Hexcel (HXL) (SIRI) (SMOD) (YOKU) Get Ratings Downgrades

Hexcel Co. (NYSE: HXL), Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), Smart Modular Tech (NASDAQ: SMOD) and Youku.com Inc (NASDAQ: YOKU) downgraded by analysts.

Wedbush downgraded Hexcel Co. (HXL) from an “Outperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They set a price target of $22.00 on the company.

Lazard Capital downgraded Sirius XM Radio Inc. (SIRI) from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Wedbush downgraded Smart Modular Tech (SMOD) from an “Outperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They placed a price target of $9.25 on the firm, down from $11.00.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) downgraded Youku.com Inc (YOKU) from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Amazon.com (AMZN) (APKT) (ASTE) (BMRC) (BSRR) Ratings, Price Targets

An overview of the ratings and price targets on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT), Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTE), Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ: BMRC) and Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ: BSRR).

Piper Jaffray reiterated an “Overweight” rating on Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN). They have a price target of $200.00 on the Internet retailer.

Wedbush maintained a “Neutral” rating on Acme Packet, Inc. (APKT). They have a price target of $70.00 on the stock.

Piper Jaffray reiterated an “Overweight” rating on Astec Industries, Inc. (ASTE). They have a price target of $44.00 on the company.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc maintained an “Outperform” rating on Bank of Marin Bancorp (BMRC). They have a price target of $46.00 on the firm.

Wunderlich reiterated a “Hold” rating on Sierra Bancorp (BSRR). They have a price target of $11.00 Sierra.

Microsoft (MSFT) (BEAV) (OTEX) (SFSF) (VECO) PTs Boosted

The shares of Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV), Open Text (NASDAQ: OTEX), SuccessFactors, Inc. (NASDAQ: SFSF) and Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) were all boosted April 26 by several analysts.

RBC Capital raised their price target on BE Aerospace (BEAV) from $46.00 to $48.00. They have a “Top Pick” rating on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) boosted its price target on Microsoft Corp (MSFT) to $32.00. They have an “Overweight” rating on the software giant.

Wedbush raised their price target on Open Text (OTEX) from $55.00 to $65.00. They have a “Neutral” rating on the OTEX.

RBC Capital increased its price target on SuccessFactors, Inc. (SFSF) from $35.00 to $40.00. They have an “Outperform” rating on them.

Kaufman Brothers raised its price target on Veeco Instruments Inc. (VECO) from $55.00 to $60.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the firm.

Aaron’s (AAN) (CIT) (IEX) (MRNA) (PLCE) PTs Adjusted April 26

Aaron’s Inc. (NYSE: AAN), CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), IDEX Corp (NYSE: IEX), Marina Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) and Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) had their price targets adjusted on April 26, with all but CIT Group Inc. getting a boost.

Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target Aaron’s Inc. (AAN) from $28.00 to $30.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) cut its price target CIT Group Inc. (CIT) from $57.00 to $55.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the firm.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) raised their price target on IDEX Corp (IEX) to $50.00. They have a “Neutral” rating on IDEX.

LifeTech Capital boosted their price target on Marina Biotech, Inc. (MRNA) to $2.50. They have a “Strong Buy” rating on Marina.

Wedbush raised its price target on Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (PLCE) from $53.00 to $57.00. They have an “Outperform” rating on PLCE.

Harley-Davidson (HOG) Has Fan in Wedbush

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) got a boost on new coverage from Wedbush, wish views the company in a positive light.

Wedbush analyst Rommel Dionisio commented, “Given Harley-Davidson’s continued market share gains, a recovering retail environment for premium motorcycles, current dealer inventory restocking in the face of rising demand, and increased profitability and lower credit risk in the financing arm, we believe shares of HOG should trade at relatively in line to the peer group average 2012E P/E ratio of 16.5x.”

The initial price target they started the company off with of $48, has about a 20 percent upside.

Wedbush initiated coverage on Harley-Davidson at an "outperform" rating. It closed Friday at $40.96, up $0.82, or 2.04 percent.

Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD) Jumps on Strong Guidance

Brocade Communications Systems (NASDAQ:BRCD) is enjoying an analyst love-fest today, as the beat earnings expectations and guidance was better than analysts were looking for.

Canaccord Genuity and Wedbush maintained their "Buy" rating on Brocade, while ThinkEquity and Wunderlich raised their rating to "Buy."

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) didn't join the herd on this one, saying, "Our latest IT checks suggest continued volatility in Brocade’s sales and OEM partner execution – a trend that we anticipate to persist through FY11/12. The bar set by Cisco’s (NASDAQ:CSCO) Nexus switches and the upcoming Juniper’s (NASDAQ:JNPR) Stratus switch is likely to be steep for Brocade to overcome."

Brocade was trading at $6.56, gaining $0.54, or 8.97 percent, as of 11:49 AM EST.

Is Atmel's (NASDAQ:ATML) Performance Sustainable?

Atmel (NASDAQ:ATML) caught Wall Street off guard with its latest quarterly performance, and the company soared 10 percent on handily beating expectations.

The company had adjusted earnings of $0.25 a share which easily beat analyst expectations of $0.17, and revenue of $458 million surpassed estimates of $436.1 million. Revenue guidance of $440 million to $463 million next quarter easily beat estimates of $420 million.

As to sustainability, is it in the cards for Atmel or was this an anomaly?

It appears Atmel is positioned to make this a long-term event for the company, based mostly on the increasing sales of touchscreens and microcontollers.

Wedbush analyst Betsy Van Hees said, "We expect continued design-win momentum and ramp of microcontroller products, particularly capacitive touch."

Since November Atmel has soared 65 percent after another strong quarter.

Atmel closed Wednesday at $16.10, gaining $1.44, or 9.82 percent. Van Hees raised her price target on Atmel from $18.50 to $20.

EMC (NYSE:EMC) Says Revenue Will Reach $28 Billion by 2014

At its recent analyst day, EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) said they see revenue jumping to $28 billion by 2014.

To accomplish the approximate 13 percent annual growth rate through 2014, EMC said they believe they'll gain market share and target higher growth market segments.

Wedbush says, "EMC expects to gain market share and focus on higher growth market segments such as: i) Scale-out network-attached storage (NAS); ii) low-end storage; and (iii) converged infrastructure, where EMC does not have much presence today.

"The company should continue to have earnings-per-share leverage and grow EPS faster than the revenue guidance of 13% CAGR (2010-2014). VMware (VMW) [majority-owned by EMC] (roughly 17% of EMC revenue in 2010), will continue to invest in operating expenses in a fast-growing and rapidly evolving market. Even so, EMC (consolidated) should be able to expand its operating margins going forward."

"We believe that EMC's core Information Infrastructure business is undervalued and is likely to remain undervalued in the foreseeable future. EMC owns roughly 80% of VMware and continues to buy VMware shares in the open market, signaling that it has no plans to spin out VMware," added Wedbush.

EMC closed Wednesday at $27.08, gaining $0.92, or 3.52 percent.

Zoll Medical (NASDAQ:ZOLL) Dropped from 'Best Ideas List' of Wedbush

Shares of Zoll Medical (NASDAQ:ZOLL) dropped over 5 percent today as Wedbush announced they're removing them from their 'Best Ideas List,' citing no short term catalysts.

Wedbush says, "We believe ZOLL will lack the sort of positive near-term catalysts that would be required to sustain the recent run up in the stock. Q1 sales came in below expectations and management guided Q2 sales below consensus views. Our overall view on ZOLL is still very positive, as we believe the company has one of the best new product cycles and one of the most compelling growth and operating leverage stories in the med tech sector. Nevertheless, ZOLL’s financial performance will be more back-end-loaded than we had anticipated, and we think investors will now be somewhat skeptical of the company’s ability to deliver on the full-year guidance. From this point, we think the stock will be driven mainly by the quarterly financial performance - and that involves a waiting game...We have trimmed our Q2 sales number by $3.7 million, to $119.2 million (+11%), and our EPS estimate by $0.01, to $0.19 (+14%)."

Wedbush reiterates an 'Outperform' rating on Zoll Medical (ZOLL), which was trading at $41.00, down $2.59, or 5.94 percent, as of 1:43 PM EST. Wedbush has a price target of $52 on Zoll.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) PT, EPS Raised on Guidance

Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) gave solid guidance for full year 2011 in their earnings report, and Wedbush responded by raising their price target and EPS estimate on the company.

Tractor Supply also beat the Street's EPS estimate for the fourth quarter, generating $0.67 a share, 5 cents higher than projections.

Wedbush boosted their full year 2011 EPS estimate to from $2.50 to $2.60, based on guidance that was a little higher than before from Tractor Supply.

With the agriculture sector continuing to heat up, Wedbush sees Tractor Supply in a probable long-term growth cycle.

Wedbush reiterates their "Outperform" rating on Tractor Supply, which closed Thursday at $53.01, up $4.46, or 9.19 percent. Wedbush raised their price target on TSCO from $52 to $56.

Under Armour (NYSE:UA) Sales Expected to Grow by 32 Percent

Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE:UA) sales are projected to grow at a 32 percent clip in 2011, according to Wedbush, increasing their sales outlook on the company from 22 percent.

Wholesale and direct-to-customer sales were particularly noted by Wedbush as growth segments.

EPS estimates for the fourth quarter were raised from $0.34 to $0.41 for Under Armor. Full year 2011 EPS estimate was boosted from $1.54 to $1.62. Full year 2012 EPS was introduced at $1.92.

Wedbush reiterates a "Neutral" rating on Under Armor, which closed Tuesday at $53, down $0.52, or 0.97 percent. They raised their price target on UA from $48 to $58.

Zoran (NASDAQ:ZRAN) Will Be Weighed Down by DVD, DTV Headwinds

The implementation of their restructuring strategy seems to be on track, but is unlikely to help Zoran (NASDAQ:ZRAN), as DVD and DTV headwinds will continue on through 2011 and beyond.

As a result, profits will continue to be under pressure going forward for Zoran.

One positive for the company is their next quarterly report is expected to exceed earlier guidance, possibly giving a short-term boost for the share price of Zoran.

Wedbush reiterates their "Underperform" rating on Zoran, which closed Monday at $9.31, gaining $0.45, or 5.08 percent. Wedbush raised their price target on Zoran from $6 to $7.50.

Radient Systems (NASDAQ:RADS) Numerous Catalysts Driving Company

Radient Systems (NASDAQ:RADS) should grow at a rate somewhere in the mid-teens over the next 3-5 years, according to Wedbush, citing several significant catalysts.

Wedbush says, "We believe Radiant will generate mid teen revenue growth for the next 3-5 years as acceleration in restaurant chain activity and recurring service penetration has been joined by expanded international opportunities and a pick up of activity in the channel business.

"Raising 2011 revenue growth estimate to 15% and introducing 2012 estimate of $1.21. We do recognize that the -$0.20 headwind to 2011 earnings from the secondary and a higher tax rate may lead to guidance below our $1.00 estimate, but believe Radiant will perform to our expectations. We believe the next catalysts will come from Micros’ (Nasdaq:MCRS) testimony on the strength of SMB, a strong Q4 and the March analyst day."

Wedbush added Radient Systems (RADS) to their "Best Ideas List." They closed Friday at $18.13, gaining $0.41, or 2.31 percent.

Wedbush maintains an "Outperform" rating on Radient System. They boosted their price target on them from $24 to $26.

Tempur-Pedic (NYSE:TPX) Gets PT, EPS Raise on Outlook, New Products

Tempur-Pedic (NYSE:TPX) had their price target and EPS estimate upwardly revised by Wedbush, based on a better macro outlook and new product lines introduced by the company for 2011.

With the mattress industry expected to recover some this year, Tempur-Pedic has positioned themselves to ride the trend with the release of new lines in the U.S. and European markets.

In Europe they're releasing what is being called their Cloud line, and in the U.S., they'll replace their original line with what they're calling Contour.

Wedbush raised their full year 2011 EPS estimate from $2.52 to $2.70 on Tempur-Pedic.

Tempur-Pedic also announced in their recent earnings report that they're going to repurchase $200 million in shares of the company.

Wedbush maintains their "Outperform" rating on Tempur-Pedic, which was trading at $42.86, gaining $3.46, or 8.78 percent, as of 1:09, PM EST. Wedbush raised their price target on Tempur-Pedic from $44 to $49.

Wedbush's Outlook on eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY)

After the release of their earnings for the last quarter, eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY) has had a number of analysts give their outlook on the company, with many like Wedbush, being somewhat positive going forward.

Wedbush said, "both Marketplace and PayPal fell short of our estimates due to lower take rates, as gross revenue in each segment modestly exceeded our estimates."

They added, "Sold items grew by 9.5% y/y (accelerating from the 8.5% y/y growth in Q3), driven by 5% y/y growth in active users (as active users reached 94.5mm, 5% y/y growth) and a 4% increase in items purchased per user. However, this was offset on the top line by lower ASP as the product mix continues to shift to lower priced and higher value goods."

Wedbush raised their first quarter 2011 EPS estimate from $0.44 to $0.47 and revenue estimate from $2.445 billion to $2.450 billion. Full year 2011 EPS outlook was increased from $1.84 to $1.93 and revenue outlook from $10.201 to $10.394 billion.

Wedbush maintains their "Neutral" rating on eBay (ebay), which closed Thursday at 30.78, gaining $1.68, or 5.76 percent. Wedbush has a price target on eBay of $35.

Wedbush on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Steve Jobs

Now that things appear to be settling down after the surprise announcement by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs that he would be taking another medical leave of absence, followed by an terrific quarterly performance by the company, it may be time to look at what some analysts like Wedbush said about the situation.

Wedbush noted, "While we expect a negative reaction to Steve Jobs’ announced medical leave of absence, we believe Apple has the management team in place to execute and deliver on new products already in the pipeline. We would buy on any
material weakness...We believe Apple has a solid bench, led by COO Tim Cook, which should be able to continue to execute on Apple's strategic direction and product pipeline."

Wedbush reiterates an "Outperform" rating on Apple (AAPL), with a price target of $405 on the company.

Boeing (NYSE:BA) Risk from 787 Shrinking Say Wedbush

Boeing (NYSE:BA) is an increasingly attractive play, says Wedbush, basing its assumption on shrinking risk from the delayed 787 aircraft.

Wedbush says, "The key to our positive thesis is a belief that the risk associated with the 787 aircraft will continue to retire, and Boeing will deliver the first 787 in the Jul/Aug time frame...Strengthening fundamentals point to stronger than expected recovery in orders, production rates increasing across all aircraft...We project free cash flow will increase from just over $3 billion in 2011 to $6 billion by 2013...We believe the negative defense outlook is priced in."

Wedbush reiterates an "Outperform" rating on Boeing (BA), which was trading at $72.01, down $0.46, or 0.63 percent, as of 11:52 AM EST. Wedbush increased their price target on Boeing from $86 to $88.

Wedbush on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Before Earnings Report

As with most analysts covering Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Wedbush gave their input into what they think shareholders are going to hear when they report earnings on Tuesday

Wedbush said, "We expect FQ1 results above expectations. We believe the recent launch of the iPhone 4 at Verizon (NYSE:VZ) will boost the company’s FY11 outlook."

Wedbush sees earnings of $5.37 for Apple on revenue of $24 billion.

Wedbush projects sales by Apple of 15.1 million iPhones, 6.3 million iPads, 4 million Macs, and 18.6 million iPods for the first quarter. They added that it wouldn't be surprising for Apple to beat those estimates.

Of the 49 analysts covering Apple, 44 have a Buy rating on Apple and 5 a Neutral rating.

Wedbush maintains a "Outperform" rating on Apple, which closed Friday at $348.48, gaining $2.80, or 0.81 percent. Wedbush boosted their price target on Apple of $405.

Micron (NASDAQ:MU) One of Top Tech Picks of Wedbush for 2011

Wedbush's takeaway from a recent meeting with Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) is that they remain of their top picks in the Tech segment, with the DRAM market appearing stronger and their full year 2011 FCF looks like it'll be positive.

As important was "Intel's decision to not fund the next round of IMFS CapEx is a significant positive bolstering overall NAND GM and supply, enabling MU to benefit from the strong secular growth drivers of tablets and smartphones."

Wedbush maintains their "Outperform" rating on Micron Technology, which closed Thursday at $9.63, gaining $0.29, or 3.10 percent. Wedbush raised their price target on Micron from $11 to $15.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Q4 Weak, Q1 Has Tailwinds says Wedbush

Acknowledging that the fourth quarter of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) will be a miss for them, and it is already priced into the share price of the stock, Wedbush adds that they see tailwinds for the first quarter.

Wedbush noted, "We remain constructive on shares ahead of 4Q earnings as we believe a modest 4Q miss is already priced into shares. However, we see potential for strong 1Q revenue tailwinds given (1) lean inventories, (2) an aggressive SNB ramp, and (3) robust China demand. Further, we think the 1H11 GM decline could be better than feared supported by better mix, higher utilizations, higher ASPs, and lower costs. We expect minimal impact to the PC market by tablets.

"Estimate changes – 4Q revenues / EPS go from $11.44n / $0.53 to $11.37bn / $0.55 (Street $11.37bn / $0.53); 1Q from $10.90bn / $0.44 to $10.80bn / $0.44 (Street $10.74bn / $0.44); and 2011 from $45.03bn / $1.91 to $44.67bn / $1.91."

Wedbush reiterates an "Outperform" rating on Intel, which was trading at $21.22, down $0.08, or 0.39 percent, as of 1:11 PM EST. Wedbush has a price target of $24 on Intel.