Friday's Winners & Losers: Global Payments
Mark Martinez
03/30/07 - 09:03 PM EDT
Updated from 2:15 p.m. EDT
Shares of
Global Payments(GPN Quote) were among the
NYSE's losers Friday, slumping 13%, or $5.11, to $34.06 after the electronic payment processing company posted mixed third-quarter results.
For the period ended Feb. 28, the company earned $34.3 million, or 42 cents a share, on revenue of $260.4 million. Excluding stock-based compensation costs, the company earned 44 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected earnings of 41 cents a share on revenue of $264.2 million. During the year-earlier quarter, the company earned $30.1 million, or 36 cents a share, on revenue of $225.2 million.
Looking ahead, Global Payments now sees 2007 adjusted earnings of $1.85 to $1.87 a share, up from an earlier forecast of $1.79 to $1.85 a share. Revenue is now projected at $1.05 billion to $1.06 billion, below its earlier view of $1.06 billion to $1.07 billion. Analysts project earnings of $1.84 a share on revenue of $1.06 billion.
JA Solar Holdings(JASO Quote) rose 3.1% after the maker of solar panel cells posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. The company earned $8.6 million, or 31 cents per American depository share, on revenue of $44.8 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected earnings of 28 cents a share on revenue of $35.4 million. During the year-earlier period, the company reported a loss of $185,000, or about a penny a share, on no revenue.
Looking ahead, JA Solar sees first-quarter revenue of $39 million to $41 million. Analysts project revenue of $38.2 million. Shares closed up 55 cents to $18.09.
Shares of
Dollar Tree(DLTR Quote) rose 2.4% after the discount retailer announced an accelerated $150 million stock buyback program. The company will repurchase the shares from Goldman Sachs. The shares will be bought under the company's $500 million share repurchase plan, which was announced in November.
"Our share repurchase program is an important part of our capital allocation strategy," the company said. "Having successfully completed a similar transaction in recent months, we believe that the accelerated share repurchase is an efficient use of capital and will provide long-term benefit to our shareholders." Shares closed up 90 cents to $38.24.
Ares Capital(ARCC Quote) rose 1.1% after the investment company priced 13.5 million shares at $17.97 a piece, raising gross proceeds of $242.6 million. The company expects to use proceeds from the offering to repay debt, fund investments in portfolio companies, and for general corporate purposes. Merrill Lynch and Citigroup led the underwriting syndicate. Shares closed up 20 cents to $18.17 on heavy volume.
Shares of
Herbalife(HLF Quote) slid 2.7% after the weight-management and personal care products company said that a takeover bid of $38 a share does not represent sufficient value. The $38-a-share bid, which was made by Whitney V LP in early February, is "too low," the company said in a press release late Thursday.
"The board recognizes and values the leadership that Whitney has provided Herbalife," Herbalife said. "We remain open-minded about ways to achieve appropriate value for the company, and would certainly consider an improved proposal from Whitney." Whitney, as of February, already owned about 27% of Herbalife's outstanding shares. Shares closed down $1.08 to $39.19.
NYSE volume leaders included
Motorola(MOT Quote), down 4 cents to $17.67;
Solectron(SLR Quote), up 7 cents to $3.15;
General Electric(GE Quote), down 19 cents to $35.36;
Pfizer(PFE Quote), down 15 cents to $25.26;
EMC(EMC Quote), up 19 cents to $13.85;
Time Warner(TWX Quote), down 13 cents to $19.72;
Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote), down 79 cents to $75.45; and
Halliburton(HAL Quote), down 30 cents to $31.74.
Nasdaq volume leaders included
Dendreon(DNDN Quote), up $7.71 to $12.93;
CMGI(CMGI Quote), down 14 cents to $2.12;
Sun Microsystems(SUNW Quote), up 5 cents to $6.01;
Intel(INTC Quote), up 4 cent to $19.13;
RF Micro Devices(RFMD Quote), down 8 cents to $6.23;
Dell(DELL Quote), down 18 cents to $23.21;
Cisco Systems(CSCO Quote), up 10 cents to $25.53;
Microsoft(MSFT Quote), up 12 cents to $27.87.
