Futures Indicate Lower Open. Stocks to Watch: AET, FSLR, PALM, SKX, TXN, TM, and UAUA

Published on Tuesday, 09 March 2010 08:54 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, March 9^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures were indicating lower in the anniversary of the March Lows, where the market touched the lowest levels since the beginning of the credit crisis.

With no economic data to be released in the U.S. before the bell, investors will likely focus on news from abroad to weigh up the trading day. European shares fell for the second straight day, with financials and miners dropping, while Asian markets closed mixed.

Today's stocks to watch: Aetna (NYSE:AET), First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR), Palm (NASDAQ:PALM), Skechers (NYSE:SKX), Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), Toyota Motors (NYSE:TM), and UAL Corp. (NASDAQ:UAUA)

Shares of Aetna (NYSE:AET) were moving higher in pre-market after Bank of America Merrill Research upgraded the health insurer to “Neutral” from “Underperform”, saying it was "positioned for favorable development." The analysts also raised their target price to $36 from $32. Yesterday, President Obama took aim at the health insurance industry for raising rates and in order to rally support for its major healthcare overhaul.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) could see a bid after the company announced it’s signed a contract with PG&E for 300MW photovoltaic Solar Power Project. The Desert Sunlight project, to be located near Desert Center in eastern Riverside County, CA, will have a total capacity of 550 megawatts, enough to power approximately 160,000 area homes - or about 480,000 residents. On the flip side, weakness across the sector could affect the stock as JPMorgan has downgraded several solar companies, including Firs Solar due to over supply and margin headwinds.

Shares of Palm (NASDAQ:PALM), the maker of the Pre smart-phone, could be under pressure this morning after comments from firm Morgan Joseph. The analysts believe rumors of Palm as a potential buy-out candidate for larger technology companies has little merit. The firm maintained their EPS estimate for Palm and said that the stock price reflects a take over premium, which is unlikely.

Shares of Skechers (NYSE:SKX) received a boost yesterday, on Monday’s edition of Mad Money. Jim Cramer recommended the stock as the company has shown growth potential and after the strong same-store sales and inventory management. Cramer commented that he favors Skechers’ expansion efforts. He said the stock trades at 9x FY 2011 EPS, despite a 15% long-term growth rate.

Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) will be in focus after last night’s conference call that gave analysts a mid quarter update. The company said that profit and sales will be at the high end of its forecasts, fueled by increasing demand for phone systems and industrial machinery.  The stock will likely see a boost as several analysts have raised their targets after listening to the chipmaker’s update. Kaufman raised their target to $27 from $26 after the tightened guidance to the high end of the prior range, which revealed upside to demand with continued strong trends post Chinese New Year across most end markets. Kaufman believes Texas Instrument’s improved outlook matches their recent checks indicating healthy demand across computing, industrial and smart phones. FBR Capital also raised their target to $34 from $33, citing revenue upside being driven by strong demand across end markets and geographies, including robust industrial and automotive shipments and incremental upside post--Chinese New Year. On the other hand Deutsche Bank notes that the semiconductor maker provided a solid first mid quarter update by increasing the mid point of their revenue and EPS guidance, but they believe the move was widely anticipated in the market and therefore they expect a muted reaction on Texas Instruments’ stock price.

Toyota Motors (NYSE:TM), safety and recall woes continue. Making headlines is a story out of San Diego, where police helped stop a run away Prius, which had its accelerator stuck. Additionally the Associated Press is reporting that besides injury or fatality claims due to the quality problem the company is facing Toyota owners claiming that massive safety recalls are causing the value of their vehicles to plummet. The customers have filed at least 89 class-action lawsuits that could cost the Japanese auto giant $3 billion or more.

UAL Corp. (NASDAQ:UAUA), the parent of United Airlines, said February revenue for each passenger flown a mile increased by 17 percent to 19 percent. Weather-related cancellations affecting the U.S. East Coast reduced revenue by about $40 million.