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Street Talk: Gold prices upped
Merrill Lynch increases spot gold estimates, gold miners' profit forecasts; Del Monte rating raised.
January 22, 2003: 7:13 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Analysts at Merrill Lynch raised estimates for gold prices and increased its profit forecasts for several gold miners, while separately boosting its investment rating on Del Monte early Wednesday.

In a morning note, Merrill Lynch raised its spot gold price estimates for 2003-2005, and raised 2003 estimates for the following gold miners based on the assumption: Newmont Mining (NEM: Research, Estimates), Placer Dome (PDG: Research, Estimates), Barrick Gold (ABX: Research, Estimates), Glamis Gold (GLG: Research, Estimates), GoldCorp (GG: Research, Estimates), Meridian Gold (MDG: Research, Estimates), Kinross (KGC: Research, Estimates), and Cambior (CBJ: Research, Estimates).

Merrill increased its rating on Del Monte (DLM: Research, Estimates) to "buy" from "sell," saying a reduction in the overhang of stock and an increase in free cash flow since the merger have improved financial fundamentals. Shares of Del Monte fell 16 cents to $8.38 Tuesday.

Credit Suisse First Boston narrowed its 2003 loss estimate for webMethods (WEBM: Research, Estimates) to a loss of 5 cents a share from a loss of 11 cents a share, but lowered its 2004 earnings estimate for the company to 9 cents a share from 17 cents a share. Shares of webMethods rose 17 cents to $10.48 Tuesday.

Credit Suisse slightly lowered its 2002 earnings estimate for Boston Scientific (BSX: Research, Estimates) by a penny, but raised its price target on its shares to $64 from $41, saying a proposed year-end launch of its stent could propel the stock. Shares of the biotech fell $1.71 to $44.06 Tuesday.

J.P. Morgan raised its rating on newsroom technology maker Avid Technology (AVID: Research, Estimates) to "overweight" from "neutral," citing its "more attractive valuation." Shares of Avid fell 93 cents to $20.65 Tuesday.

Lehman Brothers started coverage of Ralcorp Holdings (RAH: Research, Estimates) with an "overweight" rating saying the largest U.S. private-label food manufacturer likely would post better growth numbers than others in the industry. Shares of Ralcorp fell 22 cents to $24.20 Tuesday.  Top of page

--from staff and wire reports

--*Disclaimer
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Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2012 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2012 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2012. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.
© 2012 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy. Ad choices .