Company Reports Record Revenue and Raises 2008 Revenue Guidance to $48 Million

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Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Analyst initiations, Symantec Corp (SYMC), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA)

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded shares of Novartis (NYSE: NVS) to Buy from Neutral as they believe the Alcon (NYSE: ACL) acquisition has diversified the company's business.
  
• Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight on valuation.
  
• JP Morgan raised Albermarle (NYSE: ALB) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• BMO Capital upgraded Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV) was lifted to Buy from Hold at Sterne Agee.

Analyst downgrades:

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI) to Underweight from Equal Weight based on the impact from Altria's (NYSE: MO) purchase of competitor UST (NYSE: UST), which may result in pricing pressure.
  
• Goldman downgraded AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Sell from Neutral as they believe shares do not support near-term fundamentals.
• Max Capital (NASDAQ: MXGL) was downgraded to neutral from Buy at Banc of America.
  
• AudioCodes (NASDAQ: AUDC) was lowered at Merrill to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Pinnacle Financial (NASDAQ: PNFP) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird.

Analyst initiations:

• Jefferies initiated Hain Celestial (NASDAQ: HAIN) with a Buy rating and $32 target. The firm believes the growing strength of the company's core natural and organic brand franchise should reveal itself over the next 12 months.
  
• Merriman thinks Solar Power (NASDAQ: SOPW) can generate a high-margin recurring revenue stream through the build-out of its Yes! Solar Solutions franchise business. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating.
  
• Oppenheimer started Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: TEVA) with an Outperform rating and $58 target and sees upside from continued growth in branded franchise and the company's generic injectable franchise, which they believe is underappreciated.
• SunTrust initiated tw telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) with a Buy rating and $16 target. Baird.
  
• STEC Inc (NASDAQ: STEC) was initiated at Wachovia with a Market Perform rating.
  
• Banc of America assumed McAfee (NYSE: MFE) with a Neutral rating and $38 target and Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) with a Buy rating and $26 target.

 

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Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Analyst initiations, Symantec Corp (SYMC), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA)

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded shares of Novartis (NYSE: NVS) to Buy from Neutral as they believe the Alcon (NYSE: ACL) acquisition has diversified the company's business.
  
• Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight on valuation.
  
• JP Morgan raised Albermarle (NYSE: ALB) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• BMO Capital upgraded Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV) was lifted to Buy from Hold at Sterne Agee.

Analyst downgrades:

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI) to Underweight from Equal Weight based on the impact from Altria's (NYSE: MO) purchase of competitor UST (NYSE: UST), which may result in pricing pressure.
  
• Goldman downgraded AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Sell from Neutral as they believe shares do not support near-term fundamentals.
• Max Capital (NASDAQ: MXGL) was downgraded to neutral from Buy at Banc of America.
  
• AudioCodes (NASDAQ: AUDC) was lowered at Merrill to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Pinnacle Financial (NASDAQ: PNFP) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird.

Continue reading Analyst calls: NVS, TSN, WYNN, RAI, AZN, HAIN, TEVA, SYMC ...

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Filed under: Internet, Scandals

I'm a big fan of SeekingAlpha. I think it provides readers with a great source of investment thought from some of the top minds in the business in a great format -- at no cost.

That's why I was greatly disappointed to see that the site is providing a venue for Beacon Equity Research, a stock promoter that issues "analyst reports" in exchange for cash and/or stock from the company or third parties.

A piece called Solar stocks stay strong despite new energy bill mentions little-known microcaps SES Solar (OTC BB: SESI), Solar Power (OTC BB: SOPW), and BioSolar (OTC BB: BSRC) (which our own Kevin Kelly has warned about here). These stocks were introduced with this wonderfully eloquent lead: "A number of small cap companies are poised to benefit from latest industry developments".

Following the "article", we get a disclosure that is very familiar to those of us who follow penny stock promotions:

Continue reading Why is SeekingAlpha giving penny stock promoters a soapbox?

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