Stocks in Motion: Dycom

The engineering company misses second-quarter estimates.
By Mark Martinez ,

Updated from 11:32 a.m. EST

Shares of

Mine Safety Appliances

(MSA) - Get Report

were among the

NYSE's

losers Tuesday, falling 11.5% after the company posted fourth-quarter results that fell well short of analysts' expectations.

The safety-products company posted earnings of $17.7 million, or 46 cents a share, on sales of $224.9 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting earnings of 56 cents a share on sales of $227.2 million. A year ago the company earned $15.2 million, or 40 cents a share, on sales of $188.2 million. Shares traded down $5.35 to $41.16.

United Natural Foods

(UNFI) - Get Report

fell 4.1% after the company posted second-quarter earnings that narrowly missed expectations. Excluding items, the natural foods retailer earned $9.4 million, or 23 cents a share, on sales of $504.7 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of 24 cents a share on sales of $484.6 million. A year ago the company earned $7 million, or 17 cents a share, on sales of $393.2 million. United Foods said that its acquisition of Select Nutrition Distributors hurt earnings by less than a penny during the quarter; fuel costs affected earnings by 1 cent a share compared with expected costs. Shares traded down $1.27 to $29.90.

Shares of

Dycom Industries

(DY) - Get Report

fell 9.8% after the provider of engineering, construction and maintenance services to the telecom industry posted second-quarter earnings that fell short of expectations and warned that third-quarter results would be lower than expected as well. The company earned $7.4 million, or 15 cents a share, during the second quarter on sales of $224.5 million.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 18 cents a share on sales of $218.6 million. Looking ahead, Dycom forecast third-quarter earnings of 23 cents to 28 cents a share on sales of $235 million to $250 million. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 32 cents a share on sales of $254.2 million. Shares traded down $2.65 to $24.30.

Despite posting fourth-quarter results that were better than expected and unveiling a $20 million share-repurchase plan,

Trammell Crow

(TCC)

fell 3.7% on Tuesday. The commercial real estate services company earned $27.95 million, or 77 cents a share, on sales of $248.5 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of 52 cents a share on sales of $232.5 million. A year ago the company earned $15 million, or 41 cents a share, on sales of $209.2 million. The company's results were helped by strong growth in its global services business. Shares traded down 71 cents to $18.64.

Shares of

Steven Madden

(SHOO) - Get Report

fell 8.8% after the shoemaker posted fourth-quarter earnings that were better than expected but warned that 2005 earnings would be challenged by several factors. The company posted fourth-quarter earnings of $400,000, or 3 cents a share, on sales of $84.5 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of 2 cents a share on sales of $67.1 million. A year ago, the company earned $2.6 million, or 18 cents a share, on sales of $71.1 million.

Steven Madden said that gross margin fell to 32.2% during the quarter, down significantly from 38.2% a year ago. The decline in margins was due to weak boot sales, which led to heavy discounting, and higher-than-expected cost of goods sold, related to freight costs and sourcing from certain countries. Looking ahead, Steven Madden said that it expects margin pressure on its wholesale business and higher cost of goods sold to continue during 2005. As a result, the company expects 2005 earnings of 65 cents to 68 cents a share on flat sales growth. The one-analyst estimate called for the company to earn $1.05 a share during 2005. Shares traded down $1.64 to $17.04.

NYSE volume leaders included

Elan

(ELN)

, down 3 cents to $7.97;

Nortel

( NT), up 22 cents to $2.90;

Lucent

( LU), up 10 cents to $3.17;

Exxon Mobil

(XOM) - Get Report

, down $1.21 to $62.10;

Pfizer

(PFE) - Get Report

, up 32 cents to $26.61;

Qwest

(Q)

, up 15 cents to $4.05;

Time Warner

(TWX)

, up 36 cents to $17.59; and

May Department Stores

( MAY), up $1.64 to $36.15.

Nasdaq

volume leaders included

Intel

(INTC) - Get Report

, up 63 cents to $24.62;

Sirius Satellite Radio

(SIRI) - Get Report

, up 32 cents to $5.89;

Microsoft

(MSFT) - Get Report

, up 12 cents to $25.28;

Biogen Idec

(BIIB) - Get Report

, up $2.61 to $41.26; and

Cisco

(CSCO) - Get Report

, up 8 cents to $17.50.

Loading ...