Fisher
Capital Management Corporate News - US equity futures look set to open
close to flat, having been initially boosted by unconfirmed talk of a PBOC RRR
cut, however early gains were pared as fears over European peripheral debt once
again came to the fore, investors will look ahead to US new home sales data.
DJIA
Earnings:
N/A
Other news:
ExxonMobil – Co. plans to sell up to 78 European service
stations as they are not profitable enough, according to an unidentified person
at the Co. (Les Echos)
Du Pont - Several large private equity firms, including
Apollo Global together with Carlyle and KKR pair up with Onex, are preparing
bids for DuPont's USD 4bln auto-paints business. (NY Post)
Johnson & Johnson – Co. is interested in making
acquisitions in India’s over-the-counter space. The Co. is said to be in talks
with multiple companies. (Economic Times)
Wal-Mart – Co. was offered to buy the chance to bid for Kiva
Systems, which recently said it would be bought by Amazon for USD 775mln, but
decided not to bid as it could not see an attractive return on the investment.
(RTRS)
Intel – Co. has plans to release several new SSDs in the
coming months, including a 300 series model codenamed Maple Crest and a 720
series codenamed Ramsdale, both in May, and potentially up to four other models
between Q3 and Q4. (Digitimes)
AT&T - The Justice Department is suing AT&T, alleging
that the co. knew its hearing impaired service had become a haven for Nigerian scam
artists, while serving relatively few of America's hearing-impaired, which was
subsidized by the US government. (WSJ)
Bank of America – Co. will test allowing homeowners at risk
of foreclosure to turn over deeds to their houses and sign leases that will let
them rent the houses back from the bank at a market rate. (WSJ)
Companies paying dividend: Bank of America (USD 0.0100)
S&P 500
Earnings:
Nike - Q3 EPS USD 1.20 vs. exp. USD 1.16; Q3 revenue USD
5.85bln vs. exp. USD 5.82bln. (RTRS)
- Q3 worldwide
futures orders up 15% vs. exp. up 13%
- Q3 footwear
revenue was USD 3.35bln
- Q3 inventories
up 32% to $3.4B
- Q3 gross margin
declined 200bps to 43.8%
- Co. expects Q4
gross margin to decline 100bps
- Co. sees FY12 gross
margin approximately 200bps below FY11 level
- Co. expects
FY13 gross margin will be higher than FY12
- Co. sees Q4
sales growth in low double digits vs. Exp. USD 6.59bln
- Co. reiterates
FY12 sales growth in mid-teens vs. Exp. USD 24.14bln
Accenture - Q2 EPS USD 0.97 vs. exp. USD 0.86; Q2 revenue USD
6.8bln vs. exp. USD 6.65bln. (RTRS)
- Co. bought back
8.6mln shares of common stock in Q2
- Co. boosts forecast;
co. sees year revenue up 10%-12%, previously saw up 7%-10%
Micron Tech - Q2 loss per share USD 0.23 vs. exp. loss per
share USD 0.20; Q2 revenue USD 2.07bln vs. exp. USD 2.01bln. (RTRS)
- Co. says Q2
"weaker environment for pricing than we would have liked"
- Co. say DRAM
supply concerns are stabilizing OEM pricing
- Q2 gross margin
declined to 13% vs. 15% in Q1
- Co. shares were
down 4.25% after market
Darden - Q3 cont ops EPS USD 1.25 vs. Exp. USD 1.24, Q3
revenue USD 2.16bln vs. Exp. USD 2.14bln. (RTRS)
- Co. confirms
FY12 EPS view up 4%-7% vs. Exp. USD 3.60
- Co. confirms
FY12 revenue view up 7%-7.5% vs. Exp. USD 8.04bln
- Co. sees FY12
SSS up 2.5%-3.0%
KB Home - Q1 loss per share USD 0.59 vs. Exp. loss per share
USD 0.24, Q1 revenue USD 254.6mln vs. Exp. USD 337.72mln. (RTRS)
Other news:
Goldman Sachs - Credit Suisse believes Goldman Sachs' Q1 will
equate to a strong revenue recovery vs. H2 2011 levels driven by a rebound in
risky assets, credit spread tightening, and seasonality. (Sources)
Chevron/Transocean - Silvio Jablonski, a senior official at
oil regulator ANP, says the November oil spill off the coast of Brazil was not
the result of negligence by Chevron or drill-rig operator Transocean. Jablonski
told a Senate hearing that the accident was caused by mistakes and project
errors, but would not use the word "negligence". (RTRS)
AIG – Co. confirmed it has made a final payment of USD 1.5bln
to the US Treasury and its Maiden Lane II loan has been fully repaid. Co.
repayment of preferred stock was one year ahead of schedule. According to the
US Treasury, AIG investment, including Fed holdings, now total USD 45bln.
(RTRS)
Lion’s Gate - Pre-release audience surveys indicate that the
co.’s "The Hunger Games" could gross anywhere from USD 125-150mln in
its opening weekend. (LA Times)
Pulte Group - The Labour Department has increased pressure on
the co. in a battle over an investigation into the housing industry's pay
practices. Pulte argued in court filings that Labour's subpoena, which seeks
payroll records on building projects in eight states from November 2009 to the
present, is too broad, and has criticized the department's tactics. (WSJ)
Abercrombie & Fitch – Co.’s CEO enters into 10b5-1 trading
plan to sell up to an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares. (Sources)
Companies paying dividend: Lockheed Martin (USD 1.0000),
Blackrock (USD 1.5000), Wellpoint (USD 0.2875), Waste management (USD 0.3550)
Nasdaq 100
Earnings:
N/A
Other news:
Apple - Sharp and LG Display have both begun small-volume
shipments of flat panels for Apple's new iPad after recently failing to meet
quality requirements, and full-scale shipping is likely to recommence in Q2.
(Digitimes) In other news, users of Apple's new iPad are discovering that the
device uses data "at a monstrous rate." (Washington Post)
Google – Co.’s Play unit is preparing to upgrade some of the
features in its music area, including rearranging song displays and ways to
organize libraries, in related news, co. executives have spoken to some film
studios about offering Android users the option to buy titles. (Cnet)
Yahoo - According to a co. executive, a sale of some of the
co.’s ad technologies, including the Right Media Exchange, is not imminent and
it could be an "ordeal." (Business Insider)
eBay – Co. has agreed to sell its Rent.com website to
Primedia for an undisclosed sum. (Sources)
Research in Motion - Citigroup expects the co. to report
in-line quarterly results on March 29 with guidance that will likely
disappoint. The firm thinks RIM is facing severe challenges and a lack of visibility
given the new phone launch in the second half of 2012. (theflyonthewall.com)
Zynga – Co. has filed to sell USD 43mln shares of common
stock for holders, Morgan Stanley and Goldman are acting as joint book running
managers for the offering. (Sources)
Michael Kors – Co. have priced their 25mln share secondary at
USD 47.00, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Goldman acted as joint book running
managers for the offering. (RTRS)
Broker moves
Upgrades:
Goldman Sachs – Co. upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform
at RBC Capital, Price target raised to USD 130 from USD 102
Morgan Stanley – Co. upgraded to Sector Perform from
Underperform at RBC Capital, Price target raised to USD 21 from USD 17
American Express – Co. price target raised to USD 67 from USD
60 at Goldman, firm maintains a Buy rating
Dollar General – Co. upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Nomura,
Price target is USD 54
Discover – Co. upgraded to Conviction Buy from Neutral at
Goldman, Price target raised to USD 39 from USD 36
Mosaic – Co. upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan,
firm raised its price target for shares to USD 68 from USD 57
Coventry Health – Co. upgraded to Buy from Neutral at
Goldman, Price target is USD 42
Accenture – Co. price target raised to USD 73 from USD 66 at
Citigroup, firm maintains a Buy rating
Monster Worldwide – Co. upgraded to Outperform from Neutral
at RW Baird, Price target raised to USD 15 from USD 11
DuPont Fabros – Co. upgraded to Buy from Neutral at
Citigroup, firm raised its price target for shares to USD 27 from USD 20.50
Altria Group – Co. upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform
at Wells Fargo, firm raised its price target range for shares to USD 31-33 from
USD 26-28
Downgrades:
Nike – Co. removed from Top Picks Live list at Citigroup,
firm reiterates a Buy rating on Nike with a USD 123 price target
Peabody Energy – Co. downgraded to Neutral from Buy at
Davenport
Alpha Natural – Co. downgraded to Neutral from Buy at
Davenport
Xilinx – Co. downgraded to Hold from Buy at Auriga, Price
target is USD 39
Aetna – Co. downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman, Price
target is USD 45
Reynolds American – Co. downgraded to Market Perform from
Outperform at Wells Fargo, firm lowered its price target range for shares to
USD 38-40 from USD 41-43
Randgold Resources – Co. downgraded to Neutral from Buy at
Citigroup
Other news
Ambac – Co. financial Q4 loss per share USD 3.18. Co. Q4 net
investment income USD 92mln. (Sources)
US Banks – Fed’s Fisher has said we have to break up the
‘too-big-to-fail’ banks. (Sources)
US Banks - Democratic Congressman Barney Frank, one of the
co-authors of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, said that regulators should
issue a final version of the Volcker Rule by Labour Day. (NY Times)
BATS Global Markets – Co. priced its IPO yesterday at USD 16,
at the low end of its expected range. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Credit
Suisse led the offering, which is believed to have raised about USD 100mln. (NY
Times)
Lululemon – According to Barron’s, despite the company's
incredible performance, at 50x expected forward earnings, the co. appears
overpriced, especially if the excessive growth shows any signs of fatigue.
(Barron’s)
According to Barron’s the Top Five co.’s with earnings
strength and lower price risk are: Paccar, Nucor, Occidental Petroleum, Time
Warner and Anadarko Petroleum. Three of the companies with stronger earnings
profiles are projected to raise dividends: Nucor, Occidental Petroleum and Time
Warner. The Bottom Five with earnings volatility, higher price risk are:
Regions Financial, Masco, First Horizon, Noble Energy and Flour. (Barron’s)
No comments:
Post a Comment