Tuesday's Winners & Losers: Mastercard

MasterCard(MA) shares skyrocketed 12.6% to $272.93 when it reported on Tuesday that its profit more than doubled as customers turn to credit cards in the weak economy. Cardholder spending rose in the U.S., but more moderately than the increases seen in emerging markets. Shares of MasterCard have risen a whopping 117% over the last year.

Microchip Technology(MCHP) traded higher $1.48, or 4.2%, to $36.88 after it beat Wall Street estimates for the fourth quarter and offered a stronger-than-expected outlook.

Net income for the fourth quarter was $76.6 million, or 40 cents a share, down sharply from the $127.7 million, or 57 cents a share, a year ago. But the results beat the average analyst expectation by 3 cents. Sales rose 0.9% to $260.4 million and came in a little higher than the $257 million expected by analysts.

Among the biggest gainers, shares of Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel (ALGT), a regional airline, rocketed 25% to $26.05. The company announced first-quarter non-GAAP income of $9.7 million, or 47 cents a share, vs. $9.7 million, or 38 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting EPS of 34 cents.

Regional broker GFIG Group(GFIG) dropped 10.3% to $11.44, even after recording a 46% jump in it quarterly profit. The New York-based broker beat analyst estimates and experienced strong revenue over all regions. But investors worried over the defection of 22 traders sent the stock spiraling down on Tuesday.

Intevac (IVAC) shares gave up 22% to $12.80. The Santa Clara, Calif., provider of disk sputtering equipment reported first-quarter earnings of $1.6 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with $9.8 million, or 44 cents a share, a year ago. On its conference call, the company forecast a second-quarter EPS loss between 14 cents and 20 cents, including a stock option expense. Analysts, who typically do not include one-time charges in estimates, are looking for a loss of 5 cents a share. Piper Jaffray downgraded Intevac to sell from neutral.

Metavante(MV), a banking and payments technology company, gained $2.40, or 12.1%, to $22.27 following the company's results.

Metavante reported EPS of 35 cents in the first quarter that was 3 cents better than analysts' expectations. Sales rose to $424.6 million vs. $410.28 million a year ago. The company said it expects EPS for fiscal 2008 in the range of $1.36 to 1.41. Analysts are expecting earnings of $1.34 a share.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints