Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Apple to Payout Cash. Reports say that Apple (AAPL) in a response to a lawsuit from hedge fund titan David Einhorn has been "in active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders."  The company has more than $137 billion in cash. Both sides are also discussing the issuing of preferred shares.

Upgrades

Advance Auto Parts (AAP): JPMorgan raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight and raised their target price from $85.00 to $90.00. Pre-market: 78.15 +1.01 (1.31%)

Guess? (GES): Wedbush raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $24.00 to $34.00.

Intl Game Tech (IGT): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $20.00 on the company.

Downgrades

Deere & Co (DE): ISI Group lowered their rating from Strong Buy to Buy. Pre-market: 91.51 -0.66 (-0.72%)

Illinois Tool Works (ITW): ISI Group lowered their rating from Strong Buy to Buy. Pre-market: 61.86 -0.21 (-0.34%)

ProLogis (PLD): Stifel Nicolaus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Coverage Initiated

McDermott (MDR): HSBC Securities initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $14.00. Pre-market: 12.67 +0.27 (2.18%)

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed 

Walt Disney (DIS): Argus reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $60.00 to $65.00. Pre-market: 54.38 +0.02 (0.04%)

Earning Reports

Coinstar (CSTR): Reported EPS of $0.93 beating estimates by +$0.17. Pre-market: 47.60 -4.50 (-8.64%)

Hasbro (HAS): Reported EPS of $0.99 missing estimates by -$0.20.

LinkedIn (LNKD): Reported EPS of $0.35 beating estimates by +$0.16. Pre-market: 138.24 +14.15 (11.40%)

SunPower (SPWR): Reported EPS of $0.18 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 8.00 -0.40 (-4.76%)

American Axle (AXL): Reported EPS of $4.21 beating estimates by +$4.07. Pre-market: 12.00 +0.15 (1.27%)

AOL (AOL): Reported EPS of $0.41 beating estimates by $0.01. Pre-market: 33.50 +2.09 (6.65%)

Laboratory Corp (LH): Reported EPS of $1.54 missing estimates by -$0.08.

Moody's (MCO): Reported EPS of $0.70 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 46.60 -0.39 (-0.83%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:36: Dow -0.07%. S&P +0.07%. Nasdaq +0.29%. Crude +0.20% to $96.02. Gold -0.20% at $1667.70.

Europe: London +0.49%. Paris +0.71%. Frankfurt +0.38%. 

Asia: Japan -1.80% to 11153. Hong Kong +0.16% to 23215. China +0.57% to 2432. India -0.49% to 19485.