Calls Of Note: The Research Moving Stocks Today

The following represents a hand-picked selection of notable research curated by an analyst known in some circles as "The Sith Overlord Of The Street." FBR: Upgrading Sprint David Dixon of FBR & Co. upgraded shares of Sprint Corp S to Outperform from Market Perform with an unchanged $6 price target as the company's financing risk is lowered given Softbank's plans to finance a network buildout and device purchases. Dixon noted that Sprint will focus on solving major outdoor coverage problems in the near term, but over the longer-term, the plan could result in placing Sprint in a leadership position with a "robust" indoor and outdoor based network. JPMorgan Upgrading Wendy's John Ivankoe of JPMorgan upgraded shares of Wendys Co WEN to Overweight from Neutral with an unchanged $12 price target given several upcoming catalyst. According to Vankoe, the company is expected to increase its multi-year free cash flow/equity yield as the franchise mix increases, capital expenditure falls, and management's buyback program lowers total share count to 234 million in fiscal 2017 from 371 million as of the end of 2014. Morgan Stanley: Bullish On Telecom Towers Simon Flannery of Morgan Stanley commented that 2015 has been a "slow year" for telecom towers but the group is attractive heading into 2016 as major telecom providers are expected to re-accelerate spending while the deployment of AWS-3 spectrum and Public Safety Network represent potential tailwinds. Flannery upgraded shares of American Tower Corp AMT to Overweight from Equal-weight with a price target raised to $116 from a previous $101. The analyst also maintained an Overweight rating on shares of SBA Communications Corporation SBAC with a price target raised to $151 from a previous $130. He also reaffirmed an Overweight rating on Crown Castle International Corp CCI with an unchanged $94 price target. Citi: Upgrading Stratasys Kenneth Wong of Citi upgraded shares of Stratasys, Ltd. SSYS to Buy from Neutral with a price target raised to $35 from a previous $28 as the Street is undervaluing the company's high margin recurring consumables revenue stream. According to Wong, Stratasys' consumables can "easily" generate mid-30s EBIT margins can help sustain the company's earnings as it works through excess customer print capacity, resulting in a potential EPS of $1.44 and $2.03 in calendar year 2016 and 2017, respectively. Stephens: Downgrading Lumber Liquidators Rick Nelson of Stephens downgraded shares of Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc LL to Equal-Weight from Overweight with a price target slashed to $13 from a previous $35 following the company's "big" second quarter miss. The analyst also slashed his 2015 EPS estimate from $0.48 to a loss of $1.26 which assumes a 7.7 percent decline in same-store sales, a narrowing of 920 basis points in gross margins and only 20 new store openings, representing 6.1 percent growth. Credit Suisse: Multiple Paths To Enhance EMC's Shareholder Value Kulbinder Garcha of Credit Suisse maintained an Outperform rating on shares of EMC Corporation EMC with a price target raised to $34 from a previous $30 as the company can explore "multiple paths" to enhance shareholder value. Garcha noted the best course of action would be a VMware, Inc. VMW spin in that could drive shares as high as $38. This would "eradicate" excess and duplicate costs and could be 19 percent EPS accretive within the first year and drive long-term EPS power of $2.80 in fiscal 2017. Bernstein: Positive On EMC Toni Sacconaghi, Jr. of Bernstein maintained an Overweight rating on shares of EMC with an unchanged $32 price target as the company is taking necessary action to create shareholder value. Sacconaghi noted that a buy-in of VMware would naturally result in a premium for its shareholders, and a "better" stock price for EMC shareholders, while a buy-out of EMC would provide an "attractive" return for EMC stockholders and a "less certain" return for VMware shareholders. Piper: Afrezza Struggling, Maintaining MannKind At Neutral Joshua Schimmer of Piper Jaffray maintained a Neutral rating on shares of MannKind Corporation MNDK with an unchanged $3.50 price target as Afrezza is "still stuck at the gate." Schimmer continued that reported sales by Sanofi SA (ADR) SNY have been "lackluster to say the least" and IMS scripts "still don't show signs of life." The analyst also suggested that there is danger Sanofi could return the product to MannKind which could "force a full divestiture to avoid insolvency."