Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Deals, Apple Inc (AAPL), Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Novell Inc (NOVL), Marvell Technology Group (MRVL)
Before the bell: Dell, oil help futures rise
Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) reported late Thursday a first-quarter profit, beating analyst estimates. Revenue rose 27%. MRVL shares are up almost 17% in premarket trading. J.P. Morgan upgraded Marvell from Neutral to Overweight and Oppenheimer from Perform to Outperform with a target price of $21.
J. Crew (NYSE: JCG) shares, on the other hand, are dropping over 18% after it said late Thursday it cut its full-year earnings outlook. Seems the high-flying retailer isn’t immune to weak U.S. consumer spending. Citigroup downgraded JCG from Hold to Sell and cut the target price from $42 to $34. Wachovia downgraded JCG from Outperform to Market Perform.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) shares are up over 1.3% this morning after Tracinda Corp., the investment arm of billionaire activist investor Kirk Kerkorian, said Friday it will waive a condition on its $170 million cash tender offer that the market price of Ford shares does not fall by 10% or more from its Might 8 close of $8.20. Since the time of the offer to buy up to 20 million shares at $8.50 per share — at the time a slight premium — shares have fallen 18%. The offer expires June 9.
A Japanese newspaper reported that Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) is considering whether to build its fuel-efficient hybrid Prius at a California plant it jointly operates with General Motors (NYSE: GM). Toyota stated nothing had yet to be decided and denies the report. Meanwhile, with General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) 19,000 hourly workers signing a buyout, it may also be moving entire shifts of workers at some truck factories to nearby car plants as it restructures to adjust to a rapidly changing U.S. market brought on by $4 per gallon gasoline. The restructuring moves, however, weren’t confirmed and will be announced by CEO Wagoner on Tuesday at GM’s annual meeting.
Novell Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVL) stated late Thursday it swung to a profit of $5.87 million, or 2 cents a share. Meanwhile revenue rose to $235.67 million. Excluding special items, Novell said earnings from continuing operations for the quarter were 6 cents a share, inline with estimates.
The blogosphere has been abuzz after Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) said it is closing its 24-hour flagship 5th Avenue retail store in Manhattan for the night. Apparently, a commercial is being shot there and many wonder if its a commercial for the 3G iPhone.
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