Thursday's Small-Cap Winners & Losers
Updated from 2:34 p.m. EDT with new stock prices
As earnings season kicked into gear Thursday, small-cap stocks joined the broader market for a climb into positive territory. The Russell 2000 added 1.2% to 707.02, and the S&P SmallCap 600 gained 0.9% to 373.29.
Among the winners,
Ikon Office Solutions
( IKN) jumped 26.5% to $9.92. The Malvern, Pa.-based provider of document management solutions raised guidance for the second quarter, forecasting earnings per share between 22 cents and 24 cents, up from a previous look of 16 cents to 19 cents. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for 18 cents. Cross Research upgraded the stock to buy from hold with a price target of $11.
Force Protection
(FRPT) - Get Report
, a Ladson, S.C. maker of blast-protected vehicles, saw shares rise 31.6% to $3.33. The company notified Congress that it will sell 157 of its Cougar armoured vehicles to the U.K. military. The pending contract will be worth about $125 million if all options are exercised, Force Protection said.
Meanwhile, shares of Minneapolis'
Apogee Enterprises
(APOG) - Get Report
tacked on 17.8% to $19.84. The designer and developer of glass products, services and systems posted fourth-quarter income of $14.4 million, or 50 cents a share, vs. $9.7 million, or 34 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. The Street was looking for EPS of 45 cents.
Women's apparel retailer
Christopher & Banks
(CBK) - Get Report
shares surged 16.2% to $11.43. The Plymouth, Minn., company announced a fourth-quarter loss of $8.3 million, or 23 cents a share, vs. a profit of $1.9 million, or 5 cents a share, a year ago. The 23-cent per-share loss includes one-time charges totaling 16 cents. The Street, which typically excludes one-time items from its estimates, was looking for a loss of 8 cents a share. Christopher & Banks said it expects first-quarter EPS to be between 25 cents and 27 cents. Analysts are looking for earnings at the low end of that range.
On the losing side,
Super Micro Computer
(SMCI) - Get Report
shares dropped 19.1% to $7.63. The provider of high-performance server solutions forecast third-quarter results for its fiscal 2008. Super Micro predicted revenue of $136.5 million to $137 million and EPS between 12 cents and 13 cents. Two analysts polled by Thomson are looking for EPS of 19 cents.
Also falling,
Tween Brands
( TWB), a New Albany, Ohio vendor of outfits for tweens, cut its first-quarter outlook. Tween said it sees EPS between 12 cents and 17 cents, below the consensus estimate of 37 cents. Shares tumbled 22.4% to $17.98.
Finally,
The Pantry
(PTRY)
continued yesterday's decline on earnings, falling 29.9% to $11.35. Friedman Billings downgraded the Sanford, N.C.-based convenience store operator to market perform from outperform.