Out Fox The $treet

Analysts are providing a holiday gift with the constant price targets cuts on Apple. The number of Buy ratings on the stock are at a low since the financial crisis. The actual number cuts aren't that aggressive. The stock trades at only 11.7x FY20 estimates before excluding a large cash balance. Ever since  Apple  ( AAPL ) reported  FQ4 results  back on November 1, analysts have repeatedly come out negative on the stock. The company decided to quit reporting iPhone unit sales and the market hasn't stopped hammering the stock on feared sales weakness. One of the best ways to play analysts downgrading a stock in mass is to take a contrary view and the recent price cut of an ultra-bull is the likely signal that analysts are generally done cutting Apple targets. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. 

Alphabet was downgraded by Wedbush suggesting the companies search business faces an inflection point. The stock trades at a relative value with plenty of opportunities for financial discipline to boost profits. The suggestion is to let the stock tell you when the inflection point occurs, especially at these breakout levels above $800. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG )(NASDAQ: GOOGL ) is trading sideways near a new high today after an analyst downgrade. The decision is odd considering the stock is near a breakout and potential run towards $900 and possibly even $1,000. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: No position. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Just a few days removed from the stock surging after announcing a huge deal with a U.S. brand, Velti's (VELT) stock ran into a couple of weak statements from analysts. After surging to over $10.40 on Wednesday, the stock ended down over 6% to $9.37 on Friday. The company engages in the provision of mobile marketing and advertising technology and solutions for brands, advertising agencies, mobile operators, and media companies around the world. Following a strong Q2 earnings report (see article here) in August, the stock had been on a huge run, so the drop on Friday might just be profit taking. The frustrating part for long-term investors is that the stock remains one of the cheapest around at only 9x forward estimates. How could any analyst say something to push the stock down from these levels? Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long VELT. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

As Riverbed Technology (RVBD) cratered to a new 52 week low on Wednesday, analysts were battling over the future of the company's main market. Several analysts, including Jefferies, see the main WAN Optimization market of Riverbed mostly tapped out, while Needham sees 20% growth in the next 3-5 years. Why such a divergence in opinion? It all stems from whether the recent product transition is seen as a move leading to favorable dynamic in the second half of 2012 or an excuse for weak results. See previous article on the Q112 results, conference call highlights, and new products launched. Positive Recap To recap, Riverbed is a leading networking equipment provider that recently launched a host of new products. Management categorically denied the mature market theory suggesting that the market could be 10x the size of all the products previously sold. It also denied any loss of market share as the 3rd vendor has recently pulled back from the market and Cisco Systems (CSCO) appears ...

While the market appears overbought and everybody claims to be bullish, several indicators of action show a different story. The sentiment versus action debate in investors is beginning to match that of the consumer confidence reports.  Bespoke had an interesting graph yesterday showing that analysts have not had a single day of net upgrades this year. During the rally upwards in 2012, every day analysts come out downgrading stocks only to see them go higher.  This action related number gives a completely different view than the investor sentiment polls. Considering analyst actions typically are great contrarian indicators does this mean the market goes higher? Considering the 8th appears to have been the most negative day of the year so far with 25 more downgrades. Wow!

Its amazing how much impact analysts have these days. After the frauds in 2000 and the common thought on the street that the process is rigged, its amazing how many people still wildly follow the moves of analysts. Now with the widespread dissemination of information by the internet its even more preposterous that stocks swing wildly based on a upgrade or downgrade by sometimes randomly never heard of analysts. The prime example the last week or so is Terremark Worldwide (TMRK). After earnings on the 4th, it appeared that TMRK was headed for a major breakout with strong growth forecasted and the every important cloud computing offering showing sizzling growth. Stock jumped to recent highs of $9.25 the next day. Then, out of the blue an analyst downgrades the stock and it swoons the following day. On Monday, Wells Fargo hits it again and before you can even read the first report the stock is down some 20% after a solid report. Whats amazing is that nothing earth shattering was highlight...