Merrill upgraded shares of AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Neutral from Underperform to reflect the company's pipeline momentum and lack of negative catalysts.
Keefe Bruyette upgraded Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation as they believe DB should trade at a higher multiple.
Merrill cut Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) to Underperform from Neutral as the firm sees better opportunities elsewhere in the sector.
Merriman downgraded Rackable Systems (NASDAQ: RACK) to Neutral from Buy following the company's mixed Q2 results to reflect its customer concentration and fluctuating margins.
Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS) was downgraded at JP Morgan to Underweight from Neutral.
Fortress (NYSE: FIG) was cut to Sell from Hold at Citigroup.
Analyst initiations:
UBS believes Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has a competitive advantage and their checks indicate new Macs, new iPhone colors and potentially new iPods may come early on in the second half of 2008. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating and $195 target. UBS also initiated Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) at Neutral.
KeyBanc initiated Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) with an Underweight rating and $25 target based on slowing core growth at Bed Bath and likely margin erosion from the ramp in growth at Christmas Tree Shops and buybuy Baby.
Infineon (NYSE: IFX) was initiated with a Buy rating at Deutsche Bank.
After hitting a one-year high of $37.61 last June, the stock hit a one-year low of $24.49 in January. BBBY opened this morning at $29.98. So far today the stock has hit a low of $29.72 and a high of $30.54. As of 12:05, BBBY is trading at $30.28, up $1.70 (6.0%). The chart for BBBY looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.
For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bull-put credit spread below the $25 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 4.2% return in just seven weeks as long as BBBY is above $25 at August expiration. Bed, Bath & Beyond would have to fall by more than 17% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.
Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported Q1 earnings on Wednesday, and Trey Thoelcke highlighted the numbers in this earnings-recap piece. Shares rose substantially in the after-hours trading session yesterday, jumping over 8%, and as I reviewed various earnings reports last night, I found myself drawn to the retailer's stock performance. I haven't been a huge fan of Bed Bath & Beyond as of late, so I figured I should take a look at the earnings release to see if there's anything here that would change my opinion.
Unfortunately, there isn't. Sales may have grown 6%, and expectations may have been beaten by $0.03, but net income still dropped over 20% to $0.30 per diluted share. Cash flow from operations declined 44% to $65.8 million. And same-store sales were very anemic, rising only 0.8%.
I choose, in this case, to focus on those figures. I also consider the fact that Bed Bath & Beyond does not pay a dividend, and that we are in an awful economic environment, both from a consumer and stock-market standpoint. This is not the stock I'd want to face the recession with, and I don't necessarily find it to be a big value right now. When it comes to retail, I am more likely to look at Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT). I'd even consider a Home Depot (NYSE: HD) or a Lowe's (NYSE: LOW). All of these stocks pay dividends and have better brand equities and more attractive prospects. Bed Bath & Beyond certainly didn't deliver an earnings bomb, but I'm still not inclined to put money here.
Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.
Here's a quick recap of some additional earnings reports on Wednesday.
Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) said strong growth overseas helped boost its fourth-quarter profit by 12% to $490.5 million, or 98 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to earn 96 cents per share for the quarter. Shares fell more than 5% in after-hours trading to $62.15.
CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) said its first-quarter profit climbed 8% to $16.6 million, or 31 cents per share, helped by a small increase in same-store sales at Carl's Jr. restaurants. Revenue fell 3% to $466.2 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 27 cents per share on revenue of $465.5 million. Shares fell 5 cents to $12.25 in after-hours trading.
Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) said its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 6.6% to $17.3 million, or 8 cents per share. Adjusted earnings were 18 cents per share. Revenue rose 32% to $156.6 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial on average predicted a profit of 18 cents per share on revenue of $153 million. Shares fell 19 cents in after-hours trading to $22.11.
General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) said its fourth-quarter profit dropped 17% to $185.2 million, or 53 cents per share. Adjusted earnings were 73 cents per share, which met Wall Street expectations. Sales increased 13% to $3.47 billion beating expectations. The company reaffirmed its guidance for the full year. Shares fell almost 2% to $61.19.
UBS initiated Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) and Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) with Buy ratings and an $11 target and $62 target, respectively. The firm views valuation as attractive.
5 Foreign Stocks to Love Concerned about your domestic investments in today's troubled economy? Consider these international companies, which can be easily purchased right here in the U.S. They include Finland's Nokia, China's CNOOC, Brazil's Embraer, U.K's InterContinental Hotels Group and Ireland's Allied Irish Banks. 5 foreign stocks we love - How we chose the stocks (1) - CNNMoney.com
Highest Paid CEOs Stocks may have fallen in 2007, but executive pay sure didn't. And if the multi-million dollar paydays for CEOs doesn't raise eyebrows, the 'perks' that go along with the money certainly will. These include corporate jets, special security, private cars with drivers to country club dues and vacations. Among the top paid CEOS including base pay, perks and other compensation are Merrill Lynch's new CEO John Thain, Oracle's Larry Ellison, Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein and American Express' Kenneth Chenault who each made over $50 million last year. List: Highest Paid CEOs Stocks may fall, but execs' pay doesn't - USATODAY.com CEO perks often include use of company jet, security - USATODAY.com
Retirees Turn to Communes With living costs spiraling upward and empty-nesters feeling a need for a greater sense of community in their lives, some baby boomers are reconsidering the concept of group living. This time around, the idea holds appeal as a cost-efficient, socially engaging way to spend their golden years. Baby boomers go back to the commune -Bankrate
12 Tips for Midnight Tax Filers These tips will help ensure that you get your return into Uncle Sam's hands on time while mailing at the last possible moment. Many happy, but last-minute, returns
Stocks started out in slightly positive territory on what appeared to be more good news out of a major institution. Then oil inventories showed an unexpected decline, sending oil up up over $2.00 per barrel to $110.56 and later even above $112. Throw in a couple of weak earnings reports and the fears that earnings season is going to be tough, and the bears got to rule today.
Below are today's unofficial closing levels for major US index levels:
Dow: 12,328.49, down 0.38%; Nasdaq 2,322.12, down 1.13%; S&P 1354.56, down 0.8%
Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) saw a sharp drop today, and that was before the earnings news was out after the close. A Piper Jaffray downgrade led to the sharp drop today.
Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) proved to be a typical example of what is becoming redundant. The company lined up a sale of $12 billion of dollars worth of leveraged loans for some 90 cents on the dollar.
Bernstein downgraded Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) to "market perform" from "outperform" according toBriefing.com. The news service also reports that Citigroup initiated Southern Cooper (NYSE: PCU) with a "sell".
Banc of America Securities said that Allstate (NYSE: ALL) may miss first quarter earnings due to payments for storm damages according to the AP.
Stock futures were lower this morning, indicating the beginning of what could be another down day on Wall Street as more troubling news from the financial industry was reported, while UPS warned of a slowdown in its delivery business.
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks ended lower following a revenue warning from Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), a lackluster earnings report from Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), a dividend cut from Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) and the Federal Reserve minutes, all of which affecting investors' sentiment. The Dow industrials closed 35 points lower, or 0.29%, the S&P 500 lost 7 points, or 0.51%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 16 points, or 0.68%.
This morning, given the very light economic calendar consisting of February wholesale inventories at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Street will likely focus -- once again -- on the troubles in financials. The top story on the Wall Street Journal is about the options the Fed is considering to alleviate the credit crunch further including "contingency plans for expanding its lending power in the event its recent steps to unfreeze credit markets fail." While such plans aren't surprising and even welcome, the report comes after the Fed showed concern the economic downturn could last into 2009 when it released Tuesday the minutes of its FOMC meeting.
BBBY call option volume of 2,511 contracts compares to put volume of 17,758 contracts. BBBY April option implied volatility is at 64, May is at 53, above its 26-week average of 40 according to Track Data, suggesting hedging for downside price movement.
Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.
Consumer electronics retailer Circuit City Stores Inc. (NYSE: CC) and leading domestics retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NYSE: BBBY) are scheduled to report earnings tomorrow. Here's a quick peek ahead of results.
Circuit City has fallen short of earnings estimates in the past five quarters. When the Richmond, Virginia-based company reported fourth-quarter results back in November, its loss of 64 cents per share was deeper than the 31 cents per share loss forecast by analysts polled by Thomson Financial, as well as the nine cents per share loss in the same period of 2006. For the current quarter, analysts expect the loss to narrow to six cents per share, compared to a profit of 61 cents in the year-ago quarter.
The company's earnings per share growth forecast for this year is a dismal -92.7%, worse than the industry average, as well as the 2.45% of rival Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY). So it's little surprise that the analysts' consensus recommendation is to hold Circuit City, and has been for at least three months. Shares are trading much closer to the 52-week low of $3.44 from mid March than the 52-week high of $19.12 from almost a year ago. The share price closed Monday at $4.76, and fell to about $4.62 in early trading Tuesday.
For more about pressure to oust the CEO, to drop Circuit City from the S&P 500, or other news that could influence earnings results, see BloggingStocks' Circuit City coverage.
PDUFA date for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY)'s supplemental Biologics License Application for Orencia for the treatment of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 5pm.
Tuesday, April 8
Chattem Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTT) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 9:00am.
FOMC to release minutes of the March 18th meeting at 2:00pm.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Bed Bath & Beyond, DSW Inc and Oplink Comm were today's noteworthy downgrades:
JP Morgan downgraded Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) to Underweight from Neutral citing recent sales commentary from competitors and the difficult macro environment.
Oppenheimer cut DSW Inc (NYSE: DSW) to Perform from Outperform following the company's Q1 miss and lower than expected guidance, as they see little visibility in the coming quarters.
Piper downgraded shares of Oplink Communications (NASDAQ: OPLK) to Sell from Neutral following the company's negative earnings preannouncement and lowered their target to $9.00 from $14.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Tiffany (NYSE: TIF) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Merrill.
'Natural male enhancement' founder gets enhanced prison sentence
Mobile Telesystems (MBT) soars on $452M buyback plan
Could Sprint dump Nextel to join with T-Mobile?
Ford (F) desperately needs more dealers to consolidate
Analyst calls: BT, JAS, EGN, CHL, KO, GILD, DWA ...
Oil broke $120 again as Gustav eyes the Gulf of Mexico
Toyota (TM) takes its 2009 forecasts down
Is TiVo a buy after its Q2 report?
Starbucks (SBUX) management: No raises next year
Before the bell: Stocks flat; TIF, FNM, TIVO, AAPL, GILD, JAS ...
Has housing bottomed? Mortgage data lifts Toll Brothers (TOL), others
Google unveils Ad Manager system for use by anyone
Wal-Mart has high hopes for Marketside format
Mattel to get up to $100 million in Bratz case
Alabama county mulls bankruptcy; could be largest failure in history
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Analyst upgrades:
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Stock futures were lower this morning, indicating the beginning of what could be another down day on Wall Street as more troubling news from the financial industry was reported, while UPS warned of a slowdown in its delivery business.
Bed Bath & Beyond
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