Small-Cap Winners and Losers: Georgia Gulf
Updated from 1:51 p.m. EDT with new stock prices
Small-cap stocks joined the broader market in trading right along the baseline Wednesday, as earnings reports caused the biggest moves for individual names.
Among the losers, Atlanta-based
Georgia Gulf
(GGC)
fell 25% to $4.46. For the first quarter, the maker of chlorovinyls and aromatic chemicals reported a widened loss of $69.5 million, or $2.02 a share, vs. $34.6 million, or $1.01 a share, a year ago. The loss includes a writedown of $26.1 million, or 58 cents a share, stemming from the shuttering of an Oklahoma City PVC resin plant. Analysts, who typically do not include one-off charges in their estimates, were expecting a loss of 38 cents a share, per Thomson Financial. Citigroup downgraded the stock to sell from hold.
Also falling,
Kenneth Cole
(KCP)
, a New York purveyor of footwear and handbags, plummeted 21.4% to $14.42. The company reported first-quarter earnings of 4 cents a share on revenue of $122.5 million. The Street was looking for 3 cents a share. Kenneth Cole also guided for a loss between 11 cents and 13 cents a share for the second quarter, below the consensus estimate of an 8-cent per-share profit. CL King downgraded the stock to neutral from strong buy.
Meanwhile,
OraSure Technologies
(OSUR) - Get Report
, which makes oral fluid specimen collectors, saw shares sink to new lows Wednesday, tumbling 17.7% to $5.41. The company after Tuesday's market close said first-quarter profit increased 35% year over year to $2 million, or 4 cents a share. Analysts had predicted 3 cents a share, but OraSure also guided for a second-quarter loss between 6 cents and 7 cents a share. The Street expects a loss of a penny a share.
Also tradeing to new lows Wednesday was
Greatbatch
(GB)
, which slipped 14.5% to $15.80. The Clarence, N.Y., company, which makes batteries for medical use, produced non-GAAP earnings of $3.6 million, or 16 cents a share, in the first quarter vs. $8.8 million, or 36 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts were looking for EPS of 26 cents.
On the winning side,
Multi-Fineline Electronix
(MFLX)
added 12.4% to $21.00. The Anaheim, Calif., maker of flexible printed circuit boards announced fiscal second-quarter earnings of $10.4 million, or 41 cents a share, up from $3.1 million, or 12 cents a share, a year ago. The Street had forecast earnings of 27 cents a share.
LMI Aerospace
(LMIA)
shares soared 12.1% to $21.43. The St. Charles, Mo., provider of structural components for the aerospace and defense industry announced first-quarter income of $4.5 million, or 40 cents a share, vs. $2.2. million, or 20 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts had predicted 34 cents a share.
Finally, electrical-equipment maker
Powell Industries
(POWL) - Get Report
, which is based in Houston, reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $6 million, or 53 cents a share, vs. $2.3 million, or 20 cents a share, in 2007. Wall Street had forecast EPS of 40 cents. Shares climbed 14.4% to $46.72.
More broadly, the Russell 2000 was off 1.8% to 716.48, and the S&P SmallCap 600 was off 1.5% at 378.64.