MORNING COFFEE

U.S. Economy Grow 3.1%. The U.S Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew more than economist had expected in the fourth quarter.  Economist had been looking for the economy to grow only 2.9%.  This comes just after the Fed said that the economy seems to be on firmer footing.  U.S. businesses are increasing their spending and production to meet consumer’s demand, while corporate profits increased 3.3%.  The first quarter seems to be on pace to maintain this growth rate, but higher oil prices could lower consumer demand and slow the economic recovery.

Upgrades

CarMax (KMX): Robert W. Baird raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $38.00 to $40.00.

Downgrades

Urban Outfitters (URBN): Janney Montgomery Scott lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and placed a target price of $30.00 on the company.

Research In Motion (RIMM): Robert W. Baird lowered their rating from Neutral to Underperform and lowered their target price from $60.00 to $47.00.

Coverage Initiated

Harley-Davidson (HOG): Wedbush initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $48.00.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Oracle (ORCL): Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $36.00 to $38.00.

Accenture (ACN): Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $59.00 to $65.00.

Best Buy (BBY): RBC Capital Markets reiterated their Top Pick rating and lowered their target price from $42.00 to $38.00.

Morgan Stanley (MS): Oppenheimer reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $33.00 to $31.00.

Earning Reports

Accenture (ACN): Reported FQ2 EPS of $0.75 beating estimates by +$0.03 on revenue of $6.1 billion, beating estimates by +$0.3 billion. Pre-market: 56.00 +4.04 (+7.78%)

Darden Restaurants (DRI): Reported FQ3 EPS of $1.08 beating estimates by +$0.03 on revenue of $1.98 billion, in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 48.00 -0.01 (-0.02%)

Oracle (ORCL): Reported FQ3 EPS of $0.54 beating estimates by +$0.04 on revenue of $8.76 billion, beating estimates by +$0.1 billion. Pre-market: 33.68 +1.54 (4.79%)

Research In Motion (RIMM): Reported Q4 EPS of $1.78 beating estimates by +$0.02 on revenue of $5.56 billion, missing estimates by -$0.08 billion.  Sees Q1 EPS of $1.47-1.55 vs. consensus estimate of $1.65, noting customers are shifting to lower-priced models. Pre-market: 57.13 -6.96 (-10.86%)

·         Futures at 9:14: S&P +0.15%. Nasdaq +0.25%. Dow +0.13%. Crude +0.09% to $105.69. Gold -0.07% to $1433.90.

·         Europe: London +0.4%. Paris +0.2%. Frankfurt +0.5%.

·         Asia: Japan +1.1%. Hong Kong +1.1%. China +1.1%. India +2.6%.