Picks of the Week: Google, Cisco, Alcoa, AT&T

Wall Street analysts give their buy, sell, or hold views on 10 stocks in the news this week

Highlights of analyst stock opinions issued the week of Oct. 5-9:

Oct. 9

Google (GOOG)

Credit Suisse keeps outperform; raises price target

Credit Suisse analyst Spencer Wang sharply raised his share price target on Google on Oct. 9, just two days after the online search leader's CEO Eric Schmidt said an economic recovery is under way in the U.S. and Europe.

Wang boosted his price target to $600 from $475. The new target implies the stock has room to rise 17% over the next year. Google's shares last crossed $600 in May 2008. Wang said online search will be "one of the first advertising mediums to benefit from an advertising recovery."

AT&T (T)

S&P Equity Research reiterates strong buy; lowers estimates

S&P equity analyst Todd Rosenbluth said on Oct. 9 that ahead of the expected release of AT&T's third-quarter results on Oct. 22, he was modestly lowering his 2009 and 2010 earnings per share (EPS) estimates. Rosenbluth cut his 2009 EPS forecast by 6 cents to $2.12 and his 2010 estimate by 7 cents to $2.28.

However, he still sees AT&T's earnings prospects and balance sheet as relatively strong and views its dividend, yielding an above-average 6%, as stable. He maintained his 12-month price target of $31.

Oct. 8

Alcoa (AA)

Citigroup maintains buy; raises estimates, price target

Citigroup analyst Brian Yu said on Oct. 8 that Alcoa's third-quarter operating earnings of 4 cents per share, reported after the close of trading Oct. 7, topped both his 10 cents loss per share estimate and the 9 cents loss per share consensus forecast of Wall Street analysts.

Yu continues to anticipate a profit in the fourth quarter as better third-quarter aluminum pricing flows to the company's Alumina business, and cost-cut initiatives advance. He raised his 2010 earnings estimate from 24 cents per share to 48 cents, and his 2011 earnings view from 60 cents to 80 cents. He boosted his $14 price target to $17.

Adobe Systems (ADBE)

Robert W. Baird upgrades to outperform from neutral; raises price target

Predicting an earnings recovery in the second half of next year and following an upbeat analyst meeting, Robert W. Baird analyst Steven M. Ashley upgraded Adobe Systems on Oct. 8 and boosted his target price on Adobe's shares to $40 from $35. He expects the software maker's earnings to recover thanks to the release of Creative Suite 5 next year.

Ashley also expects Adobe's acquisition of Omniture Inc. to close as expected and provide a longtime benefit to the San Jose, Calif.-based company.

Oct. 7

Cisco Systems (CSCO)

William Blair upgrades to outperform from market perform

Cisco Systems is winning new deals and benefiting from a broad economic recovery, William Blair analyst Jason Ader said Oct. 7 as he upgraded the company's stock.

"Our analysis suggests that there has been significant pent-up demand building over the last year for Cisco's products ... which has started to loosen up over the past few months," Ader told investors in a note. He also praised Cisco's recently announced plan to acquire Norway's Tandberg ASA for $3 billion, a move he said will help the company make video communication "ubiquitous" in the business market.

Goodrich Corp. (GR)

FBR Capital Markets upgrades to outperform from market perform; raises price target

Analyst Patrick J. McCarthy of FBR Capital Markets upgraded airplane parts manufacturer Goodrich Corp. on Oct. 7, saying he expects airline travel to improve next year. McCarthy also raised his price target to $65 from $46.

"Last quarter, the company noted that commercial passenger, regional/business travel and cargo markets were still challenging but that its aftermarket business appeared to be stabilizing and incremental end-market data appears to be supporting this as well," he wrote in a client note. "Also, while we are not free and clear from the economic recession's impact on commercial aerospace, signs of a modest recovery in 2010 travel seem to be improving."

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