calls and NetSuite Puts Heating Up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "As part of a joint promotion between Gap Stores Inc. (NYSE: GPS) and the Big Board, traders will be outfitted with 1969 Premium Jeans from the retailer. Gap executives will ring the closing bell Friday, remotely from the company's San Francisco headquarters."

That's right: jeans of the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. It's part of Gap's effort to revitalize its image by offering more premium quality jeans -- at better prices than market leaders like True Religion (NASDAQ: TRLG) and 7 for All Mankind.

Continue reading NYSE traders to wear Gap jeans for a day?

NYSE traders to wear Gap jeans for a day? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• Bidz.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDZ) Q4 earnings release included notice about an SEC investigation.
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) saw net income drop by almost 50%, falling short of estimates.
• Ducommun Inc. (NYSE: DCO) received an analyst's downgrade after its Q4 earnings release.
• Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) said Q4 earnings fell due to weakness at Gap and Old Navy stores.
• General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) worse-than-expected results prompted speculation about its survival.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Dell, GM, Lowe's, Heinz, Smucker, Washington Post and more

Earnings highlights: Dell, GM, Lowe's, Heinz, Smucker, Washington Post and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Good news, bad news: True Religion earnings

Good news, bad news: True Religion earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal

Levi tries on $235 jeans -- I'm not buying it! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Dress up your portfolio with this apparel stock (TRLG)

Dress up your portfolio with this apparel stock (TRLG) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 May 2008 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mr. Lubell sold these shares for two purposes: first, to fulfill an obligation due under the marital dissolution agreement with his former wife; and second, to continue his financial, estate and tax planning.

True Religion chief sells $60+ million worth of stock -- why? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 May 2008 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Jefferies upgraded RF Micro (NASDAQ:RFMD) to Buy from Hold citing strong proprietary Asian channel checks. The firm believes RF Micro is past the worst of the inventory handset correction in Asia and that the MPG business is also recovering.
  
• RBC Capital said QLT Inc's (NASDAQ:QLTI) risk/reward has improved and expects divestment announcements to start in late Q2. The firm raised shares to Outperform from Sector Perform.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Everest RE (NYSE:RE) to Buy from Hold citing valuation, likely buybacks, the low risk of asbestos charges and the seasonal trade ahead.

• Merriman raised Level 3 Comm (NASDAQ:LVLT) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
  
• True Religion (NASDAQ:TRLG) was raised at Morgan Keegan to Outperform from Market Perform.

Analyst upgrades: RFMD, QLT and RE originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

An Associated Press piece looks at the balance fashion houses must strike in the pursuit of increasing sales: How to expand that target market without diluting the brand? It's a lot the challenges musicians face as they attempt to crossover without alienating their core fan base. Some succeed big time -- like Carlos Santana, Pavarotti, and Allison Krauss. Others fail in their crossover attempts and then find that their original fans aren't so quick to welcome them back.

Some industry observers are concerned that top designers have become all-too ubiquitous, licensing their names to cologne and other products outside of the company's traditional scope. And so they're losing their cache.

Is this a concern for shareholders of luxury couturiers like Coach (NYSE: COH)? With newer brands like True Religion (NASDAQ: TRLG) aggressively pursuing licensing deals, should we worry that the company will lose its reputation at a top maker of luxury denim, and better known for licensing its name to any tchotchke it can get a fee for?

When evaluating luxury apparel companies, take a very careful look at the company's efforts to protect its brands. Wall Street's push for quarterly revenue/earnings growth can make just about any new product look tempting to a management team motivated by stock options. But in the long-run, shareholders can only be rewarded if the brand image is managed effectively.

Couturiers balance between going mainstream and selling out originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 07 Oct 2007 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) has made 2 big acquisitions. It spend $775 million to acquire 7 For All Mankind, a privately-held leader in the booming premium denim market, and another $110 million to acquire Lucy, a make of women's activewear.

The moves are consistent with the company's strategy of acquiring strong brands with high margins while divesting some of its lower margin labels. The company holds numerous household names in apparel, including Wrangler, Lee, North Face, and Nautica.

For investors, the 7 acquisition is a sign of industry faith in continued strength in the premium denim category, where $300 jeans are nothing out of the ordinary.

VF is paying about 2.5 times sales for 7, while fellow denim-leader True Religion (NASDAQ: TRLG) trades at about 3.35 times sales with a market cap of around $450 million. That company recently announced that it was concluding a review of strategic alternatives and would continue as a stand-alone company. I suspect that there was little interest on the part of prospective buyers.

The other premium denim play, which owns much, much less valuable brands, is Blue Holdings (NASDAQ: BLUE), the parent company of Antik Denim, Taverniti So Jeans, Yanuk and Faith Connexion. The stock trades at less than 1 times sales, but has a substantial debt load and it isn't profitable.

Investors should probably watch the premium denim industry from the sidelines for now.

VF buys Seven for all Mankind and Lucy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Jul 2007 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This weekend's Wall Street Journal talks about one of the most interesting studies (originally reported in BusinessWeek) that I've come across in a long time:

David Yermack of New York University and Crocker Liu of Arizona State University studied 432 CEOs of S&P 500 companies at the end of 2004 and found that 12% of them lived in homes of at least 10,000 square feet or on at least 10 acres. In the subsequent year, the share prices of companies with megamansion CEOs lagged behind S&P 500 chief executives with smaller homes by 7%, on average .... The study also looked at the 23 CEOs in their sample who had bought houses after taking over the CEO job, and found that together the companies lagged behind the S&P by about 25% in the three years after the purchases. Still not convinced? CEO buyers of smaller homes, by comparison, beat the S&P average in that period by 22%.

Isn't this interesting? Here are a couple of the possible reasons for it:

• Executives take home the largest pay packages in years, where they sell a lot of stock or exercise a lot of options. Then, they use that money to buy a huge home. Insider selling is often used as an indicator of trouble at a company, so it wouldn't be surprising if the share prices lag in years after CEOs sell a lot of stock.
• Building an expensive home may be a sign that a once-driven executive is getting bored with work. And besides, who has time to manage things like cash flow and strategic vision when there's wallpaper to pick out, home theater packages to choose from, and a wine cellar to design? Being a CEO takes a lot of time and energy, and so does building a palace. Something's gotta give.

Continue reading The CEO housing indicator: If he buys a mansion, sell the stock!

The CEO housing indicator: If he buys a mansion, sell the stock! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 24 Mar 2007 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.