Midday Movers: Advanced Micro Devices, AT&T, SuperGen and Coca-Cola

Superior earnings forecasts from new wave Advanced Micro Devices (AMD Quote) and old school Sears (S Quote) move the companies' stocks at midday.

Advanced Micro Devices expects to report record sales of more than $1 billion in the quarter ended Sunday. AMD reported record sales of $968.7 million in the previous quarter. Merrill Lynch raised its intermediate-rating on AMD to accumulate from neutral and its long-term rating to buy from neutral. Advanced Micro Devices jumped 5 11/16, or 9.3%, to 66 13/16.

Similarily, Sears announced that it foresees record first-quarter earnings of 62 cents to 67 cents a share, compared with the year-ago 38 cents. The current 15-analyst estimate calls for Sears to come in at 46 cents. The company also stated that it sees full-year earnings-per-share growth in the low to mid teens. The retailer's same-store sales for March were up 3.8%. Sears lifted 5 9/16, or 18.2%, to 36 1/16.

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Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures

BellSouth (BLS Quote) and SBC Communications (SBC Quote) are combining their U.S. wireless operations, creating the second-largest wireless carrier in the country. The largest wireless company in the U.S. is Verizon Wireless, the joint venture between Bell Atlantic (BEL Quote) and Vodafone AirTouch (VOD Quote). BellSouth and SBC said the new wireless operation will serve 16.2 million subscribers and be able to reach 175 million potential customers from coast to coast. SBC will own 60% of the new company, while BellSouth will own 40%. The companies said the operation will have $10.2 billion in revenue. BellSouth advanced 1 to 49 7/8, while SBC Communications climbed 19/16 to 46 13/16. ...