Biogen Set to Beat Street's Earnings Estimate; ECNs Will Form After-Hours Trading Network
Biogen
undefined
said it anticipates third-quarter earnings to be roughly 38 cents a share, slightly edging out the analysts' consensus estimate of 36 cents. The company attributes its solid earnings to the strong prescription growth for its multiple sclerosis drug
Avonex
.
Eight electronic communications networks have banded together to form an extended-hours trading network,
CNBC
reported. The business cable station said the network's ECN's will include
Archipelago ECN
,
Island ECN
and
Reuters'
undefined
Instinet
. See
TheStreet Recommends
TSC's
coverage of the agreement for more information.
After-Hours Markets
MarketXT, formerly Eclipse Trading, offers after-hours trading to retail clients of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter'sundefinedDiscover Brokerage and Mellon Bank'sundefinedDreyfus Brokerage Services. Clients can trade 200 of the most actively traded New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market issues, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. EDT Monday through Thursday.
TheStreet.com
updates the most active issues on both MarketXT and Island ECN in Got a Minute? and in the Evening Update.
TSC
also reports how MarketXT's three most active Nasdaq-listed issues finished the Island ECN session
.
--
Eric Gillin
In other postclose news (earnings estimates from
First Call/Thomson Financial
; earnings reported on a diluted basis unless otherwise specified):
Earnings/revenue reports and previews
Burlington Coat Factory
undefined
reported a first-quarter loss of 14 cents a share, better than both the five-analyst estimate of a 20-cent loss and the year-ago 24-cent loss.
Helen of Troy
(HELE)
said, due to soft sales, it expects to report second-quarter earnings between 26 and 28 cents a share, missing analysts' consensus estimate of 30 cents and possibly the year-ago 26 cents.
Jabil Circuit
(JBL)
posted fourth-quarter earnings of 30 cents a share, in line with the 27-analyst estimate of 30 cents and better than the year-ago 17 cents.
Respironics
(RESP)
said that it could report first-quarter earnings close to 14 cents a share, missing both the analysts' consensus estimate of 18 cents and the year-ago 19 cents.
Tarrant Apparel
(TAGS)
warned investors that it expects to report third-quarter earnings between 30 cents a share and 33 cents, greatly missing both the six-analyst estimate of 58 cents and the year-ago 49 cents. The company blamed increased fabric costs and staffing for the disappointing results.
Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures
Informix
(IFMX)
said it forged a deal to acquire
Cloudscape
in a stock transaction valued at $86.9 million. The deal calls for Informix to pay 10 million shares for all of Cloudscape's outstanding shares and options.
Longs Drug Stores
(LDG)
announced its plans to acquire 38
Rite-Aid
(RAD)
stores for $186 million. The transaction is expected to be completed in October and will bring its total stores in California to 419.
Photronics
(PLAB)
said it plans to purchase
Align-Rite
undefined
in a stock deal valued at $155 million. Photronics said the transaction calls for it to pay Align-Rite stockholders the equivalent of $23.09 per share, handing over roughly 16% of its stock.
Starwood Hotels
(HOT)
said it has tagged hotel properties with a combined worth of about $500 million for a possible sale. Starwood said the potential sales would take place between now and Q2 2000. Profits would be used to repurchase outstanding shares.
Offerings and stock action
Hambrecht & Quist
priced a 4.1 million-share initial public offering of
Garden.com
in mid-range at $12.
Harcourt General
(H)
and
Neiman Marcus
(NMG)
said stockholders favored a spinoff of the majority of Harcourt's interest in Nieman Marcus. The spinoff calls for Harcourt to issue 21.4 million of the 26.4 million Nieman common shares it holds to its stockholders. The Nieman shares given to the Harcourt shareholders would be converted into Class B shares, electing 82% of Nieman's board.
Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown
priced a 4.6 million-share initial public offering of
Luminant Worldwide
above its $15 to $17 range at $18 a share.
Vitesse Semiconductor
(VTSS)
set a 2-for-1 stock split which would be paid on Oct. 21, to shareholders of record Sept. 30.
Miscellany
American Home Products
(AHP)
said it has been given the green light to sell its insomnia remedy,
Sonata
, which received
FDA
approval on Aug. 16. The company said the
Drug Enforcement Administration
labelled Sonata a Schedule IV controlled substance, a designation all sleeping pills need prior to being marketing.
Separately, the
FDA
said it gave its stamp of approval to
Rapamune
, a new drug that aids in the acceptance of kidney transplants. American Home Products and
Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories
manufacture the drug.
Glenayre Technologies
(GEMS)
said that it plans to cut 330 jobs, or 20% of its workforce, which would result in a third-quarter restructuring charge of between $11 and $13 million. Glenayre said the workforce reduction would take place over the next two quarters, and includes 200 cuts in its Vancouver operations.
Pharmeutical Resources
(PRX)
said the FDA awarded marketing approval to
ticlopidine
, a generic version of
Roche Holding's
Ticlid
that decreases the possibility of thrombotic stroke.
