Stocks picks by swingtradingcom

 

(IHS) - buy

IHS Inc, said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 33 percent as sales grew across all business segments.

(APOL) - buy

Apollo Group Inc, said that its quarterly profit rose 29 percent as enrollment hit a record. The company said it earned $180.4 million, or $1.12 per share, in its fiscal first quarter, which ended Nov. 30, compared with $139.9 million, or 83 cents per share, a year earlier.

(COH) - short

Coach Inc. said that it will fall well short of its forecast fiscal second-quarter guidance because of poor holiday sales.

(ARG) - short

Airgas Inc, a distributor of medical and specialty gases, lowered its fiscal third-quarter profit outlook citing a big slowdown in sales.

(CVX) - short

Chevron Corp, expects its fourth-quarter earnings to be significantly lower than the previous quarter due to the impact of lower energy prices on its exploration and production business.

 

(MU) - buy

Micron Technology Inc. announced Friday that the U.S. District Court of Delaware has found that patents Rambus Inc. had asserted against Micron are unenforceable.

(RMBS) - short

US judge rules against Rambus in Micron case.

(SHLM) - short

Schulman Inc, said its fiscal first-quarter net income fell 18 percent due to a sharp fall-off in demand in Europe, Mexico and North America and restructuring costs.

(CVS) - short

Catania questions CVS pharmacy practices. The nonprofit has accused the company, which it claims manages 30 percent of the country’s prescriptions, of incentivizing pharmacists to switch patients from doctor-prescribed medicines to more profitable alternatives, selling consumer data to drug manufacturers and other third parties to boost retail sales and putting profits over patients, among other issues.

(FQR) - short

Equity Residential said it will reduce the number of planned development projects and as a result, will incur a non-cash charge of about $115 million, or 39 cents a share, in the fourth quarter. The real estate development company also said it may make additional adjustments to its staff following earlier reductions.

 

(VAR) - buy

Varian Medical Systems announced that it estimates the company will report net orders growth in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009 in the range of 12 to 13 percent above the year-ago period with gains in all of its major businesses.

(ZGEN) - buy

Zymogenetics and Bristol-Myers enter global collaboration on novel Hepatitis C Compound.

(AA) - short

Alcoa Inc. swung to an expected fourth-quarter loss Monday as it took hefty charges to deal with weak global demand for aluminum from the automotive and construction industries.

(CSX) - short

CSX reports Q4 profit below market consensus.

(KLAC) - short

KLA-Tencor Corp cut its fiscal second-quarter forecast, warning of sharply worsening business conditions.

 

(BG) - short

Bunge Ltd the world's largest oil seed processor, warned that its 2008 profit will miss its previous forecast after the global economic crisis dampened demand more than expected.

(CLF) - short

Cliffs Natural Resources said its earnings will be lower by approx $50 mln.

(LLTC) - short

Linear Tech issues downside guidance for Q3, sees revs down 15-20%, which equates to $199 -211 mln vs. $237 mln consensus.

(STSA) - short

Sterling Financial anticipates that it will report a net loss for Q4 and FY08, well below First Call consensus; Co also suspends dividend.

(FNB) - short

F.N.B. Corp said it expects to post a fourth-quarter loss, weighed down by higher provision for bad loans and non-cash impairment charges.

 

(PPDI) - buy

Drug development contractor PPD Inc. set its 2009 profit outlook above Wall Street expectations.

(CLC) - buy

Clarcor reports record fourth quarter and fiscal 2008 results. Net Earnings and Earnings Per Share Increase for the 16th Consecutive Year.

(TRMB) - short

Trimble slashes 4th-quarter outlook, well below Wall Street estimates. Co issues downside guidance for Q4 (Dec), sees EPS of $0.22-0.24 vs. $0.33 First Call consensus; sees Q4 (Dec) revs of $268-269 mln vs.

$313.16 mln consensus.

(CVH) - short

Coventry Health Care: In JP Morgan Healthcare conference slides, Co sees 2009 GAAP EPS of $1.70-1.90 vs. $2.59 First Call Consensus.

(BBT) - short

Moody's affirmed the ratings of BB&T Corporation, to negative from stable.

 

(VIVO) - short

Meridian sees Q1 below estimates. Co lowers FY09 revs to $151-156 mln vs $159.4 mln consensus, down from $157-160 and reaffirms EPS of $0.86-0.90 vs $0.89 consensus. Co issues downside Q1 guidance; co sees Q1 EPS of $0.20 vs $0.22 consensus, revs of $34.3 mln vs $38.1 mln consensus.

(STBA) - short

S & T Bancorp delays scheduled earnings. Co announced that it will delay the previously scheduled 2008 Earnings Release of January 19, 2009 and Earnings Conference call of January 20, 2009. Co notes that on January 14, STBA employees discovered a misappropriation of construction funds by one customer involving at least three loans totaling $6.8 million.

(DNA) - short

Genentech forecast disappoints. Co issues downside guidance for FY09, sees EPS of $3.55-3.90, ex-items vs. $3.92 consensus.

(KALU) - short

Kaiser Aluminum expects 4th-qtr loss on charges.

(AGU) - short

Agrium announced that it expects to record a write-down in Retail in Q4 of 2008 of ~$96-mln ($0.41 diluted EPS).

 

(EYE) - buy

Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. the global leader in advanced refractive technologies for eye care professionals and patients, announced (FDA) approval of the TECNIS® Multifocal intraocular lens (IOL) for cataract patients.

(RRGB) - buy

Analysts selects Red Robin Gourmet Burgers as a top pick on appealing stocks.

(COP) - short

ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, said it's cutting 4 percent of its overall work force, slashing capital spending by 18 percent and writing off $34 billion in noncash assets because of plummeting energy prices.

(SIVB) - short

SVB Financial Group, expects its Q4 loan loss provision to be ~$75 mln, compared to $13.7 mln in Q3.

(RBS) - short

Crisis-stricken Royal Bank of Scotland announced that its losses for last year could reach 28 billion pounds ($41.3 billion) -- the biggest ever for a British corporation.

 

(CREE) - buy

Cree fiscal 2nd-qtr profit rises 62 percent, helped by $4.4M in patent licensing fees.

(BK) - short

Bank of NY Mellon 4Q profit plunges 95 percent.

(HBHC) - short

Hancock Holding reports Q4 results of $0.26 per share vs, First Call consensus of $0.57. Co says, "The Co's Q4 results were heavily impacted by the continuing financial crisis and on-going national economic recession. In addition, weaknesses in residential development and rising unemployment levels in the co's market areas also impacted Q4 earnings.

(ADI) - short

Analog Devices slashes 1st-quarter outlook on weak demand. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.15-0.17 down from $0.22-0.23 vs. $0.22 First Call consensus.

(AMSC) - short

American Superconductor sees wider-than-expected 3rd-qtr loss on unforeseen costs. Co lowers Q3 EPS to ($0.18)-(0.21), may not be comparable to the ($0.11) First Call consensus.

 

(RJF) - buy

Raymond James Financial Inc, a large U.S. brokerage, reported a 9 percent increase in quarterly profit, beating Wall Street expectations as lower expenses helped offset lower revenue.

(FFIV) - buy

F5 Networks Q1 profit up; Q2 outlook solid.

(DOX) - short

Amdocs issues weak Q2 outlook. Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.47-0.51, vs. $0.57 consensus; sees Q2 revs of ~$700-720 mln vs. $793 mln consensus.

(PVH) - short

Phillips-Van Heusen cuts Q4 outlook. Co will also be closing 175 stores.

(ECLP) - short

Eclipsys Q4 view disappoints. Co announces that revs for Q4 are expected to be in the range of $124-$127 mln (vs $136.6 mln consensus). Co sees Q4 EPS of $0.07-$0.11 vs $0.35 consensus.

 

(SYNA) - buy

Synaptics fiscal second-quarter profit jumps 49 percent as revenue surges 43 percent. Company posted profit of $21.2 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with $14.2 million, or 33 cents per share.

(CBST) - buy

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reported results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2008. Total net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2008 increased 53% to $131.2 million from $85.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.

(TSCO) - buy

Tractor Supply 2008, 2009 EPS view above Street.

(WFR) - short

MEMC Electronic quarterly profit shrinks to 33 cents a share. Co reported its fourth-quarter net income fell to $73.2 million, or 33 cents a share, from $376.4 million, or $1.62 a share, in the same quarter last year.

(COF) - short

Capital One swings to $1.45 billion loss in 4th quarter as bad debt surges.

 

(PTV) - short

As the Packaging Companies move lower last week, Pactiv Corp. appears to following the lower end of trend.

(ETN) - short

Eaton Corporation, earnings preview, estimates have been Slashed. Similar to most industrial conglomerates, Eaton finds itself in a lot of businesses with very poor fundamentals right now, including the legacy truck and automotive businesses.

(CAT) - short

Caterpillar Inc, earnings preview. CAT continues to suffer from a number of issues. Negative macro figures, including higher unemployment and declining GDP continue hitting the stock as well as industry and co specific issues.

(AXP) - short

Ahead of earnings schedule, American Express is likely to make a move lower as it could fall hostage to the failing economy and falling financial stocks.

(AFL) - short

S&P Takes Aflac Rating Down. Standard & Poor's lowered Aflac's financial strength rating from AA to AA- and the co's debt rating from A to A- due to their concerns about the continued deterioration in global financial markets and Aflac's investment exposure to global financial institutions. Additionally, S&P has placed Aflac on credit watch with negative implications.