Ann (ANN) (RVBD) (ANGI) (PMCS) (AAP) (HLS) Ratings, Price Targets

Ann Inc. (NYSE:ANN), Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD), Angie’s List (NASDAQ:ANGI), PMC-Sierra (NASDAQ:PMCS), Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) and Healthsouth (NYSE:HLS) ratings and price targets.

Ann Inc. (ANN) was upgraded by Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) from a "Hold" rating to a "Buy" rating.

Riverbed Technology (RVBD) was upgraded by Oppenheimer (NYSE:OPY) from a "Perform" rating to an "Outperform" rating. They have a price target of $30.00 on the firm.

ThinkEquity initiated coverage on Angie’s List (:ANGI). They have a "Buy" rating on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) upgraded PMC-Sierra (PMCS) from a "Neutral" rating to a "Buy" rating.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) initiated coverage on Advance Auto Parts (AAP). They have a "Buy" rating on the company.

Healthsouth (HLS) was downgraded by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a "Neutral" rating to an "Underperform" rating.

Trina Solar (TSL) (APKT) (RVBD) (ARUN) (FFIV) Price Targets Changed

Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT), Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD), Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN) and F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) price targets adjusted by analysts.

Trina Solar (TSL) had its price target lowered by Collins Stewart from $19.00 to $15.00. They have a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Acme Packet, Inc. (APKT) had its price target lowered by Barclays Capital from $74.00 to $65.00. They have an “Overweight” rating on the company.

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (RVBD) had its price target lowered by Barclays Capital from $38.00 to $30.00. They have an “Overweight” rating on the company.

Aruba Networks, Inc. (ARUN) had its price target lowered by Barclays Capital from $33.00 to $23.00. They have an “Overweight” rating on the company.

F5 Networks (FFIV) had its price target lowered by Barclays Capital from $118.00 to $100.00. They have an “Overweight” rating on the company.

Riverbed (RVBD) (EONGY) (PII) (FN) (HES) (LIFE) (RWEOY) Upgraded

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD), E.ON AG (OTC: EONGY), Polaris Industries Inc (NYSE: PII), Fabrinet Ordinary (NYSE: FN), Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES), Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) and RWE AG (OTC: RWEOY) upgraded by analysts.

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (RVBD) was upgraded by SunTrust (NYSE:STI) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

E.ON AG (EONGY) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Polaris Industries Inc. (PII) was upgraded by BMO Capital Markets from a “Market Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Fabrinet (FN) was upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) from a “Neutral” rating to an “Overweight” rating.

Hess Corp. (HES) was upgraded by The Benchmark Company from a “Sell” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target $70.00 on the company, up from $64.00.

Life Technologies Corporation (LIFE) was upgraded by RBC Capital from a “Sector Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

RWE AG (RWEOY) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) from a “Sell” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

DragonWave (DRWI) (HEES) (LIFE) (NOK) (RVBD) Get Coverage Initiations from Analysts

DragonWave Inc (NASDAQ: DRWI), H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: HEES), Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE), Nokia Co. (NYSE: NOK) and Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) now getting coverage initiated by these analysts.

Brigantine initiated coverage on DragonWave Inc (DRWI). They placed a “Hold” rating on the firm.

Northcoast Research initiated coverage on H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (HEES). They have a “Buy” rating on the stock.

Auriga initiated coverage on Life Technologies Corporation (LIFE). They placed a “Buy” rating and a price target of $63 on the company.

ThinkEquity initiated coverage on Nokia Co. (NOK). They started with a “Hold” rating and a price target of $8 on the Nokia.

Morgan Keegan initiated coverage on Riverbed Technology, Inc. (RVBD). They have an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $45 on the business.

Nokia (NOK) (HSP) (ROP) (RVBD) Get Ratings Updates

Hospira (NYSE:HSP), Nokia (NYSE:NOK), Roper Industries (NYSE:ROP) and Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD) all received ratings updates from several brokerages.

Hospira (HSP) was downgraded by Citigroup (NYSE:C) from "Hold" to "Sell." Catalysts, according to Citi, were strong 2011 first quarter upside and an announced $1 billion share buyback program. Citigroup boosted its price target on Hospira from $52 to $54.

Nokia (NOK) is rated new "Hold" by ThinkEquity. They have a price target of $8 on the company. They said Nokia is facing a long transition from its legacy Symbian products to Windows Phone 7.

Roper Industries (ROP) was downgraded by Oppenheimer from "Outperform" to "Perform." Oppenheimer cited valuation as the catalyst.

Riverbed Technology (RVBD) is rated new "Outperform" by Morgan Keegan. They placed a price target of $45 on Morgan. They note that Riverbed is a market leader and is expanding its commercial footprint.

Riverbed (RVBD) Pre-Announces Solid Earnings

Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD) pre-announced earnings today, saying it expects earnings to be on the upside.

Earnings for the first quarter are expected to coming in at about 19 to 20 cents a share, beating former guidance of 18 cents a share.

Revenue for the quarter, according to Riverbed, should be at about $163-$164 million, versus the $159-$161 million it had estimated earlier.

Riverbed was trading at $35.03, gaining $4.11, or 13.29 percent, as of 1:15 PM EDT.

Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD) Performance Across All Verticals Impressive

The performance of Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD) in their latest quarter was extraordinary; in its geographic scope, as well as in all its verticals.

FBR says, "Last night (Thursday), Riverbed delivered a very good December quarter. While we and most of the Street were expecting a very good quarter, the magnitude of Riverbed's strength across all geographies and verticals was an eye-popping performance on the all-important product revenue front (52% year-over-year growth), a positive dynamic that reinforces our confidence around the company’s impressive growth potential/greenfield opportunity.

"For 1Q11 (March) we are raising our total revenue and pro forma EPS estimates to $160.4 million and $0.18, versus our prior estimates of $152.9 million and $0.15. For FY11, we are increasing our revenue and pro forma EPS estimates to $714.9 million and $0.84, versus our prior estimates of $678.0 million and $0.72. For FY12, we are increasing our revenue and pro forma EPS estimates to $878.2 million and $1.12, versus our prior estimates of $801.7 million and $0.89."

FBR maintains an "Outperform" on Riverbed Technology (RVBD), which closed Friday at $35.53, up $0.62, or 1.78 percent. FBR raised their price target on Riverbed from $41 to $42.

Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD) in Multi-Growth Pattern for WAN

Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD) is in a multi-year growth pattern for WAN acceleration, according to Needham, which remains positive on the company.

Needham says, "...We have conviction that RVBD is in a multi-year growth pattern for WAN acceleration, as the business driver of datacenter consolidation is still very strong (though years old as a driver). Complementing the “old driver” is cloud-services (large boxes) for both large enterprise and carrier, which is consistently 35-40% of license and accelerating at RVBD....After us being nervous for the MarQ seasonality, RVBD guidance has allayed those concerns, and we believe CY11 will be a strong revenue growth year for Riverbed, which we believe will be a 30%+ revenue grower, a 40%+ EPS grower, and also remains an M&A takeout candidate."

Needham & Company maintains a "Buy" rating on Riverbed Technology (RVBD), which was trading at $36.24, gaining $1.33, or 3.81 percent, as of 2:52 PM EST. Needham has a price target of $48 on Riverbed, boosting it from $32.

Riverbed Technology (Nasdaq:RVBD) Looks Good Going Forward

Riverbed Technology (RVBD) reported large fourth quarter sales and profit growth that beat analyst estimates and appeared to calm nervous investors.

The developer of products to safely speed, or "optimize," data and apps over wide-area networks said per-share profit minus items soared 73% to 19 cents from 11 cents in the same quarter last year. Revenue increased 47% to $165.4 million.

For the exiting quarter, Riverbed expects sales in a range of $159 million to $161 million, which would jump 41% to 43% and above the $154.6 million analysts are looking for. Riverbed says it expects gross margin to be level at 78%.

F5 Networks (FFIV), earlier this week, dragged down fellow cloud computing stocks January 19 when it reported sales, and a sales outlook, which missed outlooks. Besides Riverbed, other notable cloud stocks that plummeted included Juniper Networks (JNPR), Aruba Networks (ARUN) and Blue Coat Systems (BCSI).

For full year 2010, Riverbed's per-share profit surged 74% to 59 cents. Full-year 2010 revenue increased 40% to $551.9 million.

Riverbe CEO and co-founder Jerry Kennelly, said, "Riverbed's financial performance is almost unmatched by our technology peers over the past 12 months. Our addressable market is expanding, and our core business drivers are strong."

Wedbush noted, "We think Riverbed represents an attractive way for investors to capitalize on powerful secular trends in technology including datacenter consolidation, datacenter virtualization, and public cloud migrations all of which we expect to continue to gain momentum in 2011. We think the company is entering 2011 with significant momentum and visibility and has potential to continue to exceed estimates over the next several quarters. Our preliminary checks with channel suggest that core WAN optimization market still poised for significant growth as contacts report strong budget flush dynamics in Q4."

Riverbed Technology closed Thursday at $34.91, up $0.62, or 1.80 percent.

Riverbed (Nasdaq:RVBD), Blue Coat (Nasdaq:BCSI), Rackspace (NYSE:RAX) Plunge on F5 Miss

The "miss" by F5 Networks (Nasdaq:FFIV) has caused reverberations across the sector, as Riverbed Technology (Nasdaq:RVBD), Blue Coat Systems(Nasdaq:BCSI) and Rackspace (NYSE:RAX) all had their share prices plunge on concerns the sector may be slowing down.

It's all about momentum with the F5 story, and if it appears that's what's happening (yet to be determined), the companies would take another big hit before the smoke cleared.

Interestingly, it's not that the quarter for F5 was bad, but they and the other companies in the sector are simply victims of the sectors' recent success, which had generated high expectations that would eventually have to be disappointed.

More than anything, it appears it was the lower guidance by F5 for 2011 that made the most impact.

Rackspace was trading at $29.92, dropping $3.51, or 10.50 percent, as of 11:25 AM EST. Blue Coat was trading at $27.53, down $2.67, or 8.84 percent. Riverbed was at $34.08, losing $2.89, or 7.82 percent.

Riverbed Technology's (NASDAQ:RVBD) End Markets, Incremental Leverage Will Be 2011 Catalysts

Citing underpenetrated end markets, incremental leverage and product cycle, Canaccord Genuity sees them as the key catalysts for Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD) in 2011.

Canaccord says, "Consistent with our 'barbell thesis' on the group in 2011, we believe RVBD’s product cycle, relatively under-penetrated end markets, share gains and incremental leverage opportunity will be key catalysts for the stock over the coming quarters...Consistent with our view the company continues to deliver incremental leverage, our December EPS estimate goes to $0.18 (in line) from $0.17 while our CY11 and CY12 estimates of $0.79 ($0.77 consensus) and $0.97 ($0.96 consensus) are up from $0.76 and $0.92, respectively."

Canaccord Genuity reiterates a "Buy" rating on Riverbed Technology, which closed Friday at $39.44, losing $0.28, or 0.70 percent. Canaccord raised their price target on Riverbed from $30 to $42.

UBS (NYSE:UBS) Raises PT, Estimates on Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD)

Citing its increase in market share from the 34 percent in 2Q10 to 38 percent in the 3Q10, UBS increased their price target and EPS estimates on Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD).

UBS said, "Our industry checks showed that RVBD had a solid 4Q10 and now project sales of $160M vs. our prior estimate of $158M. RVBD continued to benefit from market share gains in 4Q after its share in the WAN Optimization market increased to 38% in 3Q10 from 34% in 2Q10.

"We slightly raise 2011 and 2012 pro-forma EPS to $0.86 and $1.15 from our prior estimates of $0.85 and $1.10. We now forecast operating margin of 30% and 32% for 2011 and 2012, slightly up from our prior estimates of 29.7% and 31.7%."

UBS maintains a "Neutral" on Riverbed Technology, which closed Tuesday at $37.28, losing $0.54, or 1.43 percent. They raised their price target on Riverbed from $30 to $40.

Riverbed Technology's (NASDAQ:RVBD) Competition Weakening, Outlook Better

Based on fundamentals and what appears to be weakening competition, Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD) is set for some solid growth in 2011.

Wedbush says, "...prospects for solid growth and improving fundamentals appear favorable due to healthy demand in its core WAN optimization market, an increasingly benign competitive environment, and traction from new products late in 2011."

They raised their Q410 and FY11 EPS and revenue estimates in response to the positive outlook.

Wedbush reiterates their "Outperform" rating on Riverbed Technology, which closed Wednesday at $35.38, up $1.21, or 3.54 percent. They raised their price target on Riverbed from $34 to $40.

Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD) Gaining Share in WAN Optimization Market

Citing demand for WAN optimization as strong and Riverbed Technology's (NASDAQ:RVBD) share growing in it, Barclays (NYSE:BCS) sees revenue growing over the next couple of years, and raised their EPS estimate for 2011.

Barclays says, "Riverbed is continuing to gain share in a healthy WAN optimization market: We believe WAN optimization demand remains robust...We lift 2011 EPS materially and introduce 2012: We lift and introduce our 2011 and 2012 revenue growth assumptions from 25% to 31%/25% respectively. This drives 2011 split-adjusted EPS of $0.84 and 2012 EPS of $1.09. Less conservative assumptions - 38% and 32% sales growth and a 35% operating margin - yield 2012 EPS of $1.30...We expect momentum to continue for this beat-and-raise story."

Barclays maintains an "Overweight" on Riverbed Technology, which closed level at $35.16 on Wednesday. Barclays has a price target of $40 on them.