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SPWR deserves a premium valuation, reiterate Buy@STFG
After SunPower reported Q2 results Stanford views as solid, while increasing its 2008 and 2009 guidance, the firm thinks the company deserves a multiple premium due to its leadership in cell conversion efficiency, as well as its manufacturing plant expansion and cost reduction plans.
SPWR: Believe guidance for 2009 still too agressive@PACS
Pacific Crest thinks SPWR management is giving too much credit to emerging markets for possible growth, and not enough to the deteriorating conditions in the United States and Spain. Pacific Crest remains unconvinced that management can grow rev 40%+ in 2009. They prefer investments in First Solar (FSLR) and Evergreen Solar (ESLR) instead.
GOOG: Drop creates buying opportunity@AMTR
Am Tech believes Google reported strong revenue and good margins. The firm predicts that Google’s multiple will expand as its margins increase, and they think its growth has been very resilient.
GOOG: Would be buyers of the stock, maintain Overweight@JPMS
JP Morgan notes shares are trading at 21x their FY09 EPS estimate, which is below their expected earnings growth rate of 25%.
GOOG: The company’s fundamentals are still strong@KBRO
After Google reported lower than expected EPS due to lower than expected interest income, Kaufman Bros. still likes the stock, as they believe the company will benefit over the longer term from new advertisers, expansion into the display and video advertising sectors, and more market share gains. The firm maintained their Buy rating
GOOG: Positives outweigh the negatives@RBCM
RBC Capital said the sell-off in GOOG is overdone and remains their favorite long idea given share gains in the core business and its option value in its display/mobile business. Target $600.
GOOG downgraded to Accumulate from Buy@THNK
ThinkPanmure downgraded GOOG based on concerns regarding the slowing economy and the impact on the business. Target to $550 from $650.
US Bancorp-USB upgraded to Buy from Neutral@HDLY
XTO Energy-XTO upgraded to Buy from Hold@STFL
Stifel upgraded XTO based on valuation. Target $73
Range Resources-RRC upgraded to Buy from Hold@STFL
Stifel upgraded RRC based on valuation. Target $84
Merrill Lynch-MER: Continue to view shares negatively@OPCO
After Merrill reported weaker than expected results, Oppenheimer expects the company to continue to be hurt by mortgage-related securities. The firm thinks Merrill’s stock will continue to be under pressure until the company fully sells down its risky assets, and they maintained their Underperform rating.
Loan-loss provisions affecting banks’ earnings-WSJ
Some major banks have seen their share price surge up about 30% recently but a key to being able to continue that move upward can often be found in their loan-loss provisions, according to the Wall Street Journal’s “Heard on the Street”. That is how much each bank puts aside every quarter to cover future credit losses. The key is which banks can react the fastest to address their credit problems. The ones that are well prepared may also see their shares jump when the credit crisis begins to ease.
IBM Corp-IBM: See shares at $130-$140 by year-end@SBSH
Citigroup believes IBM Is “firing on all cylinders” after the company’s Q2 results and expects the stock to reach $130-$140 by year-end. The firm reiterates a Buy rating.
IBM Corp-IBM: Implications on strong Q2 report@BARD
Baird said IBM’s high-end server strength likely means the company took some share from HPQ and JAVA but that IBM’s strong virtualization trends is a positive for HPQ. In summary, the firm said IBM’s results were mostly positive for HPQ, a modest positive for NTAP, and is unclear of the impact on EMC.
Google-GOOG: Remain positive on shares following June quarter results@PIPR
Piper attributes the share weakness post results to GOOG’s suggestion of “a more challenging economic environment,” which the company has never acknowledged before. They expect shares to trade sideways until the September, but rally in the back half of the year. Shares remain Buy rated.
Apple-AAPL: Reiterate Buy rating ahead of June quarter results@PIPR
Piper believes upside to Mac and iPod units may drive upside to the June quarter. They believe Mac units could reach 2.35M, above the Street’s 2.2M estimate.
Teva Pharmaceutical-TEVA to acquire Barr Pharmaceuticals-BRL for $66.50/share
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which Teva will acquire Barr, the fourth largest generic drug company worldwide. Under the terms of the agreement, each share of Barr common stock will be converted into $39.90 in cash and 0.6272 Teva ADRs. Based upon the unaffected NASDAQ closing price of Teva’s ADRs on July 16, 2008, the indicated combined per share consideration for each outstanding share of Barr common stock amounts to $66.50, or a total consideration of $7.46 billion plus the assumption of net debt of approximately $1.5 billion. Teva expects the transaction to close in late 2008 and to become accretive to GAAP earnings in the fourth quarter after closing.
