Jim Cramer Blog

Arqule Inc. (NasdaqGM:ARQL - News) shares rose 6.7% Thursday after the company was initiated with a buy rating at WR Hambrecht & Co.
Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NasdaqGS:BONT - News) shares surged 16% after the York, Pa., retailer reported that February sales tripled and comparable-store sales rose nearly 14.6%. A survey of analysts by Thomson Financial produced a consensus estimate of same-store sales down 2%. Total sales reached $237.6 million from $72.2 million, reflecting $153.4 million from Carson's and Parisian stores acquired in 2006. Carson's sales aren't included in the comparable-store-sales figure. Bon-Ton said that Carson's comparable-store sales for the period increased 7.2%, while the combined Carson's and Bon-Ton comparable sales advanced 9.8%.
California Coastal Communities (NasdaqGM:CALC - News) shares gained 8.7% after the company was upgraded to market outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
Catalina Marketing (NYSE:POS - News) shares rose 5.5% after the company agreed to be acquired by ValueAct Capital for $1.7 billion, including the assumption of about $135 million in debt. The deal values shares of Catalina, a St. Petersburg, Fla., promotional messaging company, at $32.10 each in cash, compared to the stock's close on Wednesday at $29.85, down 4.1%. The agreement allows Catalina to solicit and entertain alternative acquisition proposals from third parties for the next 45 days. Catalina expects the transaction to close in the next several months.
CSP Inc. (NasdaqGM:CSPI - News) shares gained 15% after the Billerica, Mass.-based IT services provider reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $978,000, or 25 cents a share. In the same quarter last year, the company posted a net loss of $546,000, or 15 cents a share. Revenue rose to $21.1 million from $15.1 million.
Culp Inc. (NYSE:CFI - News) shares rose 5.9% after the company said its third quarter net loss widened slightly to $2.2 million from $2.17 million. The High Point, N.C.-based company's loss per share for the quarter was unchanged at 19 cents a share. Quarterly net sales fell to $55.7 million from $61 million.
Delphi (Other OTC:DPHIQ.PK - News) shares gained 8.8% after the company filed to issue nearly $2 billion worth of common stock to shareholders as a key step toward funding its emergence from bankruptcy. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the auto parts maker is offering current stockholders the right to buy 56,700,000 shares at $35 each.
Fred's Inc. (NasdaqGS:FRED - News) shares rose 6.5% after the company said its February sales at stores open at least one year rose 3.9%. Analysts, on average, had expected its same-store sales to rise 2%, according to Thomson First Call. Total sales for the four weeks ended March 3 rose 8% to $143.9 million.
KLA-Tencor (NasdaqGS:KLAC - News) shares rose 4% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the company to overweight from equal weight and lifted its price target to $65 from $60.
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. (NasdaqGM:LJPC - News) shares surged 31% after the company announced positive interim antibody results from its Phase II trial of Riquent, its drug candidate for systemic lupus erythematosus. The results showed a significant dose response when comparing all Riquent-treated patients to placebo-treated patients, the company said. "We are very excited by these results," said Deirdre Gillespie, president and chief executive, in a statement. "The higher the dose, the greater the reduction in antibodies to dsDNA, and the relative magnitude of these reductions is greater than we have seen in previous studies, which used lower doses of Riquent."
Mamma.com (NasdaqCM:MAMA - News) shares gained 19% after the company swung to a fourth-quarter profit on higher revenue as a result of an increase in search advertising revenue, new software licensing contracts and increase in customized development and maintenance support. The Montreal provider of Internet search services said it earned $420,000 or 3 cents a share in the latest quarter versus a loss of $763,000 or 6 cents a year earlier. Revenue rose to $3.6 million from $1.6 million last year.
Men's Wearhouse Inc. (NYSE:MW - News) shares gained 9.4% after the company said it expects first-quarter earnings between 63 cents and 67 cents a share, assuming same-store sales rise 1% to 2% in the U.S. and 5% to 6% in Canada. The Houston-based seller of men's apparel also expects to earnings between $2.80 and $2.91 a share for the fiscal year ending Feb. 2.
New York & Co. (NYSE:NWY - News) shares rose 16% after the company said same-store sales rose 2.7% in February. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial was for growth of 2.1% for the month. Total sales for the four weeks ended March 3 increased 8.9% to $87.7 million from $80.6 million in the same period a year earlier.
Nighthawk Radiology Corp. (NasdaqGM:NHWK - News) shares gained 5.1% after the company was upgraded to market perform from underperform at Piper Jaffray.
Nucor Corp. (NYSE:NUE - News) shares rose 5.3% Thursday morning after the second-largest U.S. steel producer forecast strong first-quarter earnings and said shrinking steel stockpiles should support profits for the rest of the year.
Omni Energy Services Corp. (NasdaqGM:OMNI - News) shares leapt 17% after the company said it expects fiscal 2007 revenue of more than $175 million, an 80% increase over last year. Excluding certain tax benefits, the Carencro, La.-based company said it expects net income may rise as much as 70% to more than $17 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization could increase more than 60% to exceed $40 million, the company said. Additionally, Omni said it sees slightly improved gross profit margins for the year with the inclusion of a full-year's operations from its rental equipment division.
PriceSmart Inc. (NasdaqGM:PSMT - News) shares jumped 18% after the company said February same-store sales rose 21% over year-earlier levels. Total sales for the month rose 21% to $63.3 million from last year's $52.5 million.
RehabCare (NYSE:RHB - News) shares gained 7.7% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $2.1 million, or 12 cents a share, on revenue of $182.2 million, up from a loss of $31.8 million, or $1.89 a share, in the same period a year earlier, on revenue of $123.4 million.
Resource Capital Corp. (NYSE:RSO - News) shares rose 6.8% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $6.8 million, or 36 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $4.9 million, or 32 cents a share. The New York City real estate investment trust estimates that it will pay dividends of between $1.65 and $1.80 per common share.
Seattle Genetics (NasdaqGM:SGEN - News) shares gained 7% after the company was initiated with a buy rating at Caris & Co.
Zumiez Inc. (NasdaqGS:ZUMZ - News) shares climbed 14% after the company said its February sales at stores open at least a year increased 12.4%. Analysts, on average, expected the retailer to post a same-store sales increase of 7.1%, according to a survey by Thomson Financial. Total net sales for the four-week period ended March 3 increased 43.9% to $20.7 million, from $14.4 million for the four-week period ended Feb. 25, 2006.
Published By Michael Baron of MarketWatch

Labels: ARQL, BONT, CALC, CFI, CSPI, FRED, KLAC, LJPC, MAMA, MW, NHWK, NUE, NWY, OMNI, POS, PSMT, RHB, RSO, SGEN, ZUMZ

Bullish calls:
Level 3 Communications(NASDAQ: LVLT - News): ' ... it looks really scary... LVLT issuing 160 million shares after the close? My favorite speculation for 2007... This, my friends, is not scary ... We've been talking about the virtuous circle up ... LVLT remains two thumbs up, way up ... This stock is headed higher.'Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP - News): 'That is a great company with a gigantic insider buyer, with a phenomenal balance sheet, with a tremendous opportunity for a CX to take it over ... two thumbs up, way up.'Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU - News): 'I have been itching to buy this BIDU, to recommend it on the show... I keep waiting for a down day... It is killing me. I am right now sanctioning a small buy in BIDU right here, praying that it will come down.'Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ: TXRH - News): 'TXRH has stalled out... I cannot give up on TXRH, but I just can't understand the bear case for TXRH. I say $13 ('mon-back). Let's buy them.'Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI - News)McDonald's (NYSE: MCD - News)Res-Care (NASDAQ: RSCR - News): 'it's a disability play ... This is my favorite. And I think you should swap out of the HLS, if you're in that, and get into RSCR which, to me, is best of breed in the field.'CarMax (NYSE: KMX - News): 'There is nothing like the retailing of cars. It is a phenomenal business ... 52-week high again. And I am saying don't ring the register. That is how good KMX is ... Two thumbs up, way up.'Savient Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SVNT - News): 'I prefer Savient over SGEN.'Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM - News): 'Holy cow, it just dropped 15 points. ('mon-back sound). Let's do some buying.'Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF - News): 'The bears keep swarming. I think they'll be wrong. Buy, buy, buy! I want to buy COF.'Best Buy (NYSE: BBY - News): 'They're best in show ... I don't even know why Circuit City (NYSE: CC - News) exists. Julian Day is cutting back the Radio Shacks ... That means wide open field for BBY. The stock has been heading down ... It may be flatlining here and then, when it reports the quarter, it goes up 3 or 4. That's a tough call for me.'Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ: RVBD - News): 'The stock is bouncing back now ... best in show. I want you to stick with it. As a matter of fact, I want you to buy it. Buy, buy, buy!'
Bearish calls:
Corn Products International (NYSE: CPO - News): 'Most of their costs are corn, and corn is going up, up, up ... but they're able to put through a price increase. They just gave you a dividend increase. I've got to tell you, this one is not for me. Don't buy, don't buy. But far be it for me to say sell, sell, sell. They seem to have the costs - even though they're skyrocketing - under control.'HealthSouth (NYSE: HLS - News)Energy Conversion Devices (NASDAQ: ENER - News): 'I cannot - in good conscience - recommend that stock with oil at $51, going to $49. So, I am going to say no, no, no. Sell, sell, sell.'Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: SGEN - News): 'It's a $300 million company. I cannot get behind it. It's at a 52-week high. I've got a lot of really great biotechs that are well off their high. Don't buy, don't buy.'

Labels: BBY, BIDU, CC, COF, CPO, DRI, ENER, EXP, HLS, Jim Cramer, KMX, LVLT, Mad Money, MCD, RSCR, RVBD, SGEN, SVNT, TM, TXRH

Genentech Inc. said Monday it will pay Seattle Genetics Inc. $60 million upfront and potential milestone payments of more than $800 million in a license agreement for a humanized monoclonal antibody. South San Francisco-based Genentech (NYSE:DNA - News) and Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ:SGEN - News) said the antibody is currently in clinical trials and is designed for multiple myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The milestone payments, which are dependent upon clinical and regulatory events across multiple disease indications worldwide, as well as attainment of certain annual net sales levels, include $20 million in committed payments during the first two years of the agreement.
Genentech will fund future research, development, manufacturing and commercialization costs. Seattle Genetics will continue certain clinical trials and development activities, the costs of which will be reimbursed by Genentech.
Published by Bizjournals.com

Labels: DNA, Genentech Inc., Seattle Genetics, SGEN

Wall Street fell moderately in early trading Monday as crude oil prices rose on expectations that wintry weather will finally arrive in the U.S.
Oil prices fell below $56 a barrel on expectations the unusually warm weather seen so far this winter would curb energy demand. However, there are now forecasts that colder weather is on the way -- and that could increase demand for fuel like heating oil. A barrel of light sweet crude rose 89 cents to $57.20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The impact of higher oil offset a number of takeover deals announced that originally pushed stock futures higher before the opening bell.
In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 33.08, or 0.27 percent, to 12,364.93.
Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 2.24, or 0.16 percent, to 1,407.47, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 3.65, or 0.15 percent, to 2,430.60.
Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.66 percent from 4.65 percent late Friday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
General Electric Co. fell 25 cents to $37.31 after agreeing to acquire oil and gas fields equipment supplier Vetco Gray for about $1.9 billion.
Pharmacy benefit manager Caremark Rx Inc. fell 74 cents to $55.61 after it rejected a $26 billion takeover bid from rival Express Scripts Inc. late Sunday. Caremark said it prefers a $22.2 billion offer from drug store chain CVS Corp. Express Scripts was off 31 cents at $68.55, while CVS rose 2 cents to $31.15.
Seattle Genetics Inc. rose $1.24, or 23 percent, to $6.54 after it struck a deal with Genentech Inc. on the development and commercialization of a cancer drug. Genentech fell 11 cents to $83.57.
RadioShack Corp. rose $1.82, or 10.3 percent, to $18.63 after saying its fourth-quarter profit will come in above year-earlier levels.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 4.74,or 0.61 percent, at 771.13.
Overseas, Japan's stock market was closed for a holiday. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.26 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 0.12 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 0.09 percent.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 278 million shares.
By Joe Bel Bruno, AP Business Writer

Labels: CMX, CVS, DNA, ESRX, GE, RSH, SGEN