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Google Inc. (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News) Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said Monday that Google and Apple Inc. (NasdaqGS:AAPL - News) are working together on "many more" new projects, which he did not identify. Schmidt made his comments at a technology conference in San Francisco. Google has nearly doubled the annual salaries of Chief Financial Officer George Reyes and three other top-level executives, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Health Management Associates Inc. (NYSE:HMA - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
The International Securities Exchange (NYSE:ISE - News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Banc of America Securities. "The recent spike in volatility has driven surging option volumes. We expect volatility to remain at elevated levels in the near-term, and we could be at the start of a cyclical turn to a higher volatility environment, so we are raising ISE's volume growth forecasts to 24% in 2007 and 25% in 2008," the broker said.
Landauer (NYSE:LDR - News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Hilliard Lyons.
Lifetime Brands Inc.'s (NasdaqGS:LCUT - News) fourth-quarter net income rose to $9.46 million, or 62 cents a share, from $7.22 million, or 60 cents, a year earlier. A Thomson Financial survey of analysts, on average, projected earnings of 64 cents a share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates usually exclude items. The Westbury, N.Y., maker of consumer products said revenue rose 26% to $157.3 million from $124.4 million in the year-ago period. The company forecasts 2007 earnings of $1.40 to $1.70 a share on revenue of $540 million to $575 million. Analysts are looking for earnings of $1.58 a share for the year.
Maidenform Brands Inc. (NYSE:MFB - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $3.22 million, or 13 cents a share. During the same period a year ago, the company posted a net loss of $209,000, or a penny a share. The Bayonne, N.J.-based marketer of intimate apparel reported revenue of $85 million vs. $79.5 million. For 2007, Maidenform said it expects per-share earnings growth of 15% to 18% on total net sales growth of 6% to 7%.
Microchip Technology Inc. (NasdaqGS:MCHP - News) said it still expects fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of about 33 cents a share, or 36 cents a share excluding items. The Chandler, Ariz., provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors also said it expects net sales to be flat to slightly up from third-quarter sales of $251 million. In January, Microchip said it expected fourth-quarter revenue to be flat from the third quarter.
Monsanto (NYSE:MON - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup, which cited expectations of a Latin American recovery and a key regulatory change in Brazil. Citigroup said it expects Brazilian farming to recover due to higher grain prices, a greater share of the soybean market as U.S. production declines and the ability to turn more land over to agriculture. It added a recent regulatory change will speed up the process for approval of biotechnology traits.
Nissan Motors (Other OTC:NSANF.PK - News) said it has appointed Mark McNabb to head its global Infiniti luxury car division, effective April 1. McNabb, 45, is returning to Nissan after a one-year stint at DaimlerChrysler where he was vice president of marketing at Mercedes-Benz USA.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS - News) upgraded to neutral from underperform by Credit Suisse after winning approval from the FDA for Tekturna. "With Galvus and Tekturna catalysts out of the way, and the shares having profoundly underperformed and with last night's close being below our 68 francs a share price target, we raise our rating to neutral and our price target to 70 francs," the broker said.
Pozen Inc. (NasdaqGM:POZN - News) shares rallied after the Chapel Hill, N.C.-based pharmaceutical company announced positive results for its PA 325 proof-of-concept study. PA 325 is a formulation of 325mg of aspirin surrounded by a 20mg coating of an immediate release formulation of a proton pump inhibitor.
ResCare Inc.'s (NasdaqGS:RSCR - News) fourth-quarter net income rose sharply to $8.99 million, or 27 cents a share, from $596,000, or 2 cents a share, a year earlier. The Louisville, Ky., healthcare company's revenue grew to $337.1 million from $270.9 million. For 2007, the company expects to earn $1.24 to $1.28 a share on revenue of $1.43 billion.
Retalix Ltd. (NasdaqGS:RTLX - News), the Ra'anana, Israel, producer of software and solutions of supermarkets, food-service firms, and goods distributors, reported fourth-quarter net income fell 38% on 5.7% higher revenue. Earnings were $3.4 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with $5.5 million, or 28 cents, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted net for the period was 27 cents a share against 32 cents. Revenue reached $56.8 million from $53.7 million. In 2007, Retalix expects to earn about $9 million to $16 million, or an adjusted $15 million to $22 million. Revenue should range $220 million to $230 million, the company estimated. In 2006, Retalix earned $1.3 million, or 6 cents a share, on revenue of $203.8 million.
Ruth's Chris Steak House Inc. (NasdaqGS:RUTH - News), a New Orleans upscale steak house operator, will replace New Century Financial Corp. (NYSE:NEW - News) in the S&P SmallCap 600 index March 7. The market cap of the mortgage real estate investment trust fell to about $253 million, below the minimum of $300 million, S&P said.
Ryerson Inc. (NYSE:RYI - News) shares rallied after the Chicago-based steel distributor postponed its annual meeting, saying it continues to consider a possible sale or other options for the company.
Santarus Inc.'s (NasdaqGM:SNTS - News) fourth-quarter loss narrowed to $7.47 million, or 15 cents a share, from $15.8 million, or 36 cents a share, a year earlier. Earnings for the most recent period included stock-based compensation expenses of about $2.2 million, or 4 cents a share, the company said. The San Diego pharmaceutical company's revenue surged to $20.5 million from $5.68 million a year ago.
Spirit Aerosystems Holdings (NYSE:SPR - News) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
Sykes Enterprises Inc. (NasdaqGS:SYKE - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $8.14 million, or 20 cents a share, down 5% from $8.6 million, or 22 cents a share, during the year-ago period. The Tampa, Fla.-based provider of customer management products and services posted revenue of $158.6 million vs. $128.8 million.
Topps Co. (NasdaqGS:TOPP - News) agreed to be acquired by Michael Eisner's Torante Co. and private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners for $385.4 million, or $9.75 a share in cash. The bid for the sports-related cards maker represents a 9.4% premium to Topps' Monday closing price of $8.91. As part of the agreement, Topps can solicit better bids from third parties during the next 40 days. The deal is expected to close during the third quarter.
TransMontaigne Partners L.P. (NYSE:TLP - News) said it expects to increase its quarterly distribution to unitholders by about 7 cents to 50 cents per unit by the end of 2007. The current quarterly distribution to unitholders is 43 cents per unit. Denver-based TransMontaigne is a refined petroleum products terminaling and pipeline company
Visicu Inc. (NasdaqGM:EICU - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies & Co.
Xilinx Inc. (NasdaqGS:XLNX - News) raised the low end of its fiscal fourth-quarter sales outlook, and now expects sales of flat to down 4%, sequentially. The San Jose logic chip maker had predicted sales to be flat to down 5%, sequentially. Xilinx also reiterated its gross margin forecast, which is expected to be about 61%.
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Ethanol producers and health care service providers are among the potential corporate beneficiaries of policies proposed by President Bush, while domestic automakers and oil companies could get slightly stung.
The winners and losers will be more apparent in the months ahead, as the Democrat-controlled Congress responds to the president's State of the Union speech, though economists said they expect few drastic changes in Washington between now and the 2008 election. In this scenario, the status quo prevails -- a trend Wall Street tends to prefer.
"The business community is quite skeptical that much, if anything, will be produced out of the Congress in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election year," said Allen Sinai, chief global economist at Decision Economics Inc.
Sinai added that Bush's proposals on energy and health care, including a call for a tax deduction of $7,500 for individuals and $15,000 for families regardless of whether they buy their own health insurance or receive medical coverage at work, were not overly ambitious.
But Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., along with US BioEnergy Corp., VeraSun Energy Corp. and other ethanol producers nevertheless stand to benefit from Bush's call to raise consumption targets for ethanol and other alternative fuels to 35 billion gallons by 2017. More than 5 billion gallons were produced in the U.S. in 2006. The long-term technological challenge, experts say, will be finding inexpensive ways to use feedstocks other than corn to meet the higher targets.
Some ethanol stocks were down in pre-market activity Wednesday. Archer-Daniels-Midland dipped 53 cents to $32.10, after adding 81 cents to close at $32.63 on Tuesday, and Pacific Ethanol slid 49 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $17.36 after adding $1.03 to close at $17.85 Tuesday.
Traditional energy companies will have their "antennae up" to monitor the progress of Bush's alternative energy proposals, Sinai said.
Automakers said they were open to the president's goals of increasing fuel economy standards.
The proposal could benefit Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., which have higher fleetwide fuel economy levels than domestic manufacturers. The proposal also includes a system of trading or "banking" credits to meet new standards, which could lead to Detroit's automakers buying fuel credits from Toyota and Honda.
But GM and Ford Motor Co. have pledged to build two million flexible-fuel vehicles by 2010, so they too could benefit by an influx of ethanol and other renewable fuels. GM said it wanted to ensure, however, "that any fuel economy increases are technically achievable and do not compromise safety, performance, or limit consumer choice."
Energy analysts said the call for a sharp escalation in the use of ethanol will have little immediate impact on major oil companies, such as Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp. and San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Corp., primarily because it'll be used as a partial substitute and not a replacement for gasoline.
In a research note before the speech, Citigroup analyst Doug Leggate called Bush's plan to cut gasoline consumption by 20 percent by 2017 "a huge target, and one where a reality check may be necessary to determine if this is really achievable."
The health care taxation plan is the most appealing to the private sector, analysts said. Specifically, the second part of the provision that would curb health care spending by taxing any expenses over the $7,500 and $15,000 marks, and could drive many Americans to the individual-oriented plans offered by UnitedHealth Group Inc., Wellpoint Inc. and Aetna Inc.
WellPoint and Aetna slid in pre-market trading. WellPoint dipped 88 cents to $76.15 after adding 22 cents to end at $77.03 on Tuesday and Aetna dipped 18 cents to $42 the morning after it closed up 39 cents at $42.18.
The health proposal also would encourage middle- to lower-income individuals to opt for hospital care instead of avoiding visits that formerly would have required out-of-pocket expenses, said Tom Ochsenschlager, vice president of taxation for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Employers, including automakers, would welcome the plan since benefit costs, not wages, continue to hinder their bottom lines, said Brian Bethune, U.S. economist at Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.
That's good news for hospital operators like Triad Hospitals Inc. and Health Management Associates Inc., and General Motors Corp., the nation's largest private provider of health care.
And the potential health care benefits should outweigh the hit domestic automakers would take if Bush is successful in raising fuel economy standards for passenger cars, economists said.
The president devoted roughly 20 minutes of his speech to the global war on terror, with seven of those minutes spent on Iraq.
The defense industry outlook is dictated primarily by policies in Iraq and Bush's recent call to increase U.S. troops there by 21,500 elicited fierce opposition on Capitol Hill, Nomura's Resler said.
But since Bush's troop announcement on Jan. 10, the stock prices of defense contractors like Hartford, Conn.-based United Technologies, Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. and Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp., are up.
The Defense Department is expected to submit its fiscal year 2008 budget request to Congress for approval next month with initial estimates suggesting it could reach more than $600 billion, which could further bolster defense companies' shares.
AP Business Writers John Porretto in Houston, and Donna Borak, Matthew Perrone and Ken Thomas in Washington, contributed to this report.

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