Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Deals, Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Motorola (MOT), Halliburton (HAL), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Penney (J.C.) (JCP), Altria Group (MO)
Before the bell: Wall Street set to rebound boosted by deals
BCE Inc. (NYSE: BCE) shares are jumping over 10% in premarket trading after Canada’s Supreme Court overturned a Quebec Court decision, clearing the way for the $52 billion leveraged buyout by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and U.S. private equity firms. The buyers might still negotiate the price down though.
Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) withdrew a $3.6 billion offer for Britain’s Expro International after the U.K. oil services firm stuck by a smaller bid from a private-equity consortium.
Some analyst calls this morning:
- J.C. Penney Co. (NYSE: JCP) was upgraded by Deutsche Bank to Buy from Hold and the price target upped to $46 from $45.
- Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) was downgraded by Piper Jaffray to Sell from Neutral on continued weakness in North American market. The target price was cut to $7 from $9.75. Shares are down over 2% in premarket trading.
- First Solar (NYSE: FSLR) price target was upped at Lehman Brothers from $280 to $335. Shares are up over 2.5% in premarket trading.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), which along with more than 30 partners announced in November a plan for new handsets based on the Android mobile software to be out by the second half of this year, now states that the handsets won’t arrive until the fourth quarter. And even this belated schedule is a problem for some of its partners.
Meanwhile, Softbank, the carrier that would distribute Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)’s iPhone in Japan, stated Monday it will sell for 23,040 yen, or $215. But the discount isn’t so obvious as Softbank said people will get a discount in their mobile phone bills that’ll compute to their paying $215 for the iPhone over two years.
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) said on Monday it would purchase social networking start-up Plazes — a smaller rival to services like Twitter and Jaiku — as it tries to expand into World wide web services. The price was not disclosed.
Altria Group Inc (NYSE: MO)’s Philip Morris USA has cancelled its Marlboro Ultra Smooth cigarettes in a move firther highlighting its challenges to grow its tobacco business as U.S. cigarette sales decline, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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