Jefferies this morning upgraded Time Warner Cable (TWC) to Buy from Hold and raised its price target for shares to $193 from $190. The firm assumes the takeover by Comcast (CMCSA) closes, and notes shares are worth $169 at the current Comcast price. It expects Comcast shares to rally towards its $67 price target before closing should the deal be approved, translating into it its $193 target for Time Warner Cable. However, should the deal not receive approval, Jefferies expects renewed interest in TWC from Charter Communications (CHTR). Such a transaction would face less regulatory risk, and Charter can offer TWC a comparable takeout price to the Comcast deal, Jefferies tells investors. Should neither deal take place, which Jefferies views as unlikely, the firm values TWC shares at $140. The stock is trading down $1.64 to $148.00 in pre-open trading after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Communications Commission staff recommended a hearing on the potential Comcast acquisition.

Notable companies reporting before tomorrow's open, with earnings consensus, include Exxon Mobil (XOM), consensus $2.20... Chevron (CVX), consensus $2.87... AbbVie (ABBV), consensus $2.23... HCA Healthcare (HCA), consensus $5.01... Colgate-Palmolive (CL), consensus 81c... Charter (CHTR), consensus $7.92... AutoNation (AN), consensus $4.27.

Check out this morning's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.  UP AFTER EARNINGS... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Notable companies reporting before tomorrow's open, with earnings consensus, include Merck (MRK), consensus $1.87... Caterpillar (CAT), consensus $5.14... Comcast (CMSCA), consensus 99c... Honeywell (HON), consensus $2.17... Bristol-Myers (BMY), consensus ($4.44)... Altria (MO), consensus $1.15... Keurig Dr. Pepper (KDP), consensus 35c... GE Vernova (GEV), consensus (37c)... Royal Caribbean (RCL), consensus $1.33... Tractor Supply (TSCO), consensus $1.72... Mobileye (MBLY), consensus (6c)... Textron (TXT), consensus $1.23... LabCorp (LH), consensus $3.48... Southwest Airlines (LUV), consensus (34c)... American Airlines (AAL), consensus (29c)... Harley-Davidson (HOG), consensus $1.51.

Comcast (CMCSA) is scheduled to announce quarterly results on April 25, while Paramount (PARA) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) are... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here