Jim Cramer Blog

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE - News) shares rose 5.8% Wednesday after the company named Mark Garrett, an EMC Corp. (NYSE:EMC - News) executive, as its new chief financial officer, more than two weeks after the software maker said it had completed an internal review of its stock-options practices.
Affymax Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFY - News) shares rose 6.1% after the company was initiated with an outperform rating at Cowen & Co. RBC Capital Markets also began coverage of the company with an outperform rating and set a $44 price target.
Albemarle Corp. (NYSE:ALB - News) shares added 6.6% after the company reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $63 million, or $1.29 a share, compared with $32.2 million, or 67 cents a share, on the back of a $5.4 million tax benefit and lower costs of good sold.
Allegheny Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ATI - News) shares gained 5.6% after the company posted a 41% surge in fourth-quarter profit on the back of strong demand for titanium and nickel alloys from the aerospace and defense markets.
AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE:ABC - News) shares rallied up 8.1% after the pharmaceutical services company posted a 26% rise in first-quarter profit and lifted its 2007 earnings outlook above Wall Street's forecast.
Ametek (NYSE:AME - News) shares advanced 6.4% after the Paoli, Pa., maker of electronic instruments posted a fourth-quarter profit of $47.8 million, or 45 cents a share, up from year-ago earnings of $36.9 million, or 35 cents a share. Sales rose 19% in the quarter to $480.7 million. The company sees earnings of $1.93 to $1.97 a share for fiscal 2007, surrounding Wall Street's current consensus estimate of $1.95 a share.
Artic Cat (NASDAQ:ACAT - News) shares rose 8.6% after the Thief River Falls, Minn., maker of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles reported third-quarter earnings of $8.2 million, or 43 cents a share, on sales of $228.1 million. These results include 2 cents a share in stock option expense and an income tax benefit of 3 cents a share.
Conolog Corp. (NASDAQ:CNLG - News) shares soared 86% after the company said its CM-100 direct substation communicator system has received final testing approval. The CM-100 is scheduled to ensure delivery to customers by the third quarter, the company said. Conolog makes electronic and electromagnetic components and subassemblies for telephones, radio and microwave transmissions.
Corning Inc. (NYSE:GLW - News) said it swung to a fourth-quarter net profit of $646 million, or 41 cents a share, from a year-ago loss of $33 million, or 2 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter rose 14.1% to $1.37 billion. Excluding one-off items, Corning said it earned $488 million, or 31 cents a share in the quarter, exceeding its own guidance and the 28 cents-a-share estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call. The materials and fiber optics group said it expects the overall market for LCD glass substrate to grow in the mid-30 percent range, driven by continued demand for LCD televisions, and added its own LCD glass volume is expected to grow at the upper end of this range. The firm added it expects to see significant growth in its heavy-duty diesel products, due to new U.S. emissions regulations that became effective Jan. 1. Overall, Corning said it expects first quarter sales to be in the range of $1.26 billion to $1.31 billion, with earnings in the range of 24 to 27 cents a share.
EZCorp (NASDAQ:EZPW - News) shares jumped 12% after the Austin, Texas-based provider of credit and other financial services late Tuesday reported fiscal first-quarter net earnings of $9.76 million, or 23 cents a share, up from $6.76 million, or 17 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $91.7 million from $75.8 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had forecast a per-share profit of 20 cents on revenue of $85.5 million. The company expects fiscal second-quarter earnings of 23 cents a share, and fiscal 2007 earnings of 85 cents a share.
Hyperion Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ:HYSL - News) shares moved up 18% after the company agreed to acquire privately held Decisioneering Inc. to gain access to its risk analysis software. Hyperion, a business management software maker, which employs 2,700 workers, plans to run Decisioneering, which employs 75 workers, as an independent unit in Denver. No job cuts are expected. Hyperion declined to disclose the terms of the deal, which is expected to close within the next month. The company also said its second-quarter earnings rose 34%, boosted by growth in software license and maintenance and service revenue. The company had second-quarter earnings of $21.5 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with $15.5 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 rose 20% to $222.9 million from $185.5 million a year ago. Software license revenue rose 14% to $84.9 million, and maintenance and service revenue rose 24% to $138 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, earnings of 44 cents a share on revenue of $212 million.
Integrated Device Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:IDTI - News) (NYSE:IDT - News)shares added 5.6% after the company reported a third-quarter net loss of $1.94 million, or a penny a share, down from $42.3 million, or 21 cents a share, during the year-ago period.
Introgen Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:INGN - News) shares moved up 7.9% after the company said Wednesday a preclinical study with INGN 241 in combination with Genentech Inc.'s (NYSE:DNA - News) Avastin showed "synergistic activity" resulting in "a curative therapeutic effect" in the treatment of lung cancer. The new data were published in the journal Molecular Therapy. Introgen said the study showed that the combination of INGN 241 and Avastin was "very effective" and blocked tumor angiogenesis. In the study, tumors completely regressed within the first four weeks of treatment and no additional growth was observed after cessation of therapy, the company said.
Level 3 Communications (NASDAQ:LVLT - News) shares gained 5.2% after the company was initiated with an outperform rating at Cowen & Co.
National Interstate's (NASDAQ:NATL - News) shares advanced 23% after the Richfield, Ohio-based insurance company late Tuesday forecast fourth-quarter net income in a range of 54 cents to 60 cents a share and full-year 2006 net income of $1.80 to $1.86 a share. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call are looking for fourth-quarter earnings of 51 cents a share and 2006 earnings of $1.75 a share. The company expects gross premiums written of $61.5 million in the fourth quarter, and $305.5 million for 2006.
OSI Systems (NASDAQ:OSIS - News) shares added 6.5% after the company said it expects revenue of about $137 million for the second quarter, a level that would represent growth of 17% from year-ago levels. The company also disclosed plans for a restructuring, saying it will reduce its global workforce by 8% and consolidate certain facilities. It's targeting annual cost savings of between $15 million and $17 million from these moves. OSI expects to record a charge of between $31 million and $34 million in the second quarter from asset impairment and the recording of additional inventory reserves. Excluding items, it sees a breakeven performance in the quarter on an operating basis. Hawthorne, Calif.-based OSI withdrew its earnings outlook for fiscal 2007 but backed a forecast for revenue of between $535 million and $545 million for the year.
Shares of Parametric Technology Corp. (NASDAQ:PMTC - News) rose 7.2% after the business software maker reported that its fiscal first quarter earnings doubled compared to the year-earlier period. PTC said GAAP net income rose to $15.2 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, compared to $7.5 million, or seven cents per diluted share in the year-earlier period. Revenue grew 15% to $221.7 million, the company said, while total software license revenue grew 14% to $66.6 million.
RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ:RFMD - News) shares surged 14% after the company said fiscal third-quarter net income rose sharply to $59.3 million, or 26 cents a share, from $14.7 million, or 7 cents a share, a year earlier. The Greensboro, N.C., mobile communications technology company said results were driven by strength at the world's leading handset manufacturers, market share gains in RF semiconductors and high demand for the company's cellular transceivers and transmit modules. Results from the latest quarter included other income of $1.3 million, whereas the year-ago quarter included other income of $298,000. Excluding items such as share-based compensation, amortization, an impairment charge, a gain on sale of substantially all Bluetooth assets, and restructuring charges related to sale of substantially all Bluetooth assets RF Micro Devices earned 16 cents a share, up from 8 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 rose 35% to $281.1 million from $208 million. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 13 cents a share on revenue of $273.2 million. Third-quarter results also beat the company's internal projections.
Rockwell Medical Technologies' (NASDAQ:RMTI - News) shares rose 11% after the Wixom, Mich.-based pharmaceutical company reported favorable results from pre-clinical safety studies for its iron-delivery product, soluble ferric pyrophosphate. Rockwell said it's preparing to begin human clinical trials consisting of a nine-month dose ranging study followed by a final clinical study. Upon favorable results, the company said it expects to receive Food and Drug Administration market approval for SFP sometime thereafter.
Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX - News) shares added 8.3% after the company said its fiscal second-quarter net income fell 51.2% to $140 million, or 23 cents a share, from $287 million, or 57 cents a share a year ago. Excluding a $76 million charge related to an acquisition of Maxtor and $29 million for the early retirement of 8% notes, earnings were $236 million, or 39 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 29 increased 30.3% to $3 billion from $2.3 billion a year earlier, said the Scotts Valley, Calif., provider of hard disc drives. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial predicted second-quarter earnings of 32 cents a share, on revenue of $2.93 million. Analyst estimates exclude integration and retention costs and amortization of intangibles.
Sun Micro (NASDAQ:SUNW - News) shares surged 8.5% after the hardware maker issued an upbeat fiscal second-quarter report and bullish forecast.
Transcend Services' (NASDAQ:TRCR - News) shares jumped 37% after the Atlanta-based company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $762,000, or 10 cents a share. In the same quarter last year, the company posted a net loss of $444,000, or 6 cents a share. Revenue rose to $8.95 million from $7.3 million. Transcend Services provides medical transcription services to the healthcare industry.
TransDigm Group (NYSE:TDG - News) shares leapt 12% after the Cleveland-based maker of aircraft components forecast fiscal first-quarter net earnings of 43 cents a share, or adjusted earnings of 46 cents a share, on revenue of $123 million. TransDigm also said it now expects fiscal 2007 earnings of $1.68 to $1.80 a share, or adjusted earnings of $1.79 to $1.91 a share, on revenue of $500 million to $510 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call are forecasting 2007 earnings of $1.68 a share on revenue of $533 million.
TRM Corp. (NASDAQ:TRMM - News) shares rocketed up 50% after the company said it's sold its TRM Ltd. unit, which owns its ATM business in the U.K. and Germany, to NoteMachine Ltd. for 47.1 million pounds ($92.6 million). Portland, Ore.-based TRM said net proceeds from the sale were used to pay down debt. NoteMachine is a portfolio company of Rutland Partners LLP, a private equity partnership. "The sale of our European ATM business is a component of our ongoing efforts to simplify our business operations," said Jeff Brotman, TRM president and chief executive, in a statement.
Vertrue (NASDAQ:VTRU - News) shares rose 9.2% after the Norwalk, Conn.-based Internet marketer reported fiscal second-quarter net earnings of $8.7 million, or 74 cents a share, up from $7.66 million, or 66 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $178.6 million from $160.1 million. The company expects fiscal 2007 earnings of $3.30 to $3.40 a share on revenue of $748 million to $758 million.
Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO - News) shares added 7.5% after the company reported fourth-quarter profit plunged 61% from a year ago, when it booked a large one-time investment gain. The Internet bellwether was also hurt by higher costs for employee stock options.
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Labels: ABC, ACAT, ADBE, AFFY, ALB, AME, ATI, CNLG, DNA, EMC, EZPW, GLW, HYSL, IDT, IDTI, INGN, LVLT, NATL, OSIS, PMTC

American Italian Pasta Co. (NYSE:PLB - News) said the New York Stock Exchange is planning to move forward with the suspension and delisting of the company's common stock following its failure to meet certain filing requirements by an extended deadline. The company expects trading in its stock to be suspended on Dec. 20. It plans to appeal the move. The shares will be eligible for trading on the Pink Sheets following the suspension. American Italian Pasta also said it expects to file its annual report for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2005 by the end of January. The company also said it believes price increases for its products will not fully offset the negative impact of higher durum costs in fiscal 2007.
Affymetrix Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX - News) shares sagged after its chief financial officer, Greg Schiffman, left to take the same position at cancer-focused biotechnology company Dendreon Corp.
Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - News) shares dipped after the company said Friday it will delay its annual report for the fiscal year ended in September. The company has also delayed filing its last two quarterly financial reports amid an internal probe into the backdating of employee stock option grants.
Asta Funding (NASDAQ:ASFI - News) was downgraded to market perform from outperform at Ryan, Beck & Co. The firm lowered its price target on the stock to $34 from $50, citing a lack of valuation catalysts.
Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - News) was downgraded to neutral from overweight at J.P. Morgan.
Biopure Corp. (NASDAQ:BPUR - News) shares tumbled after the FDA's blood products advisory committee recommend against proceeding with the Navy's proposed Phase III study of Hemopure, the company's pre-hospital treatment for hemorrhaging shock resulting from traumatic injury.
Black & Decker Corp. (NYSE:BDK - News) shares plunged after the tool maker said a slowdown in the housing market and weakening demand for discretionary goods will pose stiff headwinds in the coming year.
California Micro Devices Corp. (NASDAQ:CAMD - News) backed its third-quarter results outlook of a range of a loss of 2 cents a share to earnings of 1 cent a share. The company also confirmed its revenue outlook of $16.5 and $18.5 million.
Conolog (NASDAQ:CNLG - News) shares lost ground after the Somerville, N.J., provider of digital signal processing products posted a loss from continuing operations of $710,613, or 41 cents a share, for its fiscal first quarter ended Oct. 31. This performance was a wider loss than last year as product revenue fell 32% in the latest quarter to $127,661 from $187,938 a year ago.
Dendrite International Inc. (NASDAQ:DRTE - News) said it sees fourth-quarter revenue of $107 to $112 million, with a per-share loss of 23 cents to 35 cents. The company expects 2007 revenue of $430 million to $445 million, and per-share income of 43 to 51 cents.
Encana (NYSE:ECA - News) was downgraded to sell from hold at Citigroup Investment Research. The firm cited cost run-ups and concerns about the quality of the company's portfolio.
Enzo Biochem Inc. (NYSE:ENZ - News) said it plans to sell 3.3 million common shares at $14 each in a registered direct offering to institutional investors. Enzo, a New York health-care research compay said it expects to raise $43.1 million from the offering. The company said it plans to use the money for general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions, clinical research and development, and the development of product candidates.
Genta Inc. (NASDAQ:GNTA - News) shares plunged after the Food and Drug Administration rejected its application seeking approval for its experimental blood cancer treatment, Genasense.
Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - News) lowered its outlook for the fourth quarter to a profit of between 72 and 74 cents a share from its prior projection of 77 to 81 cents a share. The company cited lower than expected base revenue growth and anticipated continuing weakness in North America end markets in December. The current average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call is for a profit of 78 cents a share in the December period. For the year, the company now sees earnings of $2.96 to $2.98 a share, below its previous view of $3.01 to $3.05 a share. It expects base revenue growth of 1.8% to 2.4% for the fourth quarter and 3.7% to 3.8% for the year.
International Rectifier (NYSE:IRF - News) was downgraded to neutral from buy at UBS.
Navistar International Corp. (NYSE:NAV - News) said worldwide shipments of its school buses, Class 6-7 medium trucks and Class 8 heavy trucks rose 14% to 147,400 units in 2006 from 129,600 units shipped in 2005. The company also said it shipped 11,000 Class 4-5 small bus and stripped chassis units for the motor home and step-van markets in 2006, and that its diesel engine shipments totaled 519,700 engines for the year, down slightly from 522,600 engines shipped in 2005. The company also added that it's made significant progress on completing the previously disclosed restatement of certain historical financial statements and that it doesn't plan to comment on 2006 results until the statements are finished. It anticipates it won't complete the restatement until after Feb. 1. Navistar added that it's been informed that the New York Stock Exchange plans to suspend trading in its stock by Dec. 20 and begin delisting procedures. The company plans to contest these actions by the exchange.
Optical Communication Products (NASDAQ:OCPI - News) shares slumped after the Woodland Hills, Calif.-based maker of fiber optic components late Thursday reported a fiscal fourth-quarter net loss of $1.4 million, or a penny a share. In the same quarter last year, the company posted a net profit of $1.57 million, or a penny a share. Revenue rose to $19.1 million from $14.8 million. Optical Communication expects revenue of $80 million to $90 million for fiscal 2007, and a "significant" gross margin decline in the first half of fiscal 2007 when compared with the fourth quarter, with the potential for "modest quarter-to-quarter improvements later in the year." The company announced separately that Chief Technology Officer Muoi Van Tran and Chief Financial Officer Susie Nemeti, company founders, will resign. Tran will continue to serve as chairman.
Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN - News) has reportedly launched a bid for the far larger Harrah's Entertainment (NYSE:HET - News), competing with a private group that is already trying to buy the gambling giant.
PRA International (NASDAQ:PRAI - News) was downgraded to neutral from buy at Goldman Sachs. The move follows the company's announcement late Thursday that Patrick Donnelly has resigned as president and CEO, effective immediately. The company named Terrance Booker to serve as interim CEO, and said Melvin Booth would succeed Jean-Pierre Conte in the chairman role. PRA also said it now expects earnings of $1.08 to $1.11 a share for 2006, including a charge of 5 cents a share related to Donnelly's resignation and a charge of 2 cents a share stemming from a debt write-off. It also narrowed its service revenue outlook for the year to between $300 million and $305 million.
ProQuest Co. (NYSE:PQE - News) agreed to sell its ProQuest Informantion and Learning unit to Cambridge Information Group for about $222 million.
Sturm, Ruger & Co. (NYSE:RGR - News) was downgraded to accumulate from strong buy at C.L. King.
Tektronix Inc. (NYSE:TEK - News) said second-quarter net earnings fell, as selling, general and administrative expenses rose, to $19.6 million, or 24 cents a share, from $19.9 million, or 24 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. For the third quarter, Tektronix sees sales of $275 to $285 million, and earnings per share from continuing operations of 34 cents to 39 cents, before items such as acquisition and business realignment costs.
United American Healthcare Corp. (NASDAQ:UAHC - News) shares fell after the Detroit-based provider of healthcare services for Medicaid recipients said late Thursday it has raised $6.5 million through the sale of 1 million newly issued shares to institutional investors for $6.50 each. The deal also included warrants to buy 100,000 shares at an exercise price of $8.50 each, expiring in December 2011. United American said the proceeds will be primarily be used for start-up costs associated with the its Tennessee subsidiary's new Medicare Advantage contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
VistaCare Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTA - News) said its fourth-quarter net loss widened to $10.9 million, or 66 cents a share, from $5.1 million, or 31 cents a share, in the same period last year. Excluding a non-cash valuation allowance of $8.3 million, per-share earnings were 16 cents.
Zoltek Cos. (NASDAQ:ZOLT - News) shares dropped after the St. Louis-based maker of carbon fibers late Thursday reported a fiscal fourth-quarter net loss of $22.9 million, or 89 cents a share, compared with $11.1 million, or 61 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The latest quarter included $23.1 million of litigation charges. Revenue rose to $23.8 million from $14.9 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had forecast revenue of $31.3 million. The company expects fiscal first-quarter revenue of more than $30 million. Analysts are looking for revenue of $37.1 million. Zoltek also said it will delay the filing of its fiscal 2006 10-K in order to complete documentation and other arrangements related to the funding of an appeal bond for its litigation.
-MarketWatch

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