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Stocks in Motion: Expedia

Mark Martinez

Shares of Expedia(EXPE Quote) were among Nasdaq's winners Friday, rising 8% after the online travel company posted third-quarter results that beat Wall Street forecasts.

The company earned $82 million, or 23 cents a share, on sales of $584.7 million. Excluding items, Expedia would have earned $126.9 million, or 35 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting earnings of 31 cents a share, before items, and sales of $570.7 million. The company's year-earlier earnings were $58.1 million, or 17 cents a share, on sales of $503.8 million. Excluding items, the company would have earned $110.2 million, or 32 cents a share, in last year's quarter. Shares recently traded up $1.74 to $22.45.

Honeywell(HON Quote) rose 1% after the company announced a $3 billion buyback plan. "Excellent operating and financial performance, coupled with a strong balance sheet, provide us with the flexibility to launch an expanded share repurchase program," the company said. Since the fourth quarter of 2003, Honeywell has repurchased about 42 million shares, or about $1.5 billion in stock. Shares were trading up 44 cents to $35.87.

Shares of Boyd Gaming(BYD Quote) rose 8% after the casino operator posted third-quarter earnings that topped forecasts. The company reported earnings of $32.9 million, or 36 cents a share. Excluding items, the company would have earned $51.4 million, or 57 cents a share, above analysts' estimates of 51 cents. Boyd posted sales of $536.5 million, below Wall Street's forecast of $542.5 million. Last year, Boyd's third-quarter earnings totaled $35.5 million, or 40 cents a share, on sales of $522.5 million. Excluding items, the company would have earned $33.3 million, or 38 cents a share, a year ago. Shares recently traded $3.43 higher to $46.60.

Shares of Pope & Talbot (POP Quote) tumbled nearly 11% after the company posted a third-quarter loss and suspended its dividend. The pulp and wood products company swung to a loss of $8.8 million, or 54 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $7.8 million, or 48 cents a share. Still, the loss was narrower than analysts' mean estimate of 63 cents a share. Revenue rose to $212.7 million from $199.1 million a year earlier. The company attributed the red bottom line to market price decreases for its pulp and lumber businesses, as well as increases in cost of goods sold.

Pope & Talbot said it suspended the quarterly dividend to conserve its net worth and cash balances. The company also noted that it has obtained waivers for a lease on a pulp mill to avoid a violation of financial covenants. The company doesn't expect to be in compliance with the covenants at the end of the year, and will require a further waiver. Shares recently traded at $8.11, down 99 cents.

Polo Ralph Lauren(RL Quote) rose 3% after the clothing company turned in better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and sales. The company earned $104.2 million, or 97 cents a share, on sales of $1.03 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 90 cents a share on sales of $976.9 million. A year earlier, the company earned $79.3 million, or 77 cents a share, on sales of $895.6 million.

Polo continues to see fiscal 2006 earnings of $2.85 to $2.92 a share on sales growth in the low double digits. Analysts are looking for earnings of $2.95 a share and sales of $3.6 billion. Shares were trading up $1.60 to $53.75.

Shares of Evergreen Solar(ESLR Quote) rose 11% after the company posted third-quarter results that were better than expected. The maker of solar power products reported a loss of $6.4 million, or 7 cents a share, on sales of $11.1 million. Analysts projected a bigger loss of 9 cents a share, with sales of $10.6 million. Year-ago losses totaled $4.6 million, or 10 cents a share, on sales of $5.6 million.

Separately, Evergreen announced a $70 million sales agreement with solar power company PowerLight. The agreement calls for Evergreen to ship at least $70 million of its photovoltaic modules to the company over the next four years. Including options, the value of the shipments could reach as high as $170 million. Shipments are expected to begin during the first half of 2006. Shares were trading up $1.07 to $10.67.

NYSE volume leaders included Pfizer(PFE Quote), up 24 cents to $22.11; Lucent Technologies(LU Quote), down 1 cent to $2.77; Calpine(CPN Quote), down 12 cents to $2.18; Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote), down $1.21 to $57.36; Time Warner(TWX Quote), down 24 cents to $17.65; Nokia(NOK Quote), down 24 cents to $17.11; Chesapeake Energy(CHK Quote), down 96 cents to $29.55; and Qwest(Q Quote), up 8 cents to $4.67.

Nasdaq volume leaders included Oracle(ORCL Quote), up 27 cents to $12.47; JDSU(JDSU Quote), down 5 cents to $2.35; Cisco Systems (CSCO Quote), up 28 cents to $17.79; Sanmina-SCI(SANM Quote), up 71 cents to $4.37; Microsoft(MSFT Quote), up 10 cents to $26.54; Intel(INTC Quote), down 12 cents $23.77; Apple Computer(AAPL Quote), down $1.17 to $60.68; Sun Microsystems(SUNW Quote), down 3 cents to $3.88; Sirius Satellite Radio(SIRI Quote), down 11 cents to $6.83; Symantec(SYMC Quote), up 49 cents to $19.01; and Qualcomm(QCOM Quote), down 16 cents to $43.86.