Health Stocks in Motion

Shares of AmSurg(AMSG Quote) were among the worst-performing health-related stocks Tuesday, falling 18% after the operator of surgery centers provided a third-quarter earnings preview below Wall Street's expectations.

When the company reports results on Oct. 25, it expects to post earnings of 30 cents a share, which doesn't include property losses of 2 cents to 5 cents a share from Hurricane Katrina. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had been expecting earnings of 35 cents a share. During the third quarter, same-center revenue growth was 4%, below the 8% that AmSurg had expected. Of the 142 surgery centers operated by the company, 16 centers performed below expectations and below first- and second-quarter results, AmSurg said.

Looking ahead, AmSurg lowered its fourth-quarter same-center revenue growth expectations and revised its full-year guidance. The company now sees 2005 earnings from continuing operations of $1.18 to $1.21 a share and revenue of $390 million to $395 million, down from its prior forecast for earnings of $1.33 to $1.34 a share and revenue of $400 million to $420 million. Shares were trading down $5.18 to $22.87.

CancerVax(CNVX Quote) fell 42% after the drug development company and its partner, Serono(SRA Quote), said they would discontinue their phase III trial of Canvaxin. A data and safety monitoring board "found that the data are unlikely to provide significant evidence of an overall survival benefit for patients with stage III melanoma who were treated with Canvaxin versus those who received placebo," CancerVax said in a statement. In light of the discontinuation of the trial, CancerVax plans to cut its workforce to 80 employees from 183. Shares of CancerVax recently were trading down $1.23 to $1.69, while shares of Serono fell 13 cents to $16.37.

Shares of Cytogen(CYTO Quote) fell 13% after the biopharmaceutical company withdrew its full-year sales forecast. Because of weak sales during the third quarter, the company said that full-year sales would be below the $20 million that it previously forecast. During the third quarter, Cytogen recorded product sales of $3.5 million, which is below the company's internal expectations. Average gross margins, meanwhile, are still expected to be between 40% and 50%. Shares were trading down 51 cents to $3.44.