Carnival, Fairfield Call Whole Thing Off; VA Linux Revises Results

Carnival

(CCL) - Get Report

and

Fairfield Communities

(FFD)

canceled a month-old planned merger due to a steep drop in Carnival's stock price that eroded the deal's value by about 45%. Originally valued at $725 million in stock, the proposed deal was worth about $400 million based on Carnival's current stock price.

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

VA Linux

(LNUX)

revised its second-quarter results, released yesterday. The company posted a revised loss of 20 cents a share, a penny narrower than the four-analyst estimate and smaller than the year-ago pro forma loss of 26 cents. VA Linux said the original figure it posted included deferred compensation charges and other noncash charges. The earlier news sent the stock down 11 3/4, or 9.4%, to 113 in regular trading today.

Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures

Keyspan Energy

(KSE)

said it will retain its equity position in

Houston Exploration

(THX)

for the foreseeable future. Keyspan had reviewed available alternatives including a possible sale of all or part of its stake in Houston Exploration.

Offerings and stock actions

Hasbro

(HAS) - Get Report

, which makes G.I. Joe action figures, Monopoly and the oh-so-cute

Furby creature, said it would buy back 17.25 million common shares, making it the latest in a slew of companies that have recently announced buybacks.

ResMed

(RMD) - Get Report

set a 2-for-1 stock split.