Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Calls of Note Part 1

- Jefferies is positive on Neurometrix (NASDAQ:NURO) saying they view the recent weakness as a buying opportunity and would be aggressive buyers of the stock at current levels. Firm expects the company to announce extremely solid 2Q results July 27 and a higher-ASP next generation NC-stat system in 2H06.

A strong sales force and new product launches will drive upside to numbers. The company recently completed its sales hiring process, and currently employs 46 regional sales managers (the company also retains over 500 independent sales reps).

Reits Buy and $41 tgt.

Notablecalls: I feel this one may be actionable. Will be looking for a short-term bounce.

- JP Morgan notes they are cautious on Cogent (NASDAQ:COGT) ahead of 2Q results and are sidelined pending further visibility into revenue opportunities for 2H06. Firm's 2Q revenue and EPS estimates of $27.5mm and PF EPS of $0.09 are slightly below consensus ($0.10/$28mm), however, they believe our 21% q/q revenue ramp may still prove aggressive given the lack of recent contract awards.

The UK ID card program is facing further setbacks and could be delayed, perhaps indefinitely. Recent reports state that the issuance of ID cards may be abandoned and biometric data may instead be collected and stored on a temporary ID register.

Firm believes their prior 50% yoy revenue growth est may prove too aggressive if EU VIS or country specific AFIS programs incur delays. They are thus trimming FY07 revenue growth rate to 34.7%, which assumes one less major contract win (aprx $20mm) and a modest reduction to estimate for revenue in Asia. Firm is now 10% below consensus on revenue and $0.08 lower for FY07 PF EPS. Maintains Neutral.

Notablecalls: Not actionable but good to know.

- JP Morgan is also cautious on IBM (NYSE:IBM) ahead of results saying they expect services signings of approximately $11 billion, which represents a 4% sequential decline and a 25% annual decline off of a strong Q205. Firm is lowering their Global Services revenue estimate slightly to $12 billion from $12.12 billion previously, representing flat year-over-year growth, and we expect margins to remain roughly flat sequentially. Believes IBM's restructuring actions will now serve to maintain, rather than improve margins in coming quarters.

Also, they believe that IBM's high-end server business will remain under pressure, which could compress revenue growth and margins for the division.

Overall, they are modestly lowering their total revenue estimates to account for incremental hardware and services pressures. For 2007, firm's estimates remain below consensus primarily due to belief that IBM's growth expectations are unrealistic given current competitive pressures. Maintains Neutral rating.

Notablecalls: Note that UBS was out yesterday morning cutting their services signings est to $10 bln. I think that at least some of the miss is already priced in at current levels. I'm not calling a bottom here, though.

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