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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