Winners & Losers

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Tuesday's Financial Winners & Losers

Sarina Penn

Financial stocks underperformed the broader market again Tuesday under an avalanche of mixed earnings.

Everest Re (RE Quote - Cramer on RE - Stock Picks) delivered one of the day's better showings; the insurer jumped 6.8% to $103.30 after posting a first-quarter profit of $267.9 million, or $4.13 a share, which flew past Wall Street's $3.07 estimate, according to Thomson Financial. Sterling Bancshares (SBIB Quote - Cramer on SBIB - Stock Picks) gained 7.6% to $11.63 after saying first-quarter per-share earnings climbed 2 cents from last year to 17 cents.

New Jersey-based insurer Chubb (CB Quote - Cramer on CB - Stock Picks) handily topped estimates as well. Operating income was 7.7% higher at $1.53 a share, 15 cents better than the Street's consensus. Share rose 95 cents, or 1.8%, to $54.71.

Among other financial names lifted by positive first-quarter earnings were insurer PartnerRe (PRE Quote - Cramer on PRE - Stock Picks), which added 5.1% to $73.15; Reinsurance Group of America (RGA Quote - Cramer on RGA - Stock Picks), up 4.8% at $62.60; and Ohio-based bank FirstMerit (FMER Quote - Cramer on FMER - Stock Picks), which rose 4.9% to $21.29.

On the flip side, online broker TradeStation (TRAD Quote - Cramer on TRAD - Stock Picks) was one of the sector's worst percentage losers, sliding 8.7% after saying it will probably earn 17 cents to 18 cents a share in the second quarter vs. analysts' 20-cent per-share expectations. Shares lost $1.17 to $12.28.

Commodities exchange Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Quote - Cramer on CME - Stock Picks), sank on 2.9% to $531.30 on lower-than-expected revenue, despite topping income estimates, and both LaBranche (LAB Quote - Cramer on LAB - Stock Picks) and Sallie Mae (SLM Quote - Cramer on SLM - Stock Picks) missed bottom-line targets. LaBranche, a specialist firm, was off 7.3% to $8.30; student lender Sallie Mae slipped 61 cents to $53.74.

Elsewhere, Brown & Brown (BRO Quote - Cramer on BRO - Stock Picks) fell after saying that nearly half of its 19.4% year-over-year profit jump was due to a large investment cash-in. The insurance broker's first-quarter bottom line beat targets by 2 cents as a result, but shares fell $1.95, or 6.9%, to $26.17.

The NYSE Financial Sector Index was down 0.4% to 9756.04; the KBW Bank Index was down 0.4% to 115.74.