Accumulate - Price 29.19 on Jan. 6 by Buckingham Research Group We're raising our fiscal-year/June 10 estimated earnings per share from $3.10 to $3.50. That's still 12.5% below FY09E-EPS -- but it increasingly appears that commodity volatility remains, which should benefit [this agricultural giant] over time. We're also raising our price target from 29 to 34, in line with the EPS increase. The target still represents less than 10 times [our] forward E-EPS, which we consider conservative given that ADM has little [to] no exposure to economically depressed markets such as autos, housing, credit, etc....ADM beat consensus EPS by 65 cents...last quarter, which is bigger than our EPS increase. ADM stock is 40% below its 52-week high...[its] recovery began the September-quarter....There appears a possibility of early legislation to increase the ethanol blend from 10% to 12% [or] 15%. Market cap: $18.8 billion.

Market Perform/Speculative - Price 5.39 on Jan. 6 by Morgan Keegan EDR [which develops and manages high-quality student housing] announced that it has closed on a $222 million credit facility through Fannie Mae, with proceeds used to [annul] the $185 million in debt scheduled to mature in July '09. A $4 million charge related to early retirement of debt will impact 4Q results, and $100 million of debt maturities remain for '09. The board of directors cut the dividend distribution 50% from an annual 82 cents a share to 41 cents. EDR has now cut its dividend twice since the January 2005 [initial public offering], and earnings expectations are in a season of decline. Market cap: $142 million.

Neutral - Price 328.05 on Jan. 6 by Merriman Curhan Ford We are upgrading GOOG shares to Neutral, from Sell. Two months ago, we believed that the consensus estimates for 4Q08 and FY09 were too high; however, expectations came down and now are in line with our estimates. Google also began to slow its [capital expenditures] and hiring, and to trim back on its [general and administrative] costs, which should improve margins. [Google] already has very high 59% Ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] margins. Even a 200-basis-point improvement in Ebitda margins would produce an additional $360 million in Ebitda in FY09 relative to our estimates. Our checks indicate that Google increased ad coverage in 4Q, which increased click-through rates. But we don't believe that was enough to offset the weakness in search volume...or unfavorable [foreign-exchange shifts]. We'd stay on the sidelines until we gain better visibility into FY09. Our FY09 E-P/E is 15.2 times. Market cap: $104 billion.

Neutral - Price 328.05 on Jan. 6 by Merriman Curhan Ford We are upgrading GOOG shares to Neutral, from Sell. Two months ago, we believed that the consensus estimates for 4Q08 and FY09 were too high; however, expectations came down and now are in line with our estimates. Google also began to slow its [capital expenditures] and hiring, and to trim back on its [general and administrative] costs, which should improve margins. [Google] already has very high 59% Ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] margins. Even a 200-basis-point improvement in Ebitda margins would produce an additional $360 million in Ebitda in FY09 relative to our estimates. Our checks indicate that Google increased ad coverage in 4Q, which increased click-through rates. But we don't believe that was enough to offset the weakness in search volume...or unfavorable [foreign-exchange shifts]. We'd stay on the sidelines until we gain better visibility into FY09. Our FY09 E-P/E is 15.2 times. Market cap: $104 billion.

Buy - Price 26.23 on Jan. 6 by Sterne Agee & Leach While [children's clothing retailer] GYMB had indicated in mid-December that its Q4 comps [comparable-store sales] were in the range of its guidance for a mid-single-digit decline, we are lowering our comp projection from minus-5% to minus-6%, and lowering our Q4 [EPS] estimate to 93 cents from 97 cents; Q4 guidance previously provided by GYMB was 92 cents to $1. GYMB was more promotional [in '08 than in '07], with the stores offering 25% off new merchandise for much of the November-December period. Our FY08 and FY09 estimates are lowered to $3.13 and $3.08, respectively, from $3.18 and $3.16....We are also introducing a FY10 estimate of $3.50 [compared with] our earlier $3.95 projection. Our 31 target is based on a [price/earnings ratio] of 8.8 times our FY10 projection. Market cap: $763 million.

Market Outperform - Price 35.69 on Jan. 6 by Avondale Partners [This animal-health lab firm specializes] in bench-top analyzers, rapid assays, herd/food animal diagnostics, and drinking-water testing....Its strong market position and presence in these categories allows for greater adoption of new technology and products through established sales channels....Our 44 target is derived by using a 22 times P/E multiple and applying it to our 2010 EPS estimate of $2.21, and discounting it 10%...[which we believe] appropriate, given Idexx's leading market position and track record of growing earnings between 15% and 20% the last five years. We look for that growth to continue, even after the company passes the $1 billion mark in revenues this year. The two analyzers Catalyst Dx and SNAPshot comprise high-profile product launches....Market cap: $2 billion.

Neutral - Price 73 on Jan. 6 by Broadpoint.AmTech We expect ICE will remain rangebound, at least until visibility surrounding OTC [over-the-counter] energy increases- something we will be digging for over the next few weeks. We expect 2009 consensus to fall toward $4.50, from $5.33. Given the reduced reporting transparency combined with the uncertainty surrounding volumes, we believe a 17 times multiple is appropriate (previously, we had used a 20 times multiple), making ICE's share price fairly valued in the mid/high $70s. While we still expect the launch of CDS [credit-default-swap] clearing to act as a positive catalyst, we believe it is now offset by declining OTC energy activity. We are downgrading ICE to Neutral, from Buy. Market cap: $5.2 billion.

Hold - Price 7.23 on Jan. 6 by Jesup & Lamont Securities We're concerned that current events in Russia and in the Middle East could put upward pressure on oil prices later this month. We are downgrading JetBlue common to Hold from Buy, as the shares have reached our $7.10 price target. Our target, [which had] varied between $6.30 and $7.10...was based on 10 times estimated 2009 EPS, which have also been between 63 cents and 71 cents. We expect JBLU to report fourth-quarter and full-year results later this month. We are estimating a fourth-quarter loss of nine cents per share, versus last year's loss of two cents a share, and the consensus of a loss of two cents a share. Market cap: $2 billion.