Company News for May 18, 2011

• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) reported Q1 EPS of $0.55, higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.43 per share. Revenue for the quarter edged up 1% year-over-year to $15.02 billion, falling short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.457 billion

• Share prices of US listed Allied Irish Banks, PLC. (NYSE:AIB) rose 13.33% to close at $3.06 after the banking company unveiled a new structure and top management team

• Leerink Swann initiated coverage on shares of Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANTH) with an "Outperform" rating and a valuation call of $12 to $14 per share

• Share prices of elong, Inc. (NASDAQ:LONG) increased 56.72% on news that China‘s Tencent Holdings has bought a 16% stake in the company for $84.4 million

• Shares of FairPoint Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRP) fell more than 40% to close at $9.59. Although the company posted first quarter profits, its revenues were flat compared to the prior year

• Analysts at Madison Williams initiated coverage on Linn Energy, LLC (NASDAQ:LINE) with a “Buy” rating and a target price of $45.00

• Analysts at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) initiated coverage on MAKO Surgical (NASDAQ:MAKO) with a “Buy” rating

• Analysts at Boenning & Scattergood initiated coverage on Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) with an “Outperform” rating and a target price of $15.00

• Analysts at Oppenheimer analysts initiated coverage on Oncolytics Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONCY) setting a “perform” rating

• Analysts at ThinkEquity initiated coverage on Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTR) with a “Buy” rating and a target price of $18.00