Alcoa (NYSE:
AA -
News) shares rose Wednesday as its fourth-quarter earnings report sparked cheers in the financial markets.
Apple (NASDAQ:
AAPL -
News) shares rose to another all-time high Wednesday as investors continued to throw their support behind the company, its new high-end iPhone and its push into consumer-products markets.
Audiovox Corp. (NASDAQ:
VOXX -
News) said it swung to third-quarter net income, as the cost of sales fell, of $3.85 million, or 17 cents a share. During the same period in the prior year, the company reported a net loss of $10.3 million, or 46 cents a share.
Carrington Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:
CARN -
News) said Wednesday its subsidiary, DelSite Biotechnologies Inc., has granted a non-exclusive license to EndoBiologics Inc. for the development of vaccines against bacillary dysentery and other bacterial diseases using DelSite's nasal powder vaccine delivery technology. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Irving, Texas-based Carrington said the goal of the program is to develop needle-free vaccines that can be stored without refrigeration.
Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ:
CTIC -
News) filed for a special protocol assessment for the design of its phase III trial of Xyotax for women with advanced lung cancer with the Food and Drug Administration.
Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE:
CHH -
News) was upgraded to peer perform from underperform at Bear Stearns.
CKE Restaurants (NYSE:
CKR -
News) said December same-store sales rose 7.4%. The owner of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's also said it'll boost its stock repurchasing plan by $50 million.
Cosi (NASDAQ:
COSI -
News) said it expects earnings before stock compensation expense of between 8 to 12 cents a share for fiscal 2007 on revenue of between $150 million and $155 million for company-owned locations. For 2008, the Deerfield, Ill., restaurant chain sees earnings of 35 to 45 cents a share before stock compensation expense. Cosi sees a loss of 18 cents a share for 2006, excluding stock based compensation with revenue growing 8.3% to $126.9 million.
Delta Air Lines Inc. (Other OTC:
DALRQ.PK -
News) shares rose after U.S. Airways Group raised its hostile merger bid for Delta.
Digimarc (NASDAQ:
DMRC -
News) shares jumped after the company said it expects revenue of between $110 million and $117 million for fiscal 2007, a level that would represent growth of 5%-10%. The Beaverton, Ore., developer of secure identity and media management technology products said the revenue could be higher depending upon the timing and impact of continuing market adoption of digital watermarking as well as expanded sales to existing U.S. driver license customers. The company also entered a licensing agreement with USA Video Interactive Corp. (OTC BB:
USVO.OB -
News). The deal calls for the licensing of Digimarc's digital watermarking patents to USA Video for use in forensic tracking applications of certain video products.
EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering (NASDAQ:
EXFO -
News) shares jumped after the company reported first-quarter earnings of $3.5 million, or 5 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $400,000, or a penny per share, in the same period a year earlier. The latest results included costs of $900,000 related to amortization of intangible assets and $300,000 from stock-based compensation. Sales at the Canadian provider of test and measurement equipment for telecommunications applications surged 31.4% in the first quarter to $35.5 million.
Genomic Health Inc. (NASDAQ:
GHDX -
News) signed a national payor contract with United HealthCare Insurance Co., an affiliate of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:
UNH -
News) for Oncotype DX, Genomic Health 's test service. The agreement establishes coverage across all of UnitedHealthCare's plans for women with early-stage breast cancer, Genomic Health said. Coverage is scheduled to become effective for claims performed on or after Jan. 3. The Oncotype DX test quantifies the likelihood of breast cancer recurrence and predicts the likelihood of chemotherapy benefit.
Shares of ImClone Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:
IMCL -
News) soared after the company reported its Erbitux cancer treatment passed a key test in treating metastatic colorectal cancer.
Innkeepers USA Trust (NYSE:
KPA -
News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Innodata Isogen (NASDAQ:
INOD -
News) shares rose after the Hackensack, N.J.-based provider of IT and business process outsourcing services said it has secured several new projects in the fourth quarter which the company expects will produce roughly $9 million in revenues in 2007. "We project that revenues for 2007 will include an approximately $40 million head start consisting of the $9 million we are announcing today, $6 million from existing one-time projects, and $26 million of recurring revenue," said Steve Ford, the company's chief executive, in a statement. "This compares with $41 million of revenues that we project for all of 2006."
Insmed (NASDAQ:
INSM -
News) shares surged after the Richmond, Va.-based biopharmaceutical company said the Italian government has asked Insmed to make its drug Iplex available to physicians in Italy to treat patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. Through an agreement with Cephalon Inc. (NASDAQ:
CEPH -
News), which holds European patent rights to IGF-1 related to the treatment of ALS, Insmed said it will be able to distribute Iplex through an expanded access program, with Insmed receiving payment for the drug from the Italian government.
International Aluminum Corp. (NYSE:
IAL -
News) agreed to be acquired by Genstar Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, for roughly $228 million. Genstar said the deal values International Aluminum at $53 per share, compared to Tuesday's close at $50. International Aluminum, a Monterey Park, Calif., maker of aluminum building materials, generated revenue of more than $280 million for the year ended June 30.
McKesson (NYSE:
MCK -
News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch. The firm cited valuation.
Morgans Hotel Group Co. (NASDAQ:
MHGC -
News) was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. The firm lifted its price target on the stock to $20 from $17.
Ocean Bio-Chem Inc. (NASDAQ:
OBCI -
News) shares rocketed up Wednesday morning after the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based maker of maintenance products for boats and cars said it has begun increased product distribution to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. . In a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ocean Bio-Chem said Wal-Mart will carry an increased assortment of its products in roughly 2,700 outlets, many of which did not previously carry any of its products.
Perficient (NASDAQ:
PRFT -
News) lifted its revenue outlook for the fourth quarter to between $48.4 million from $49.6 million. Its previous outlook was for revenue of $42.4 million to $45.1 million in the quarter.
Placer Sierra Bancshares (NASDAQ:
PLSB -
News) agreed to be acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:
WFC -
News) for an estimated $645 million. The consideration is dependent upon an exchange ratio based on the volume-weighted average of the daily volume-weighted average price of a share of Wells Fargo common stock for each of the 20 consecutive trading days.
RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ:
RFMD -
News) said it expects fiscal third-quarter profit to improve over the sequential second quarter, as revenue growth exceeded expense growth and due to increased production and internal assemble. The New York mobile communications technology company said the sale of its Bluetooth assets to Qualcomm will benefit earnings by 4 to 6 cents a share a year.
Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:
SHLD -
News) said same-store sales for the November to December period fell 5.6% at domestic Sears stores and declined 1.2% at Kmart stores. The decline at Sears was attributable to lower lawn and garden and appliance sales, which was partially offset by growth in women's apparel sales, while lower Kmart sales was due to lower transaction volumes. The Hoffman Estates, Ill. retail chain said it expects fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $750 million to $830 million, or $4.87 to $5.39 a share, up from $648 million, or $4.03 a share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been expecting earnings of $4.86 a share, on average.
Shaw Communications (NYSE:
SJR -
News) was upgraded to outperform from underperform at RBC Capital Markets. The firm also lifted its price target on the stock to $45 from $34.
Shaw Group (NYSE:
SGR -
News) plans to delay filing a fiscal first-quarter 2007 report to account for a 20% investment in Westinghouse but said its results would be generally in the range of its previous outlook. The Baton Rouge, La., engineering and construction firm said its revenue would be $1.27 billion in the quarter ended Nov. 30, 2006. Operating income is expected to be $36 million compared to $53.7 million in the year-earlier period. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call forecast earnings, on average, of 19 cents a share and sales of $1.2 billion.
Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:
SHO -
News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Synchronoss Technologies (NASDAQ:
SNCR -
News) shares leapt after the company said its ActivationNow platform was selected by Cingular for Apple Inc.'s iPhone product, which was unveiled on Tuesday. Bridgewater, N.J.-based Synchronoss also reaffirmed its 2007 earnings forecast of 44 cents to 48 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $99 million to $100 million.
Taitron Components (NASDAQ:
TAIT -
News) said its board of directors has declared a 10 cents-a-share annual cash dividend to be paid Jan. 31. The announcement follows the decision by Taitron, which distributes electronic components, to declare an annual dividend of up to 10 cents for a period of five years.
USANA Health Sciences (NASDAQ:
USNA -
News) said it now expects earnings of 58 to 60 cents a share for the fourth quarter, above its prior forecast for a profit of 56 to 58 cents a share. The company also said it sees sales of about $101 million for the quarter, prior to the reclassification of what was previously termed associate incentive expense as a sales discount. After the reclassification, the Salt Lake City provider of nutritional products expects sales of about $99.5 million for the quarter. The current average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call is for a profit of 57 cents a share in the December period.
XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ:
XMSR -
News) shares rose after Citigroup lifted its 12-month price target on the stock to $21 from $16. The firm told clients that increasing numbers of customers who buy cars and trucks equipped with XM radios are likely to sign up for the service. It also added that the possibility of a merger with rival Sirius Satellite Radio should provide "downside support" for XM stock.
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