Stocks in Motion: Monarch
Updated from 11:48 a.m. EST
Shares of
Monarch Casino and Resort
(MCRI)
were among the
Nasdaq's
winners Monday, rising 12.6% after the company said fourth-quarter earnings and sales would top expectations.
The casino operator expects earnings of 36 cents a share on sales of $31 million. An analyst polled by Thomson First Call had been expecting 27 cents on sales of $29.5 million. A year ago the company earned 19 cents a share on sales of $28.3 million. The stronger results were fueled by improvements in casino, hotel and food and beverage operations. Shares traded up $4.08 to $36.55.
Electronics Boutique
( ELBO) fell 3.5% after the company said fourth-quarter earnings would fall below expectations. The video game retailer said earnings would fall to the low end of its previous estimate of $1.62 to $1.72 a share. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.69 a share. The company said an industrywide hardware shortage was "more significant" than it had originally anticipated, which affected its top line as well as margins. Shares traded down $1.36 to $37.47.
Shares of
St. Joe
(JOE)
rose 4.8% after the real estate company said its 2005 earnings would be better than expected. Excluding gains from conservation land sales, the company expects to earn between $1.35 and $1.50 a share. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.29 a share. "We expect good earnings from all major segments of the company," St. Joe said. Shares traded up $2.92 to $64.40.
Deckers Outdoor
(DECK)
fell 6.6% Monday, despite the company's prediction that fourth-quarter earnings and sales would exceed previous guidance. Deckers now expects fourth-quarter earnings to exceed its previous range of 47 cents to 51 cents a share on sales of $55 million to $60 million. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 51 cents a share on sales of $61.9 million. Strong demand for its UGG product line, improved deliveries from its factories and strong retail sell-through led to the improved outlook. Shares traded down $2.80 to $39.56.
Shares of
Hollywood Entertainment
( HLYW) rose 6.2% after the company agreed to be acquired by
Movie Gallery
( MOVI) for $1.2 billion in cash and debt. Movie Gallery will pay $13.25 a share in cash, or $850 million. The deal represents a small premium to Friday's closing price of $13.05. Previously,
Blockbuster
( BBI) had offered to buy Hollywood for $11.50 a share, which topped a competing offer of $10.25 a share from buyout firm Leonard Green & Partners. A combined Hollywood Entertainment and Movie Gallery would have sales of $2.5 billion and about 4,500 stores. Blockbuster, by comparison, operates some 9,000 stores. Shares of Hollywood traded up 81 cents to $13.86, while Movie Gallery traded up 95 cents to $20.02.
NYSE
volume leaders included
News Corp.
(NWS)
, down 52 cents to $17.13;
Fox Entertainment Group
(FOX)
, up $3.06 to $34.28;
Lucent
( LU), up 3 cents to $3.53;
Pfizer
(PFE)
, up 14 cents to $26.44;
Nortel
( NT), unchanged at $3.34;
Motorola
( MOT), up 29 cents to $16.98; and
Nokia
(NOK)
, up 32 cents to $15.57.
Nasdaq volume leaders included
Sirius Satellite Radio
(SIRI)
, down 48 cents to $6.62;
Aastrom Biosciences
undefined
, up 10 cents to $2.38;
Microsoft
(MSFT)
, up 13 cents to $26.80;
Intel
(INTC)
, up 8 cents to $22.88;
Oracle
(ORCL)
, down 14 cents to $13.19;
Cisco
(CSCO)
, unchanged at $18.72; and
Sun Microsystems
(SUNW)
, down 1 cent to $4.61.
