The Twitter logo is seen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York in this file photo taken November 7, 2013.LUCAS JACKSON/Reuters
The Before the Bell report is constantly updated to reflect the latest news developments and market moves in the premarket. Check back later for updates.
Clarus Securities analyst Eyal Ofir is still recommending investors buy shares of UrtheCast Corp. even after Russian cosmonauts last week were unsuccessful at installing two of the Vancouver-based company's high-resolution cameras that are designed to stream near real-time videos of the Earth on the Internet.
The cameras were not able to transmit data to Russia Mission Control and the cosmonauts were told to remove the cameras and return them into the airlock at the International Space Station (ISS) for inspection.
But the problem is apparently related to cabling, or a communication panel, on the inside of the space station, and UrtheCast believes it's just a temporary glitch, noted Mr. Ofir.
"From our perspective, these types of stories never go smoothly, but considering that the issue may be internal to the ISS and unrelated to the cameras themselves is positive and hence the installation only gets delayed by a number of weeks," Mr. Ofir said.
A second spacewalk is likely in the latter half of January to reinstall the cameras, he said.
He maintained a "speculative buy" rating and $4 (Canadian) price target. The average analyst target is $5, according to Thomson Reuters.
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A spike in the number of people coming down with the flu last week in the U.S. should help boost sales of Quidel Corp.'s influenza tests, suggests Canaccord Genuity analyst Jeffrey Frelick.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show incidences of the flu are now "high" in the U.S., and Mr. Frelick continues to believe that this will be an "average" flu season despite a relatively sluggish start.
"Although flu started slower this year compared to last season, we believe Quidel is poised to benefit from an uptick in distributor ordering for its flu tests through the first quarter of 2014," Mr. Frelick said.
Mr. Frelick reiterated a "buy" rating and $35 (U.S.) price target. The average analyst target is $28.48.
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Sterne Agee upgraded Crocs Inc. to "neutral" from "underperform" after the shoe maker Monday announced its chief executive is retiring and said that Blackstone Group is making a $200-million (U.S.) investment that will give the private equity firm a 13 per cent stake in the company.
Analyst Sam Poser suggested that Blackstone's involvement might bring positive change at Crocs, including closure of underperforming locations and limiting new store expansion, according to Streetinsider.com.
Mr. Poser also said the retirement of CEO John McCarvel may lead to attracting and retaining talent at Crocs.
He maintained at $10 (U.S.) price target. The average analyst target is $13.38.
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Citibank analyst Mark May believes Amazon.com Inc. enjoyed a strong fourth quarter and sees even greater upside for the company's stock price next year.
He cited several positives for Amazon, including data from an industry group predicting its fourth-quarter same-store sales grew in line with the robust 25 per cent growth seen in the third quarter. Meanwhile, he noted the company had to curtail the issuance of new Prime memberships - which offers benefits such as free two-day shipping for an annual fee - due to excessive demand.
Mr. May believes the next likely catalyst for Amazon will be its fourth-quarter earnings report at the end of January.
He reiterated a "buy" rating and raised his price target to $457 (U.S.) from $381, according to StreetInsider.com. The average analyst target is $405.97.
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Shares in Twitter Inc. are under pressure for a second trading day in a row on Monday, down nearly 5 per cent, as yet another analyst is warning that the easy gains have already been made.
Global Equities analyst Trip Chowdhry initiated coverage of Twitter with an "equal weight" rating and $60 (U.S.) price target, according to media reports. That's hardly a ringing endorsement, given that shares were trading near that price level Monday afternoon after diving 13 per cent on Friday.
Mr. Chowdhry said Twitter faces more negatives than positives right now. Among the more problematic issues: some of the 230 million active users Twitter boasts could actually be duplicate accounts and the site has many fake accounts; Twitter spam is proliferating, undermining the monetization credibility of the Twitter platform; and many users may be buying followers, making advertisers hesitant to spend money on the site.
Twitter shares have risen more than 130 per cent from their initial public offering price of $26 on Nov. 6, but analysts have been growing skeptical that momentum can continue given the company has yet to turn a profit. On Friday morning, Macquarie Capital analyst Ben Schachter downgraded the company to "underperform," believing the stock price has gotten well ahead of the profit outlook.
The average analyst target is $43.83.
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Guggenheim upgraded Walt Disney to "buy" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $87 (U.S.) from $77.
S&P Capital IQ downgraded Herbalife to "sell" form "neutral" but raised its price target to $75 (U.S.) from $50.
BB&T Capital upgraded Southern Copper to "buy" from "hold." Its price target is $24 (U.S.).
Cowen cut its price target on Pfizer to $34 (U.S.) from $37 but maintained an "outperform" rating.
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For instant headlines on breaking economic and corporate news in the premarket, follow Darcy Keith on Twitter at @eyeonequities.
Darcy Keith