Biopure Corp. (NASDAQ:
BPUR -
News) said that the U.S. Navy is in discussions with the Food and Drug Administration over potential protocol revisions to its previously proposed Resus Phase IIb/III pre-hospital trauma trial of Hemopure. The talks could enable Resus to proceed as a smaller, Phase II trial, subject to FDA approval, the company said. Last week, the FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee voted 11 to 8, with one abstention, against proceeding with the trial. The Naval Medical Research Center is sponsoring Resus.
Chaparral Steel Co. (NASDAQ:
CHAP -
News) reported second-quarter earnings of $1.40 a share, nearly double the 72 cents of the year-earlier period.
Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ:
CTAS -
News) second-quarter net income rose to 51 cents a share from 46 cents in the year-earlier period. Analysts had expected 52 cents.
CPI Corp. (NYSE:
CPY -
News) narrowed its third-quarter net loss to 15 cents a share from 39 cents in the year-earlier period. Shares outstanding fell to 6.4 million from 7.9 million.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:
DELL -
News), the world's No. 2 computer maker, named Donald Carty vice chairman and chief financial officer. The change of CFO comes amid an investigation of its financial reporting.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE:
FDX -
News) said Wednesday its second-quarter net income rose 8% to $511 million, to $1.64 a share, from $471 million, or $1.53 a share in the year-earlier period. Excluding costs for a new pilot labor contract at FedEx Express, the company said it would have earned $1.89 a share. Total revenue at the Memphis, Tenn.-based package delivery giant rose 10% in the three months ended Nov. 30 to $8.93 billion from $8.09 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call forecast earnings, on average, of $1.76 a share and $8.91 billion in revenue. FedEx tightened its 2007 earnings outlook to $6.35 to $6.65 a share, or $6.60 to $6.90 a share, excluding labor contract costs. Third-quarter earnings would be $1.20 to $1.35 a share and fourth-quarter earnings are forecast at $1.98 to $2.13 a share.
Forrester Research Inc. (NASDAQ:
FORR -
News) said Warren Hadley, chief financial officer and treasurer, resigned. The resignation is due to irregularities uncovered by an internal investigation related to an option grant made to Hadley in 1999.
FoxHollow Technologies (NASDAQ:
FOXH -
News) cut its fourth-quarter revenue-estimate range to $44 million to $46 million from $54 million to $56 million. The Merck & Co. (NYSE:
MRK -
News) partner said it's reviewing strategy due to slower sales of SilverHawk, a minimally invasive system that removes obstructive plaque and restores blood flow to the legs and feet.
FSI International Inc., (NASDAQ:
FSII -
News) the maker of equipment used in microelectronics, swung to first-quarter net income of 6 cents a share from a net loss of 14 cents in the year-earlier period.
Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:
GBX -
News) said it expects its earnings for the first quarter of its fiscal year to fall below expectations, principally due to weaker-than-anticipated results in its North American new railcar manufacturing units. The supplier of equipment and services to the railroad industry said that it expects to report first-quarter to Nov. 30 operating earnings in a range of 10 cents to 13 cents a share. The results for the quarter also include a write-off of loan fees of 4 cents a share and non-cash foreign exchange losses of 3 cents a share. Analysts were expecting the company to post earnings of 54 cents a share for the quarter. The company also said that, in light of the expected first-quarter result, it also doesn't expect to meet its $3.10 to $3.40 fiscal-year earnings per share forecast.
Kohl's Corp. (NYSE:
KSS -
News) shares were downgraded to neutral by Robert Baird, which cited difficult comparisons and warmer weather hampering fourth-quarter results.
Northfield Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:
NFLD -
News) shares tumbled more after the company reported 46 deaths in a study assessing PolyHeme, compared with 35 deaths in the control group. PolyHeme is a human hemoglobin-based oxygen-carrying red-blood-cell substitute.
Palm (NASDAQ:
PALM -
News) second-fiscal-quarter earnings fell from the year-earlier result, which was inflated by a tax-accounting measure. Shipments of the company's smart-phone devices continued to grow.
Panacos Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:
PANC -
News) shares fell 30% after the biotechnology company said preliminary results from the first cohort of a Phase 2b study of bevirimat suggest that the tablet formulation did not deliver the drug as expected.
Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE:
PKE -
News) said that third-quarter net income was $9.5 million, or 47 cents a share, from $9.7 million, or 48 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts had been expecting the materials company to report earnings of 47 cents a share. Sales rose 20% to $68.2 million. The company said that last year's results were flattered by a $1.5 million tax benefit.
ResCare Inc. (NASDAQ:
RSCR -
News) said it sees per-share earnings of $1.24 to $1.28 in 2007, on revenue of $1.43 billion. Excluding items, ResCare sees per-share earnings of $1.35 to $1.39.
Sally Beauty (NYSE:
SBH -
News) was cut to underweight from neutral-weight by Prudential Equity Group, which said changes to the company's relationship with cosmetics giant l'Oreal should lower sales by $110 million in the last nine months of fiscal 2007.
Taubman Centers (NYSE:
TCO -
News) said it expects 2007 funds from operations, a key profitability measure for real estate investment trusts, in the range of $2.73 to $2.78 a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call are forecasting, on average, FFO of $2.69 a share for 2007. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., regional shopping-center REIT said it expects 2006 FFO at the upper end of its previous estimate of $2.46 to $2.51 a share.
Tecumseh Products Co. (NASDAQ:
TECUA -
News) said its third-quarter net loss for the three months ended Sept. 30 widened to $37.8 million, or $2.05 a share, from $37.2 million, or $2.01 a share in the year-ago period. Revenue fell to $429.4 million from $449.9 million. The company cited unfavorable foreign currency fluctuations, higher costs for copper and other commodities, and a writedown of impaired assets. The company expects to take a loss in the fourth quarter because of the same factors cited above.
Labels: BPUR, CHAP, CPY, CTAS, DELL, FDX, FORR, FOXH, FSII, GBX, KSS, MRK, NFLD, PALM, PANC, PKE, RSCR, SBH, TCO, TECUA
