Sector Perform - Price 50.51 on Aug. 20 by RBC Capital Markets Clothes retailer ANF reported 2Q earnings per share of 88 cents (excluding 1-cent charge) versus our estimate of 87 cents. We're adjusting our estimates: 3Q from $1.33 to $1.17, 4Q from $2.62 to $2.28, 2008 from $5.50 to $5 and 2009 from $6.10 to $5.50. Our 61 target assumes the shares trade in line with peer-group average, 10 times to 11 times our 2009 EPS estimate of $5.50. Given a lack of newness in the merchandise and[inventory-building plan], we remain on the sidelines. Market cap: $4.6 billion.

Buy - Price 36.18 on Aug. 18 by Needham & Co. A solid Q3, despite light sales: $1.44 billion in revenues hit the low end of guidance, and were up just 5% year/over/year (roughly flat organically); gross margins increased 0.5 of a point y/o/y; pro forma operating margins increased more than two points on strong cost containment. Pro forma EPS of 53 cents now including 4 cents of stock compensation) beat adjusted guidance of 48 cents to 52 cents. Management characterized economic conditions [as]…robust in developing Asia. Still, Q3 growth was virtually nil organically, and Q4 revenue guidance of 8% growth is light versus the company's 10% target. The CEO announced…the company [will]…invest in life sciences; narrow R&D focus; improve gross margins. Target: 42. Market cap: $13.5 billion.

Buy - Price 36.18 on Aug. 18 by Needham & Co. A solid Q3, despite light sales: $1.44 billion in revenues hit the low end of guidance, and were up just 5% year/over/year (roughly flat organically); gross margins increased 0.5 of a point y/o/y; pro forma operating margins increased more than two points on strong cost containment. Pro forma EPS of 53 cents now including 4 cents of stock compensation) beat adjusted guidance of 48 cents to 52 cents. Management characterized economic conditions [as]…robust in developing Asia. Still, Q3 growth was virtually nil organically, and Q4 revenue guidance of 8% growth is light versus the company's 10% target. The CEO announced…the company [will]…invest in life sciences; narrow R&D focus; improve gross margins. Target: 42. Market cap: $13.5 billion.

Buy - Price 13.95 on Aug. 19 by Wedbush Morgan Securities While we are lowering estimates due to a soft Q2 and lowering our price target to 18, from 23, we see value at current levels; our target is based on our [discounted cash flow] analysis and represents a 15 times multiple on our [fiscal-year] '09 EPS estimate of $1.19, a 29% discount to our long-term EPS growth estimate of 21%, which we believe is fair given the solid balance sheet, but ongoing filing delays. Market cap: $3.4 billion.

Underperform - Price 256.92 on Aug. 19 by FBR Capital Markets FSLR plans to expand manufacturing capacity and research-and-development facilities at Perrysburg, Ohio location…and [expects] incentives from state and local governments. FSLR [says] the expansion adds a net 73 [megawatts] manufacturing capacity to the current 119MW by mid-calendar 2010….But the U.S. market may not really take off for a few years. We believe this illustrates the downside risk to unrealistic consensus[earnings-per-share] expectations for CY09/CY10 of $6.96/10.12, versus our estimates of $5.51/$6.70….Since 54% of CY08 revenues were hedged at $1.50 per euro, while 73% of expected CY08 EPS is hedged at a rate of $1.50/euro, it's clear some of the upside has been driven by better-than-expected exchange rates…we encourage profit-taking toward our price target of $210, or 23 times estimated '09 EV [enterprise value]/Ebitda. Market cap: $20.5 billion.

Outperform - Price 11.34 on Aug. 19 by Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller [First Horizon National operates as a holding company for First Tennessee Bank, which provides various financial services]. The sale of the mortgage company is scheduled to close by the end of August. The sale will include all of the non-Tennessee origination platform and about $20 million to $30 million of servicing. While First Horizon will have some lingering costs through year's end, the majority of the $2.6 billion of loans held for sale will roll off in September/October and increase capital ratios and [net interest margin]. We're trimming our 2008E EPS to a loss of 59 cents, from 56 cents, but maintain our 2009E EPS of 65 cents. Our target [rises] to 14—1.2 times projected tangible book—from 10. Market cap: $2.2 billion.

Outperform - Price 51.44 on Aug. 19 by Raymond James Forest Oil announced a bolt-on acquisition in Greater Buffalo Wallow [Texas panhandle] and East Texas; it agreed to acquire 350 Bcfe [billion cubic feet of natural-gas equivalent] of proved reserves from private company Cordillera Texas….The transaction is valued at approximately $892 million, equating to an attractive purchase price of $2.55/proved Mcfe [million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent]. The acquisition boosts Forest's net acreage in two of its core areas….Our 95 target is based on a 6.5 times multiple to our '09E Ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization], above the traditional [exploration-and-production] range of 4 times to 6 times, but warranted by our total company net-asset-value estimate of 108 a share. Market cap: $4.96 billion.

Buy - Price 28.12 on Aug. 19 by Singular Research International Assets Holding Corporation provides trading and market-making services in international equities market-making, international debt capital markets, foreign-exchange trading, commodities trading, and asset management. After five stellar quarters, IAAC came back to Earth and posted a large miss in Q3 on the top and bottom lines. IAAC reported adjusted (mark-to market) revenue of $23.3 million versus our estimate of $27.3 million, and reported MTM EPS of 23 cents versus our estimate of 40 cents. We attribute revenue shortfall to… lower trading and bond-placement volumes due to the global credit and risk crisis, along with a reversal in performance fees for [its] managed hedge funds. We believe many of these factors have already corrected themselves…. Yet IAAC has several quarters of difficult earnings-growth comparisons ahead….We're lowering our target from of 48 to 41, based on the stock selling for 20 times our [near-term] EPS estimate of $2.07. Market cap: $241 million.