Wednesday's Winners & Losers: Chaparral Steel

Steel-beam maker Chaparral Steel soared after saying it was exploring a possible sale.

Author:: Mark Martinez
Publish date:: Apr 25, 2007 4:45 PM EDT

Steel-beam maker Chaparral Steel soared after saying it was exploring a possible sale.

Updated from 11:35 a.m. EDT

Chaparral Steel

(CHAP) - Get Report

was among the

Nasdaq's

winners Wednesday, as shares jumped 12.3% after the steel-beam maker said that it is exploring strategic alternatives, including the possible sale of the company.

The company, which has hired Goldman Sachs to help in the review process, said other alternatives include strategic partnerships, acquisitions, recapitalizations or mergers. "The company will only pursue transactions that reflect the full value of this great company," the company said. "To capture that value, all strategic alternatives will be considered." Shares closed up $7.90 to $71.87.

Arkansas Best

(ABFS)

rose 5.9% after the transportation company posted better-than-expected first-quarter results. The company earned $4.8 million, or 19 cents a share, on revenue of $422.6 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 15 cents a share on revenue of $414.8 million. During the year-earlier quarter, the company earned $5.8 million, or 23 cents a share, on revenue of $425 million. Shares closed up $2.32 to $41.52.

Shares of

O'Reilly Automotive

(ORLY) - Get Report

jumped 5.8% after the auto-parts retailer posted first-quarter results that were better than expected. The company earned $48.4 million, or 42 cents a share, on revenue of $613.1 million. Analysts expected earnings of 40 cents a share on revenue of $604.5 million. During the year-earlier period, the company earned $40.6 million, or 35 cents a share, on revenue of $536.5 million. Shares closed up $2.03 to $36.92.

Western Union

(WU) - Get Report

fell 5.8% after the company posted in-line first-quarter earnings on lower-than-expected revenue. The company earned $193.2 million, or 25 cents a share, on revenue of $1.13 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of 25 cents a share on revenue of $1.15 billion. During the year-earlier period, the company earned $219.8 million, or 29 cents a share, on revenue of $1.04 billion.

Looking ahead, Western Union still expects full-year earnings of $1.07 to $1.11 a share but now sees revenue growth of 10% to 11%. Previously, the company expected revenue growth of 11% to 13%. Shares closed down $1.34 to $21.59.

Shares of

Teledyne Technologies

(TDY) - Get Report

soared 11.2% after the maker of aerospace equipment posted first-quarter earnings that were well above expectations. The company earned $20.5 million, or 57 cents a share, on revenue of $385.6 million. Analysts expected earnings of 50 cents a share on revenue of $383.3 million. During the year-earlier quarter, the company earned $17.9 million, or 51 cents a share, on revenue of $330.2 million.

Looking ahead, Teledyne sees second-quarter earnings of 58 cents to 61 cents a share, above the 57 cents a share that analysts projected. Shares closed up $4.62 to $45.81.

NYSE

volume leaders included

Corning

(GLW) - Get Report

, up $1.25 to $24.98;

Motorola

( MOT), up 27 cents to $17.91;

Pfizer

(PFE) - Get Report

, up 17 cents to $26.32;

Alcoa

(AA) - Get Report