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STANDARD & POOR'S

Equity Research

 

Plus: Analyst opinions on Advanced Micro Devices, UAL Corp., Corning and more

From Standard&Poor's Equity Research. Yahoo (YHOO) Cuts to 2 STARS (sell) from 3 STARS (hold) Analyst: Scott Kessler

Yahoo is up almost 8% today and, in our view, the shares are now overvalued. We were impressed by the fourth quarter strength in Yahoo's display business, especially from its 200 largest customers. But we believe Yahoo faces notable competition from emerging social media businesses. We think indications about Panama's likely timing and its customer adoption are encouraging, but we still see considerable uncertainties related to the new system and we think Yahoo still has an uphill battle in search. Yahoo's 2007 P/E and P/E-to-growth are well above those of peers. We are keeping our target price at $28.

Corning (GLW) Upgrades to 5 STARS (strong buy) from 4 STARS (buy) Analyst: Kenneth Leon, CPA

Corning posts fourth quarter EPS of 31 cents vs. 22 cents, before special items, 2 cents better than our estimate. We believe Corning is making the right pricing changes in its business model for flat panel display customers. Also, with peers not investing in plant capacity, we view Corning as strongly positioned for the 65% of display sales that occur in the second half of the year. We also view telecom trends as positive with an improved outlook for fiber optics from major carriers. We are increasing our 2007 EPS estimate by 5 cents to $1.30. We are raising our target price by $2 to $27, 20.8 times that estimate, near the company's peers.

Ericsson (ERIC) Upgrades American Depositary Shares to 4 STARS (buy) from 3 STARS (hold) Analyst: Kenneth Leon, CPA

We think Ericsson can maintain or gain market share in the network systems market, based on the adverse fourth quarter pre-announcement by Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) on Jan. 23, and our view that the proposed Nokia Siemens Network joint venture may face the same challenges as Alcatel. A prolonged integration for these leading competitors will benefit Ericsson, in our opinion. With strong results for the Sony-Ericsson joint venture, we are raising our 2006 earnings per ADS estimate to $2.23 from $2.15 and 2007's to $2.53 from $2.40, and are boosting our 12-month target price $8 to $46, 18.3 times our 2007 estimate, near Ericsson's peers.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Reiterates 3 STARS (hold) Analyst: Clyde Montevirgen

AMD reports a fourth quarter operating loss of 4 cents per share, after option expense, vs. 21 cents EPS. Our fourth quarter EPS estimate was 38 cents, before effects of the recent ATI acquisition. Revenues rose 31%, after the ATI acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2006 and before non-ongoing businesses in fourth quarter 2005. Profitability was hurt by lower pricing for chips and lower-margin ATI business. We are reducing our $1.57 2007 EPS estimate to an operating loss of 13 cents, due to lower gross margins and giving effect to the integration of ATI. We are lowering our target price by $5 to $19 on our reduced growth assumptions.

UAL Corp. (UAUA) Initiates coverage with 3 STARS (hold) Analyst: James Corridore

We think UAL should benefit from strong demand in 2007, as well as industry capacity restraint and lower jet fuel costs. On Jan. 23, the company posted a fourth quarter loss of 55 cents, slightly worse than we were expecting, largely on weather-related costs. We like UAL's focus on cost cutting, productivity and asset utilization, and we think it can get a higher share of premium passengers than its peers. With our 12-month target price of $50, we value the shares at 11.6 times our $4.30 2007 EPS estimate, slightly above legacy peers. We see the shares as high risk and expect them to be volatile. CNH Global (CNH) Ups to 4 STARS (buy) from 3 STARS (hold) Analyst: Anthony Fiore, CFA

Fourth quarter EPS of $0.39 vs. $0.17, before one-time items, exceeds our $0.30 estimate. Excluding currency impact, sales of agricultural equipment increased 1.7%, while construction equipment sales rose 1.8%. We believe year-over-year increase in gross margin reflects improved price realization and progress that CNH is making on its operational improvement goals. We are increasing our 2007 operating EPS estimate to $2.15 from $1.75, reflecting our improved outlook for sales and margin expansion. We are raising our target price to $38 from $28.