Restaurant chain, Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) was downgraded to an “equal-weight” from an “overweight” by Morgan Stanley on Monday. Morgan Stanley currently keeps a price target of $19.00, which implies an upside potential of 15.83% over closing the stock’s closing price on Friday. Morgan Stanley said that a third of Panera’s customers indicated that prices were way too high, which the firm thinks impacts the frequency. Another cause for a concern was catering, which has slowed in the recent past, the research report said.
Month: September 2013
Apple Displaces Coca Cola To Become the World’s No. 1 Brand
Apple has displaced Coca Cola to become the world’s most valuable brand, according to very closely watched annual brand survey, conducted by Interbrand. Interbrand, which is subsidiary of Omnicom Group, said in its report that Apple’s strong leadership, huge fan base and a gigantic brand appeal were some of the factors which helped the iPad maker to capture the No. 1 position. The survey, which also analyzes financial position of a company, put Coca Cola in the third position while Google was rated as the second most valuable company. The top 10 positions in the list featured mostly tech companies.
Candy Crush Saga Maker Files For An IPO
According to London’s Daily Telegraph, citing a source familiar with the matter as saying, King.com, the London based maker of Candy Crush Saga has filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The IPO aims to raise $5 billion. The year has been devoid of tech-related IPOs. According to a data provider, Dealogic, only one in six IPOs this year have been tech-related. The slowdown in tech-related IPOs is mainly due to Facebook’s (NASDAQ: FB) dud debut and drubbing of Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) after its IPO in December 2011.
AZZ Tumble After Q2 Results, Weak outlook
Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE: AZZ) were hammered on Friday after the electrical equipment maker reported weaker-than-expected results for the fiscal second quarter and handed downbeat guidance for the current quarter. Besides, it also slashed its full year outlook. For the latest period, AZZ posted adjusted earnings of 57 cents a share while analysts’ consensus estimate was of 66 cents a share. Net sales climbed 24% to $189.78 million from $153.39 million but fell short of analysts’ forecast of $202.83 million. Separately, the Company announced a quarterly cash dividend of 14 cents a share. The dividend is payable on Oct. 25 to shareholders of record on Oct. 11.
McCormick Q3 Income Flat, Outlook Downbeat
McCormick & Co (NYSE: MKC) said on Thursday that fiscal third quarter profit remained flat as margins remained even, offsetting slight improvement in sales. Shares fell as the company provided downbeat outlook for full-year earnings. The Company expects earnings to be at lower end of its previous guidance. The Company said that weak demand for its industrial products from quick service restaurant segment will impact fiscal fourth quarter results. McCormick now expects adjusted earnings and sales to both grow by 7% while analysts’ polled by Thomson Reuters were anticipating 10% and 6% growth, respectively.
eBay Acquires Braintree For $800 Million
Ecommerce giant, eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) announced on Thursday that it plans to acquire payment service provider Braintree in an all-cash transaction valued at $800 million. The acquisition will help eBay expanding traction in mobile payment transaction, which currently is handled by its online payment unit, PayPal. The Company said that Braintree will operate as a separate service unit within PayPal with its Chief Executive Bill Ready reporting to PayPal President David Marcus. Chicago-based Braintree works with mobile and online companies such as restaurant reservation service provider, Open Table and room rental company, Airbnb.
Canaccord Genuity Initiates Coverage on Facebook
Equity research analysts at Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage on Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) from Wednesday. The firm assigned a “buy” rating and set a price target of $60.00. The price target implies an upside potential of 23.84% over Tuesday’s closing stock price. In the research report, analyst said that the reason behind initiating coverage of FB with a “buy” rating was the belief that company’s is still in a very early stage of generating revenue from its huge user base, despite twofold jump in its stock price.
AutoZone Beats Q4 Expectations
AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) said on Wednesday that fiscal fourth quarter net income increased 15% as the U.S. biggest auto parts seller’s top line growth continued to show an improvement, aided by new stores opening in the U.S. and Mexico and expanding commercial business. For the latest period ended Aug. 31, AutoZone posted a net income of $371.2 million or $10.42 a share compared to a profit of $323.7 million or $8.46 a share. On adjusted basis, earnings stood at $9.76 a share. Net sales climbed 12% to $3.1 billion while same-store-sales rose 1% in the fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecasted earnings of $10.34 cents on revenue of $3.09 billion.
Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron To Merge
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) and rival chipmaker Tokyo Electron agreed to merge in an all-stock deal on Tuesday. Under the terms of the deal, Tokyo Electron shareholders will be offered 3.25 shares of the new entity for each share held in Tokyo Electron while Applied Materials shareholders will get one share of the merged company for every share held in Applied Materials. After the merger, Applied Materials’ shareholders will have a stake of around of 68% in the new entity while Tokyo Electron shareholders will have 32% stake.
Lennar Corp. Posts Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results
Homebuilder, Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) said on Tuesday that fiscal third quarter earnings increased 39%, aided by stronger margins, jump in orders and deliveries and a staggering revenue growth. For the latest period, profit stood at $120.7 million or 54 cents a share, compared to a net income of $87.1 million or 40 cents a share, in the same quarter of last year. Revenue jumped 46% to $1.6 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 45 cents a share on revenue of $1.56 billion. Gross margin widened to 24.9% from 23.2%. Home deliveries climbed 37% to 4,990 homes while average selling price rose 16%.