FeedPosted Oct 24th 2009 2:20PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Apple Inc (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN), McDonald's (MCD), 3M Corporation (MMM), Caterpillar (CAT), New York Times'A' (NYT), Bank of New York (BK), Hershey Co (HSY), Gannett Co (GCI), Morgan Stanley (MS), Kimberly-Clark (KMB), United Parcel'B' (UPS), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Broadcom Corp'A' (BRCM), SLM Corp (SLM)
Continue reading Earnings highlights: Amazon, Apple, Caterpillar, Hershey, McDonald's, UPS ...
Posted Oct 21st 2009 3:00PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Industry, Boeing Co (BA), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Boeing (NYSE:
BA), an aerospace entity whose colleagues include
Northrop Grumman (NYSE:
NOC) and
Lockheed Martin (NYSE:
LMT), had a very tough earnings report today. Reading about it is not for the shareholder who cannot stand even the smallest amount of pain. According to this
Bloomberg article, Boeing missed estimates and posted a woeful loss because of delays for a couple of jet products.
Boeing lost $2.23 per share in the third quarter. The comparison is pretty tough, because in the similar quarter last year, the company earned 96 cents per share. Boeing was expected to lose somewhere around $2.12 per share, according to Earnings.com. Unfortunately, the guidance for the full fiscal year is pretty bad, too. What once was a range between $4.70 per share and $5.00 per share has now dropped to one with a low of $1.35 per share and a high of $1.55 per share.
Continue reading Buying Boeing requires bravery after Q3 loss
Posted Sep 1st 2009 11:30AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Motorola (MOT), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Analyst initiations
Analyst upgrades:
- Credit Suisse upgraded Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to Outperform from Neutral after the close Monday. The firm believes Motorola's devices segment will approach breakeven in 2010 while operating margins in nonhandset segments will expand, and that a break-up story will reemerge. Credit Suisse raised its target on shares to $9.50 from $7.
- UBS upgraded BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) to Buy from Neutral. The firm cites BHP's leverage to iron ore, coking coal, copper, and oil for its upgrade after raising its commodity price forecasts.
- Merriman upgraded Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT) to Buy from Neutral to reflect higher met coal price forecasts. The firm believes Chinese demand is strong and has a target range of $66-$72 on the stock.
- Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
- Coach (NYSE: COH) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AIG, COH, LMT, MOT, MVL, NOK, RTN ...
Posted Jun 2nd 2009 11:30AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Allergan (AGN), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Contl Airlines'B' (CAL), Analyst initiations, Juniper Networks (JNPR), Visa Inc. (V)
Analyst upgrades:
- Jefferies upgraded MDS Inc. (NYSE: MDZ) to Buy from Hold on valuation as it believes shares are pricing in a "worst case" scenario at current levels. The firm keeps a $6.50 target on the stock.
- JP Morgan upgraded Continental (NYSE: CAL) to Overweight from Neutral on valuation as it believes the recent sell-off is overdone. The firm keeps a $13 price target on the stock.
- Thomas Weisel is positive on Allergan's (NYSE: AGN) diverse product portfolio, global infrastructure, vertical integration, and deep pipeline. The firm upgraded shares to Overweight from Market Weight and has a $54 target on the stock.
- NetLogic (NASDAQ: NETL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Piper.
- Dover (NYSE: DOV) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.
- Map Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MAPP) was upgraded at Argus to Hold from Sell.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CAL, NETL, MAPP, DDUP, LMT ...
Posted Apr 22nd 2009 1:20PM by Laurie Pasternack (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Caterpillar (CAT), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Dean Foods (DF), US Airways Group (LCC), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Analyst initiations, Broadcom Corp'A' (BRCM), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Andersons Inc (ANDE)
Analyst upgrades:
- Merriman upgraded Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) to Buy from Neutral on expectations shares will react positively to the full IMPACT data release on April 28. The firm thinks Provenge could represent the first cancer immunotherapy approved in the U.S. and raised its valuation range on the stock to $33-$34 from $18-$19.
- Piper Jaffray upgraded Andersons (NASDAQ: ANDE) as it believes the valuation is attractive, investor expectations are low, and the company's fertilizer and rail segments could recovery in FY10. The firm has a $19 target on shares. Goldman upgraded the auto sector to Neutral from Cautious and added Ford (NYSE: F) to its Conviction Buy list. The analyst does not believe Ford will have to declare bankruptcy and sees the company benefiting from Chrysler share declines and GM's (NYSE: GM) reduced product offerings. Ford's price target is $6
- Banc of America/Merrill upgraded U.S. Airways (NYSE: LCC) to Buy from Underperform.
- Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
- Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: DNDN, ANDE, the auto sector, DGX, MTB, ADVS, ITG, MF and PCLN
Posted Jan 24th 2009 2:40PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Google (GOOG), eBay (EBAY), International Business Machines (IBM), Advanced Micro Dev (AMD), Southwest Airlines (LUV), Lockheed Martin (LMT), AMR Corp (AMR), UAL Corp (UAUA)
Continue reading Earnings highlights: eBay, Google, IBM, Southwest, UAL, AMR, Northern Trust and others
Posted Jan 22nd 2009 4:30PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major movement, Earnings reports, Forecasts, Good news, Lockheed Martin (LMT)

Shares of
Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:
LMT) have moved strongly higher in today's action after the defense contractor put up
better than expected numbers for its fourth quarter this morning.
Going into today's earnings release, analysts had been expecting to see the company show
$1.92 per share, but the company came in well above those estimates, with a reported $2.05 a share for its quarter ending December 31.
This morning's good news was slightly balanced by the company's announcement that its upcoming full year 2009 profit was probably going to be lower than it had previously forecast, a result of increasing pension expenses. The market was tough on the company's pension plan in 2008, and drove the plan's value down by 28%. The resulting increase in pension expenses forced Lockheed Martin to lower its full year 2009 profit guidance down to between $7.05 and $7.25 from a previous estimate of between $7.65 and $7.90 per share.
Continue reading Lockheed Martin rises on strong earnings
Posted Nov 25th 2008 11:41AM by Laurie Pasternack (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Apple Inc (AAPL), Motorola (MOT), Avon Products (AVP), Black and Decker (BDK), Campbell Soup (CPB), Kroger Co (KR), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF), Analyst initiations, Blackstone Group L.P (BX)
Analyst upgrades:
Analyst downgrades:
- Merrill downgraded Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) to Neutral from Buy and expects marketing and promotional spending to limit earnings growth in 2009 and 2010. The firm lowered their target to $35 from $42.
- Mechel Steel (NYSE: MTL) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley to reflect declining coal demand.
- Friedman Billings downgraded shares of Legg Mason (NYSE: LM) to Underperform from Market Perform on liquidity concerns given the Legg Mason's leveraged balance sheet and falling EBITDA. The firm lowered their target to $7 from $11.
Continue reading Analyst calls: RBC, BDK, KR, LEN, KR, CPB, MTL, LM, PIR, AAPL, AVP ...
Posted Nov 7th 2008 4:40PM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, General Electric (GE), Ford Motor (F), Viacom (VIA), Best Buy (BBY), , Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Lockheed Martin (LMT), News Corp'B' (NWS), Electronic Arts (ERTS), Activision Inc (ATVI), Suntech Power Hldgs ADS (STP), Stocks to Buy, Stocks to Sell, Northrop Grumman (NOC), Obama Picks, StemCells Inc. (STEM)

To say that the past week has been an eventful one would be a great understatement. On November 4th, the American people elected a new president, Barack Obama. Leading up to this historic event, markets rallied, but then lost some 10% in the following two days as the economic drama was relentless. On Friday, despite Ford and GM posting massive losses, and despite the jobs report showing numbers not seen in 14 years, markets are rallying (by noon).
To stay ahead of the market is impossible these days, and all one can do is hope we're nearing a bottom and current picks could only benefit. Following the different events this week and the still ongoing earnings season, here are some stock picks and pans from BloggingStocks contributors:
Obama Picks:General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was Amey Stone's
Obama pick due to near-term catalysts as well as long term solid fundamentals -- not to mention the 6% yield.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was Michael Rainey's
Obama pick. Since Ford is the strongest of the Big Three, Obama will likely choose to save it ... and perhaps GM. Ford had just
reported earnings Friday, posting a loss.
Continue reading Stock picks and pans for troubled times: Buy GE, F, HAIN, STP, ATVI ...
Posted Nov 5th 2008 1:30PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Boeing Co (BA), Lockheed Martin (LMT), General Dynamics Corp (GD), Northrop Grumman (NOC)

That rumbling you heard this morning was the mad, frantic shuffling of papers and budget proposals inside the offices of defense contractors around the Washington Beltway, as they prepare to justify their appropriations amid
a political shift in the nation's capital. The Democrats, led by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, are taking over the town. And while the security needs of the post-September 11 era and two wars mean major U.S. defense spending cuts are unlikely, changes in priorities and the demands of the financial crisis could create "a dramatically different defense spending landscape" for defense contractors like
Lockheed Martin (NYSE:
LMT) and
Northrop Grumman (NYSE:
NOC)," says economist Peter Dawson.
More support for troops on ground?"What we may see from President-elect Obama is a shift toward increased U.S. Army troop strength and the basic armor and weapon systems that support them, to take stress off our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to improve results in the wars, and less emphasis on costly, high-tech weapon systems," Dawson said. "If that's the case, an Obama Administration could seek to delay production of the Navy's DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyer, additional purchases of the new F-22 fighter jets, and other programs."
The DDG-1000 destroyer is jointly built by Northrop Grumman and
General Dynamics (NYSE:
GD). The F-22 is built by Lockheed Martin. Northrop's shares rose 44 cents to $48.50, Lockheed's gained 62 cents to $86.53, and General Dynamics fell $1.30 to $62.47 in mid-day Wednesday trading.
Continue reading Democrats win, and owners of defense stocks begin to tremble
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