Stocks To Open Weak
Stocks appear set to open lower
Wednesday.
Goldman Sachs lowered its estimates on
IBM
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PowerRating) from $1.40 to $1.25 for Q4. They also lowered CY 2002 earnings to
$4.55 from $5.05.
According to Credit Suisse First
Boston, Lam Research’s
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PowerRating) earnings surprise of 5 cents was due to a
lower tax rate.
JP Morgan lowered its rating on a
number of Semiconductor equipment stocks. Applied Materials
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were lowered from Long Term Buy to Market Perform.
ABN Amro downgraded Accenture from Buy
to Add and lowered its price target on the stock to $15.
Automotive systems manufacturer
Johnson Controls
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SunTrust Banks
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earnings of $1.22 a share, beating the consensus by 2 cents, and up 10% from the same
quarter a year ago.
Cambridge Antibody Technology
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PowerRating)
and Merck
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PowerRating) have aligned to develop HIV treatments.
The Wall Street Journal reports that
it expects Polaroid
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PowerRating) to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as
soon as today.
Goldman Sachs
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PowerRating) announced that
it will be laying off as many as 400 employees.