Analyst Comments

Shares of NetApp (Nasdaq: NTAP) declined on Tuesday ahead of its Q4 earnings report. Investors expect NetApp to report EPS of $0.68 on $1.76 billion in revenue. Sentiment remains cautious given the current environment and investors anticipating subdued guidance. For Q1, the Street is looking for EPS of $0.53 on revenue of $1.6 billion.

Commenting, analyst Rohit Chopra of Wedbush said, "We think there has been little material change in the demand environment for storage, with ongoing competition and weakness in federal causing greater scrutiny over budgets, and increased sign-offs to get deals closed. Our view was reinforced by a slight miss from competitor EMC, however the company reaffirmed full year-guidance which should assuage fears of further deterioration in the IT spending environment. Furthermore, EMC’s results echo the sentiment of several companies that have already reported results who expect acceleration in 2H13 . . . Our expectations are for an in-line quarter with Q4 revenue meeting our $1,758mn estimate and EPS meeting our $0.67 estimate. . . expect continuation of cautious guidance, possibly a discussion how to improve shareholder value."

Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um said, "We expect NTAP to report FQ4 revenue largely in line with our/Street estimates of $1.76B (guidance: $1.7-1.8b in revenue) but believe there could be some upside potential to our/Street EPS of $0.68 (guidance: $0.65-0.70) potentially driven by better operating expense controls (last quarter’s upside was largely driven by lower operating expense with a portion related to lower commissions expense due to lower sales against its goals). We expect FAS3000 (introduced in November 2012) and FAS6200 (introduced in March) to potentially help blended average selling price this quarter. We expect product gross margin to be up slightly sequentially, in line with guidance of flat to slightly up. We expect guidance to be below our estimates of $1.66B/$0.59 though note Street estimates ($1.60B/$0.53) already reflect this."

NetApp executive management will host a conference call with the financial analyst community at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time to provide their perspective on market dynamics and the company's performance. The call will be broadcast live via the Internet. The live Webcast call can be accessed at investors.netapp.com

Goldman Sachs today maintained a Conviction Buy on Ryanair (NASDAQ: RYAAY). Analyst Nick Edelman said valuation looks attractive.

"We expect continued capacity restraint through CY2013 (due to restructuring at the ‘big 3’ flag carriers) to support yield growth over the next 12 months, and we therefore view management guidance for downward pressure on yields in FY2014 as conservative. Our updated 2014 net income estimate is 17% above the midpoint of management guidance and 8% ahead of Bloomberg consensus," said Edelman.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Ryanair click here. For more ratings news on Ryanair click here.

Shares of Ryanair closed at $47.19 yesterday, with a 52 week range of $27.66-$48.35.

Information outlined in Jos. A Bank (NASDAQ: JOSB) April Q10 filing suggests margin expansion or other positive data not currently anticipated by investors, thinks JPMorgan analyst Brian Tunick. In his view, management's ambitious incentive awards suggests FY EPS of $3.56 (vs consensus of $3.12).

JPMorgan has a Neutral rating on Jos. A Bank (NASDAQ: JOSB) with a price target of $42.00

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Jos. A Bank click here. For more ratings news on Jos. A Bank click here.

Shares of Jos. A Bank closed at $46.09 yesterday, with a 52 week range of $37.31-$50.75.

Dougherty & Co today maintained a Buy rating on SodaStream International (NASDAQ: SODA) and raised its price target to $80.00 (from $60.00). Analyst Gregory J. McKinley said the company's recent analyst day demonstrated its
capabilities to grow into its market.

"At last week's SODA analyst day, the company addressed a number of topics including product innovation, branded partnerships, marketing strategy, manufacturing operations, regional profiles, and the financial outlook, which included a goal to achieve $1 billion in revenues by 2016," said McKinley.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on SodaStream International (NASDAQ: SODA) click here. For more ratings news on SodaStream International click here.

Shares of SodaStream International closed at $65.01 yesterday, with a 52 week range of $29.44-$66.69.

So you thought the short squeeze in Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) has been epic? Look no further than MLM peers Nu Skin (NYSE: NUS) and USANA (NASDAQ: USNA) for real short seller pain. While Herbalife is up 49% YTD, USANA is up 107% and Nu Skin is up 70%, as DA Davidson analyst Tim Ramey noted today. Both USANA and NUS made all-time highs, while Herbalife remains well below its 2012 all-time high of $73.

Those on the correct side of the trade can thank Bill Ackman, as all three started the year with depressed prices after Ackman's attack on Herbalife.

"Unless you were a nimble trader, the shorts have all been hammered," Ramey exclaims. Herbalife is now up 10% from the pre-Ackman levels and USNA and Nu Skin are at new highs. "The rapid run up in the share price recently suggests to us that investors are now more motivated by greed than they are deterred by fear, contributing to the near-vertical movement in the shares," the analyst comments.

Despite the strong performances, the analyst said more upside exists. "Herbalife is 10x 2013 EPS and 5.2x EV/EBITDA; Nu Skin is 14.4x EPS and 7.2 EV/EBITDA; USANA is 12.7x EPS and 5.6x EV/EBITDA. We believe these are valuation ranges that leave tremendous upside in the stocks given the powerful growth dynamics."

He continued, "Herbalife was our #1 pick for all of 2013 and has 54% upside to our $78 price target. Nu Skin has 26% upside to our $78 target and USANA has 18% upside to our $80 target."