Analyst Calls

• Medtronic (MDT) to buy from neutral and 1-800-Flowers.com (FLWS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• CarMax (KMX) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Points International (PTSEF) to buy from neutral at Merriman.
• Nokia (NOK) to market perform from underperform at Morgan Keegan.
• Amdocs (DOX) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Western Alliance (WAL) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Carbo Ceramics (CRR) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• Rackspace (RAX) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Brinker (EAT) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BP, EAT, JBLU, KMX, MDT, MYGN, NOK, NTRS, RAX, RDS.A, T ...

Analyst Calls: BP, EAT, JBLU, KMX, MDT, MYGN, NOK, NTRS, RAX, RDS.A, T ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Market rallies, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq all up (C, HPQ, SLB, WMT, TXN)

Closing Bell: Market rallies, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq all up (C, HPQ, SLB, WMT, TXN) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reuters reports that Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) saw its same-store sales grow by 3% in August -- almost double the 1.6% increase analysts were expecting. Reuters wrote that its "net sales in the month, ended August 29, rose 8.7 percent to $30.67 billion." Customers are rewarding Wal-Mart for sticking with its strategy of offering everyday low prices. As the middle class squeeze tightens its grip, investors are anticipating more such growth.

Tuesday night I taught a business school case written in the 1990s on Wal-Mart. The lesson of the case is that Wal-Mart understood that its customers wanted low prices and wide selection so it built a system for getting discounts from suppliers and keeping its shelves stocked with the items customers wanted to buy in each of its stores. But this system stopped working as well through much of the last seven years.

That's partially due to people borrowing against the rising value of their homes to shop at more upscale retailers. In the last year, however, more people have suffered as their incomes declined, the cost of food and fuel has hit record levels, and the value of their homes has plummeted. This middle-class squeeze pushes more and more people back to Wal-Mart since it provides the lowest prices on the items they need to keep their families functioning.

Investors have noticed -- driving its stock up 37% in the last year. As the economy worsens, Wal-Mart investors are likely to benefit -- its stock is up 1.1% in pre-market.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Wal-Mart securities.

Wal-Mart profits from the middle class squeeze originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal today corrected a story reporting that Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) would host a Miley Cyrus performance at today's shareholders' meeting. Could the change have anything to do with those Vanity Fair photos?

Of course not. The 15-year old billion dollar phenomenon won't appear "because of a scheduling conflict, the company said." The Wall Street Journal owes its readers an explanation for its faulty reporting. And the way to do that would be to investigate the scheduling conflict. Here are some questions for the Wall Street Journal's reporters to ask Wal-Mart and Miley:

• What was the exact scheduling conflict that came up so suddenly between Thursday and this morning?
• Did Miley decide to book another concert appearance on Thursday just so she could have an excuse to cancel her appearance with Wal-Mart?
• Or did Wal-Mart suddenly decide that Miley's Vanity Fair photos made her "inappropriate"?

Can't Rupert Murdoch hire any competent journalists? We need to know what Miley's scheduling conflict was. A one line correction won't do.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Wal-Mart securities.

Is Wal-Mart punishing Miley Cyrus for photos? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: AsiaInfo Holdings, Western Alliance Bancorp and Gladstone Capital were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Kaufman Bros. believes AsiaInfo Holdings (NASDAQ: ASIA) is the leading provider of software to Chinese telecommunications firms, which they note are in the midst of a spending increase to upgrade legacy billing and CRM software systems. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating and $15 target.
• Keefe Bruyette resumed coverage of Western Alliance Bancorp (NYSE: WAL) with a Market Perform rating and $14 target and sees the potential for short-term real estate headline risk.
• Gladstone Capital (NASDAQ: GLAD) was assumed with a Perform rating at Oppenheimer. The firm believes the increasingly challenging macroeconomic environment raises the risk of deteriorating credit quality and finds shares fairly priced at current levels.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• JMP Securities initiated TheStreet.com (NASDAQ: TSCM) with an Outperform rating and $13 target.
• Baird initiated Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) with a Neutral rating and $26 target.
• Informatica (NASDAQ: INFA) was initiated with a Buy rating at Broadpoint.

Analyst initiations: ASIA, WAL and GLAD originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Welcome to the 28th installment of The Wal-Mart Weekly, a column dedicated to bringing you insight, wit, facts, results, opinions and just a bit of everything else when it comes down to a very hot topic these days: Wal-Mart.

This past week, I discussed Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and the continuing strategy the retailer has with low prices leading the way to snagging more sales from customers.

The company and many of is execs continue to square off against the retailer's image of "always low prices" and into more higher-margin goods, but my opinion is that any strategy right now outside of continuing to lure customers with low prices for this company seems to be stagnant.

Can the retailer break free from its image as a big-box retailer with only low prices to offer its customers? That remains to be seen, but so far in 2007, nothing has changed from the movements I've seen in most Wal-Mart stores.

This week, I'll look at what's wrong with the retailer in two separate segments. First off: market saturation, gaining new customers and squeezing every penny for what it's worth.

Continue reading The Wal-Mart Weekly: What's wrong in a nutshell, Part 1

The Wal-Mart Weekly: What's wrong in a nutshell, Part 1 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Bear Stearns cut General Motors (NYSE: GM) to Peer Perform from Outperform based on valuation and growing fundamental headwinds.

• HSBC downgraded Aluminum Corp of China (NYSE: ACH) to Underweight from Neutral as they believe prices of lightweight metal have peaked.

• Greenbrier Cos (NYSE: GBX) was cut at Bear Stearns to Peer Perform from Outperform on valuation.

• Matrix USA downgraded Monsanto (NYSE: MON) to Buy from Strong Buy on valuation...

• Sandler cut Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE: WAL) to Hold from Buy.

• UBS cut Arris Group (NASDAQ: ARRS) to Neutral from Buy.

• AG Edwards downgraded Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT) to Sell from Buy. Gabelli cut Hilton Hotels to Hold from Buy.
  

Analyst downgrades 7-05-07: ACH, ARRS, GM and HLT originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.