Morgan Stanley analyst Rajeev Lalwani said he is constructive on Defense stocks following yesterday's 4% move up, noting that budgets now appear to be on a better track and point to growth again. Defense stocks have recently performed poorly, consistent with other Industrial sectors, he points out, adding that he thinks the sector should do well in a period of economic uncertainty. In terms of individual names, Lalwani said his preference remains Raytheon (RTN) and Lockheed Martin (LMT), on which he has Overweight ratings. He maintains an Underweight rating on General Dynamics (GD). Other publicly traded companies in the Defense space include BAE Systems (BAESY), Boeing (BA), Northrop Grumman (NOC), and United Technologies (UTX).

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Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists. 1... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

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Says without approximately $200M impact Boeing (BA) 737 MAX 9 from grounding, United (UAL) would have reported a quarterly profit.

Northcoast downgraded Boeing to Sell from Neutral with a $140 price target. The stock in premarket trading is down 1% to $168.80. The analyst expects Boeing's quarterly earnings report in two weeks to prompt concerns about the company's underlying fundamentals and ultimately shift investor focus to liquidity and acquisition concerns. Negative expectations are embedded in the lower share price, but investors may not be discounting structural issues, such as Boeing's balance sheet stability or future cash liabilities, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Northcoast believes the 787 production challenges and the Federal Aviation Administration investigation uncertainties do not appear to be reflected in consensus estimates. The firm's channel checks confirm unexpected changes were already made to the Dreamliner production schedule "that would normally indicate some type of problem not yet been communicated to The Street." Its survey results point to a 787 program build rate of two jets per month, as opposed to Boeing's claim of five.

Northcoast analyst Chris Olin downgraded Boeing to Sell from Neutral with a $140 price target.