Natural Resource Partners a Sell

Reiterating the Sell recommendation first issued to Natural Resource Partners (NRP) in April of last year, Zacks coal industry analyst Neil Malkin explains his thinking in his latest research report on the company:

'We are maintaining our Sell rating on NRP units and are awaiting the partnership's fourth-quarter earnings results, which will be released in mid-February. We expect adjusted Q407 EPU to come in at $0.36 vs. $0.38 per unit, comparably. We believe that the U.S. recession in 2008 will weaken demand and ultimately the price of coal and electricity.

'Additional pressure to the unit price may come if operational problems/delays continue at recently acquired mining properties. Our twelve-month target price, full-year 2007 and 2008 per unit earnings estimates are $31.00, $1.27 and $1.62, respectively.

'Global prices for coal should come under pressure as prices of alternative energy sources, such as crude oil, are forecasted to come down from the $90 a barrel range. This will discourage coal producers to aggressively mine and lock in future sales. This will also put pressure on NRP's royalties per ton margin. Secondly, the decrease in demand will force producers to delay or idle their drilling and shipping of coal to keep stock piles from increasing significantly and realizing lower prices for their production.'

$50 Target on QCOM

Zacks senior telecom analyst David Weissman, CFA is keeping his Buy rating on share of Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM) with a $50 price target.  Here's why:

'We reiterate our Buy recommendation and the same valuation target for Qualcomm, a leading developer of digital wireless chipsets based on CDMA technology, following its first quarter fiscal 2008 financial results (ended December), which were well above our estimates. As further support to our rating, the company raised its financial outlook for full fiscal year 2008, despite facing a weak U.S. economy.

'Qualcomm's fundamentals remain compelling as robust growth in the 3G wireless handset market are driving healthy product sales. Multiple WCDMA operators have adopted Qualcomm's BREW platform, and the company maintains favorable average selling prices on most of its business lines.

'We believe continued strength in the 3G wireless market and the emergence of mobile video solutions, coupled with superior technology and a cash strong balance sheet, support Qualcomm's long-term growth prospects.