EPS of (DWA) (FLEX) (GD) (NSC) Updated

Analysts EPS estimates of DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA), Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX), General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) and Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) updated.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) cut their EPS estimates on DreamWorks Animation (DWA). They have an “underweight” rating on the stock.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) cut their EPS estimates on Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX). They have a “buy” rating and a price target of $9.50 on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) cut their EPS estimates on General Dynamics (GD). They have a “neutral” rating and a price target of $77.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs raised their EPS on Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC). They have a “sell” rating and a price target of $69.00 on the company.

Ratings of (DAL) (ENDP) (FLEX) (GPRO) (HP) Downgraded

Analysts downgraded ratings of Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ENDP), Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX), Gen-Probe Incorporated (NASDAQ: GPRO) and Helmerich & Payne (NYSE: HP) today.

Capstone downgraded Delta Air Lines (DAL) from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating.

Duncan Williams downgraded Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) to a “buy” rating. They have a price target of $51.00 on the company.

Argus analysts downgraded Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.

Gleacher & Co. downgraded Gen-Probe Incorporated (GPRO) from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating.

Canaccord Genuity downgraded Helmerich & Payne (HP) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.

Fortinet (FTNT) (FLEX) (FTI) (CTXS) (EQIX) Price Targets Adjusted

Price targets on Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT), Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX), FMC Tech (NYSE: FTI), Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) and Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) adjusted by analysts.

Morgan Keegan raised their price target on Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) from $80.00 to $90.00. They have an “outperform” rating on the company.

Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) from $110.00 to $120.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) cut their price target on Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX) from $10.00 to $8.50. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Global Hunter Securities raised their price target on FMC Tech (FTI) from $43.50 to $49.00. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

Needham & Company raised their price target on Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) from $44.00 to $53.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Park Electronics (PKE), Flextronics (FLEX), Molex (MOLX), Nam Tai (NTE) Face Supply Issues from Japan

Among some of the tech companies that could experience supply issues in light of the crisis in Japan are circuit board makers like Nam Tai (NYSE:NTE), Park Electronics (NYSE:PKE), Flextronics (NASDAQ:FLEX) and Molex (NASDAQ:MOLX).

Although there has been no structural damage to major polysilicon suppliers based in Japan, according iSuppli semiconductor analyst Rick Pierson, that's only part of the story.

Other issues are whether or not employees can even commute to the workplace and the announcement that Japan will institute rolling electricity blackouts.

Pierson noted, "These companies provide 60% of demand, and if this has a sustained impact on their ability to run normal operations, that will have a significant impact downstream. It could affect the availability and pricing of finished goods."

Flextronics (NASDAQ:FLEX) Continues to Deliver Top-Line Growth

Flextronics (NASDAQ:FLEX) looks good going forward, according to Needham, citing its diverse customer base and end markets as major catalysts.

Needham says, "Overall, Flextronics continues to execute as its diverse customer base and end markets remain well positioned to capture a healthy share of new business and drive solid top-line growth. Further, with the company still seeing solid growth prospects and an improving Components business, we suspect our estimates could be conservative.

"For F4Q, our estimates become $7.25B and $0.22, vs. our previous forecast of $7.0B and $0.20 (ex. opt.). Our F11 estimates now $29.1B and $0.88, vs. our previous $28.6B and $0.85. Modifying F12 of $30.6B & $0.96 to $31.8B and $1.04."

Needham & Company maintains a "Buy" on Flextronics (FLEX), which was trading at $8.15, down $0.07, or 0.85 percent, as of 11:59 AM EST.

Molex (Nasdaq:MOLX), Tyco, (NYSE:TEL), Amphenol (NYSE:APH) Most Exposed to Passive Component World Says Ticonderoga

According to Ticonderoga, which has introduced what they're calling their "Component Barometer," companies in their coverage universe most exposed to the passive component world are Molex (Nasdaq:MOLX), Tyco, (NYSE:TEL) and Amphenol (NYSE:APH).

Ticonderoga says, "Introducing the Component Barometer. Today, we are adding the Component Barometer to our Taiwan tech supply chain tracking universe to provide investors with another tool to monitor the pulse of demand in the technology world. The Component Barometer will track the monthly sales trends at seventeen leading Taiwan-based passive component manufacturers with an annual revenue run of approximately $9.0 billion in December. Within our coverage universe, connector makers such as Amphenol (Buy), Molex Neutral) and Tyco Electronics (Sell) are the most exposed to the passive component world. Additionally, Flextronics (Nasdaq: FLEX)(Sell) has a components business that is operating at well over $2 billion in annual revenue."

Other Highlighted Points Include: 1) December Component Sales Fall 5% M/M, But Beat Averages; 2) 4Q10 Sales Fall 5% Q/Q and Worse Than Historical Averages; and 3) MediaTek's Sales Rise 16% M/M and Well Above Historical Trends.

Molex was trading at $24.61, gaining $0.44, or 1.82 percent, as of 12:18 PM EST. Tyco was at $36.05, up $0.19, or 0.53 percent. Amphenol was at $52.59, up $0.20, or 0.38 percent.

Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL), Flextronics (Nasdaq:FLEX) Look Good in Asia

Commenting on ODM barometer sales for November in Asia, Ticonderoga Securities said they rose for the month, but aren't meeting expectations yet. Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL) and Flextronics (Nasdaq:FLEX) were cited as two companies positioned strong in certain segments of the market

Ticonderoga said, "November ODM Barometer Sales Rise 2%, But Below Average. In November, unconsolidated sales for the ODM Barometer increased by 1.8% M/M but below the five-year average November sales increase of 3.6% for the group. Keep in mind, this represents the sixth consecutive month of below-average performance. The ODM Barometer is a basket of 13 leading Taiwan-based ODM companies, which we believe provide a read into sales trends in the technology world and are competitors to the North American EMS providers for certain programs. These 13 ODM companies were operating at an annualized revenue run rate of approximately US$134 billion during November.

"Except for Apple, PC and Notebooks Show Poorly During China Trip. During our China Technology Tour to China and Taiwan over the last two weeks, we thought the commentary around the PC and notebook market was weak, with further signs of order cuts recently. Additionally, the transition to the Huron River platform from Calpella during 4Q10 and 1Q11 appears to be negatively impacting demand trends. However, the one standout during our trip was Apple with the recent launch of the new MacBook Air that was sold out (i.e., the 11-inch model) at certain resellers in China, and we sensed overall strong demand for the company's existing notebook and PC lineup in the supply chain. As such, we believe Apple has the potential to deliver upside in its Mac businesses during the December quarter. Within our EMS coverage universe, the most important competitor to the leading Taiwan ODMs and Hon Hai Precision is Flextronics, which is expecting to ramp its notebook business."

Apple closed Tuesday at $320.29, down $1.38, or 0.43 percent. Flextronics closed at $7.80, up $0.09, or 1.10 percent.

Flextronics (Nasdaq:FLEX), Molex (Nasdaq:MOLX), Tyco (NYSE:TEL) Most Exposed to Consumers

With a weak consumer market, in the EMS & Connector universe of Ticonderoga, they see Flextronics (Nasdaq:FLEX)(Sell)(40% of 3QCY10 sales), Molex (Nasdaq:MOLX)(Neutral)(50%) and Tyco Electronics (NYSE:TEL) as the most exposed to the segment.

They said about Dell, (Nasdaq:DELL) "A Weak Consumer, But Dell Still Hopeful on the Enterprise. Dell highlighted weakness in the consumer market (19% of 3Q sales), yet remains optimistic on the enterprise PC refresh cycle. Dell also highlighted weakness in the public sector in Europe. For product categories in 3QFY11, mobility (or notebook; 32% of sales) revenue rose 3% sequentially, desktop PC (24%) revenue fell by 6%, servers & networking (12%) dropped 2% and storage (4%) fell by 13%."

Flextronics closed Friday at $7.10, dropping $0.02, or 0.28 percent. Moex Inc. was at $20.69, falling $0.16, or 0.77 percent. Tyco ended the Friday session at $31.97, gaining $0.29, or 0.92 percent. Dell was at $13.90, rising by $0.23, or 1.68 percent.