Double-Take Software, Lithia Motors: Midday Volume Plays

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Several stocks trading near $5 were moving on above-average volume during Thursday's session.

Lithia Motors (LAD) tumbled by $1.70, or 21.7%, to $6.13 after the automotive company said it expects fourth-quarter earnings to fall in a range of breakeven to 2 cents a share, which is below the two-analyst consensus for a profit of 16 cents a share. Lithia also offered weak earnings guidance for the first quarter and full-year 2010. Volume topped 1.31 million shares, compared to the three-month average daily volume of 403,000, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Borders Group (BGP) slumped by 10 cents, or 7.7%, to $1.20, retracing some of the previous session's rally. Borders surged Wednesday after billionaire investor Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital said that a Borders bankruptcy was "a low probability event" during an interview with CNBC Volume topped 3.07 million shares, compared to the three-month average daily volume of 1.78 million.

Aviat Networks (AVNW) dropped by $1.14, or 15.7%, to $6.13 after the wireless networking company posted a fiscal second-quarter profit of a penny a share, which was better than forecasts that Aviat would break even in the quarter. However, revenue was below consensus, and Aviat guided fiscal third-quarter revenue below the Thomson Reuters average estimate. Needham analysts downgraded the stock to hold from buy after the report. Volume topped 966,000 shares, compared to the 50-day average daily volume of 392,000, according to the Nasdaq.

Double-Take Software (DBTK) fell by $2.13, or 20.8%, to $8.12 after the company posted fourth-quarter revenue of $22.8 million, which was worse than analysts had expected. Double-Take also issued weak earnings and revenue below consensus. Following the report, Needham analysts downgraded the stock to hold while Oppenheimer analysts cut their rating to perform. Volume topped 3.72 million shares, compared to the 50-day average daily volume of 138,000.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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