Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Calls of Note Part 2

- UBS is defending AU Optronics (NYSE:AUO) saying that instead of seeking more negative data points and waiting for the Q2 result announcement, they suggest investors accumulate AUO on what they believe is the recent over-correction. With shipments beginning to recover from July, the firm believes the market will begin to look to a H206 recovery despite what they believe will be disappointing Q2 results.

Firm estimates LCD TV prices will fall further by 30%+ in the Q4 shopping season. TV panel price cuts in Q2 may not trigger strong demand immediately, but should lead to high growth in Q406. Stronger seasonal demand will likely lead to a supply/demand balance in late Q3, and potential tightness in Q4.

AUO should remain profitable during this downturn due to its better cost structure and greater scale. Firm expects Q4 earnings to increase significantly because of increasing exposure to Japanese TV brands.

Notablecalls: Not actionable but good to know category.

- Ian Horowitz of Soleil-Fulcrum Research is positive on Aventine Renewable Energy (NYSE: AVR) saying that after the the recent IPO and subsequent sell-off, they are recommending purchasing of Aventine at these levels. At the current price, the stock is trading at 10.4x firm's 2007 EBITDA levels of $135.3mln. Although at first blush the valuation doesn't seem extremely compelling, EBITDA calculation is based off of a 2007 average EtOH selling price of $2.07/gallon. Assuming crude prices remain stable in this range and gasoline maintains a >$2.00 price range, they feel that their 2007 EBITDA number may understate the opportunities available for the ethanol industry over the next several years.

Reits Buy and $45 tgt.

Notablecalls: Memo to analysts in general - Please don't publish calls filled with positive talk if your target price is less than say 25% higher from current market price. It's waste of your own time not to mention the people that go through the notes.

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