Stocks moved slightly higher in early trading despite a handful of mixed earnings reports. The toymaker Hasbro Inc., like many other companies, says its third-quarter earnings rose as it cut costs, but reported that its revenue fell. Gannett Co., the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, also had a profitable quarter even with another big decline in ad revenue. Investors are anxious to see if companies from a broad range of industries fared better in the quarter than banks did.
RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock of Viacom Inc. Monday saying sales of "The Beatles: Rock Band" and a weak dollar should be helping margins. RBC analysts led by David Bank raised their rating on the stock to "Outperform" from "Sector Perform" and boosted their price target on the media company's stock to $35 from $23. The shares closed Friday at $28.48. "Rock Band," a music-based video game, finally has a chance to become profitable through the release of its Beatles edition, the analysts wrote. Beatles-related sales have been slightly better than expectations, they said.
Among the premarket stories for Monday, Oct. 19, from AP Financial News: Rising corn prices caused an analyst to downgrade shares of poultry producer Sanderson Farms Inc. on Monday, since rising corn prices make feed costs more expensive. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Monday, saying their common and preferred shares would be "worthless" given the nearly $100 billion they will continue to owe the government, even if recapitalized.ns.
