Avanir Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM:
AVNR -
News) received an approvable letter and acceptable labeling from the FDA for a new formulation of its antipsychotic drug FazaClo.
Boeing Co. (NYSE:
BA -
News) reported fourth-quarter earnings of $989 million, or $1.29 a share, up from a year-ago profit of $460 million, or 58 cents a share. On a continuing operations basis, the Dow component earned $980 million, or $1.28 a share, in the latest quarter. On an adjusted basis, excluding tax benefits as well as discontinued operations, the Chicago-based aerospace giant earned $1.16 a share, in the latest quarter, compared to 74 cents a share last year. Revenue rose in the three months ended Dec. 31 to $17.54 billion from $13.9 billion in the same period a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for a profit of 98 cents a share in the December period on revenue of $16.48 billion. The company also lifted its outlook for fiscal 2007 to earnings of $4.55 to $4.75 a share. The current average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial is for a profit of $4.75 a share for the year. It forecast earnings of $5.55 to $5.75 a share for fiscal 2008, saying this view reflects expectations for strong revenue growth and expanding margins across all of its businesses.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:
BMY -
News) shares rose following a report in The Financial Times that the company has hired Lehman Bros., Morgan Stanley and Citigroup to help it field possible takeover bids. Earlier in the week, a report surfaced that the company had drawn acquisition interest from French conglomerate Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:
SNY -
News).
Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners (NasdaqGM:
CPRX -
News) was initiated with a buy rating at Stifel Nicolaus with a $9 price target.
C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NasdaqGS:
CHRW -
News) reported fourth-quarter net income of $71.8 million, or 41 cents a share, up from $58.1 million, or 33 cents, a year ago. Quarterly revenue for the trucking company rose to $1.64 billion from $1.58 billion.
CheckFree Corp. (NasdaqGS:
CKFR -
News) reported a slight profit gain on advances in its core business. For its fiscal second-quarter, CheckFree said net income rose 4% to $35.3 million or 39 cents a share, compared to $33.8 million or 36 cents a share a year ago.
Corus Group Plc (NYSE:
CGA -
News) shares leapt after India's Tata Steel won a bidding war to acquire the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker for $12.1 billion.
EchoStar Communications (NasdaqGS:
DISH -
News) was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. The firm lifted its price target on the shares to $44 from $40.
Estee Lauder (NYSE:
EL -
News) said its fiscal second-quarter net income more than doubled to $208.4 million, or 99 cents a share, from $81.7 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier. The New York cosmetics company said second-quarter income from continuing operations increased 39% to $208.5 million, or 99 cents a share, from $150.4 million, or 70 cents a share, and net sales advanced 12% to $1.99 billion from $1.78 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, on average, had been expecting Estee Lauder to earn 76 cents a share on net sales of $1.91 billion for the second quarter ended Dec. 31. The maker of Aveda and Clinique products expects third-quarter earnings from continuing operations to be about flat from a year earlier as sales rise 4% to 6%.
Frontier Oil (NYSE:
FTO -
News) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
Harris Corp. (NYSE:
HRS -
News) said second-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $94 million, or 67 cents a share, from $30 million, or 22 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. Before items, quarterly per-share income rose to 68 cents from 52 cents in the prior year.
Harris Stratex Networks (NasdaqGM:
HSTX -
News) was initiated with a buy rating at Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.
Hologic Inc. (NasdaqGS:
HOLX -
News) reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of $16.1 million, or 30 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $5.7 million, or 12 cents a share. Revenue jumped 86% in the latest three months to $163.2 million from $88 million in the same period a year earlier. The Bedford, Mass.-based company attributed the higher earnings to an increase in product sales of its Selenia full-field digital mammography systems.
Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:
IR -
News) said fourth-quarter net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 fell to $222 million, or 72 cents a share, from $291.6 million, or 87 cents a share in the year-ago period. Earnings from continuing operations in the latest quarter were 74 cents a share. Revenue increased by 7% to $2.89 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of 73 cents a share, on average. Full-year 2007 earnings from continuing operations are forecasted at $3.61 to $3.71 a share, compared to the Thomson Financial estimate of $3.55 a share.
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (NYSE:
JLL -
News) said fourth-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $80.9 million, or $2.37 a share, from $66.9 million, or $1.99 a share, during the same period in the prior year. Analysts were looking for per-share income of $2.26.
Kinetic Concepts (NYSE:
KCI -
News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
Levitt Corp. (NYSE:
LEV -
News) agreed to be acquired by BFC Financial Corp. (NYSEArca:
BFF -
News) for $286 million in stock. In addition, Levitt said preliminary figures show its home building division generated fourth-quarter revenue of $143.6 million, with 426 homes delivered in the quarter at a margin of 19.6%. Backlog at Dec. 31 was 1,248 units with a sales value of $438.2 million. New home orders totaled 204, but were partly offset by 122 cancellations. The company said it has entered into sales contracts to dispose of certain properties and is expected to realize a pre-tax loss of $9.0 million upon disposition, and will write-off $1.4 million in pre-acquisition costs for properties which will not be acquired.
Lone Star Technologies (NYSE:
LSS -
News) said its fourth-quarter earnings fell to $18.1 million, or 58 cents a share, from $70.9 million, or $2.28 a share, a year earlier, hurt by an income-tax expense. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, quarterly earnings of 58 cents a share, before items. The Dallas oilfield pipe and tubing company's revenue for the quarter decreased to $334.8 million from $337.5 million a year ago. Wall Street expected quarterly revenue of $334 million.
New York Times Co. (NYSE:
NYT -
News) swung to a fourth-quarter loss on an $814 million charge for the write-down of intangible assets at the New England Media Group, staff-reduction costs and accelerated depreciation of its Edison, N.J., printing plant. The New York media company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $648 million, or $4.50 a share, compared with earnings of $63.2 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier. Excluding the charges, the company earned $87.9 million, or 61 cents a share, in the latest quarter. The company said revenue for the three months ended Dec. 31 rose 4.3% to $931.5 million from $893.1 million a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, earnings of 46 cents a share on revenue of $904 million. Analyst earnings forecasts typically exclude unusual items. In addition, New York Times Co. said it expects to complete the sale of its Broadcast Media group for $575 million in the first half of 2007.
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