Winners & Losers
Wednesday's Winners & Losers: Virgin Mobile
TSC Staff
05/14/08 - 04:29 PM EDT
Shares of wireless provider Virgin Mobile USA(VM Quote - Cramer on VM - Stock Picks) jumped after the company confirmed it is in deal talks with Korea's SK Telecom. Virgin's shares climbed $1.42, or 46.7%, to $4.46, before falling back to $3.62 in recent trading.
Video-game developer Electronic Arts(ERTS Quote - Cramer on ERTS - Stock Picks) was off $1.63, or 3%, to $52.94 after the company forecast weaker-than-expected earnings Tuesday.
EA reported a net loss of $94 million, or 30 cents a share, in the quarter just ended vs. a loss of $25 million, or 8 cents a share, for the same quarter a year ago. For the current fiscal year, the company said earnings would range from $1.30 to $1.70 a share. Analysts were expecting $1.73 a share.
Merck (MRK Quote - Cramer on MRK - Stock Picks) shares took a breath Wednesday after a Texas appeals court overturned a verdict that had awarded $7.75 million to the widow of a 71-year-old heart attack victim. Leonel Garza had died after taking Vioxx for a month. The drug was pulled from the market in 2004 after research showed it increased the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Merck's shares were up 75 cents, or 1.9%, at $39.92.
Meanwhile, Zhuhai, China-based China Architectural Engineering (RCH Quote - Cramer on RCH - Stock Picks), which designs, installs and maintains structural glass and light structure building systems, climbed 38.6% to $8.23 on first-quarter earnings. The company posted net income of $5.2 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with $1.7 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had predicted EPS of 3 cents.
Also, Sanford Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson increased his price target for Schering-Plough (SGP Quote - Cramer on SGP - Stock Picks) stock to $25 from $22. Anderson, who has an outperform rating on the stock, upped his earnings estimates for the company based on sales trends of Vytorin and Zetia, the two cholesterol drugs that have been the center of debate since the company and partner Merck released study data earlier this year. Schering shares rose 76 cents, or 4%, to $19.70.