NEW YORK (MarketWarch) -- Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Tuesday's session are Alcoa Inc., Alberto-Culver, Hughes Supply, Guidant, OfficeMax and Phelps Dodge.
After Monday's closing bell, Alcoa Inc. posted a sharply lower fourth-quarter profit, blaming the weaker results on a long list of production outages, strikes and restructuring costs.
Alberto-Culver Company said Regis Corp. will pay $2.6 billion to buy Sally Beauty Company. The purchase price includes the value of stock in the deal and the assumption of about $400 million in debt. Alberto-Culver will spin off Sally Beauty and Regis will combine it with its salon business to form a professional beauty products distribution and services company valued at $4.5 billion.
The Home Depot said it's agreed to buy Hughes Supply , a distributor of construction, repair and maintenance products, for $3.47 billion, or $46.50 a share and the assumption of $285 million in debt. The addition of Orlando, Fla.-based Hughes Supply more than doubles the size of The Home Depot Supply with projected 2006 combined sales approaching $12 billion, the component of the Dow industrials said. The deal is expected to lift Home Depot's earnings in the first year.
Medical device manufacturer Guidant Corp. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter sales would fall by about 15% over the previous year's quarter to $828 million. Quarterly defibrillator sales in the U.S. and worldwide would decline 23% and 19%, respectively, to $272 million and $372 million, though the sales level remained above Guidant's previous outlook. The company also said its follow-up letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Guidant's Cardiac Rhythm Management facility in St. Paul, Minn., contained no new observations. The facility will be ready for the FDA's follow-up inspection in mid-2006, according to the company.
OfficeMax Inc. said on Tuesday it plans to close 110 U.S. retail stores by the end of the first quarter, stop operations at its wood-polymer building materials facility, as well as other restructuring activities. In connection with the domestic retail store closings, OfficeMax expects to record pretax costs and expenses totaling approximately $141 million.
Phelps Dodge Corp. said one-time charges would reduce its fourth-quarter earnings to $1 to $1.30 a share, down from a previous estimate of $4.15 to $4.40 a share. The quarterly charges would jump to $2.05 a share from 23 cents a share, due to higher copper prices, adverse accounting effects of the company's 2005-2007 copper price protection programs, and production and sales shortfalls of copper and molybdenum.
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Piper Jaffray upgraded chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to outperform from marketperform, citing the increasing likelihood that Dell will start using AMD chips in its computers. The broker said, based on conversations with industry sources and press reports, it believes Dell will start selling AMD-based computers as early as the second half of 2006. Piper Jaffray said a deal with Dell would contribute 12 cents in earnings per share in 2006 and 49 cents earnings per share in 2007.
Securities regulator NASD has filed a disciplinary proceeding against A.G. Edwards Inc. concerning the sale of certain mutual funds to IRA accounts in 2001 and 2002 for which fund firms made additional payments to the broker for selling funds, the company said in a filing. The NASD is asking for "unspecified sanctions and disgorgements or restitutions of unspecified amounts," according to the filing.
Pharmaceutical services provider AmerisourceBergen Corp. said that it is now expecting to report operating revenue growth of between 10% and 11% in its December quarter, due to greater sales to its larger customers. The company said it continues to anticipate earnings per share in a range of 37 cents to 43 cents for the quarter. For fiscal 2006, AmerisourceBergen is raising its operating revenue growth expectations to a range of 7% to 9% from a previous range of 6% to 8%. It expects earnings per share of between $1.98 and $2.13 for the year.
Applebee's International Inc. it plans to separate the chairman and chief executive positions this summer. Lloyd Hill will continue to serve as chairman and a new CEO will be named. In addition, the Overland Park, Kan.-based restaurant chain said systemwide same-store sales rose 1.7% in December, 1% in the fourth quarter, and 8.2% in fiscal 2005. The company expects fourth-quarter earnings of 27 cents a share, and fiscal 2005 earnings of $1.30 a share, excluding an impairment charge of 3 cents. For fiscal 2006, the company forecast fiscal earnings of $1.26 to $1.30 a share, or $1.43 to $1.47 a share excluding stock option-expense of 17 cents a share.
Avigen Inc. said Tuesday that Chief Financial Officer Thomas Paulson will resign as of Jan. 31. Paulson said he looks forward to helping to "grow and develop other emerging companies." The Alameda, Calif.-based biotech firm said Andrew Sauter, senior director of financial operations, will be promoted to the role of vice president, finance. Paulson will work with Sauter to ensure a smooth transition, the company said.
Bell Microproducts Inc. , the San Jose, Calif., provider of semiconductors, computer platforms, peripherals, storage products, as well as tech services, expects to report a fourth-quarter loss of 23 cents to 30 cents a basic share. Fourth-quarter adjusted net, excluding costs of a European restructuring and other charges, should come in at $1.8 million to $2.7 million, or 6 cents to 9 cents a share. Bell previously estimated this figure at 14 cents to 18 cents, and a survey of analysts by Thomson First Call produced a consensus estimate of 15 cents. Revenue was around $845 million up, 5% from $808 million.
Belo Corp. said it expects revenue for the company as a whole to increase in the high-single digits in 2006. It also sees consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as well as earnings from operations, increasing in the high-single digits for the year. Belo expects spot and total revenue for its television group to increase in the mid-to-high single digits, and to capture significant incremental revenue from the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and political advertising in 2006.
Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. net fourth-quarter sales were $217.1 million vs. $217.6 million in the same quarter last year, which had an additional week. On a comparable 13-week basis, fourth-quarter net sales increased 5.1% and same-store sales rose 1.5%, the company said. Net sales in 2005 rose 3.8%, to $812 million from $782.2 million in 2004. On a comparable 52-week basis, the El Segundo, Calif.-based retailer said net sales in 2005 increased 5.7% and same-store sales increased 2.4%. Big 5 also lowered its fourth-quarter earnings forecast to a range of 32 cents to 35 cents a share from 40 cents to 44 cents a share.
Bluefly Inc. said it expects fourth-quarter sales to rise at least 45% from last year's results. The New York-based online clothing retailer added that it expects full-year sales to rise 34% from last year.
C-Cor Inc. , the State College, Pa., provider of solutions to simplify the transition to on-demand networks, said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court's ruling that SeaChange International infringed C-COR's patent for a video-server-system architecture. The lower court was the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The ruling also said C-Cor did not infringe SeaChange's patent, the company said. The appeals court also affirmed the district court's award of double damages in the case, C-Cor said.
Cephalon Inc. said Tuesday that it has settled with Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. over its pending patent infringement dispute in the United States related to Provigil. Under the terms of the settlement, Cephalon will grant Mylan a non-exclusive royalty-bearing right to market and sell a generic version of Provigil in the United States.
Charlotte Russe Holdings Inc. it expects fiscal first-quarter earnings of 28 cents to 30 cents a share compared with its previous forecast of 17 cents to 21 cents a share. The San Diego-based retailer said same-store sales increased by 15.6% in the first quarter, and net sales rose 34% during the period. Additionally, the company said it expects a second-quarter loss equal to or slightly greater than the 3 cents a share loss reported last year.
Cognex Corp. lowered its financial forecast for the fourth quarter, primarily because two large orders that were in backlog were rescheduled and another order was cancelled. The company, whose products are used in semiconductor and electronics manufacturing equipment, now sees per-share earnings in the range of 22 cents to 24 cents, compared with its previous forecast of 24 cents to 26 cents. Cognex also sees revenue coming in slightly below $61 million, which was the low end of its previously announced forecast. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call currently expect Cognex to post earnings of 26 cents a share on revenue of $63 million.
Cost Plus Inc. said fourth-quarter results will come in at the low end of the company's prior outlook. Cost Plus expects per-share earnings for the quarter of 98 cents to $1.08. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call are looking for per-share earnings of $1. The company's outlook for total sales is a range of $363 million to $375 million, compared with the consensus outlook of $367 million.
Dj Orthopedics Inc. reported preliminary fourth-quarter revenue of $75 million, up 10% from $68.1 million in the same period a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been expecting revenue of $72 million, on average. Average daily sales increased 17%. For 2005, revenue rose 12% to $286 million from last year's $256 million.
Clothing retailer Dress Barn Inc. raised its earnings per share guidance for the fiscal year ending July 29 to a range of $2.00 to $2.05 from a range of $1.90 to $1.95 a share. The company said the guidance is based on expected total sales for the year of $1.265 billion to $1.27 billion and a same-store sales increase of around 4% for the rest of the year. The increased guidance follows better than expected December sales and margin performance, which the company announced early January. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting earnings of $1.96 a share on revenue of $1.25 billion.
Dynegy was upgraded to overweight from neutral by J.P. Morgan, saying it doesn't believe the shares reflect a potential material uplift in earnings before interest, depreciation and amoritzation and cash flow in 2007, when it expects Dynegy to reprice its Illinois assets closer to market. The broker cautioned, however, that it might be somewhat early on the stock given potential political risk from Illinois deregulation and some leading time until visibility on 2007 pricing.
Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. forecast 2006 earnings of $1.75 to $1.80 a share, excluding some items, on sales of $860 million to $880 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call are estimating 2006 earnings of $1.65 to $1.95 a share on sales of $820 million.
Genzyme Corp. said its preliminary results show that fourth-quarter revenue rose 22%, to $722 million from $591 million last year, and that 2005 revenue grew 24%, to $2.7 billion from $2.2 billion. The Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology company also said it expects 2006 earnings of $1.78 to $1.88 a share on revenue of $3.1 billion to $3.3 billion. The company forecast 2006 earnings of $2.65 to $2.75 a share, excluding some items. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call are expecting 2006 earnings of $2.75 a share on $3.2 billion.
Human Genome Sciences said it expects 2005 earnings to be "slightly better" than its forecast made Feb. 7. The company also said it received a $5 million payment from its collaborator, GlaxoSmithKline, related to GSK's filing of an investigational new drug application to begin Phase 1 clinical trials of GSK716155 (formerly known as Albugon) for potential use in the treatment of diabetes. Human Genome Sciences will recognize the $5 million as revenue in the fourth quarter of 2005.
JDA Software Group Inc. warned it would post lower-than-expected quarterly results because some pending deals didn't close until after New Year's.
LifePoint Hospitals was downgraded from buy to hold at Deutsche Bank, after LifePoint issued a 2006 preview saying operating pressures, integration issues and reimbursement pressure in key states will weigh on results. The broker said it is concerned about LifePoint's outlook and does not expect any significant positive catalyst to move the shares over the next two to three quarters.
Computer security software company McAfee Inc. said that its president, Gene Hodges, has resigned with immediate effect to take on the role of CEO of Websense .
MHI Hospitality Corporation said Tuesday that it anticipates 2006 FFO per share will be in the range of 95 cents to $1.05. Earnings per share are estimated to be in the range of 56 cents to 65 cents for the year. Management anticipates that RevPAR growth for 2006 will be in the range of 5 percent to 8 percent.
Midwest Air Group Inc. said Tuesday its passenger load factor in December rose 64.8% from 64.6% in the same month a year ago. The Milwaukee-based company said scheduled December traffic rose 36.7% over year-ago levels.
M/I Homes reported fourth-quarter home deliveries of 1,616, which is up 35% over the year-earlier level of 1,200. New contracts for the home builder fell to 901 from last year's 922. The company's backlog reached 2,807 units at the end of 2005 vs. last year's 2,688, while the backlog's sales value rose to 19% to $954 million from $800 million. The average selling price of a home in backlog increased 14% to $340,000 from $298,000.
Miva Inc. said it has retained Deutsche Bank for advice about its strategic alternatives and is considering sales of new securities, acquisitions, an outright sale of the company and other types of transactions. The company believes its shares currently are undervalued. Miva is a performance marketing network.
NBTY Inc. said its preliminary results show that first-quarter sales rose 9%, to $458 million from $420 million. The Bohemia, N.Y.-based nutritional supplements company said the increase includes $33 million in net sales from its recent acquisitions.
Data storage provider Overland Storage raised its forecast for the 2007 and 2008 fiscal years to reflect new contracts. Overland now expects fiscal 2007 revenue to be in the range of $280 million to $285 million, with earnings excluding non-recurring items of 35 cents to 40 cents a share. Fiscal 2008 revenue is expected to be in the range of $320 million to $330 million, with non-GAAP earnings of 75 cents to 85 cents a share.
Performance Food Group was upgraded to neutral from underweight at J.P. Morgan, with the broker citing the 19% stock price decline since the end of September and the possibility of management changes. "We do not understand structurally why margin improvement at PFGC cannot be made. Therefore, should current management fail to produce, then this opens the door for more material changes, in our view," the broker said.
Phoenix Technologies Ltd. said that Randy Bolten, chief financial officer and senior vice president, has resigned with immediate effect. Bolten, who has been CFO of the software company since 2003, is leaving to pursue other interests, the company said.
Planar Systems increased its fourth-quarter sales and earnings forecast on higher-than-expected sales of some higher margin display products in its industrial and medical divisions. The flat-panel display systems maker now expects revenue of $56 million to $57 million and earnings of 8 cents to 10 cents a share, including stock-based compensation expense. In November, Planar forecast sales of $50 million to $55 million, and expected earnings to break even on a per-share basis, including stock-option expensing.
Drug store operator Rite Aid Corp. said Tuesday its sales at stores open at least one year rose 3.9% in December. For the period ended Dec. 31, pharmacy same store sales rose 4.5%, while front-end same store sales increased 3%. Total drugstore sales for the five-week period rose 26.2% to $1.803 billion, compared to $1.429 billion for last year's four-week period.
SFBC International said it is creating a regulatory task force to respond issues raised in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspection of its Miami facility. At the same time, the company is preparing a response to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has requested records relating to the duties, compensation and expenses of two former employees.
Supervalu Inc. reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $75.2 million, or 53 cents a share, vs. $64.9 million, or 46 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Excluding a charge for growth initiatives and costs related to a terminated acquisition, earnings would have been 49 cents a share. Revenue rose to $4.69 billion from last year's $4.55 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been expecting earnings of 50 cents a share and revenue of $4.64 billion, on average. For fiscal 2006, the company expects earnings of $1.89 to $1.94 a share, which includes 43 cents a share in charges for non-recurring items.
TD Banknorth Inc said Tuesday it's restructuring its balance sheet as part of its pending acquisition of Hudson United Bancorp. TD Banknorth said the plans include issuing $2.6 billion of mortgage backed securities and investing the proceeds in shorter duration assets.
Jeweler Tiffany & Co said on Tuesday its same-store sales for the holiday period rose 6% in the U.S. and 7% in Japan. Net sales for the holiday period from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 rose 6% to $712 million. On a constant currency basis, net sales rose 9% and worldwide same-store sales rose 6%. The company tightened its earnings estimate for 2005 to a range of $1.60 to $1.62 a share, from its prior forecast of $1.55-$1.65 a share. Analysts, on average, had been expecting it to earn $1.64 a share for the year according to Thomson First Call. For 2006, Tiffany expects earnings of $1.77 to $1.82 a share.
WD-40 Co. said first-quarter net earnings were $7.51 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with $5.64 million, or 34 cents a share, during the year-earlier period. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected the San Diego, Calif.-based company to report per-share earnings of 35 cents. WD-40 reported quarterly revenue of $67.2 million, compared with $60.7 million last year. Analysts had expected revenue of $66 million.
Wyeth Laboratories offered an estimate for the 2006 fiscal year, but the company's forecast puts it below consensus views.
Drugmaker ZymoGenetics said its rheumatoid arthritis treatment TACI-Ig was well tolerated by patients in Phase I trials to assess safety. ZymoGenetics said full details from the study will be presented later this year. The company added that adverse events were mild and no antibodies to the drug were formed in any patient.
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After Monday's closing bell, Alcoa Inc. posted a sharply lower fourth-quarter profit, blaming the weaker results on a long list of production outages, strikes and restructuring costs.
Alberto-Culver Company said Regis Corp. will pay $2.6 billion to buy Sally Beauty Company. The purchase price includes the value of stock in the deal and the assumption of about $400 million in debt. Alberto-Culver will spin off Sally Beauty and Regis will combine it with its salon business to form a professional beauty products distribution and services company valued at $4.5 billion.
The Home Depot said it's agreed to buy Hughes Supply , a distributor of construction, repair and maintenance products, for $3.47 billion, or $46.50 a share and the assumption of $285 million in debt. The addition of Orlando, Fla.-based Hughes Supply more than doubles the size of The Home Depot Supply with projected 2006 combined sales approaching $12 billion, the component of the Dow industrials said. The deal is expected to lift Home Depot's earnings in the first year.
Medical device manufacturer Guidant Corp. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter sales would fall by about 15% over the previous year's quarter to $828 million. Quarterly defibrillator sales in the U.S. and worldwide would decline 23% and 19%, respectively, to $272 million and $372 million, though the sales level remained above Guidant's previous outlook. The company also said its follow-up letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Guidant's Cardiac Rhythm Management facility in St. Paul, Minn., contained no new observations. The facility will be ready for the FDA's follow-up inspection in mid-2006, according to the company.
OfficeMax Inc. said on Tuesday it plans to close 110 U.S. retail stores by the end of the first quarter, stop operations at its wood-polymer building materials facility, as well as other restructuring activities. In connection with the domestic retail store closings, OfficeMax expects to record pretax costs and expenses totaling approximately $141 million.
Phelps Dodge Corp. said one-time charges would reduce its fourth-quarter earnings to $1 to $1.30 a share, down from a previous estimate of $4.15 to $4.40 a share. The quarterly charges would jump to $2.05 a share from 23 cents a share, due to higher copper prices, adverse accounting effects of the company's 2005-2007 copper price protection programs, and production and sales shortfalls of copper and molybdenum.
Watch list
Piper Jaffray upgraded chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to outperform from marketperform, citing the increasing likelihood that Dell will start using AMD chips in its computers. The broker said, based on conversations with industry sources and press reports, it believes Dell will start selling AMD-based computers as early as the second half of 2006. Piper Jaffray said a deal with Dell would contribute 12 cents in earnings per share in 2006 and 49 cents earnings per share in 2007.
Securities regulator NASD has filed a disciplinary proceeding against A.G. Edwards Inc. concerning the sale of certain mutual funds to IRA accounts in 2001 and 2002 for which fund firms made additional payments to the broker for selling funds, the company said in a filing. The NASD is asking for "unspecified sanctions and disgorgements or restitutions of unspecified amounts," according to the filing.
Pharmaceutical services provider AmerisourceBergen Corp. said that it is now expecting to report operating revenue growth of between 10% and 11% in its December quarter, due to greater sales to its larger customers. The company said it continues to anticipate earnings per share in a range of 37 cents to 43 cents for the quarter. For fiscal 2006, AmerisourceBergen is raising its operating revenue growth expectations to a range of 7% to 9% from a previous range of 6% to 8%. It expects earnings per share of between $1.98 and $2.13 for the year.
Applebee's International Inc. it plans to separate the chairman and chief executive positions this summer. Lloyd Hill will continue to serve as chairman and a new CEO will be named. In addition, the Overland Park, Kan.-based restaurant chain said systemwide same-store sales rose 1.7% in December, 1% in the fourth quarter, and 8.2% in fiscal 2005. The company expects fourth-quarter earnings of 27 cents a share, and fiscal 2005 earnings of $1.30 a share, excluding an impairment charge of 3 cents. For fiscal 2006, the company forecast fiscal earnings of $1.26 to $1.30 a share, or $1.43 to $1.47 a share excluding stock option-expense of 17 cents a share.
Avigen Inc. said Tuesday that Chief Financial Officer Thomas Paulson will resign as of Jan. 31. Paulson said he looks forward to helping to "grow and develop other emerging companies." The Alameda, Calif.-based biotech firm said Andrew Sauter, senior director of financial operations, will be promoted to the role of vice president, finance. Paulson will work with Sauter to ensure a smooth transition, the company said.
Bell Microproducts Inc. , the San Jose, Calif., provider of semiconductors, computer platforms, peripherals, storage products, as well as tech services, expects to report a fourth-quarter loss of 23 cents to 30 cents a basic share. Fourth-quarter adjusted net, excluding costs of a European restructuring and other charges, should come in at $1.8 million to $2.7 million, or 6 cents to 9 cents a share. Bell previously estimated this figure at 14 cents to 18 cents, and a survey of analysts by Thomson First Call produced a consensus estimate of 15 cents. Revenue was around $845 million up, 5% from $808 million.
Belo Corp. said it expects revenue for the company as a whole to increase in the high-single digits in 2006. It also sees consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as well as earnings from operations, increasing in the high-single digits for the year. Belo expects spot and total revenue for its television group to increase in the mid-to-high single digits, and to capture significant incremental revenue from the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and political advertising in 2006.
Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. net fourth-quarter sales were $217.1 million vs. $217.6 million in the same quarter last year, which had an additional week. On a comparable 13-week basis, fourth-quarter net sales increased 5.1% and same-store sales rose 1.5%, the company said. Net sales in 2005 rose 3.8%, to $812 million from $782.2 million in 2004. On a comparable 52-week basis, the El Segundo, Calif.-based retailer said net sales in 2005 increased 5.7% and same-store sales increased 2.4%. Big 5 also lowered its fourth-quarter earnings forecast to a range of 32 cents to 35 cents a share from 40 cents to 44 cents a share.
Bluefly Inc. said it expects fourth-quarter sales to rise at least 45% from last year's results. The New York-based online clothing retailer added that it expects full-year sales to rise 34% from last year.
C-Cor Inc. , the State College, Pa., provider of solutions to simplify the transition to on-demand networks, said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court's ruling that SeaChange International infringed C-COR's patent for a video-server-system architecture. The lower court was the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The ruling also said C-Cor did not infringe SeaChange's patent, the company said. The appeals court also affirmed the district court's award of double damages in the case, C-Cor said.
Cephalon Inc. said Tuesday that it has settled with Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. over its pending patent infringement dispute in the United States related to Provigil. Under the terms of the settlement, Cephalon will grant Mylan a non-exclusive royalty-bearing right to market and sell a generic version of Provigil in the United States.
Charlotte Russe Holdings Inc. it expects fiscal first-quarter earnings of 28 cents to 30 cents a share compared with its previous forecast of 17 cents to 21 cents a share. The San Diego-based retailer said same-store sales increased by 15.6% in the first quarter, and net sales rose 34% during the period. Additionally, the company said it expects a second-quarter loss equal to or slightly greater than the 3 cents a share loss reported last year.
Cognex Corp. lowered its financial forecast for the fourth quarter, primarily because two large orders that were in backlog were rescheduled and another order was cancelled. The company, whose products are used in semiconductor and electronics manufacturing equipment, now sees per-share earnings in the range of 22 cents to 24 cents, compared with its previous forecast of 24 cents to 26 cents. Cognex also sees revenue coming in slightly below $61 million, which was the low end of its previously announced forecast. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call currently expect Cognex to post earnings of 26 cents a share on revenue of $63 million.
Cost Plus Inc. said fourth-quarter results will come in at the low end of the company's prior outlook. Cost Plus expects per-share earnings for the quarter of 98 cents to $1.08. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call are looking for per-share earnings of $1. The company's outlook for total sales is a range of $363 million to $375 million, compared with the consensus outlook of $367 million.
Dj Orthopedics Inc. reported preliminary fourth-quarter revenue of $75 million, up 10% from $68.1 million in the same period a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been expecting revenue of $72 million, on average. Average daily sales increased 17%. For 2005, revenue rose 12% to $286 million from last year's $256 million.
Clothing retailer Dress Barn Inc. raised its earnings per share guidance for the fiscal year ending July 29 to a range of $2.00 to $2.05 from a range of $1.90 to $1.95 a share. The company said the guidance is based on expected total sales for the year of $1.265 billion to $1.27 billion and a same-store sales increase of around 4% for the rest of the year. The increased guidance follows better than expected December sales and margin performance, which the company announced early January. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting earnings of $1.96 a share on revenue of $1.25 billion.
Dynegy was upgraded to overweight from neutral by J.P. Morgan, saying it doesn't believe the shares reflect a potential material uplift in earnings before interest, depreciation and amoritzation and cash flow in 2007, when it expects Dynegy to reprice its Illinois assets closer to market. The broker cautioned, however, that it might be somewhat early on the stock given potential political risk from Illinois deregulation and some leading time until visibility on 2007 pricing.
Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. forecast 2006 earnings of $1.75 to $1.80 a share, excluding some items, on sales of $860 million to $880 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call are estimating 2006 earnings of $1.65 to $1.95 a share on sales of $820 million.
Genzyme Corp. said its preliminary results show that fourth-quarter revenue rose 22%, to $722 million from $591 million last year, and that 2005 revenue grew 24%, to $2.7 billion from $2.2 billion. The Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology company also said it expects 2006 earnings of $1.78 to $1.88 a share on revenue of $3.1 billion to $3.3 billion. The company forecast 2006 earnings of $2.65 to $2.75 a share, excluding some items. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call are expecting 2006 earnings of $2.75 a share on $3.2 billion.
Human Genome Sciences said it expects 2005 earnings to be "slightly better" than its forecast made Feb. 7. The company also said it received a $5 million payment from its collaborator, GlaxoSmithKline, related to GSK's filing of an investigational new drug application to begin Phase 1 clinical trials of GSK716155 (formerly known as Albugon) for potential use in the treatment of diabetes. Human Genome Sciences will recognize the $5 million as revenue in the fourth quarter of 2005.
JDA Software Group Inc. warned it would post lower-than-expected quarterly results because some pending deals didn't close until after New Year's.
LifePoint Hospitals was downgraded from buy to hold at Deutsche Bank, after LifePoint issued a 2006 preview saying operating pressures, integration issues and reimbursement pressure in key states will weigh on results. The broker said it is concerned about LifePoint's outlook and does not expect any significant positive catalyst to move the shares over the next two to three quarters.
Computer security software company McAfee Inc. said that its president, Gene Hodges, has resigned with immediate effect to take on the role of CEO of Websense .
MHI Hospitality Corporation said Tuesday that it anticipates 2006 FFO per share will be in the range of 95 cents to $1.05. Earnings per share are estimated to be in the range of 56 cents to 65 cents for the year. Management anticipates that RevPAR growth for 2006 will be in the range of 5 percent to 8 percent.
Midwest Air Group Inc. said Tuesday its passenger load factor in December rose 64.8% from 64.6% in the same month a year ago. The Milwaukee-based company said scheduled December traffic rose 36.7% over year-ago levels.
M/I Homes reported fourth-quarter home deliveries of 1,616, which is up 35% over the year-earlier level of 1,200. New contracts for the home builder fell to 901 from last year's 922. The company's backlog reached 2,807 units at the end of 2005 vs. last year's 2,688, while the backlog's sales value rose to 19% to $954 million from $800 million. The average selling price of a home in backlog increased 14% to $340,000 from $298,000.
Miva Inc. said it has retained Deutsche Bank for advice about its strategic alternatives and is considering sales of new securities, acquisitions, an outright sale of the company and other types of transactions. The company believes its shares currently are undervalued. Miva is a performance marketing network.
NBTY Inc. said its preliminary results show that first-quarter sales rose 9%, to $458 million from $420 million. The Bohemia, N.Y.-based nutritional supplements company said the increase includes $33 million in net sales from its recent acquisitions.
Data storage provider Overland Storage raised its forecast for the 2007 and 2008 fiscal years to reflect new contracts. Overland now expects fiscal 2007 revenue to be in the range of $280 million to $285 million, with earnings excluding non-recurring items of 35 cents to 40 cents a share. Fiscal 2008 revenue is expected to be in the range of $320 million to $330 million, with non-GAAP earnings of 75 cents to 85 cents a share.
Performance Food Group was upgraded to neutral from underweight at J.P. Morgan, with the broker citing the 19% stock price decline since the end of September and the possibility of management changes. "We do not understand structurally why margin improvement at PFGC cannot be made. Therefore, should current management fail to produce, then this opens the door for more material changes, in our view," the broker said.
Phoenix Technologies Ltd. said that Randy Bolten, chief financial officer and senior vice president, has resigned with immediate effect. Bolten, who has been CFO of the software company since 2003, is leaving to pursue other interests, the company said.
Planar Systems increased its fourth-quarter sales and earnings forecast on higher-than-expected sales of some higher margin display products in its industrial and medical divisions. The flat-panel display systems maker now expects revenue of $56 million to $57 million and earnings of 8 cents to 10 cents a share, including stock-based compensation expense. In November, Planar forecast sales of $50 million to $55 million, and expected earnings to break even on a per-share basis, including stock-option expensing.
Drug store operator Rite Aid Corp. said Tuesday its sales at stores open at least one year rose 3.9% in December. For the period ended Dec. 31, pharmacy same store sales rose 4.5%, while front-end same store sales increased 3%. Total drugstore sales for the five-week period rose 26.2% to $1.803 billion, compared to $1.429 billion for last year's four-week period.
SFBC International said it is creating a regulatory task force to respond issues raised in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspection of its Miami facility. At the same time, the company is preparing a response to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has requested records relating to the duties, compensation and expenses of two former employees.
Supervalu Inc. reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $75.2 million, or 53 cents a share, vs. $64.9 million, or 46 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Excluding a charge for growth initiatives and costs related to a terminated acquisition, earnings would have been 49 cents a share. Revenue rose to $4.69 billion from last year's $4.55 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been expecting earnings of 50 cents a share and revenue of $4.64 billion, on average. For fiscal 2006, the company expects earnings of $1.89 to $1.94 a share, which includes 43 cents a share in charges for non-recurring items.
TD Banknorth Inc said Tuesday it's restructuring its balance sheet as part of its pending acquisition of Hudson United Bancorp. TD Banknorth said the plans include issuing $2.6 billion of mortgage backed securities and investing the proceeds in shorter duration assets.
Jeweler Tiffany & Co said on Tuesday its same-store sales for the holiday period rose 6% in the U.S. and 7% in Japan. Net sales for the holiday period from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 rose 6% to $712 million. On a constant currency basis, net sales rose 9% and worldwide same-store sales rose 6%. The company tightened its earnings estimate for 2005 to a range of $1.60 to $1.62 a share, from its prior forecast of $1.55-$1.65 a share. Analysts, on average, had been expecting it to earn $1.64 a share for the year according to Thomson First Call. For 2006, Tiffany expects earnings of $1.77 to $1.82 a share.
WD-40 Co. said first-quarter net earnings were $7.51 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with $5.64 million, or 34 cents a share, during the year-earlier period. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected the San Diego, Calif.-based company to report per-share earnings of 35 cents. WD-40 reported quarterly revenue of $67.2 million, compared with $60.7 million last year. Analysts had expected revenue of $66 million.
Wyeth Laboratories offered an estimate for the 2006 fiscal year, but the company's forecast puts it below consensus views.
Drugmaker ZymoGenetics said its rheumatoid arthritis treatment TACI-Ig was well tolerated by patients in Phase I trials to assess safety. ZymoGenetics said full details from the study will be presented later this year. The company added that adverse events were mild and no antibodies to the drug were formed in any patient.
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