These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades in Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning:
Analyst Upgrades:
- Alkermes (ALKS) upgraded to Outperform at Leerink Swann
- Medicis (MRX) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at Piper Jaffray
- Devon Energy (DVN) upgraded to Outperform at Wells Fargo
- OraSure Tech (OSUR) upgraded to Buy at Needham ; price target set at $5.50
- Sasol Limited (SSL) upgraded to Buy at UBS
- Exxon Mobil (XOM) upgraded to Overweight at Barclays Capital ; price target raised to $92 from $90
- Sina (SINA) upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank ; price target set at $52
- Hess (HES) upgraded to Buy at UBS
- CMS Energy (CMS) upgraded to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets ; price target set at $17
- Brinker Int’l (EAT) upgraded to Strong Buy at Raymond James
- Illinois Tool Works (ITW) upgraded to Buy at UBS
- Palm (PALM) upgraded to Buy at Kaufman Bros ; price target set at $16
- National Fuel Gas (NFG) upgraded to Buy at UBS
- Carmike Cinemas (CKEC) upgraded to Buy at Merriman
Analyst Downgrades:
- Sunpower (SPWRA) downgraded to Market Perform at FBR Capital ; price target lowered to $30 from $38
- Zumiez (ZUMZ) downgraded to Neutral at B. Riley
- Geomet (GMET) downgraded to Neutral at Global Hunter Securities ; price target lowered to $1.75 from $3.50
- Transmontaigne Partners (TLP) downgraded to Hold at Wunderlich ; price target set at $26.50
- Poniard Pharmaceuticals (PARD) downgraded to Market Perform at Rodman & Renshaw
- TIB Financial (TIBB) downgraded to Underperform at Raymond James
- BT Group (BT) downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan
- Joy Global (JOYG) downgraded to Neutral at UBS
- Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) downgraded to Neutral at Merriman
- Energy Solutions (ES) downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan ; price target lowered to $9.50 from $10
Coverage Initiated:
- Antares Pharma Inc. (AIS) initiated with a Buy at Merriman
- Dell Inc. (DELL) resumed with an Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
- Tim Hortons (THI) initiated with a Buy and a $38 price target at Jesup & Lamont
- Omeros (OMER) initiated with a Buy at Canaccord Adams
- China Security and Surveillance (CSR) resumed with a Buy at Brean Murray ; price target set at $9
- Boston Scientific (BSX) initiated with a Hold at Morgan Joseph
- IberiaBank Corp. (IBKC) initiated with a Buy at Wunderlich ; price target raised to $70 from $53
- Mistras Group (MG) initiated with an Overweight at JP Morgan
- Rino Int’l Corp. (RINO) initiated with a Buy at Canaccord Adams
- Gulf Resources (GFRE) initiated with a Buy at Brean Murray ; price target set at $14
- W.R. Grace & Co. (GRA) initiated with a Hold and a $27 price target at Jefferies
- Netflix (NFLX) initiated with a Buy at Collins Stewart ; price target set at $73
- Devon Energy (DVN) initiated with an Outperform at FBR Capital ; price target raised to $85 from $75
- Donaldson (DCI) initiated with a Buy and a $47 price target at Jefferies
- Volcano (VOLC) initiated with a Buy at Morgan Joseph ; price target set at $20
On the news front this morning:
- Home Depot’s (HD) said its net income declined by 8.9% to $689 million, or 41 cents a share, in the three months ended Nov. 1 from $756 million, or 45 cents, a year earlier. Revenue fell 8% to $16.36 billion. Thomson Reuters analysts expected a profit of 36 cents per share on revenue of $16.27 billion. The co. said declines in the average checkout receipt eased somewhat during the quarter, falling 7.1% to $51.89, compared with 8.2% for the year to date.
- U.S. consumer finance company CIT Group (CITGQ.PK), which recently filed for bankruptcy protection, posted a loss of $1.07 billion during the third quarter. CIT said its losses swelled to $2.74 per share and that it lost $317.3 million, or $1.11 per share, during the year-ago period. The commercial lender’s quarterly loss from continuing operations was $1.03 billion, compared with a $301.1 million loss a year earlier.
- Minneapolis-based Target Corp. (TGT) said Tuesday that its third-quarter profit climbed more than 18% to $436 million, or 58 cents a share, from $369 million, or 49 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 1.4% to $14.8 billion while credit-card revenue declined 7.5% to $487 million. Analysts estimated Target would earn 50 cents a share, but expected better revenue of $15.25 billion.
- Saks (SKS) surprised Wall Street Tuesday morning with a third-quarter profit. The upscale retailer earned $1.9 million, or 1 cent a share, during the quarter ended Oct. 31, compared to a loss of $43.7 million, or 32 cents a share, in the same period of 2008. The high-end retailer’s total sales declined 8.5% in the third quarter to $631.4 million. Analysts had projected a loss of 11 cents on revenue of $625.61 million.
