
Stocks in Motion: Alcoa
Updated from 11:37 a.m. EST
Shares of
Buffalo Wild Wings
(BWLD)
were among the
Nasdaq's
winners Tuesday, rising 5.9% after the company said fourth-quarter numbers would top expectations.
The restaurant operator now expects to earn 25 cents to 28 cents a share on sales of $48.5 million. Previously, the company said it would make 17 cents to 19 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had been expecting earnings of 21 cents a share on sales of $47.7 million. Buffalo Wild Wings attributed the revised guidance to better same-store sales and lower poultry and insurance costs. Shares traded up $2.10 to $37.60.
Alcoa
(AA) - Get Report
fell 2.7% after the aluminum company's fourth-quarter results fell short of expectations. Alcoa cited dollar weakness and rising raw material costs. Excluding items, the company made 39 cents a share on sales of $6.04 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of 41 cents a share on sales of $6.1 billion. Shares traded down 82 cents to $29.65.
Shares of
Select Comfort
(SCSS)
rose 10.6% after the company said its fourth quarter would top expectations. The mattress maker now expects earnings of 27 cents to 28 cents a share on sales of $149 million. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 26 cents a share on sales of $145.2 million. In early December, shares of Select Comfort cratered after the company warned that fourth-quarter sales would come in at $143 million to $149 million, down from its previous guidance of $153 million to $158 million. At the time, Select Comfort cited weak sales around Thanksgiving. Shares traded up $1.81 to $18.96.
Flowers Foods
(FLO) - Get Report
fell 7.9% after the company warned that 2004 earnings would fall below expectations. The marketer of packaged bakery goods now expects to earn $1.21 to $1.24 a share, down from previous guidance of $1.30 to $1.34 a share. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.33 a share. Sales, meanwhile, are now expected to be between $1.55 billion and $1.56 billion, above its previous view of $1.54 billion to $1.55 billion. Analysts had been expecting sales of $1.54 billion. The company blamed the profit shortfall on a late-year surge in its stock that led employees to take advantage of the company's stock appreciation rights plan. Shares traded down $2.36 to $27.60.
Shares of
Books-A-Million
(BAMM)
rose 3.2% after the company raised its fourth-quarter earnings outlook by a penny. The book seller now expects earnings of 54 cents to 58 cents a share, including a gain on insurance recoveries. Strong holiday sales led to the upward revision. An analyst following the company had been expecting earnings of 51 cents a share. Shares traded up 30 cents to $9.56.
NYSE
volume leaders included
Advanced Micro Devices
(AMD) - Get Report
, down $5.27 to $14.86;
Nortel
( NT), up 14 cents to $3.48;
Lucent
( LU), down 4 cents to $3.48;
News Corp.
(NWS) - Get Report
, down 20 cents to $16.93;
Pfizer
(PFE) - Get Report
, down 29 cents to $26.15;
Hewlett-Packard
(HPQ) - Get Report
, down 76 cents to $20.05; and
General Electric
(GE) - Get Report
, down 51 cents to $35.40.
Nasdaq volume leaders included
Sirius Satellite Radio
(SIRI) - Get Report
, down 52 cents to $6.10;
Intel
(INTC) - Get Report
, down 34 cents to $22.54;
Taser
(TASR)
, down $5.95 to $14.10;
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
, down 7 cents to $26.73;
Oracle
(ORCL) - Get Report
, up 1 cent to $13.20;
Cisco
(CSCO) - Get Report
, down 8 cents to $18.64; and
Apple Computer
(AAPL) - Get Report
, down $4.40 to $64.56.