If you're feeling good about the market, you're not alone. Take my hand as we go over some of this week's more uplifting headlines.
1. New highs -- and new analyst targets -- for Sirius XM Radio
Sirius XM Radio (SIRI +0.00%) hit new four-year highs again this week, and this time it was another bullish analyst perspective paving the way.
Encouraged by strong auto sales and Sirius XM's ability to retain its premium driver subscribers, Bank of America Merrill Lynch added the media giant to its U.S. 1 List of stock recommendations, with a meaty $4 price target.
There aren't many people doubting Sirius XM's viability these days, and it seems Wall Street price targets keep inching higher every few weeks.
2. Netflix spells out a new barrier to entry
Netflix (NFLX 0.82%) has been pointing to Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland as expansion markets during the fourth quarter. It landed in all four markets this week.
Sweden launched on Monday. Denmark followed on Tuesday. Norway and Finland launched on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Not everyone is excited about the video service's overseas push. Naturally, Netflix initially loses a good chunk of money as it breaks into new international markets, and these hits are weighing on the company's profitability and share price.
However, it's for these reasons that it's good news to see Netflix complete its rollout just weeks into the quarter. If things go smoothly -- and if Netflix's existing markets continue to grow -- who knows if the company could update the guidance that was calling for an overall loss during the fourth quarter when it reports next week.
3. Werewolves, vampires, and smoothies
Forget Team Edward or Team Jacob. Let's try Team Jamba on for size.
Jamba (JMBA +0.00%) is teaming up with Twilight studio producer Summit Entertainment to roll out a themed promotion ahead of next month's debut of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 2.
The smoothie chain will introduce a Berry Bitten blend, and those ordering the drink will get one of four collectible Twilight-themed slap bracelets.
This doesn't make the "smartest move" cut because it's a timely theatrical tie-in promotion. In fact, one can argue that Jamba is late to the Twilight bandwagon. This should've happened years ago. However, it's still timely now, because it will attract smoothie-slurping teens into its stores.
Jamba's pushing hard to reach young consumers, and its Jamba2Go dispensers for schools are starting to gain some serious traction. This makes sense, especially as it continues to cultivate a new generation of consumers who will take to Jamba's all-natural beverages.
4. Lucent up
Raymond James initiated a bullish note on Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), slapping a $3 price target on the French provider of networking and communications equipment.
Upbeat analyst missives happen all the time, and analyst Simon Leopold is simply sticking to his outperform rating. However, the $3 goal for the shares is impressive because the stock had fallen to an all-time low of $0.91 a share last week.
Leopold's excited about Alcatel-Lucent's role in a 4G network trial that China Mobile (CHL +0.00%) -- the world's largest wireless carrier, with 693 million customers -- is rolling out.
Analysts aren't generally bullish on Alcatel-Lucent, but they generally see the company returning to profitability later this year. The Raymond James analyst is just calling his shot early, and there's nothing wrong with that if he's right.
5. Do these jeans make my potential look big?
There's apparently money to be made in designer denim again: Joe's Jeans (NASDAQ: JOEZ) posted better-than-expected quarterly results this week.
The maker of premium jeans and other trendy apparel items posted a quarterly profit of $0.02 a share on a 25% pop in net sales. Wall Street was settling for a small deficit in sales growth of only 15%.
We've seen mixed signals from premium brands, but it's certainly encouraging to see some companies that sell fashionable items at high price points having no problem growing their businesses these days.
