Winners and Losers: Sealy

Shares of mattress maker Sealy(ZZ Quote) were up 82.5% on Wednesday as the company announced it was cutting costs after a big drop in its quarterly profit.

Sealy, whose shares were up in early afternoon trading by $1.23 to $2.72 on five times average daily volume, did surprise analysts with its fiscal first-quarter profit results, earning 5 cents a share where a 3-cent loss was expected.

Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst John Baugh said sales declined in the U.S. and abroad. Baugh said Sealy has suffered in the past year from poorly received Stearns and Foster mattress products and overall weakness in premium mattress sales. ...