Facebook ‘SANDBAGGED’ Estimates and 3 Heavily Traded Stocks to Watch

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ): JPMorgan’s Mark Moskowitz has cut his targets for 12 IT hardware companies, including Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), H-P, and Western Digital (NYSE:WDC). He cites weak Euro IT spending, Chinese growth worries, and the impact of a strong dollar on exports. Targets are also cut for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), IBM, EMC, and NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP), but Moskowitz is more positive on their ability to weather the storm.

General Motors (NYSE:GM): Chinese automaker SAIC will open an operations center in a Detroit suburb to help the company line up deals with American suppliers. The company has a close working relationship with General Motors, including the Shanghai GM joint venture it runs with its American counterpart.

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Facebook (NASDAQ:FB): After reviewing the reports issued yesterday by Facebook’s IPO underwriters, Henry Blodget thinks the company has “completely sandbagged” Q2 estimates, and is well-positioned for a beat. Prior to yesterday’s reports, Facebook’s consensus Q2 EPS estimate stood at $0.15. It’s now at $0.12, thanks to underwriters providing an average forecast of $0.10. Of course, Facebook ignited a controversy around IPO time by reportedly leaking guidance to select analysts.

Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO): Following a Huawei investor meeting, Nomura’s Stuart Jeffrey believes the company, feared for its win-at-all-costs attitude, will lose aggression in telecom equipment pricing, as a way to subsidize efforts for enterprise deals and to win a new phone. Jeffrey views this as good for  Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU), and Nokia Siemens (NOK, SI). He also views Huawei’s limited enterprise presence will diminish the damage it will cause (NASDAQ:CSCO) through the upcoming 2 years.

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