Microsoft Paying Companies to Make Windows Phones

Microsoft Paying Companies to Make Windows Phones. Unconfirmed reports say that Microsoft (MSFT) will reportedly make $2.6B in "support" payments to Smartphone manufactures persuade them to make one Windows Phone each. Some may call it a bribe and others say it’s a sign that Microsoft has lost the mobile device wars. Samsung (SSNLF) will receive $1.2B, Sony (SNE) $500M, Huawei $600M and others will receive $300M. Pre-market: 36.69 -0.07 (-0.19%)

Upgrades:

AOL (AOL): CRT Capital raised their rating from Fair Value to Buy and placed a target price of $57.00 on the company. Pre-market: 48.25 +1.00 (2.11%)

Big Lots (BIG): Raymond James raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform.

CSX Corp (CSX): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $35.00 on the company. Pre-market: 27.69 -1.54 (-5.27%)

Micron Tech (MU): JMP Securities raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $31.00 on the company. Pre-market: 23.45 +0.12 (0.51%)

Downgrades:

CSX Corp (CSX): Stifel lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 27.69 -1.54 (-5.27%)

Diageo PLC (DEO): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 129.23 -1.45 (-1.11%)

Dollar General (DG): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

EMC Corp (EMC): Monness Crespi lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 26.18 -0.11 (-0.42%)

Family Dollar (FDO): Raymond James lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform.

Kroger (KR): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $48.00 to $39.00.

Norfolk Southern (NSC): Stifel lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 89.35 -1.81 (-1.99%)

Coverage Initiated:

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD): CLSA initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

Twitter (TWTR): Telsey Advisory initiated coverage with a Not Rated rating and a target price of $70.00. Pre-market: 61.20 -0.37 (-0.60%)

Earning Reports:

BB&T Corp (BBT): Reported EPS of $0.75 beating estimates by +$0.03.

BlackRock (BLK): Reported EPS of $4.92 beating estimates by +$0.59. Pre-market: 324.26 +11.51 (3.68%)

Citigroup (C): Reported EPS of $0.82 missing estimates by -$0.16. Pre-market: 53.25 -1.74 (-3.16%)

Goldman Sachs (GS): Reported EPS of $4.60 beating estimates by +$0.42. Pre-market: 179.00 +0.25 (0.14%)

Huntington Banc (HBAN): Reported EPS of $0.18 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 9.74 -0.16 (-1.62%)

PNC (PNC): Reported EPS of $1.85 beating estimates by +$0.22. Pre-market: 80.69 +1.85 (2.35%)

PPG Industries (PPG): Reported EPS of $1.81 beating estimates by +$0.08. Pre-market: 192.00 +1.30 (0.68%)

UnitedHealth (UNH): Reported EPS of $1.41 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 73.00 -1.84 (-2.46%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:00: Dow -0.10%. S&P -0.18%. Nasdaq -0.03%. Crude +0.28% to $94.42. Gold -0.09% to $1234.40. U.S. 10 Year +7/32 to 2.871%.

Europe: London +0.06%. Paris -0.19%. Frankfurt -0.22%. 

Asia: Japan -0.39% to 15747.2. Hong Kong +0.37% to 22986. China +0.02% at 2024. India -0.11% to 21265. 

#RLPaler #WallStreet #PreMarket #WealthManagement #EarningReports #AnalystsRatings

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Fed News Sends World Markets Higher. Yesterday the Federal Reserve unexpectedly announced that it would keep its monetary stimulus policy unchanged.  The news sent world stock markets and commodity prices higher. The Fed will maintain its asset purchase program of $85 billion a month instead of tapering off the program.  Economists have expected a $10 billion monthly reduction in the program.

Rick Paler President of RL Paler Investment Advisors, LLC said “The Fed news should help the stock market and lower mortgage rates going forward, but also indicates the Fed is still worried about the economy.”

Upgrades:

AOL (AOL): Topeka raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $43.00 on the company. Pre-market: 35.45 +1.08 (3.14%)

Diageo PLC (DEO): Bernstein raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform. Pre-market: 134.07 +2.80 (2.13%)

Groupon (GRPN): Stifel raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $16.00 on the company. Pre-market: 12.02 +0.47 (4.07%)

Travelers Cos. (TRV): FBR Capital raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $84.00 to $94.00.

Time Warner (TWX): Morgan Stanley raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and raised their target price to $72.00. Pre-market: 64.35 +1.01 (1.59%)

Downgrades:

FedEx (FDX): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $116.00 to $112.00. Pre-market: 115.06 -1.19 (-1.02%)

Walt Disney (DIS): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered their target price to $70.00. Pre-market: 66.45 -0.66 (-0.98%)

Coverage Initiated:

Amazon.com (AMZN): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $350.00. Pre-market: 312.40 +0.37 (0.12%)

Cardinal Health (CAH): Sterne Agee initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $48.00.

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and target price of $21.00. Pre-market: 24.56 -0.24 (-0.95%)

Google (GOOG): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $1090.00. Pre-market: 905.70 +2.38 (0.26%)

LinkedIn (LNKD): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $302.00. Pre-market: 252.00 +2.42 (0.97%)

Netflix (NFLX): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Fair Value rating. Pre-market: 307.25 +0.33 (0.11%)

Oracle (ORCL): William Blair initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating. Pre-market: 33.66 -0.21 (-0.62%)

Quest Diagnostics (DGX): Craig-Hallum initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $74.00.

Yahoo! (YHOO): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Fair Value rating. Pre-market: 30.52 +0.09 (0.28%)

Zillow (Z): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Fair Value rating.

Earning Reports:

ConAgra (CAG): Reported EPS of $0.37 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 31.69 -0.38 (-1.18%)

Oracle (ORCL): Reported EPS of $0.59 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 33.66 -0.21 (-0.62%)

Rite Aid (RAD): Reported EPS of $0.03 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 4.17 +0.46 (12.40%)

Scholastic Corp (SCHL): Reported EPS of -0.90 missing estimates by -$0.28.

Steelcase (SCS): Reported EPS of $0.24 missing estimates by -$0.02.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:09: Dow +0.14%. S&P +0.21%. Nasdaq +0.23%. Crude +0.7% to $108.40. Gold +4.76% to $1369.70. U.S. 10 Year -3.32 2.704%.

Europe: London +1.40%. Paris +0.86%. Frankfurt +0.99%. 

Asia: Japan +1.80% to 14766. Hong Kong +1.67% to 23502. China, Closed. India +3.43% to 20607. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Oracle Misses Earnings, Shares Get Hammered. Oracle (ORCL) reported Q4 net profit rose 10% to $3.8B and adjusted EPS came in at $0.87 missing Wall Street estimates. Revenue at the company was flat at $10.9B. Some on Wall Street view the company as coming late to the “Cloud” and playing catch-up causing the pressure on earnings and organic growth. Additionally the company said that it would move from the NASDAQ to the NYSE on July 15^th. Once the move is completed Oracle will continue to trade under its current ticket symbol ORCL. Pre-market: 30.75 -2.46 (-7.41%)

Upgrades:

Bayer AG (BAYRY): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Cardinal Health (CAH): William Blair raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform. After Hours: 47.32 +0.25 (0.54%)

Facebook (FB): UBS raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $28.00 to $30.00. Pre-market: 24.42 +0.52 (2.18%)

Forest Labs (FRX): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $40.00 to $50.00. Pre-market: 41.08 +0.89 (2.21%)

Kennametal (KMT): Barrington raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $45.00 on the company.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB): BMO Capital raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform and placed a target price of $96.00 on the company. After Hours: 95.00 +0.34 (0.36%)

NetGear (NTGR): Wedbush raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $32.00 to $38.00.

Southern Co (SO): Citigroup raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and maintained their target price of $51.00. Pre-market: 43.00 +0.52 (1.22%)

Streelcase (SCS): Longbow raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $18.00 on the company.

Downgrades:

Diageo PLC (DEO): Santander lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 115.78 +2.08 (1.83%)

ITT Educational (ESI): Argus lowered their rating from Hold to Sell. Pre-market: 24.85 -0.08 (-0.32%)

Newmont Mining (NEM): UBS lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 29.90 +0.15 (0.50%)

Coverage Initiated:

Burger King Worldwide (BKW): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target range of $21.00 - $22.00.

Wendy’s (WEN): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target range of $6.00 - $7.00.

Earning Reports:

CarMax (KMX): Reported EPS of $0.64 beating estimates by +$0.06. Pre-market: 45.24 +0.67 (1.50%)

Darden Restaurants (DRI): Reported EPS of $1.01 missing estimates by -$0.04. Pre-market: 51.00 -0.23 (-0.45%)

Oracle (ORCL): Reported EPS of $0.87 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 30.75 -2.46 (-7.41%)

TIBCO Software (TIBX): Reported EPS of $0.18 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 21.36 +0.35 (1.67%)

Markets: 

Futures at 7:00: Dow +0.63%. S&P +0.65%. Nasdaq +0.52%. Crude +0.36% to $95.49. Gold +0.45% to $1292.20.

Europe: London +0.87%. Paris +0.67%. Frankfurt +0.21%. 

Asia: Japan +1.66% to 13230. Hong Kong -0.59% to 20263. China -0.52% to 2073. India +0.29% at 18774.