November 11 nbsp;ndash; Analyst Comments ndash; Cowenrsquo;s Robert Stone commented this week on Energy Conversion Devicersquo;s Q1 2010 financial results, noting that given many quarters of projected losses, he expects the stock to trade well below book value. He rates the stock at NEUTRAL. Financial Results Energy Conversion Devices (Nasdaq:ENER) reported nbsp;Q1 2010 revenues of $42.9 million, compared with $95.8 million for the same period last year and $51.4 million for Q4 09. Solar product and projectnbsp; sales were $36.1, $89.5 and $46 million, respectively. It reported a net loss of $11.8 million, or $0.28 per diluted shares in Q1/10, compared with a net loss of $17.6 million in Q4 and net income of $11.8 million for the same period last year. Key Takeaways middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Q1 revenue came in below the Street, cost/watt decined by about 6% sequentially to $1.76, with GM at $24.5%, but ASPs fell 13%. middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Expects Q2 ...

August 28, 2009 ndash; Cowenrsquo;s Rob Stone downgraded Energy Conversion Devices (Nasdaq:ENER) to NEUTRAL from OUTPERFORM this morning, stating that near-term MW shipments lsquo;are even more depressed than we expected, providing little visibility on a steeply back-end loaded year.rsquo; He said that until there is evidence of renewed traction and profits, the stock is likely to remain range bound below 0.8x book. Key Takeaways middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The SIT deal adds expertise but little revenue until H2 ndash; modeling no systems revenue until Q3 middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; ASP pressure, higher expenses and restructuring likely yield losses until Q4:F10 middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Large scale BIPV projects involving re-roofing or new construction appear to be more susceptible to push-outs than standard PV middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Q4 shipments declined about 18% Q/Q to 17MW with ASPs down 7% to $2.68 ndash; expects about 12% growth in Q1 with ASPs of $2.40. middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Modeling FY10 shipments at 135MW, ASPs down 27% and revenue of $340Mnbsp;

div style="text-align: justify;"Citigroup is downgrading span style="font-weight: bold;"ConAgra (NYSE:CAG) /spanto Hold from Buy and removing it from their Top Picks Live list.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"What's Happened? —/span On Tuesday (6/9) ConAgra’s Slim Jim manufacturing plant in Garner, NC exploded killing three people. On Saturday (6/13), the local news paper indicated that the ATF has ruled the explosion an accident caused by a natural gas leak. ConAgra has not commented on the situation.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Extensive Damage Done — /spanThe plant was extensively damaged and will likely be off-line for quite a long time and is the only plant that makes Slim Jim. Citigroup est. revenues of Slim Jim at $200 mm/yr and EPS contribution at $0.06/sh.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Insurance Coverage is Unknown — /spanConAgra has not yet made any comments regarding its insurance coverage on the plant; nor its coverage with regards to business interruption ...

div style="text-align: justify;"Merrill Lynch/BAM is out with span style="font-weight: bold;"cautious comments on Apparel players /spansaying following easy sales and weather comparisons in March, underlying momentum may still be weak (adjusting for the Easter shift) as retailers continue to face traffic and ticket pressures.br /br /Firm also notes relative outperformance of retail stocks (vs. SP500) usually ends in May as Retail stocks typically outperform the SP500 starting in Jan / Feb, peaking in Mar, and then underperform in May/Jun until Aug/Sep. Branded Apparel stocks typically start to underperform the SP500 in Jun and July.br /br /They are downgrading span style="font-weight: bold;"Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL)/span to Underperform from Neutral (with a $42 tgt) noting that after benefiting from the upward mobility in customer spending patterns (as key dep’t stores customers focused on up-scaling merchandise assortments through ‘06-’07), dep’t stores shift away from a higher AUR strategy and emphasis onsharper price points, coupled with ...

div style="text-align: justify;"RBC Capital is out upgrading span style="font-weight: bold;"Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)/span to Outperform from Underperform while raising tgt to $165 from $95.br /br /Firm notes their prior concerns these past months were: 1) Recession headwinds; 2) Margin downshifts; 3) Management uncertainty.br /br /They now see these issues mitigated or resolved, leaving us more positive, based on: 1) turnaround in RBC's proprietary consumer demand survey; 2) improved margin visibility via product roadmap; 3) stronger resiliency, gains for Global Smartphones; 4) Apple's "VIP" (Valuation Innovation Premium), a factor they underestimated, sustaining outperformance despite near-term challenges; 5) belief Steve Jobs' is likely to return to Apple.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"Consumer Demand Turnaround./span Following 2 years of declines, RBC/IQ Changewave data (2,700) shows 11% spending more on consumer electronics vs. 10% March, helping restore demand for Apple products.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"Smartphone Resiliency. /spanAs shown by recent RIM/Apple quarterly results, Smartphones have proven recession-resistant; ...