Midday Movers: Ben & Jerry's, Pechiney, Palm and American Freightways

Microsoft (MSFT Quote) was seriously battered at midday, down 5.4% to 79 3/8, and was one of the techs leading the Nasdaq down today. Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund announced this morning that he cut his third-quarter revenue outlook for Microsoft to $5.75 billion from $5.95 billion, citing faltering demand for PCs.

"We are reducing our March quarter revenue estimate due to growing evidence that PC unit growth did not likely come up to our expectations," wrote Sherlund. "PC growth was very sluggish from November through February, and while it reaccelerated in March, it does not appear to have occurred fast enough to offset the weakness earlier in the quarter."

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It's official: Consumer giant Unilever (UN Quote) is buying Ben & Jerry's Homemade's (BJICA Quote) for $43.60 a share, or $366 million. The news boosted the ice cream manufacturer's stock 8 1/8, or 23.3%, to 43 1/8. Unilever, meanwhile, climbed 1 5/16 to 51 1/2.

Separately, Unilever announced it is buying privately owned Slim-Fast Foods, the maker of diet shakes and bars, for $2.3 billion in cash. Florida-based Slim-Fast had net sales of $611 million and operating profits of $125 million for the year ended November 1999.

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Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures

Alcan Aluminium's (AL Quote) plan for a three-way merger with France's Pechiney (PY Quote) and Switzerland's Algroup is unraveling in the face of antitrust opposition, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. ...