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Arqule Inc. (NasdaqGM:ARQL - News) shares rose 6.7% Thursday after the company was initiated with a buy rating at WR Hambrecht & Co.
Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NasdaqGS:BONT - News) shares surged 16% after the York, Pa., retailer reported that February sales tripled and comparable-store sales rose nearly 14.6%. A survey of analysts by Thomson Financial produced a consensus estimate of same-store sales down 2%. Total sales reached $237.6 million from $72.2 million, reflecting $153.4 million from Carson's and Parisian stores acquired in 2006. Carson's sales aren't included in the comparable-store-sales figure. Bon-Ton said that Carson's comparable-store sales for the period increased 7.2%, while the combined Carson's and Bon-Ton comparable sales advanced 9.8%.
California Coastal Communities (NasdaqGM:CALC - News) shares gained 8.7% after the company was upgraded to market outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
Catalina Marketing (NYSE:POS - News) shares rose 5.5% after the company agreed to be acquired by ValueAct Capital for $1.7 billion, including the assumption of about $135 million in debt. The deal values shares of Catalina, a St. Petersburg, Fla., promotional messaging company, at $32.10 each in cash, compared to the stock's close on Wednesday at $29.85, down 4.1%. The agreement allows Catalina to solicit and entertain alternative acquisition proposals from third parties for the next 45 days. Catalina expects the transaction to close in the next several months.
CSP Inc. (NasdaqGM:CSPI - News) shares gained 15% after the Billerica, Mass.-based IT services provider reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $978,000, or 25 cents a share. In the same quarter last year, the company posted a net loss of $546,000, or 15 cents a share. Revenue rose to $21.1 million from $15.1 million.
Culp Inc. (NYSE:CFI - News) shares rose 5.9% after the company said its third quarter net loss widened slightly to $2.2 million from $2.17 million. The High Point, N.C.-based company's loss per share for the quarter was unchanged at 19 cents a share. Quarterly net sales fell to $55.7 million from $61 million.
Delphi (Other OTC:DPHIQ.PK - News) shares gained 8.8% after the company filed to issue nearly $2 billion worth of common stock to shareholders as a key step toward funding its emergence from bankruptcy. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the auto parts maker is offering current stockholders the right to buy 56,700,000 shares at $35 each.
Fred's Inc. (NasdaqGS:FRED - News) shares rose 6.5% after the company said its February sales at stores open at least one year rose 3.9%. Analysts, on average, had expected its same-store sales to rise 2%, according to Thomson First Call. Total sales for the four weeks ended March 3 rose 8% to $143.9 million.
KLA-Tencor (NasdaqGS:KLAC - News) shares rose 4% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the company to overweight from equal weight and lifted its price target to $65 from $60.
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. (NasdaqGM:LJPC - News) shares surged 31% after the company announced positive interim antibody results from its Phase II trial of Riquent, its drug candidate for systemic lupus erythematosus. The results showed a significant dose response when comparing all Riquent-treated patients to placebo-treated patients, the company said. "We are very excited by these results," said Deirdre Gillespie, president and chief executive, in a statement. "The higher the dose, the greater the reduction in antibodies to dsDNA, and the relative magnitude of these reductions is greater than we have seen in previous studies, which used lower doses of Riquent."
Mamma.com (NasdaqCM:MAMA - News) shares gained 19% after the company swung to a fourth-quarter profit on higher revenue as a result of an increase in search advertising revenue, new software licensing contracts and increase in customized development and maintenance support. The Montreal provider of Internet search services said it earned $420,000 or 3 cents a share in the latest quarter versus a loss of $763,000 or 6 cents a year earlier. Revenue rose to $3.6 million from $1.6 million last year.
Men's Wearhouse Inc. (NYSE:MW - News) shares gained 9.4% after the company said it expects first-quarter earnings between 63 cents and 67 cents a share, assuming same-store sales rise 1% to 2% in the U.S. and 5% to 6% in Canada. The Houston-based seller of men's apparel also expects to earnings between $2.80 and $2.91 a share for the fiscal year ending Feb. 2.
New York & Co. (NYSE:NWY - News) shares rose 16% after the company said same-store sales rose 2.7% in February. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial was for growth of 2.1% for the month. Total sales for the four weeks ended March 3 increased 8.9% to $87.7 million from $80.6 million in the same period a year earlier.
Nighthawk Radiology Corp. (NasdaqGM:NHWK - News) shares gained 5.1% after the company was upgraded to market perform from underperform at Piper Jaffray.
Nucor Corp. (NYSE:NUE - News) shares rose 5.3% Thursday morning after the second-largest U.S. steel producer forecast strong first-quarter earnings and said shrinking steel stockpiles should support profits for the rest of the year.
Omni Energy Services Corp. (NasdaqGM:OMNI - News) shares leapt 17% after the company said it expects fiscal 2007 revenue of more than $175 million, an 80% increase over last year. Excluding certain tax benefits, the Carencro, La.-based company said it expects net income may rise as much as 70% to more than $17 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization could increase more than 60% to exceed $40 million, the company said. Additionally, Omni said it sees slightly improved gross profit margins for the year with the inclusion of a full-year's operations from its rental equipment division.
PriceSmart Inc. (NasdaqGM:PSMT - News) shares jumped 18% after the company said February same-store sales rose 21% over year-earlier levels. Total sales for the month rose 21% to $63.3 million from last year's $52.5 million.
RehabCare (NYSE:RHB - News) shares gained 7.7% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $2.1 million, or 12 cents a share, on revenue of $182.2 million, up from a loss of $31.8 million, or $1.89 a share, in the same period a year earlier, on revenue of $123.4 million.
Resource Capital Corp. (NYSE:RSO - News) shares rose 6.8% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $6.8 million, or 36 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $4.9 million, or 32 cents a share. The New York City real estate investment trust estimates that it will pay dividends of between $1.65 and $1.80 per common share.
Seattle Genetics (NasdaqGM:SGEN - News) shares gained 7% after the company was initiated with a buy rating at Caris & Co.
Zumiez Inc. (NasdaqGS:ZUMZ - News) shares climbed 14% after the company said its February sales at stores open at least a year increased 12.4%. Analysts, on average, expected the retailer to post a same-store sales increase of 7.1%, according to a survey by Thomson Financial. Total net sales for the four-week period ended March 3 increased 43.9% to $20.7 million, from $14.4 million for the four-week period ended Feb. 25, 2006.
Published By Michael Baron of MarketWatch

Labels: ARQL, BONT, CALC, CFI, CSPI, FRED, KLAC, LJPC, MAMA, MW, NHWK, NUE, NWY, OMNI, POS, PSMT, RHB, RSO, SGEN, ZUMZ

AsiaInfo (NASDAQ:ASIA - News) shares closed up more than 8% after the company disclosed it's signed a contract with China Unicom to develop a push mail mobile e-mail system. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
BP plc (NYSE:BP - News) shares rose 5% after it said John Browne would step down as chief executive of the embattled oil giant more than a year earlier than planned, and tapped Tony Hayward, the head of its exploration and production division, to run Europe's largest oil producer.
Culp Inc. (NYSE:CFI - News) shares jumped more than 9% after it agreed to purchase the mattress fabrics product line of Burlington House from International Textile Group (OTC BB:ITXN.OB - News) for $2.5 million in cash and about 880,000 common shares.
Force Protection Inc. (OTC BB:FRPT.OB - News) shares climbed 7.5% after it was initiated with a buy rating at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. The firm set a price target for the stock at $31.
Napster (NASDAQ:NAPS - News) shares gained almost 8% after it was selected to become the exclusive music subscription provider for AOL Music.
Owens-Illinois Inc. (NYSE:OI - News) shares added about 7% after it said it's hired Goldman Sachs as an advisor as it reviews strategic options for its plastics packaging business. The Perrysburg, Ill.-based company said the options include a possible sale of the business, which posted revenue of about $770 million for the 12 months ended Sept. 30.
Pacific Internet Ltd. (NASDAQ:PCNTF - News) shares leapt 10% after Connect Holdings Ltd. said it plans to make a voluntary conditional general offer to acquire the company in a cash deal valuing shares at $10 each.
Phazar Corp. (NASDAQ:ANTP - News) shares soared almost 28% after the Fort Worth, Texas-based antenna maker reported second-quarter earnings of $205,716, or 9 cents a share, on sales of about $1.6 million. In the same period a year earlier, the company earned $698,773, or 31 cents a share, on sales of $3.8 million.
Sirius Satellite (NASDAQ:SIRI - News) shares rose 5.1% while XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ:XMSR - News) stock gained about 4.5% after the New York Daily News reported that speculation about a merger of the companies is growing. The paper cited comments from executives Mel Karmazin of Sirius and Gary Parsons of XM at a conference in Las Vegas that a deal makes sense.
Published By MarketWatch

Labels: ANTP, ASIA, BP, CFI, FRPT, ITXN, NAPS, OI, PCNTF, SIRI, XMSR

Accredited Home Lenders Holding (NASDAQ:LEND - News) was upgraded to outperform from peer perform at Bear Stearns. The firm set a year-end 2007 price target of $32.
Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE - News) reported its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 16%, as an investment gain and higher sales of its business and creative software offset charges related to its acquisition of smaller rival Macromedia.
Applica Inc. (NYSE:APN - News) said it's reached a merger agreement with affiliates of Harbinger Capital Partners. The deal calls for Harbinger to increase its bid to acquire the shares of Applica that it doesn't already own for $6.50 per share. Harbinger currently owns about 40% of Applica's common stock. The higher bid follows Applica's receipt of an unsolicited acquisition offer from NACCO Industries. Shares of Applica, a Miramar, Fla., maker of small household appliances, closed Thursday at $5.76, up 3 cents.
Bear Stearns Cos. (NYSE:BSC - News) said it has increased its share buyback program to $2 billion from $1.5 billion.
CalAmp (NASDAQ:CAMP - News) shares rose after the company said its Dataradio unit has received a contract worth about $1.3 million from Michigan's Genesee County E-911 Consortium. The deal calls for Dataradio to replace the Consortium's existing mobile data public safety network for first responders.
ChipMOS Technologies (NASDAQ:IMOS - News) lifted its revenue outlook for the fourth quarter to $176 million to $181 million from a prior projection ranging from $168 million to $172 million. For November, the Taiwan provider of semiconductor testing and assembly services said its revenue totaled $61.5 million, an increase of 1.9% from October and 40% from a year ago. The company also raised its gross margin forecast to 29% to 32% for the fourth quarter from a prior view of 26% to 29%.
Christopher & Banks (NYSE:CBK - News) said it has pushed forward the effective date for Matthew Dillon to become president and chief executive to Jan. 1. Previously, Dillon, who is president and chief merchandising officer, was scheduled to become CEO on March 1.
Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ:CIEN - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
Culp Inc. (NYSE:CFI - News) said it plans to consolidate its U.S. upholstery fabrics manufacturing facilities and outsource its specialty yarn production, resulting in the elimination of 185 jobs. Culp said it will close its weaving plant in Graham, N.C., and its yarn plant in Lincolnton, N.C.
DRS Technologies (NYSE:DRS - News) was upgraded to equal-weight from undereweight at Morgan Stanley.
E-Trade Financial (NYSE:ET - News) said it will move its stock market listing to Nasdaq from the New York Stock Exchange to save money and more closely align the company with the activities of its trading customers. E-Trade's new listing will be effective on Dec. 27. The new ticker will be "ETFC."
Fibernet Telecom Group (NASDAQ:FTGX - News) was initiated with a buy rating at Merriman Curhan Ford.
GenVec (NASDAQ:GNVC - News) shares jumped after the company reported positive phase I human trials for an HIV vaccine that is based on its proprietary adenovirus vector technology.
ICON Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - News) said it raised its 2006 earnings and revenue forecast to reflect a strong backlog and continued new business awards. The Dublin, Ireland provider of development services to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries said it now expects earnings of $1.28 to $1.30 a share and revenue of $448 million to $452 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been expecting earnings of $1.29 a share and revenue of $448.5 million, on average. For 2007, the company expects earnings, including stock compensation expenses, to rise to $1.63 to $1.71 a share, and revenue to grow to $530 million to $550 million.
Immunicon Corp. (NASDAQ:IMMC - News) shares soared after the company said Veridex LLC has received Food and Drug Administration clearance for the CellSearch circulating tumor cell kit as an aid in monitoring patients with metastatic breast cancer. Veridex, a unit of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - News).
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - News) agreed to acquire Electronic Clearing House Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO - News) for $142 million. Intuit will pay $18.75 per Electronic Clearing share, including shares issuable upon exercise of options.
Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ:LSCC - News) lowered its view for fourth-quarter revenue, and now expects sequential sales to drop 2% to 4%. Previously, the company forecast sequential revenue to range from matching the prior quarter's results to growing 4%.
Monsanto (NYSE:MON - News) shares rose after the company was upgraded to buy at Goldman Sachs.
Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup Investment Research. The firm also lifted its price target on the stock to $60 from $55.
Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch. The firm cited strong global capital market returns in the fourth quarter for the move.
Quiksilver Inc. (NYSE:ZQK - News) said fourth-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $65.3 million, or 51 cents a share, from $33.6 million, or 27 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. The Huntington Beach, Calif.-based apparel company said quarterly revenue rose to $778.4 million from $637.4 million.
Safeguard Scientifics Inc. (NYSE:SFE - News) said Christopher Davis has resigned as chief financial officer to pursue other interests. The investment firm said it has named Stephen Zarrilli, co-founder of the Penn Valley Group, as acting CFO.
Servidyne (NASDAQ:SERV - News) shares rallied after the company posted earnings of $355,951, or 10 cents a share, for its fiscal second quarter, up from a year-ago loss of $22,914, or a penny per share. The company also said it's sold a shopping center in Morton, Ill., for $3.55 million. This transaction will result in a gain of $3.1 million to be recorded in the January quarter.
Shoe Carnival (NASDAQ:SCVL - News) approved the buyback of up to $50 million of its shares. The repurchase authorization is valid through Dec. 31, 2008, the Evansville, Ind.-based footwear and accessories retailer said.
Star Gas Partners (NYSE:SGU - News), a distributor of heating oil, said its fiscal fourth-quarter net loss narrowed to $21.6 million, or 28 cents per limited partner unit, from $46.5 million, or $1.30 cents per unit. Revenue for the quarter rose 0.5% to $151.5 million as the impact of higher selling prices more than offset an 11.9% reduction in home heating oil volume. The company also announced that it would delay filing its 10-K form for the year ended Sept. 30 as it is still assessing its accounting treatment of certain derivatives transactions. Star Gas said it may have to make material adjustments to its historical financial statements if it finds it does not meet the accounting requirements for those derivatives transactions. However, it added it does not expect any restatement to have an effect on its liquidity or business.
State Street (NYSE:STT - News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch.
Temple-Inland (NYSE:TIN - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank. The firm also lifted its price target on the stock to $55 from $40.
Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank with a price target boost to $80 from $65.
-MarketWatch

Labels: ADBE, APN, BSC, CBK, CFI, CIEN, DRS, ECHO, ET, FTGX, GNVC, ICLR, IMMC, IMOS, INTU, JNJ, LEND, LSCC, SERV, SGU