Thursday's Health Winners & Losers

Updated from 2:53 p.m. EDT

Quarterly results -- some postponed -- left health care stock investors groping Thursday.

Abraxis Bioscience(ABBI Quote) rose $1.12, or 4.9%, to $24.16 after reporting quarterly results that showed a 51% revenue increase. Sales were $242.5 million, up from $160.7 million in the prior-year period. Sales of breast-cancer drug Abraxane increased 117% to $78.7 million.

On a GAAP basis, the company earned 14 cents a share, compared to a loss of 57 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. On an adjusted basis, it earned 26 cents a share, up from 16 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. Two analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had predicted 22 cents a share on revenue of $245 million.

Biopharmaceutical company MannKind(MNKD Quote) intrigued investors ahead of earnings Thursday. Shares rose 40 cents, or 4.1%, to $10.08. Earnings were originally scheduled for last week but were postponed to after the market close today to give the company more time for further review.

In a conference call last Friday, the company said the reason for the review was the discovery of an over-accrual in the second quarter of clinical trial expenses. The company also announced that CFO Richard Anderson will resign at the end of 2008, remaining in an advisory role once a successor is named until that point.

Putting its own earnings on hold, Merge Healthcare(MRGE Quote), which makes medical-imaging and information management software, fell Thursday. The company said it postponed its second-quarter earnings release until after the close Wednesday. Mum is the word as the company relayed neither the reason for the delay nor when the earnings release would take place.

Last November the company cut 28% of its workforce -- which translated to the elimination of 150 jobs and the closing of two offices -- to achieve annual cost savings of $7 million to $12 million. Merge slid 37 cents, or 6.5%, Thursday. Calls to Merge were not returned by the time this column was published.