AnnTaylor (ANN) (USM) (WMGI) (WSH) (AMCC) (AMRS) Downgraded

AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN), United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE: USM), Wright Medical (NASDAQ: WMGI), Willis Group Holdings PLC (NYSE: WSH), Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (NASDAQ: AMCC) and Amyris Inc (NASDAQ: AMRS) downgraded by analysts.

AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (ANN) was downgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Sell” rating.

United States Cellular Corporation (USM) was downgraded by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from an “Equal Weight” rating to an “Underweight” rating.

Wright Medical (WMGI) was downgraded by Mizuho from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Willis Group Holdings PLC (WSH) was downgraded by SunTrust (NYSE:STI) from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC) was downgraded by Craig Hallum from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Amyris Inc. (AMRS) was downgraded by Robert W. Baird from an “Outperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $16.00 on the company, down from $25.00.

Price Targets on (ABMD) (ANF) (ANN) (CCM) Updated

Price targets on shares of Abiomed (NASDAQ: ABMD), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) and Concord Medical Services Holding Ltd (NYSE: CCM) were updated by analysts.

Wunderlich raised their price target on Abiomed (ABMD) to $24.00.

Wedbush raised their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to $82.00.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) raised their price target on AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (ANN) from $34.00 to $37.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) cut their price target on Concord Medical Services Holding Ltd (CCM) to $7.00.

Ratings on (STN) (AVEO) (LLNW) (ANN) (EPM) (VTR) Upgraded

Ratings on Stantec (NYSE:STN), AVEO Pharma (NASDAQ:AVEO), Limelight Networks (NASDAQ:LLNW), AnnTaylor (NYSE:ANN), Evolution Petroleum (AMEX:EPM) and Ventas (NYSE:VTR) were upgraded by analysts.

DA Davidson upgraded Stantec (STN) from a "Neutral" rating to a "Buy" rating.

MP Advisors upgraded AVEO Pharma (AVEO) from an "Underperform" rating to a "Market Perform" rating. They raised their price target on the company from $11 to $20.

Canaccord Genuity upgraded NetApp (NTAP) from a "Hold" rating to a "Buy" rating. They raised their price target on the company from $58.50 to $62.

Dougherty & Company upgraded Limelight Networks (LLNW) from a "Sell" to "Neutral." They have a price target of $5.50 on the company.

Wedbush upgraded AnnTaylor (ANN) from a "Neutral" rating to and "Outperform" rating. They increased their price from $27 to $38 on the company.

Global Hunter Securities upgraded Evolution Petroleum (EPM) from a "Neutral" rating to a "Buy" rating. They their price target from $8.50 to $12.50 on the company.

Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas (VTR) from an "Underperform" rating to a "Neutral" rating. They raised their price target from $48 to $50 on the company.

Ratings on (AET) (AIG) (ALKS) (AMTD) (ANN) Upgraded

Ratings on Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG), Alkermes Inc. (NASDAQ: ALKS), TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) and AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) were upgraded by analysts.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) upgraded Aetna Inc. (AET) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. They have a price targetof $56.00 on the company, up from $47.00.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) upgraded American International Group,

Inc. (AIG) from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform”

rating.

Cowen upgraded Alkermes Inc. (ALKS) from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating.

Wells Fargo & Co. upgraded TD Ameritrade (AMTD) from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating.

Wedbush upgraded AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (ANN) to an “outperform” rating. They have a $38.00 price target on the company.

Arena Pharma (ARNA), SunTech Power (STP), DryShips (DRYS), Molycorp (MCP) Reporting This Week

A diverse set of companies will be closing down the earnings season, as Arena Pharma (ARNA), SunTech Power (STP), DryShips (DRYS) and Molycorp (MCP) will post results this week.

This will be against the backdrop of uncertainty concerning oil prices, which will be watched closely as to how it will impact the overall economy and market.

There will be a number of retailers finishing off the earnings season as well, with Aeropostale (ARO), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), AnnTaylor (ANN) and Urban Outfitters (URBN), among others, set to report.

Molycorp closed Friday at $49.26, down $0.57, or 1.14 percent. They've been a beneficiary of the decision by the Chinese that they were going to cut back on rare earths exports.

Dryships closed at $5.04, level with the close of the session before. Suntech Power closed Friday at $9.43, losing $0.06, or 0.63 percent. Arena Phama dropped to $1.58, falling $0.03, or 1.86 percent.

Goldman Sachs (GS) Sees (OMX), (ANF), (AEO), (RSH), (ANN), (GPS), (SWY) in LBO Deals

The retail sector could be about to explode in LBO deals, according to Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), which sees the probability of LBO's for Safeway (NYSE:SWY), The Children's Place Retail Stores (NASDAQ:PLCE), OfficeMax (NYSE:OMX), Ross Stores (Nasdaq:ROST), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF), American Eagle Outfitters, (NYSE:AEO), Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO), RadioShack (NYSE:RSH), AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE), Dollar Tree (DLTR) and Gap (NYSE:GPS).

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) got a nice bump up on Wednesday on LBO rumors, so we'll probably start to see a lot of trading in the sector as rumors escalate, with a number of them probably being true, as pointed out by Goldman.

These are just some of the probabilities in the retail sector, which could consolidate even more.

Goldman determines that about $9 billion could be spent on U.S. retail LBOs. Of a universe of over 120 public companies, that equates to close to 8 percent of the overall aggregate enterprise value. That's how they came up with the 11 companies listed above, as far as the number of companies which are likely to be part of an LBO.

Goldman sees a 15 percent to 30 percent chance of a leveraged buy out for the companies listed above.

AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE:ANN) Continues as Top Pick of FBR

AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE:ANN) remains the Top Pick of FBR, citing among a number of reasons, comps trending toward mid single digit positive.

FBR says, "We had the opportunity to preview Ann Taylor Loft's summer assortment yesterday evening in New York City. The product for spring looked great with pretty use of color and pattern, attractive silhouettes, and fun jewelry. There is plenty of pink in both florals and stripes, as well as updated use of animal print paired with pops of color, beautiful fashion tees, cool greens and blues, neutral, white, and navy.

"So why do we continue to like ANN and highlight it as our top pick? We feel confident comps are trending mid single digit positive or better, lead mostly by ATS at this point. We believe it is likely ANN will beat 4Q estimates. We think the company is in the early stages of a product lead turn around. We believe this turnaround will drive strong comps and continued margin recovery. The company is locked in on most of its costs for 2011. Management is tightly controlling expense, and thus positive comps drive outsized leverage. The company plans to be active repurchasing its stock. The stock is inexpensive, with a 2011 EBITDA multiple of 3.6x. We have well above consensus estimates for 2011 and we wouldn't expect the company to guide there, but we absolutely believe our estimate is achievable."

FBR Capital reiterates an "Outperform/Top Pick" on AnnTaylor Stores (ANN), which closed Wednesday at $22.06, up $0.55, or 2.56 percent.

AnnTaylor Stores' (NYSE:ANN) Product, Not Promotion, Driving Business

Management of AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE:ANN) says the store is being driven by product and not promotions, signifying costs are being managed, and margins and earnings should hold up.

FBR says, "ANN shares have been under pressure recently after a competitor's downgrade and a negative guidance revision by Talbots (NYSE:TLB). It sounds to us like the Ann Taylor Stores division continues to outperform. Management's tone was upbeat on the product at the ATS division and noted that the business has been driven by strong product, not promotion. Loft continues to be a work in progress, but we did not get the sense trends have worsened. Management continues to believe the issues are merchant in nature, not design issues or problems with the overall creative vision or direction. Furthermore, Kay Krill and Gary Muto have both been more closely involved in the merchandising for Spring and thus improvement is expected. Additionally, the company brought back a former Loft merchant just this week as GMM. She will take over where Kay and Gary have been standing in.

"We continue to believe the company has been actively repurchasing its stock. We think management will likely guide more conservatively than our 2011 EPS estimate of $1.98 as they are typically conservative."

FBR Capital maintains an "Outperform" rating on AnnTaylor Stores, which closed Friday at $23.77, losing $0.13, or 0.54 percent.

AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE:ANN) Selloff Overdone Say Janney Montgomery Scott

AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE:ANN) sold off about 6 percent of what appears to be a read-through trade based on the slashing of guidance by Talbots (NYSE:TLB).

JMS says, "On January 11, ANN sold off roughly 6% on what we believe was a read-through trade from the dramatically lowered guidance issued by Talbots (NYSE:TLB). TLB commented specifically on not seeing improvements in weeks 4 and 5 of December as they went deeper into promotions. We believe it is important to note that the issues faced by TLB appear to be company-specific issues with merchandise and promotions; as such, we would use the recent sell-off to accumulate shares of ANN...We do not see risk to our and the consensus estimate of $0.14 for 4Q10 and believe there could be potential for upside. We are also comfortable with our FY2011 EPS estimate of $1.66 versus the street at $1.63."

Janney Montgomery Scott maintains a "Buy" rating on AnnTaylor Stores, which was trading at $24.24, up $1.60, or 7.11 percent, as of 12:43 PM EST. Talbots was trading at $6.12, down $0.12, or 1.92 percent. Janney has a price target on AnnTaylor of $32.

99 Cents Only (NYSE:NDN), Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO), American Eagle (NYSE:AEO) Named Top LBO Candidates for 2011 by Deutsche (NYSE:DB)

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) released an interesting list of takeover candidates for 2011 in the U.S retail sector, using a metric of those which would probably generate 20 percent premium or more, with their top possibilities being 99 Cents Only (NYSE:NDN), Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO) and American Eagle (NYSE:AEO).

Other big names they consider leading candidates, although not as probable as the three above, were Macy's (NYSE: M), Saks (NYSE:SKS), RadioShack (NYSE:RSH), The Buckle (NYSE:BKE), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), AnnTaylor (NYSE:ANN), Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) and Gap (NYSE:GPS)

99 Cents Only closed at $15.65 Monday, gaining $0.08, or 0.51 percent. Aeropostale closed at $25.21, up $0.38, or 1.53 percent. American Eagle ended the session at $14.37, down $0.09, or 0.62 percent.

Horizon Lines (NYSE:HRZ), Target (NYSE:TGT), AnnTaylor (NYSE:ANN), Goodrich Petroleum (NYSE:GDP), Regal Beloit (NYSE:RBC), Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IR), S

MKM Partners released their 9 Best Ideas for 2011, and they include Horizon Lines (NYSE:HRZ), Target (NYSE:TGT), AnnTaylor (NYSE:ANN), Goodrich Petroleum (NYSE:GDP), Regal Beloit (NYSE:RBC), Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IR), Scripps Networks (NYSE:SNI), Motorola (NYSE:MOT) and SolarWinds (NYSE:SWI)

Although they didn't include an individual company in their choices, MKM said their favorite sector is financial/banking, which they believe will double their current levels based on a steepening yield curve and recovering loan growth.

Horizon Lines was trading at $4.47, gaining $0.10, or 2.29 percent, as of 11:17 AM EST. Target was at $60.70, up $0.57, or 0.95 percent. AnnTaylor plunged to $25.77, losing $1.62, or 5.91 percent. Goodrich Petroleum $18.30, up $0.66, or 3.74 percent. Regal Beloit was at $68.32, gaining $1.56, or 2.34 percent. Ingersoll-Rand was trading at $47.54, up $0.45, or 0.96 percent. Scripps Networks was at $51.96, up $0.21, or 0.41 percent. SolarWinds was trading at $19.64, up $0.39, or 2.03 percent.

A&F (NYSE:ANF), American Eagle (NYSE:AEO), Ann Taylor (NYSE:ANN), Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq:CWTR) Ending Christmas with Discounts

A&F (NYSE:ANF), American Eagle (NYSE:AEO), Ann Taylor (NYSE:ANN) and Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq:CWTR) are all ending the Christmas sales season with numerous promotions.

It appears the overall season was a success from a sales point of view, but margins and earnings should be pressed hard when the numbers eventually come out.

FBR said, "According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, sales last week increased 1.7% over the prior week. ICSC also raised its holiday forecast by half a point on December 17 to 3.5%–4% from 3%–3.5%. According to comScore, holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 47 days of the November–December 2010 holiday season reached $27.46 billion, marking a 12% increase over last year. The most recent week, the week ending December 17, reached $5.15 billion in spending, an increase of 14% versus last year."

"A&F and Hollister increased promotions this weekend with 30% off the entire store, an increase over last year’s promotion. The merchandise selection and pricing are attracting customers inclined to shop at American Eagle Outfitters and Aéropostale. We continue to believe promotional tactics will be more effective in driving comp in the month of December. Management plans to delay setting its spring transitional set until January week 1 versus December week 5 last year to focus on after Christmas clearance."

"American Eagle Outfitters offered the same buy one, get one as last week and 20% off the entire store. The company expanded the prior week’s bogo to 50% off all tops promotion. The prior week’s bogo promotion included just sweaters and hoodies. Item-specific discounting appeared more prevalent, as well."

Ann Taylor driving last-minute purchases. Ann Taylor increased its offering to 40% off full-price purchases, an increase over the prior week’s 30% off full-price purchases. LOFT has been offering blanket discounts of 30%–40% off for most of the holiday season. Last week, LOFT offered 40% off entire purchases. ANN’s customer, at both divisions, shops mostly for herself and is mostly driven by holiday party occasions. Thus, we believe the shopping patterns peak earlier in the month for ANN’s divisions."

"Coldwater Creek offered 25% off in-store purchases and a free watch. It appears that the company is attempting to clear out excess inventory by offering 40% off online purchases. The company offered 30% off purchases last year and a free gift. The promotions in stores are a little misleading, given that the company uses the direct business to clear its excesses."

American Eagle was trading at $14.85, up $0.09, or 0.58 percent, as of 11:47 AM EST. Abercrombie & Fitch was trading at $57.48, up $0.49, or 0.86 percent. Ann Taylor dropped to $27.42, down $0.61m, or 2.18 percent. Coldwater Creek fell to $2.90, losing $0.03, or 1.02 percent.

Ann Taylor (NYSE:ANN), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF), Macy’s (NYSE:M) FBR's Top Specialty Retailers

Talking retail consumer stocks FBR Capital gave their nod in the specialty retail to Ann Taylor (NYSE:ANN) and Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF), while in the department store segment they like Macy’s (NYSE:M)

FBR said, "After two years of significant outperformance, we believe performance for consumer discretionary stocks will be more selective in 2011. We have experienced two years of earnings recovery, and, for the most part, earnings trends should begin to normalize in 2011. Many retailers and wholesalers have recovered merchandise margins and cut SG&A, but sales growth is contingent on incomes, which will obviously increase with jobs. Job growth has been meager, and unemployment remains heightened, therefore we would expect spending trends to improve at a modest pace. Additionally, product cost inflation has emerged as a threat to margins in FY11. Given this backdrop, the focus is primarily on share gainers and secular growth stories and companies that are well positioned to handle product cost inflation.

"Our specialty retail recommendations are Ann Taylor (Outperform) and Abercrombie & Fitch (Outperform). In the department store group, we like Macy’s (Outperform)."

AnnTaylor closed Wednesday at $27.17, up $0.05, or 0.18 percent. Abercrombie & Fitch closed at $54.71, down $0.43, or 0.78 percent. Macy's ended the session at $25.27, up $0.09, or 0.36 percent.

AnnTaylor Stores' (NYSE:ANN) LOFT Continues to Impress

Citing the LOFT of AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE:ANN) and its ability to get the right balance of core products in the stores, FBR Capital says they remain impressed with AnnTaylor.

FBR said, "We attended the Ann Taylor spring line preview in New York on December 14, 2010, at the company’s headquarters...Ann Taylor Stores assortment looks tremendous...We think LOFT looks great, too. LOFT emphasized having the right balance of updated core items with fashion...Ann Taylor appears to get the fashion change others are struggling with...Flat cost for 1H11 and fabric prepositioned for 2H."

FBR Capital maintains an "Outperform/Top Pick" rating on AnnTaylor Stores, which closed Tuesday at $27.12, up $0.85, or 3.24 percent. FBR has a price target of $30 on them.

AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE:ANN) "Wows" Analysts

FBR Capital said they were "blown away" by the peformance of AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE:ANN) in the third quarter, with sales and margins surging above analysts' expectations. FBR said they're maintaining their 'Outperform/Top Pick' on the retailer as a result, seeing the trend as sustainable over a period of time.

"We were blown away by the strength of AnnTaylor’s 3Q report. Sales and gross margins were better than our well-above-consensus expectations, SG&A was well controlled, and the company bought stock. Sales trends remain positive, guidance looks conservative, and the company plans to buy more stock in 4Q. ANN is not typically a 4Q story, but we think its gift strategy, along with increased interest for self purchase heading into holiday party season, will continue to drive sales...We are raising our sales estimate for the fourth quarter to $500.8 million from $488.9 million...We are raising our CY10 EPS estimate to $1.28 from $1.25, our CY11 sales estimate to $2,125 million from $2,101 million, and our CY11 EPS estimate to $1.98 from $1.96" said FBR.

AnnTaylor soared Friday, closing at $25.77, gaining $2.02, or 8.51 percent. FBR raised their price target on them from $27 to $30.