Meredith Whitney Ratings

Meredith Whitney made news this morning when she upgraded Goldman Sachs (GS) from a Neutral to a Buy. For those interested, below we highlight what Whitney's ratings currently are for the other financial stocks that she covers. Whitney doesn't have a Buy rating on any other stocks, but she has Neutral (Hold) ratings on Morgan Stanley (MS), Bank of America (BAC), JP Morgan (JPM), and American Express (AXP). Whitney has a Sell rating on Capital One Financial (COF), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Citigroup (C).

We also provide what Whitney expects each of these companies to report for earnings in the second quarter. Compared to consensus estimates, Whitney is more bullish than the average on Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and JP Morgan. She is more bearish than the average analyst on Capital One, American Express, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup.

Comments

[CautiousInv...:]

As I posted elsewhere today, I believe her sentiment towards Goldman is being driven by a belief that it will profit from the avalanche of debt to be issued by all levels of government.

From your chart it is easy to see she expects earnings of $3.62 from the eight banks she covers versus the consensus of $2.95; compared to the consensus, she expects Goldman to earn $1.00 more than the median estimate while she expects the other seven
to earn $.33 less. All in all she's hardly gushing over the sector, something reflected in her estimates and ratings.

In my eyes, she's making a big call on Goldman by going way outside of the envelop, a call I doubt she would make unless confident of her instincts. With much prestige and credibility at stake, if proven correct she will retain her status as a very savvy banking analyst capable of seeing what eludes others.

Jul 13 06:12 PM

[On Going Co...:]

a sell rating for wfc? what was her reasoning for that? seems like they have been one of the more stable banks throughout the past year.

Jul 13 06:12 PM

[Stone Fox C...:]

as usual she seems overly bearish on just about all banks. Most people that have been correct since March expect much better numbers out of the likes like WFC.

As far as the Goldman call, would like to see her numbers compared to the most recent updates. Too many times avg estimates include a bunch of analysts that haven't updated numbers. Shes likely within the consensus in that regards.

Jul 13 06:56 PM

[Ryu Mei Co:]

I had read the news on Sunday night that GS is going to report huge profit, and so I covered all my shorts immediately this morning. I would assume most shorters are doing the same too, and thus we see a large spike on the financial. When the market is as crazy as this, it is better to step aside or join the rally temporarily.

Jul 13 07:54 PM

[PhillyDan:]

While I agree with most of your comment, I think too many people are giving her way too much credit. Don't get me wrong, Whitney is a very smart person and knows what she is doing the majority of the time. My issue is that 9 out of 10 people who have a somewhat reasonable knowledge of Financial Institutions would probably pick GS to do well with their earnings and to be the choice from an investment standpoint. But since she is the "new in-thing", what comes out of her mouth is "golden" - no pun intended. A simple analogy is like me telling people I think the New England Patriots have a chance of winning the next Super Bowl.

Now if she can tell us why AIG has jumped the last two days in the aftermath of bad news then I might be even more impressed.


On Jul 13 06:12 PM CautiousInvestor wrote:

> As I posted elsewhere today, I believe her sentiment towards Goldman
> is being driven by a belief that it will profit from the avalanche
> of debt to be issued by all levels of government.
>
> From your chart it is easy to see she expects earnings of $3.62 from
> the eight banks she covers versus the consensus of $2.95; compared
> to the consensus, she expects Goldman to earn $1.00 more than the
> median estimate while she expects the other seven
> to earn $.33 less. All in all she's hardly gushing over the sector,
> something reflected in her estimates and ratings.
>
> In my eyes, she's making a big call on Goldman by going way outside
> of the envelop, a call I doubt she would make unless confident of
> her instincts. With much prestige and credibility at stake, if proven
> correct she will retain her status as a very savvy banking analyst
> capable of seeing what eludes others.

Jul 13 08:44 PM

[ed233:]

I impute from what Ms Whitney said is that she herself is surprised by the bullish outcome of GS. Her reasons for being bullish is the part that for me that starts to smell for the Obama administration. They are reasons she apparently has never employed in the past decade when analysing a buy or sell for this company. It might be that if you have a favored position with the government do you benefit substantially from the policies of the Fed? After all wall street is connected to this admionistration. Could this bank be a tool for the Fed? LOL Looking after your money.

Jul 13 10:24 PM

[SugarDaddy:]

She reminds me a lot of Billy Ray Cyrus........

Jul 13 10:32 PM

[drini:]

The stock is already priced for good results so no point buying now unless you want to day trade. Also she started a new frim and is basically sucking it up with goldman as she knows she could get favors from GS on th elong run.

Jul 13 10:36 PM

[ZeroCred:]

AIG is up b/c everyone and their sister is short the PoS and covered some. Worth a look if you can get a borrow.


On Jul 13 08:44 PM PhillyDan wrote:

> While I agree with most of your comment, I think too many people
> are giving her way too much credit. Don't get me wrong, Whitney is
> a very smart person and knows what she is doing the majority of the
> time. My issue is that 9 out of 10 people who have a somewhat reasonable
> knowledge of Financial Institutions would probably pick GS to do
> well with their earnings and to be the choice from an investment
> standpoint. But since she is the "new in-thing", what comes out of
> her mouth is "golden" - no pun intended. A simple analogy is like
> me telling people I think the New England Patriots have a chance
> of winning the next Super Bowl.
>
> Now if she can tell us why AIG has jumped the last two days in the
> aftermath of bad news then I might be even more impressed.

Jul 13 10:49 PM

[BullnBear:]

I’m having a very hard time with acceptance of strength in the financial sector due to my belief that the condition of the world economy is far worse than most people realize or want to admit. The only reason for the current mirage of financial strength in my opinion has more to do with various worldwide government interventions than a true sustainable strength. I would like to thank Mrs. Whitney because what she gave me today is a nice set up for some strong short positions going forward.

Jul 13 11:12 PM

[abc123:]

Sad to see an analyst that use to stick to her gun, start to tow the line. At one point I believe she was the most bearish and outspoken Analyst still to have a job on Wall Street. One who criticized others for going with the flow and who would issue a buy/sell not caring who she upset. Sell Out!

Jul 13 11:58 PM

[ain't no fo...:]

no borrows at Fidelity


On Jul 13 10:49 PM ZeroCred wrote:

> AIG is up b/c everyone and their sister is short the PoS and covered
> some. Worth a look if you can get a borrow.

Jul 14 12:07 AM

[Road Trip p...:]

Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners and grow the business itself. Today Banking Business has grown very much.
road trip planning

Jul 14 01:13 AM

[morph366:]

The timing and forum for her announcement yesterday (CNBC guest for one hour) was designed to ensure that she maintains the "power to move markets".
Lots of the "head and shoulder" shorts were falling over each other yesterday to cover in the financials, but it remains to see how much real institutional buying moves into the banking sector

Jul 14 02:00 AM

[ebschor:]

Meredith has to be the single worst analyst out there. She makes one lucky call on C, then starts her own firm to capitalize on the "lucky call". Since then she has missed every call since - or has made the call weeks after everyone else has seen the data. The only reason the market moved on her call is because she was SO bearish. Now if we could get Roubini to wave the white flag I think we could see a 1,000 point move on the Dow in a day!

Jul 14 07:20 AM

[dare16:]

She only made a buy call on GS and neutral or sell call on other financial stocks, but why others also rally, especially C which her estimate is 100% worst than consensus.???

Jul 14 07:55 AM

[Tim Plaehn:]

GS came in today with earnings of $4.93 per share. She did not miss by much.

Jul 14 08:29 AM

[Maxe Paul:]

People like Whitney are a joke. they put out sells at $60 and buys at $140! makes me wonder how much GS paid her for the pump. I'm guessing GS paid her hairdressers bill, LOL.

Jul 14 10:34 AM