Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Q1 Earnings Season Starts Today. The first quarter earnings season is set to get kicked off today after the market close with Alcoa reporting. Wall Street analysts expect the company to report Q1 EPS of $0.09 versus year ago earnings of $0.10. As always the first week of earnings season could bring some volatility as companies report their earnings.  At RL Paler Investment Advisors, LLC president Rick Paler said that “We believe that company earnings need to come in better than expected, since the S&P 500 index is currently trading at just 5% below Wall Street estimates.” This is the closest level in over 7 years, historically the S&P 500 index trades around 14% below Wall Street estimates. He went on to say “A weak or average earnings season could put an end to the recent rally.”

Upgrades

Juniper Networks (JNPR): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $22.00 on the company. Pre-market: 17.90 +0.35 (1.99%)

Lukoil Holdings (LUKOY): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. After Hours: 61.64 0.00 (0.00%)

Northrop Grumman (NOC): JPMorgan raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral.

Downgrades

CA Tech (CA): Mizuho lowered their rating from But to Neutral and lowered their target price from $28.00 to $25.00.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral and raised their target price from $77.00 to $83.00. Pre-market: 81.65 -0.39 (-0.48%)

L-3 Communications (LLL): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Neutral to Underweight.

Coverage Initiated

Buckle (BKE): Ascendiant Capital Markets initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $40.00.

Fluor (FLR): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $65.00.

Foster Wheeler (FWLT): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $26.00.

Jacobs Engineering (JEC): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $60.00.

Wet Seal (WTSL): Ascendiant Capital Markets initiated coverage with a Strong Buy rating and target price of $4.00.

Markets: 
Futures at 7:00: Dow +0.21%. S&P +0.34%. Nasdaq +0.33%. Crude +0.95% to $93.58. Gold +0.10% to $1577.50.

Europe: London +0.38%. Paris +0.60%. Frankfurt +0.26%. 

Asia: Japan +2.80% to 13193. Hong Kong -0.04% at 21718. China -0.62% to 2212. India -0.07% to 18438. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Facebook to Announce New Cell Phone. Reports say that online social network Facebook (FB) is scheduled to announce a new Facebook phone today. The phone will be manufactured by HTC and run on Google’s Android operating system. The phone is said to incorporate full Facebook functionality by having the social network and all of the company’s’ apps on the home screen.  My question is who cares, since their apps are already available on Android phones? This is the company’s strategy to make more money from mobile. Pre-market: 26.55 +0.30 (1.14%)

Upgrades

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): Deutsche Bank raised their rating from Hold to Buy. Pre-market: 1.43 +0.15 (11.72%)

Brinker International (EAT): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $37.00 to $44.00. Pre-market: 38.43 +0.73 (1.94%)

Brown & Brown (BRO): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Sell to Neutral and raised their target price from $27.00 to $33.00. Pre-market: 31.21 +0.37 (1.20%)

ING Group (ING): BNP Paribas raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform. Pre-market: 7.49 +0.35 (4.90%)

Panera Bread (PNRA): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $186.00 to $215.00. Pre-market: 174.49 +4.99 (2.94%)

Downgrades

Domino’s Pizza (DPZ): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Conviction Buy to Buy and raised their target price from $55.00 to $60.00.

Duke Energy (DUK): Argus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 71.59 -0.12 (-0.17%)

Lululemon (LULU): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform and lowered their target price from $80.00 to $70.00. Pre-market: 63.55 -0.69 (-1.07%)

Microsoft (MSFT): BofA Merrill Lynch lowered their rating from Buy to and lowered their target price to $33.00. Pre-market: 28.35 -0.21 (-0.74%)

PepsiCo (PEP): CLSA lowered their rating from Buy to Outperform and maintained a target price of $85.00. Pre-market: 78.75 -0.21 (-0.27%)

Thermo Fisher (TMO): WallachBeth lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 77.73 -0.37 (-0.47%)

Coverage Initiated

Apple (AAPL): Lazard Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $540.00. Pre-market: 433.81 +1.82 (0.42%)

Earning Reports

International Speedway (ISCA): Reported EPS of $0.33 missing estimates by -$0.03.

Markets: 
Futures at 7:48: Dow +0.35%. S&P +0.40%. Nasdaq +0.40%. Crude -0.07% at $94.39. Gold -0.52% to $1545.50.

Europe: London -0.29%. Paris +0.86%. Frankfurt +0.45%. 

Asia: Japan +2.20% to 12635. Hong Kong closed, China closed, India -1.55% to 18510. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Markets Set Record High. Yesterday both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed at record highs. The highs have been set despite the drum beats of war coming out of North Korea and the eurozone mess. Some traders are saying that the market has gotten way ahead of itself and is due for a pullback. Others are also saying that our market rally is a direct result of the eurozone mess as investor look for a safe place to put their money. Today the ADP employment report for March is due to be release, with economists expecting that private payrolls rose by 215,000 vs 198,000 in February.

Upgrades

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG): Raymond James raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform. Pre-market: 326.22 +3.13 (0.97%)

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD): Raymond James raised their rating from Market Perform to Strong Buy and placed a target price of $100.00 on the company. Pre-market: 88.14 +1.65 (1.91%)

Brinker International (EAT): Raymond James raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $42.00 on the company. Pre-market: 37.83 +0.37 (0.99%)

Dollar Tree (DLTR): Morgan Stanley raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and placed a target price of $57.00 on the company.

Panera Bread (PNRA): Raymond James raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform. Pre-market: 170.00 +4.67 (2.82%)

Tidewater (TDW): Tudor Pickering raised their rating from Hold to Accumulate.

Downgrades

Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK): Wunderlich lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and placed a target price of $43.00 on the company.

Boston Scientific (BSX): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and placed a target price of $8.50 on the company. Pre-market: 7.77 -0.12 (-1.52%)

Caterpillar (CAT): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $116.00 to $101.00. Pre-market: 83.98 -0.90 (-1.06%)

Cigna (CI): Citigroup lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $65.00 to $62.00. Pre-market: 64.11 -0.64 (-0.99%)

Tiffany & Co. (TIF): Atlantic Equities lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral.

Coverage Initiated

Qualcomm (QCOM): Northland Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $80.00. Pre-market: 66.50 +0.25 (0.37%)

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Nike (NKE): HSBC Securities reiterated their Overweight rating and raised their target price from $56.00 to $67.00.

Tesla Motors (TSLA): Northland Capital reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $42.00 to $50.00. Pre-market: 43.20 -1.14 (-2.57%)

Earning Reports

ConAgra (CAG): Reported EPS of $0.55 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 34.60 -0.94 (-2.64%)

Jos. A. Bank (JOSB): Reported EPS of $1.01 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 38.99 -0.19 (-0.48%)

Monsanto (MON): Reported EPS of $2.73 beating estimates by +$0.17. Pre-market: 104.45 +0.45 (0.43%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:16: Dow -0.03%. S&P +0.03%. Nasdaq +0.06%. Crude -0.63% to $96.58. Gold -0.10% to $1574.40.

Europe: London -0.45%. Paris -0.45%. Frankfurt -0.18%. 

Asia: Japan +2.99% to 12362.2. Hong Kong -0.14% to 22337. China -0.11% to 2225. India -1.26% to 18802. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Stockton Eligible For Bankruptcy. A judge yesterday cleared the way for Stockton California to file for bankruptcy protection.  In doing so, Stockton will become the largest U.S. city to ever file for bankruptcy. Like many cash strapped cities and states, outlandish pensions where former employees receive 90% of their salaries at retirement and medical benefits to union workers was the cities downfall.  40% of Stockton revenues go towards employee pensions. Even more outraging is the fact that employees and their dependants receive life-time medical benefits no matter how long they have worked for the city. Some analysts believe that Jefferson County in Alabama, San Bernardino California and Detroit Michigan and other municipalities could follow suit.

Upgrades

eBay (EBAY): Topeka raised their rating from Hold to Buy. Pre-market: 56.39 +0.68 (1.22%)

Qualcomm (QCOM): Raymond James raised their rating from Outperform to Strong Buy. Pre-market: 66.90 +0.90 (1.36%)

Downgrades

Apple (AAPL): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Conviction Buy to Buy and lowered their target price from $660.00 to $575.00. Pre-market: 427.95 -0.96 (-0.22%)

Charles Schwab (SCHW): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and maintained a target price of $17.00. Pre-market: 17.38 0.00 (0.00%)

Ericsson (ERIC): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform and placed a target price of $124.00 on the company. Pre-market: 12.54 +0.04 (0.32%)

Exxon Mobile (XOM): Oppenheimer lowered their rating from Outperform to Perform and lowered their target price to $100.00. Pre-market: 90.79 +0.02 (0.02%)

Goldman Sachs (GS): BofA Merrill Lynch lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and placed a target price of $155.00 on the company. Pre-market: 145.75 -0.29 (-0.20%)

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Neutral to Sell and placed a target price of $16.00 on the company. Pre-market: 22.40 -0.91 (-3.90%)

Morgan Stanley (MS): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and placed a target price of $23.00 on the company. Pre-market: 21.62 -0.04 (-0.18%)

Texas Instruments (TXN): Stifel lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 34.76 -0.25 (-0.71%)

Coverage Initiated

Accenture (ACN): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $85.00.

Amazon.com (AMZN): UBS initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $275.00. Pre-market: 263.44 +1.83 (0.70%)

AOL (AOL): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $44.00. Pre-market: 38.37 0.00 (0.00%)

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $92.00.

Cognizant Tech (CTSH): UBS initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $80.00.

eBay (EBAY): initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $64.00. Pre-market: 56.39 +0.68 (1.22%)

Electronic Arts (EA): UBS initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $18.00. Pre-market: 17.92 0.00 (0.00%)

Expedia (EXPE): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $77.00. Pre-market: 60.85 +0.35 (0.58%)

Google (GOOG): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $945.00. Pre-market: 804.00 +2.81 (0.35%)

Molycorp (MCP): DA Davidson initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $7.00. Pre-market: 5.09 +0.18 (3.67%)

Priceline.com (PCLN): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $825.00. Pre-market: 699.00 +3.24 (0.47%)

Yahoo! (YHOO): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $27.00. Pre-market: 23.64 +0.14 (0.60%)

Earning Reports

Shoe Carnival (SCVL): Reported EPS of $0.16 in-line with estimates. After Hours: 19.65 -0.56 (-2.77%)

McCormick (MKC): Reported EPS of $0.57 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 72.25 -0.46 (-0.63%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:32: Dow +0.41%. S&P +0.43%. Nasdaq +0.67%. Crude -0.16% to $96.90. Gold -0.19% to $1597.80.

Europe: London +1.07%. Paris +1.01%. Frankfurt +1.22%. 

Asia: Japan -1.08% to 12003. Hong Kong +0.31% to 22368. China -0.30% to 2228. India +0.93% to 19041. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

S&P 500 Trading Closest to Estimates in Seven Years. Shares of companies that make up the S&P 500 index are now trading at just 5% below Wall Street estimates. Shares that make up the index typically trade at 14% discount and the current level is the closest level in 7 years.  The bulls on Wall Street believe that analysis will be raising estimates giving room for the rally to continue.  While market bears are pointing to the current level as an indication that stocks have gotten ahead of themselves.

Upgrades

Clean Harbors (CLH): Oppenheimer raised their rating from Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $72.00 on the company. Pre-market: 21.70 -0.13 (-0.62%)

eBay (EBAY): Canaccord raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $56.00 to $67.00. Pre-market: 55.75 +1.53 (2.82%)

Molson Coors (TAP): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from neutral to Buy and raised their rating from $47.00 to $63.00.

News Corp (NWSA): Credit Suisse raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $28.00 to $36.00.

Potash (POT): JPMorgan raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $43.00 to $45.00. Pre-market: 39.93 +0.68 (1.73%)

RF Micro Devices (RFMD): Canaccord raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $5.50 to $7.00.

Downgrades

AbbVie (ABBV): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target price from $42.00 to $41.00.

Intel (INTC): JMP Securities lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform.

Yahoo! (YHOO): Pivotal Research lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $26.00 to $23.00. Pre-market: 23.32 -0.21 (-0.89%)

Coverage Initiated

E.I. DuPont (DD): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $53.00.

MoneyGram Intl (MGI): Macquarie initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $21.00.

Earning Reports

Cal-Maine Foods (CALM): Reported EPS of $1.27 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Markets: 
Futures at 7:37: Dow +0.10%. S&P +0.02%. Nasdaq +0.11%. Crude -0.56% to $96.69. Gold +0.18% to $1598.50.

Europe: London Closed, Paris Closed, Frankfurt Closed

Asia: Japan -2.12% to 12135. Hong Kong closed. China -0.10% to 2234. India +0.34% to 18871.