Stocks to Watch: CRDN, MMM, ORCL & More
Take a look at some of Monday’s morning movers:
Ceradyne - 3M is buying the industrial component maker for $35 a share, a 43 percent premium over Friday's closing price. The deal is valued at $670 million when debt and other items are factored out.
Oracle - The company is holding its OracleWorld customer conference in San Francisco. Among the announcements: enhancement of Oracle’s Public Cloud Service, which takes direct aim at Amazon.com and Google. Oracle also struck a deal with Nokia to give Oracle customers access to Nokia’s map data and location services.
DreamWorks Animation - Janney Montgomery Scott has upgraded the movie studio's shares to "buy" from "neutral," citing benefits from a broader film slate, better international performance, and a number of other factors.
Microsoft - RBC Capital Markets has downgraded Microsoft to "sector perform" from "outperform," largely on a valuation basis. RBC said the stock's 15 percent year-to-date gain already reflects some of the potential gains from the Windows 8 product cycle.
Wendy's - Janney downgraded the restaurant operator's stock to "neutral" from "buy." The move is based on channel checks, which indicate potentially flat same-store sales.
AutoZone - The company has authorized the repurchase of an additional $750 million in shares, adding to the auto parts retailer’s existing share repurchase program.
Airline Stocks - Airline stocks could be in play today as industry group IATA raises its airline profit forecast for 2012 and says it sees improvement in 2013. That could help shares of stocks like United Continental, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and U.S. Airways.
Airlines
| TICKER | COMPANY | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAL | United Airlines Holdings Inc | 51.86 | +0.10 | +0.19% |
| DAL | Delta Air Lines Inc | 51.40 | +0.20 | +0.38% |
| LUV | Southwest Airlines Co | 26.62 | -0.02 | -0.09% |
| -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Goldman Sachs - Barron’s said the investment bank’s shares could rise 25 percent or more next year as capital markets improve.
General Motors - The automaker is recalling nearly 41,000 vehicles because of a problem that could cause a fuel leak. The vehicles affected were all sold in warm-weather states, including Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, and Texas.
Legg Mason - Investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management has cut its holdings in the investment firm, according to a regulatory filing. In cutting its stake to 9.5 percent from 10.5 percent, Trian is no longer the biggest shareholder in Legg Mason — that distinction now belongs to T. Rowe Price Group.
Sprint Nextel - Raymond James has downgraded the stock to "market perform" from "outperform."
Molson Coors - Morgan Stanley has cut its rating on the beer maker's stock to "underweight" from "equalweight."
Callaway Golf - Raymond James has upgraded the golf equipment maker's shares to "strong buy" from "market perform."
—By CNBC’s Peter Schacknow
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