Tuesday's Winners & Losers: Earnings Can't Boost Goldman

Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) on Tuesday posted a better-than-expected profit of $3.17 billion, or $7.01 a share, in the fiscal fourth quarter.

Still, Goldman shares closed in negative territory after a short-lived morning struggle to get above water. Shares finished at $201.61, down $7.02, or 3.36%.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for $6.61 a share. Revenue sank 12.9% sequentially to $10.7 billion, but that still represents a 14.2% gain over last year and comes in ahead of the $10.2 billion average analyst estimate.

Elsewhere, New Jersey-based Asta Funding (ASFI Quote) slid 7.6% to $26.01 on a Kaufman Bros. downgrade to hold from buy.

Adobe(ADBE Quote) gained 2.6% a day after the company reported fourth-quarter results and offered guidance that topped Wall Street expectations.

Based on strong sales of its software package Creative Suite 3, the company said revenue rose 34% from a year ago to $911.2 million, beating analysts' expectations of $887.3 million. With earnings per share of 49 cents, Adobe estimates by a penny.

Analysts, however, remained mixed about the results. The stock was upgraded to a buy from hold by Deutsche Bank, while Kaufman Brothers downgraded it to hold from buy. Shares finished at $42.03, up $1.13, or 2.76%.

Robotics company iRobot(IRBT Quote), meanwhile, rose 4% after it announced a $286 million contract with the U.S. Army.

Under the contract, the Army could order up to 3,000 robots, spare parts, training and repair services over the next five years. iRobot will immediately deliver 101 robots for deployment. iRobot finsihed up 69 cents to $17.88.

Tuesday Morning(TUES Quote) shares plummeted 27% to $4.78 after the Dallas seller of home furnishings lowered guidance for its fiscal 2008 ending June 30. The company now expects sales to be between $943 million and $955 million and projects earnings per share of 58 cents to 65 cents. This falls short of the Street's mean 2008 forecast for EPS of 76 cents, per Thomson Financial.

Also crying for its mommy was BabyUniverse (KIDS Quote). The Jupiter, Fla.-based operator of such Web sites as BabyUniverse.com, DreamtimeBaby.com and PoshTots.com got spanked with a 26% drop to $5.75 a share after reporting third-quarter earnings. The company posted a net loss of $5.6 million, or 31 cents a share, vs. a loss of $6 million, or 40 cents a share, in 2006. One analyst covering BabyUniverse expected a loss of 9 cents a share.

Epix Pharmaceuticals(EPIX Quote) announced results from a midstage, two-week clinical trial of its drug candidate for Alzheimer's disease. The company said the drug was safe and well-tolerated and that patients who took the 150-mg dose showed statistically significant improvement in cognitive function and memory compared to placebo. Shares added 96 cents, or 35%, to $4.02.

Another winner, small-cap Escalon Medical (ESMC Quote), said Tuesday that its Drew Scientific subsidiary received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market the D3 Hematology System, for automatic three-part differential blood analysis. Drew Scientific plans to begin shipments of the product in the U.S. before the end of the year. Shares rose $1.06, or 32%, to $4.34.