Analyst Upgrades

• Air Products (APD) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Zimmer (ZMH) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• SunPower (SPWRA) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Brocade (BRCD) to buy from hold at Wunderlich and at ThinkEquity.
• Duke Energy (DUK) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• NewStar Financial (NEWS) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Hormel Foods (HRL) to hold from sell at Soleil.
• Inspire Pharma (ISPH) to hold from sell at Duncan-Williams.
• Alnylam (ALNY) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Weight Watchers (WTW) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Raytheon (RTN) and Toreador Resources (TRGL) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BRCD, CREE, DUK, HRL, MOLX, RTN, SPWRA, VCLK, WTW ...

Analyst Calls: BRCD, CREE, DUK, HRL, MOLX, RTN, SPWRA, VCLK, WTW ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Online marketing specialist ValueClick (VCLK) is scheduled to unveil its fourth-quarter earnings after Tuesday's closing bell. Ahead of the announcement, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are anticipating a profit of 23 cents per share, on average, which would represent an improvement over ValueClick's year-ago earnings of 18 cents per share.

ValueClick has a strong history in the earnings spotlight, having surpassed analysts' bottom-line expectations in each of the past four quarters. However, a quick scan of the stock's sentiment backdrop reveals a nearly palpable pessimism among both traders and analysts.

Continue reading ValueClick Earnings Preview

ValueClick Earnings Preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Nowadays, internet marketing is adjustable, very profitable and works in real time; technology innovations now allow marketers to identify unique (or individual) users to a site," notes Karim Rahemtulla.

The contributing editor to White Cap Research Group explains, "One stock poised to benefit from these developments is ValueClick (VCLK). The company's sole purpose is to turn each click on a website into profits.

"The advancements in online market technology let marketers gauge how long someone spent on each page, whether they clicked on a link or made a purchase.

Continue reading ValueClick (VCLK): Insiders Eye Internet Firm

ValueClick (VCLK): Insiders Eye Internet Firm originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Franklin Resources (BEN) to outperform from market perform and raised its target price for shares to $127 from $105 to reflect its belief the company is well positioned in the current environment.
• UBS upgraded Nuance (NUAN) to buy from neutral and has an $18 price target on the stock. The firm upgraded shares based on valuation and believes the company could be an acquisition target.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded DryShips (DRYS) to equal weight from underweight and has a $5.50 target on the stock. The firm cites the firmer ultra-deepwater drilling market for the upgrade.
• Becton Dickinson (BDX) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Edwards Lifesciences (EW) was upgraded to market perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
• Arkansas Best (ABFS) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BCR, BEN, DRYS, INT, ISRG, NKE, NOK, NUAN, VCLK, ZMH ...

Analyst Calls: BCR, BEN, DRYS, INT, ISRG, NKE, NOK, NUAN, VCLK, ZMH ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Credit Suisse upgraded AT&T (T) to outperform from neutral and has a $35 target on the stock. Credit Suisse believes the impact from AT&T's loss of iPhone exclusivity will be less than expected and that the stock should benefit from its earnings growth and dividend yield.
• Goldman upgraded Freeport McMoRan (FCX) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $94 from $79 based on improving copper fundamentals.
• Benchmark Co. upgraded Valueclick (VCLK) to vuy from hold on expectations Google Instant (GOOG) could drive marketing traffic. The firm raised its target price for Valueclick shares to $15 from $11.
• Best Buy (BBY) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Research In Motion (RIMM) was upgraded to buy from sell at Societe Generale.
• CarMax (KMX) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BBY, FCX, KMX, NUE, PRGS, RIMM, T, USG, VCLK, X ...

Analyst Calls: BBY, FCX, KMX, NUE, PRGS, RIMM, T, USG, VCLK, X ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) lower Q4 earnings topped estimates and same-store sales also declined.
• Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) reaffirmed its earnings outlook but lowered its revenue forecast for the full year.
• Daimler AG (DAI) provided guidance for the year that included slashing its dividend, sending shares lower.
• Dell Inc. (DELL) lower Q4 earnings beat estimates by a penny but it didn't offer guidance, sending shares lower.
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) easily topped Q4 earnings estimates and revenue increased as well.

Continue reading Earnings Highlights: Campbell, Dell, Goodyear, JCPenney, Merck, Playboy ...

Earnings Highlights: Campbell, Dell, Goodyear, JCPenney, Merck, Playboy ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVID) sees strong Q1 results driven by Guitar Hero.
• Allegheny Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ATI) raised its Q2 earnings guidance ahead of its report.
• Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS) strong Q4 and full-year results included a record quarterly revenue.
• Citigroup (NYSE: C) posted better-than-expected results despite a big loss on further write-downs.
• eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) reported better-than-expected results and offered a soft outlook (see transcript).
• Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST) posted strong Q2 earnings despite the housing slump but lower revenues.
• Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) posted strong Q2 results on expansion in Mexico and China.
• Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) beat Q2 expectations despite profit and revenue declines.
• International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) easily topped Wall Street earnings expectations.
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) beat Q2 estimates and raised its full-year forecast (see transcript).
• Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) warned of lower Q2 earnings due to energy and distribution costs.
• Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) reported worse-than-expected Q2 results on further write downs.
• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) earnings surged but investors were put off by its full-year guidance.
• Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) reaffirmed its guidance following the Kimberly-Clark warnings.
• United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) beat Q2 estimates, lifting shares from a recent 52-week low.
• ValueClick Inc. (NASDAQ: VCLK) posted weak results and warned about the second half of the year.

For more highlights from this week, see: Google, Intel, JPMorgan, Coca-Cola, Nokia and others

The earnings crunch continues next week. Among companies scheduled to report are Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Texas Intruments (NYSE: TXN), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), Wachovia (NYSE: WB), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Hershey (NYSE: HSY), and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Earnings highlights: Citigroup, eBay, IBM, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Bears and oil traders trampled in Pamplona

Closing Bell: Bears and oil traders trampled in Pamplona originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Valueclick (NASDAQ: VCLK), an online marketing service company, announced preliminary Q2 revenue between $163 and $164 million compared to the company's prior guidance range of $166 to $170 million. VCLK is recently trading down $3.02 to $10.75 in pre-open trading.

VCLK overall option implied volatility of 65 was above its 26-week average of 58 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Option Update: Valueclick volatility elevated into lower Q2 revenue guidance originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Valueclick (NASDAQ:VCLK) to Outperform from Perform following the company's Q4 upside, as they believe the FTC investigation completed with no material penalties and that lead generation is stabilizing.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of The Medicines Co (NASDAQ:MDCO) to Buy from Hold following the solid Q4 results to reflect a better risk/reward profile and stabilizing PCI volume.
  
• Goldman raised its rating on British Sky Broadcasting (NYSE:BSY) to Buy from Sell and added shares to their Conviction Sell List as they see above-average upside at tough valuations.

• Goldman upgraded the U.S. Trucking Sector to Attractive from Cautious, also upgraded YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ:YRCW) and Arkansas Best (NASDAQ:ABFS) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• ING upgraded Novartis (NYSE:NVS) to Buy from Hold.

Analyst upgrades: VCLK, MDCO and BSY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading ValueClick believes profitability is a click-through process

ValueClick believes profitability is a click-through process originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Dial 1-800-REVShare for the future in TV advertising

Dial 1-800-REVShare for the future in TV advertising originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Jefferies downgraded shares of Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) to Hold from Buy, as they believe the company's fundamentals are weakening given the worse than anticipated share losses in the wireless segment. Shares were also lowered to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan, to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman, to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse, and to Neutral from Buy at UBS to reflect the slowdown in the company's wireless growth.
  
• Check Point Software (NASDAQ: CHKP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies on valuation and highlights the difficult spending environment in 1H08 as well as the company's tough comps.
  
• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Mobile Mini (NASDAQ: MINI) to Hold from Buy following the company's negative preannouncement.
  
• Oppenheimer lowered Vineyard National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VNBC) to Neutral from Buy to reflect slower pace of balance sheet growth and lower gain-on-sale income estimates.
  
• JMP Securities downgraded TorreyPines (NASDAQ: TPTX) to Market Outperform from Strong Buy and said Tezampanel's lack of dose response and statistically significant pain free response will keep the stock in the "show me" category.

• JP Morgan downgraded ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) to Underweight from Neutral and Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) to Neutral from Overweight.
  
• UBS downgraded Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Citigroup downgraded Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) to Hold from Buy.
  
• ThinkEquity downgraded ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) to Source of Funds from Buy.

Analyst downgrade: TXN, CHKP, MINI, VNBC and TPTX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Bear Stearns downgraded the software sector to Underweight from Market Weight, citing valuations and increased risk to 2008 IT budgets.
  
• Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman and to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan following the company's Q3 profit warning.
  
• Paccar (NASDAQ: PCAR) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wachovia. The firm believes Street estimates are too high due to weaker-than-expected North American unit production.
  
• ABN Amro downgraded shares of Eni SpA (NYSE: E) to Sell from Hold as they expect the company to invest significantly more in its upstream activities than guidance suggests due to cost pressures.
  
• Oppenheimer downgraded ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) to Neutral from Buy following the Q3 pre-announcement and guidance.

• Merrill downgraded Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE: ELS) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded ACA Capital Holdings (NYSE: ACA) To Neutral from Overweight.
  
• Citigroup downgraded Vimpel Communications (NYSE: VIP) to Sell from Hold.
  
• Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Gabelli.

Analyst downgrades: Software sector, ERIC, PCAR, E and VCLK originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), a Swedish telecommunications and data communications systems and services, is recently down $11.98 to $28.95 in pre-open trading after announcing third-quarter net income fell 36% compared to a year ago on lower demand for network equipment.

Oppenheimer says: "The announcement is somewhat surprising given the company's upbeat comments at a technology analyst day on September 11."

ERIC over all option implied volatility of 34 is near is 26-week average of 33 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price risk.

ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK), an online marketing services company, is recently down $4.43 to $23.40 in pre-open trading after lowering third-quarter revenue and gross margin guidance.

VCLK over all option implied volatility of 72 is above its 26-week average of 53 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risks.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Option update 10-16-07: ERIC, VCLK poised to sell offs, volatility up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Wachovia downgraded shares of Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT) to Market Perform from Outperform reflect several challenges to the company's key franchises. In particular, Wachovia cites the potential delay of the drug-eluting stent Xience launch in the U.S. and decelerating growth of Humira.
  
• ABN Amro downgraded shares of Barclays (NYSE: BCS) to Hold from Buy to reflect the capital markets, lower UK bank non-interest income and higher bad debts.
  
• Oppenheimer downgraded shares of SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Neutral from Buy as they expect many of the advantages that drove shares to unwind in Q4 and into 1H08.
  
• Mission West Properties (NYSE: MSW) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel, as they now believe the possibility of a sale is 50%/50% and could be pushed back to 1H08.
  
• Think Equity downgraded shares of Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) to Source of Funds from Accumulate as they believe competition could hinder Q4 and 2008 growth for wireless.

• Citigroup downgraded Xyratex Ltd (NASDAQ: XRTX) and Valueclick (NASDAQ: VCLK) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Piper downgraded Nasdaq Stock Market (NASDAQ: NDAQ) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• Lehman downgraded Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (NYSE: BNI) to Equal Weight from Overweight and CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) to Underweight from Equal Weight.
  
• UBS downgraded Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP) to Neutral from Buy.

Analyst downgrades: ABT, BCS, SNDK, MSW and TXN originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Oct 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Clear

This week in Advertising Age - bypassing the airport screeners originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Chase Norlin has spent over a decade in the online space. For example, he was a senior business development executive at ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK). He also served as an executive at InfoSpace (NASDAQ: INSP). Oh, and he also helped to create Sony's (NYSE: SNE) first online photo sharing service.

His latest gig: Pixsy. It's a fast-growing company in the online video space.

Well, this week, I had a chance to catch up with Chase.

Q: How are things at Pixsy?

A: Image and Video Search are the fastest growing consumer search verticals on the web. In fact, Image Search is 10% of Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) traffic and grows 100% every year. We said early on, "if image and video search are so popular, why doesn't every website have it?" And that's the driving growth behind our business. Pixsy is unique in that we can provide image and video search to a website, under their brand, with content tailored to that specific vertical, and enable that site to have their media searched or combined with the Pixsy index. All of this provides great value to publishers: new search traffic, users stay on the site longer, new content tailored to that site, and new ad inventory is created. Additionally, the service provides great value to content providers as they receive free, targeted traffic from users performing image and video search queries. We now have a backlog of 8,000 providers trying to get content into the Pixsy index as a result.

Continue reading CEO interview: Pixsy powers up

CEO interview: Pixsy powers up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Sep 2007 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Bernstein upgraded Talisman Energy Inc (NYSE: TLM) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation and potential exploration success in Vietnam and raised Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC), Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN) and EOG Resources Inc (NYSE: EOG) to Market Perform from Underperform on improving gas fundamentals.
• Bernstein also upgraded shares of BP PLC (NYSE: BP) and BG Group (NYSE: BRG) to Outperform from Market Perform.
• Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ: CHKP) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings, citing checks that indicate a strong product cycle for the company's beefed up VPN/firewall product portfolio.
• ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) was upgraded at Citigroup to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe the recent correction provides a compelling entry point.

• Merrill Lynch upgraded shares of Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA), Alumina Ltd (NYSE: AWC) and Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ: CENX) to Buy from Neutral and shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE: PCU) to Neutral from Sell.
• JP Morgan upgraded shares of Tempur Pedic International (NYSE: TPX) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• Infineon Technologies (NYSE: IFX) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Analyst upgrades 9-5-07: BP, BRG, CHKP and VCLK originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Jefferies upgraded Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) to Hold from Underperform to reflect the strong recent results from SurfControl as well as the possibility for 2H software seasonality.

• Lehman upgraded shares of OSI Pharma (NASDAQ: OSIP) to Overweight from Underweight on valuation as well as expectations for price increases and growth in Europe.

• Susquehanna upgraded shares of Gap (NYSE: GPS) to Positive from Neutral citing management's ability to control costs & manage inventories, share buybacks, and streamlining of organizational structure.
  

• Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) was upgrade to Accumulate from Neutral at Buckingham based on valuation and strong worldwide luxury trends outside of Japan.

• Matrix upgraded shares of Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) to Strong Buy from Hold to reflect positive fundamentals and the recent share weakness...

• Valueclick (NASDAQ: VCLK) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham.

• WestLB raised Swisscom (NYSE: SCM) to Add from Hold and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Buy from Hold.

Analyst upgrades: ELY, GPS, TIF and VCLK originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.