Stocks to Watch: NOK, BTY, VOD, GLW, WY, FDX, NWS
Corning
(GLW) - Get Corning Incorporated Report
expects second-quarter earnings before special items to be 78 cents to 80 cents a share, "well above" the
First Call/Thomson Financial
10-analyst estimate of 69 cents a share.
The company, which expects revenue growth of about 80% for its
Photonic Technology
unit, said it continues to have "strong" demand for its optical fiber and cable, photonic modules and components and flat-panel glass products. Corning also said it is focusing on capacity expansions and integrating acquisitions.
Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures
British Telecommunications
(BTY)
and
Vodafone Airtouch
(VOD) - Get Vodafone Group Plc Report
confirmed they are working together to acquire additional shares in Spain's second-biggest cell phone firm
Airtel Movil
.
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Under the agreement, Vodafone, which currently has a 21.7% stake in Airtel, has the option to buy up to 55%. If its holding exceeds this amount, British Telecom, which has a 17.8% stake in Airtel, has the option to acquire the excess.
Online marketing firm
Engage
(ENGA)
, a majority-owned unit of Internet incubator
CMGI
(CMGI)
, announced that it will buy marketing systems provider
MediaBridge Technologies
in a stock swap worth $268.25 million.
Bankrupt local exchange communications carrier
GST Telecommunications
(GSTX)
announced that it will go ahead with an open auction for all its assets instead of a sale to
Time Warner Telecom
(TWTC)
after the two companies failed to reach an agreement.
Maverick Tube
(MAVK)
will buy Canada's
Prudential Steel
for about $483 million in an all-stock deal that will make it North America's largest producer of welded tubular goods and line pipe for the energy industry.
Based on Friday's closing prices, Prudential shareholders will receive the equivalent of 0.52 of a Maverick share for each share held or $15.99 a share. The shares will be exchangeable, at each holder's option, for Maverick common shares on a one-for-one basis. When the takeover is completed, Chesterfield, Mo.-based Maverick will own about 34.6 million diluted shares outstanding, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion based on the June 9 closing price of 30 3/4. Maverick shareholders will hold about 53% of the new company and Prudential shareholders, about 47%.
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report
formed a product alliance with
Thomson
(TMS)
and DirectTV to market a system that will integrate digital programming, Internet access, interactive TV and digital video recording in one package.
In a contract valued at $900 million,
Nokia
(NOK) - Get Nokia Corporation Sponsored American Depositary Shares Report
will supply a full GSM network expansion to Turkish mobile operator Telsim.
Nokia said the order, in which it will upgrade Telsim's GSM900 network with base stations, switching equipment and related technology, is the largest ever for its network unit. In a release, Nokia said the deal will enable Telsim to expand from its current 3 million subscribers to a further 1.5 million prepaid customers.
Northrop Grumman
(NOC) - Get Northrop Grumman Corporation Report
agreed to sell its commercial jet aircraft parts unit to private investment house
Carlyle Group
for $843 million in cash and securities, plus the assumption of $400 million in unfunded benefits, according to the
Journal
, citing people familiar with the situation.
The newspaper also reported that Northrop and
BAE Systems
are considered finalists in an auction to buy
Lockheed Martin's
(LMT) - Get Lockheed Martin Corporation Report
defense-electronics assets, expected to bring about $1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the bidding.
Additionally, Northrop has agreed to buy military systems manufacturer
Comptek Research
(CTK) - Get CooTek (Cayman) Inc. Report
for $155.6 million in stock.
The
Journal
reported
Sempra Energy
and
PG&E
(PCG) - Get Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Report
are forming a partnership with Mexico's
Proxima Gas
to build a $230 million 212-mile natural-gas pipeline from Arizona through southeastern California to the Baja California region of northwestern Mexico. The pipeline will boost pipeline capacity between the U.S. and Mexico by about 20%.
United Parcel Service
(UPS) - Get United Parcel Service Inc. Report
is in talks to buy two logistics companies in Asia and Latin America,
The Wall Street Journal
reported people familiar with the situation as saying. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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Offerings and stock actions
Weyerhaeuser
(WY) - Get Weyerhaeuser Company Report
announced it has completed the previously announced plan to repurchase 12 million shares of common stock and that its board authorized the repurchase of an additional 10 million shares. The company expects to complete the repurchase program within a year.
Steven Rogel, the company's chairman, president and CEO, said, "Given the performance of the company, we continue to feel that our stock is undervalued."
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Analyst actions
This morning,
Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette
upgraded
UAL
(UAL) - Get United Airlines Holdings Inc. Report
, the parent company of United Airlines, to market performance from underperformance.
McDonald's
(MCD) - Get McDonald's Corporation Report
was downgraded to neutral from buy at
Bear Stearns
.
Upgrades
Aetna
(AET)
: price target UP to 87 at
Salomon Smith Barney
.
Crescent Real Estate
(CEI) - Get Camber Energy Inc. Report
: intermediate-term rating UP to accumulate from neutral at
Merrill Lynch
; price target: 22.
ExxonMobil
(XOM) - Get Exxon Mobil Corporation Report
: UP to buy from attractive at
PaineWebber
.
Micron Technologies
(MU) - Get Micron Technology Inc. Report
: UP to strong buy from hold at
ING Barings
; price target: 150-160.
M.S. Carriers
(MSCA)
: UP to buy from hold at ING Barings.
Owens & Minor
(OMI) - Get Owens & Minor Inc. Report
: UP to buy from outperform at
Lehman Brothers
; price target: 18.
Restoration Hardware
(RSTO)
: UP to buy at
Chase Hambrecht and Quist
; price target: 12.
Torch Energy Royalty Trust
: UP to buy from neutral at Salomon Smith Barney.
Downgrades
America Online
(AOL)
: DOWN to buy from strong buy at
Wit Soundview
.
Biopure
(BPUR)
: DOWN to market performer from buy at
J.P. Morgan
.
Compuware
(CPWR)
: DOWN to neutral from buy at
SG Cowen
.
Guidant
(GDT)
: 2000 earnings DOWN to $1.57 per share from $1.62; 2001 earnings DOWN to $1.87 from $1.92; price target to 65 from 75 at CSFB.
Sepracor
(SEPR)
: DOWN to market performer from buy at
Bank of America
.
Solutia
(SOI) - Get Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure Inc. Class A Report
: 2000 earnings estimate DOWN to $1.40 from $1.90. 2001 earnings estimate DOWN to $1.70 from $2.10 at
Goldman Sachs
.
Waddell & Reed
(WDR) - Get Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. Class A Report
: DOWN to accumulate from buy at Merrill Lynch.
Initiations
iBeam Broadcasting
(IBEM)
: NEW buy at Bear Stearns; price target: 39.
New Focus
(NUFO)
: NEW buy at CSFB; price target: 105.
NRG Energy
(NRG) - Get NRG Energy Inc. Report
: INITIATED outperform at
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
. Price target: 22.
Software manufacturer
Citrix Systems
(CTXS) - Get Citrix Systems Inc. Report
announced that it expects second-quarter earnings to be below analysts' expectations. The company foresees earnings per share to come in between nine and eleven cents, behind Wall Street's 21 cent estimate.
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Miscellany
This summer,
FedEx
(FDX) - Get FedEx Corporation Report
plans to launch a service that will let companies build online stores through the express-delivery company. The move is an effort to strengthen FedEx's ties to small and medium-size businesses, according to
The Wall Street Journal
.
The newspaper also said FedEx plans to link its delivery and tracking services to each new online store. FedEx will use Web-based applications from Chicago-based Orbit Commerce. Orbit's chief executive, Paul Reilly, said customers will be able to build a site from scratch in less than 10 minutes.
News Corp.
(NWS) - Get News Corporation Report
is expected this week to announce the appointment of Chase Carey, co-chief operating officer at the company and chief executive of
Fox Television
as well as aide to chairman Rupert Murdoch, to head the satellite-television venture it is forming called
Platco
, the
Journal
reported on Monday.
Citing people familiar with the situation, the newspaper said News Corp. is in the process of consolidating its various global satellite-TV assets into a newly created company, which it plans to take public.
The North Face's
(TNFI)
CEO Geoffrey Lurie is stepping down, the sporting goods new owner
VF
(VF)
said . VF, which acquired the company last month, said president Karl Heinz Sulzburger will be responsible for running all operations effective immediately.
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