8 Stories J.P. Morgan Is Watching Today

J.P. Morgan issued its top 8 market stories to watch on Wednesday.

1. Silver
In the silver space, Coeur Mining Inc CDE was downgraded from Neutral to Underweight while Hecla Mining Company HL reported strong results and an additional high grade ore discovery. For Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) PAAS, its La Colorada mine continued to show promise “while its minimal debt gives it flexibility,” according to the firm.

2. The Valspar Corp VAL
The company was expected to become more profitable as raw material costs decline in 2015 while also gaining share in its industrial coatings. The stock was rated Overweight.

3. Hewlett-Packard Company HPQ
The firm expected a sell-off on Wednesday and noted that “revenue guidance for FY’15 feels on the optimistic side of things to us but this is more than offset by valuation upside potential into the spin post this reset.” The stock was rated Overweight.

4. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc HLT
The firm’s recent meeting with the CEO and VP of IR reaffirmed “its operating momentum and network effect across its diversified chainscale segment portfolio and geographies,” which was expected to result in above-peer growth. The stock was rated Overweight.

5. La Quinta Holdings Inc LQ
The Overweight rating and $26 price target were reaffirmed following a solid Q4 and 2015 outlook. “LQ possesses a reasonable valuation (10.9x 2015E EV/EBITDA, 7.3 percent FCF yield) to growth (~9 percent annual EBITDA CAGR) proposition,” according to the firm.

6. Gentherm Inc THRM
The company reported a strong Q4 and a better than expected outlook. The firm reiterated its Overweight rating and noted that that revenue growth was “led by secular leverage for its thermal management products which still have fairly small penetration of the global light vehicle industry.”

7. Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc - Ordinary Shares JAZZ
The firm maintained an Overweight rating and noted that its guidance miss was driven by “one-off issues” which did not change the investment thesis.

8. U.S. Exchanges
The firm noted that “cash equity business has been a better business for the exchanges in recent months” and that volumes are growing.  Intercontinental Exchange Inc ICE had benefited the most as the NYSE saw cash equity trading revenue on track increase 25 percent year-over-year.