Friday's Winners & Losers
Mark Martinez
09/08/06 - 11:35 AM EDT
Shares of
Shuffle Master(SHFL) were among the
Nasdaq's losers Friday, sliding 9% after the casino-supply company posted third-quarter results that fell short of Wall Street's expectation. The company earned $7.3 million, or 20 cents a share, on revenue of $40.7 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected earnings of 24 cents a share on revenue of $46 million. During the year-earlier period, the company earned $8.1 million, or 22 cents a share, on revenue of $27.3 million.
Looking ahead, Shuffle Master now sees full-year earnings of 97 cents to $1 a share. In June, the company said it would earn between $1 and $1.05 a share. The company blamed the earnings revision on longer-than-expected approval and selling cycles. Analysts project earnings of 90 cents a share. Shares were trading down $2.51 to $24.42.
Metal Management(MTLM) rose 4% after the scrap-metal recycler announced a 2.7 million share buyback. The buyback plan represents about 10% of the company's stock outstanding.
"Metal Management is committed to investing for growth and creating value for our shareholders, propositions that are not mutually exclusive as evidence by our recent acquisitions, ambitious capital expenditure program and this new authorization to repurchase up to 2.7 million shares of our common stock," the company said. Shares were trading up $1.01 to $25.13.
Shares of
Equifax(EFX) rose 9% after the credit reporting agency boosted its full-year earnings forecast. The company now sees earnings of more than $2 a share, up from an earlier view of $1.90 to $1.99. Analysts project earnings of $1.98 a share.
The company continues to see revenue growth of 7% to 10%. Shares were trading up $2.77 to $35.19.
Charlotte Russe(CHIC) fell 6% after the young-women's clothing retailer filed a preliminary prospectus with the
Securities and Exchange Commission for the sale of 5 million shares.
All of the shares, the company said, are being sold by shareholders affiliated with Saunders Karp & Megrue Partners. Goldman Sachs is leading the underwriting syndicate. Shares were trading down $1.54 to $26.39.
Shares of
AirTran Holdings(AAI) slumped 13% after the airline operator lowered its third-quarter revenue forecast. The company now sees revenue per available seat mile rising by low single digits.
"While the quarter started out with strong unit revenue performance, by the end of August we began seeing some softening in demand," AirTran said in a regulatory filing. "This trend appears to be continuing into the month of September and likely resulted from the threat of recent terrorist events, tropical storm Ernesto, and capacity additions on the East Coast." Meanwhile, the company said nonfuel cost per available seat mile continues to improve. The company expects a decline of 3% to 5%. Shares were trading down $1.42 to $9.25.
NYSE volume leaders included
Lucent Technologies(LU), up 2 cents to $2.27;
Ford(F), up 15 cents to $8.73;
Motorola(MOT), up 37 cents to $23.41;
Advanced Micro Devices(AMD), up 34 cents to $24.93;
National Semiconductor(NSM), down 48 cents to $23.91;
Nokia(NOK), down 26 cents to $19; and
Newmont Mining(NEM), down 94 cents to $48.24.
Nasdaq volume leaders included
Apple Computer(AAPL), down 37 cents to $72.43;
Oracle(ORCL), up 12 cents to $16.13;
Intel(INTC), up 12 cents to $19.34;
Cisco Systems(CSCO), down 10 cents to $21.44;
Broadcom(BRCM), down 66 cents to $25.77;
Sirius Satellite Radio(SIRI), down 3 cents to $4; and
Microsoft(MSFT), up 8 cents to $25.51.
