Wednesday's Winners & Losers: Nortel Networks

Shares of Nortel Networks(NT Quote) gained $1.10, or 13.6%, to $9.21 after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is focusing its research and development effort on a new broadband technology called LTE (Long-term evolution) and away from WiMax.

PDL Biopharma (PDLI Quote) was one of the very few stocks on the biotech indices that registered a gain. The stock added 48 cents, or 4.7%, to $10.74.

Central Garden & Pet (CENT Quote), a Walnut Creek, Calif.-based marketer and producer of lawn and garden products as well as pet supplies, tumbled 36% to $4.44. The company said late Tuesday that high grain costs may cause fiscal 2008 profits to fall short of prior-year results. Management had said on a May 7 conference call that it expected modest year-over year improvements in financial results.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK Quote) said Wednesday it is eliminating 350 jobs, or roughly 2% of its research and development staff, as part of a previously announced restructuring plan to increase productivity. Shares were down 33 cents, or 0.8%, at $41.39.

Memory chips maker Qimonda(QI Quote) added 24 cents, or 5.9%, to $4.30 after the company said it has completed a deal to form a technology partnership to jointly develop memory chips with Elphida Memory.

TGC Industries (TGE Quote), out of Plano, Texas, which provides seismic data to oil and natural gas companies, climbed $1.14, or 16%, to $8.37. The company reported that it expects its business backlog to increase substantially from the $46 million it reported at the end of the first quarter.