MORNING COFFEE

Ford Continues To Cut Debt. Ford (F) will cut its debt by another $3 billion my March 15.  The company will redeem all of its outstanding 6.5% cumulative convertible trust preferred securities. The conversion will result in a Q1 charge of up to $60 million, and will cut the company’s debt costs by $190 million.

Google To Buy Next New Networks. Reports say that Google (GOOG) is in late-stage talks to buy video website Next New Networks and that a deal could be announced next week.  The deal is important as Google tries to keep YouTube competitive against the likes of Hulu and Netflix (NFLX) as more people turn to the internet to access television and movies. 

Upgrades

Tupperware (TUP): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $64.00 on the company.

Downgrades

PepsiCo (PEP): Davenport lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG): Miller Tabak lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG): Morgan Keegan lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform.

Orbitz (OWW): The Benchmark Company lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $9.00 to $5.00.

Expedia (EXPD): The Benchmark Company lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $36.00 to $26.00.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

PepsiCo (PEP): Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their Buy rating and lowered their target price from $72.00 to $68.00.

Cephalon (CEPH): Oppenheimer reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $75.00 to $68.00.

Philip Morris International (PM): Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $62.00 to $67.00.

Panera Bread (PNRA): Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $115.00 to $135.00.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG): RBC Capital Markets reiterated their Sector Perform rating and raised their target price from $185.00 to $220.00.

Earning Reports

Cheesecake Factory (CAKE): Reported Q4 EPS of $0.36 beating estimates by +$0.01 on revenue of $417 million, in-line.

Cephalon (CEPH): Reported Q4 EPS of $2.19 beating estimates by +$0.25 on revenue of $771 million, beating estimates by +$40 million.

Expedia (EXPE): Reported Q4 EPS of $0.32 missing estimates by -$0.04 on revenue of $808 million, beating estimates by +$7 million.

Kraft (KFT): Reported Q4 EPS of $0.46 in-line on revenue of $13.7 billion, beating estimates by +$0.3 billion.

Taubman Centers (TCO): Reported Q4 EPS of $1.06 beating estimates by +$0.09.

·         Futures at 7:00: Dow -0.3%. S&P -0.4%. Nasdaq -0.4%. Crude +0.4% to $87.11. Gold -0.1% to $1361.10.

·         Europe: London -0.3%. Paris -1.0%. Frankfurt -0.2%.

·         Asia: Japan -0.1% to 10606. Hong Kong  +0.5% to 22829. China +0.3% to 2828. India +1.5% to 17729.