Midday Movers: Even on a Busy Earnings Day, Big Mergers Can Be Big News
Earnings news continued to dominate the day but
Engage Technologies
(ENGA)
showed there were signs of life in merger land too. The stock soared 20 3/8, or 26.6%, to 96 7/8 after the company said it would acquire
Adsmart
and
Flycast Communications
from majority owner
CMGI
(CMGI)
for 32 million shares. Shares of CMGI climbed 1/4 to 122 9/16. Based on Engage's closing price of 77 yesterday, the deal is valued at about $2.6 billion.
Lucent
(LU)
, which is due to report earnings today, was also engaging in a little M&A activity this morning. The stock was rising 2 7/16 to 53 15/16 after it agreed to acquire privately held
Agere
for about $415 million in stock, a deal which would allow Lucent to move into the market for programmable semiconductors for data networks.
Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures
Barr Laboratories
(BRL)
added 1 1/4 to 40 1/4 and
DuPont
(DD) - Get Report
slipped 9/16 to 64 1/16 after its subsidiary DuPont Pharmaceuticals agreed to jointly develop and market five proprietary products and drop pending litigation over Barr's generic version of DuPont's anti-clotting drug, Coumadin.
GTE's
(GTE) - Get Report
wireless unit announced a cell phone pact with
Infospace.com
(INSP) - Get Report
. Shares of GTE gained 1 9/16 to 69 7/16 while Infospace popped 5 to 135 1/8.
Omega Research
(OMGA)
rose 1 7/32, or 18.3%, to 7 7/8 and
OnlineTrading.com
(LINE)
lost 1 1/4, or 10%, to 11 7/16 after the companies agreed to merge in a $300 million deal.
ServiceMaster
(SVM) - Get Report
inched up 9/16 to 14 3/16 after it said it would join forces with venture capital firm
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
to form an Internet company to deliver home services, products and information online. ServiceMaster will initially own 84% of the new company, called
WeServeHomes.com
, while Kleiner, with a $15 million investment, will own the remaining 16%.
Earnings/revenue reports and previews
(
Earnings estimates from First Call/Thomson Financial; earnings reported on a diluted basis unless otherwise specified.
)
America Online
(AOL)
was sliding 1 1/8 to 63 13/16 after it posted second-quarter earnings last night of 9 cents a share, a penny better than the 32-analyst estimate and up from the year-ago 4-cent profit, which has been adjusted to reflect two stock splits.
The Internet giant said the online shopping and advertising boom pushed revenue up 41% to $1.6 billion, while subscribers to its flagship service reached 20.5 million, a 1.8 million increase from the first quarter. On Jan.10, AOL said it had entered a $144 billion deal to buy
Time Warner
(TWX)
.
Separately,
HearMe
(HEAR) - Get Report
hopped 5 7/8, or 26.9%, to 27 11/16 after it said its new personal communication service would be used on AOL's ICQ unit.
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Message Boards.
Advanced Micro Devices
(AMD) - Get Report
was moving up 7/8 to 41 7/8 after it reported fourth-quarter earnings late Wednesday which include restructuring and other charges of 43 cents a share. The report was up from the year-ago 15 cents a share. The 20-analyst estimate, which does not include charges, was for a penny.
Gruntal
raised its intermediate-term rating on AMD to outperform from market performer and upped its 2000 earnings estimates to $1.97 from $1.00.
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TSC
Message Boards.
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
gained 17, or 16.3%, to 121 after it posted fiscal first-quarter earnings last night, excluding items, of $1.00 a share, well ahead of the 21-analyst estimate of 90 cents and up from the year-ago 95 cents.
Credit Suisse First Boston
upped its 2000 earnings estimates on Apple to $3.45 from $3.25.
Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette
raised Apple's price target to 120 from 100 and reiterated its top pick rating.
Arco
(ARC) - Get Report
added 5/16 to 75 3/8 after it reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.64, beating the 14-analyst estimate of $1.49 and the year-ago 22 cents.
Boise Cascade
(BCC) - Get Report
slipped 15/16 to 40 despite posting fourth-quarter operating earnings of 70 cents, better than the nine-analyst estimate of 68 cents and above the year-ago 8 cents.
Dime Bancorp
(DME)
lost 3/16 to 13 7/8 after it reported fourth-quarter earnings of 56 cents, in line with the 12-analyst estimate and a penny better than the year-ago earnings.
Finova
(FNV) - Get Report
was unchanged at 35 after it reported fourth-quarter earnings of 89 cents a share, in line with the 18-analyst estimate and up from the year-ago 65 cents.
Fortune Brands
fell 13/16 to 32 3/16 after it reported fourth-quarter earnings of 67 cents a share, in line with the 12-analyst estimate and up from the year-ago 55 cents.
General Electric
(GE) - Get Report
dropped 5 7/32 to 143 1/2 after it reported fourth-quarter earnings of 93 cents a share, a penny ahead of the 13-analyst estimate and up from the year-ago 80 cents. Revenue in the quarter totaled $32.9 billion, up 15% from the year-ago $28.6 billion.
General Motors
(GM) - Get Report
gained 1 5/8 to 83 1/8 after it reported fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $1.86 a share, above the 16-analyst estimate of $1.81 but down from the year-ago $2.48. Fourth-quarter income totaled $1.1 billion, down from the year-ago $1.7 billion.
Greenpoint Financial
(GPT)
slipped 9/16 to 21 3/4 after it reported fourth-quarter earnings of 62 cents, a penny better than the 14-analyst estimate.
IBM
(IBM) - Get Report
rose 2 1/2 to 122 after last night posting fourth-quarter earnings of $1.12 a share, ahead of the
First Call/Thomson Financial
24-analyst estimate of $1.06 but down from the year-ago $1.24.
IBM said fourth-quarter net income was $2.1 billion, down from the year-ago $2.3 billion. Today,
Merrill Lynch
upgraded IBM to intermediate-term accumulate from neutral.
Big Blue's Chairman and CEO,
Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.
, said in a statement:
As we had anticipated, the Y2K issue hit us hard in the fourth quarter. Many of our large customers -- who handle much of the world's critical data -- had locked down their computer systems as they prepared for the Y2K transition. While we are pleased that this transition is proceeding smoothly for our customers, these lockdowns had a significant negative impact on our revenues and earnings in the quarter.
Lattice Semiconductor
(LSCC) - Get Report
lifted 5 1/16, or 9.5%, to 58 1/4 after it posted fiscal third-quarter earnings before goodwill of 42 cents a share, above the 16-analyst estimate of 37 cents and up from the year-ago 22 cents.
Mercantile Bankshares
(MRBK) - Get Report
fell 5/16 to 29 13/16 after it reported fourth-quarter earnings of 59 cents a share, in line with the 16-analyst estimate and up from the year-ago 53 cents a share.
Monsanto
(MTC) - Get Report
rose 5/8 to 36 7/8 after it said it sees fourth-quarter earnings-per-share coming in better than most analysts' expectations. The 16-analyst estimate calls for earnings of 15 cents a share. Monsanto said sales of Cerebrex reached $1.9 billion in 1999.
Northwest Airlines
(NWAC)
inched up 1/16 to 21 9/16 after it posted fourth-quarter earnings of 31 cents a share, ahead of the 11-analyst estimate of 24 cents.
Peoples Energy
(PGL)
lost 5/8 to 31 13/16 after it reported first-quarter earnings of 83 cents a share, above the six-analyst estimate of 81 cents and the year-ago 66 cents.
PPG Industries
(PPG) - Get Report
lost 1 3/16 to 59 1/8 after it reported fourth-quarter income of 93 cents, beating the 12-analyst estimate of 91 cents, but just under the year-ago earnings of 95 cents.
Sears
(S) - Get Report
slipped 1 1/2 to 32 1/4 despite reporting fourth-quarter earnings of $1.98 a share, beating the 15-analyst estimate of $1.77 and up from the year-ago $1.48, which excludes items.
Southern
(SO) - Get Report
slipped 5/16 to 23 5/8 after it posted operating earnings for the fourth quarter of 22 cents a share, in line with the 15-analyst estimate, but down from the year-ago 27 cents.
Sunoco
(SUN) - Get Report
gained 1/4 to 23 3/4 after it reported fourth-quarter earnings of 18 cents, beating the 19-analyst estimate of 10 cents but down from the year-ago 55 cents.
UnionBanCal
(UB)
gained 5/16 to 34 5/8 after it posted fourth-quarter net income of 83 cents a share, ahead of the 16-analyst estimate of 77 cents and up from the year-ago 65 cents.
Offerings and stock actions
Dutch semiconductor equipment company
ASM Lithography
(ASML) - Get Report
said it planned to propose a 3-for-1 stock split in March. Shares jumped 7 3/4, or 6%, to 136 3/4.
Natural MicroSystems
(NMSS)
climbed 4 7/8, or 12.2%, to 44 15/16 after it said it planned to file for a public offering of 3 million common shares.
Robotic Vision
(ROBV)
slipped 7/8, or 6.2%, to 13 1/4 after it said it would file to offer 5 million common shares and will use the offering to repay about $35.3 million in debt.
USA Networks
(USAI) - Get Report
climbed 1 1/2 to 53 1/2 after it said it would split its stock 2-for-1.
Analyst actions
DLJ raised its rating on
Aflac
(AFL) - Get Report
to buy from market perform. Shares gained 2 9/16, or 6.8%, to 40 3/16.
CIBC World Markets
cut its rating on
Alcoa
(AA) - Get Report
to hold from buy. Alcoa shed 3 15/16 to 74 1/4.
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
raised
Altera
(ALTR) - Get Report
to strong buy from outperform. Altera popped 10 1/8, or 17%, to 69 9/16.
CIBC started coverage of
Amkor
(AMKR) - Get Report
with a strong buy rating and a 12-month price target of 47 to 54. Amkor gained 3 1/8, or 9.9%, to 34 5/8.
Morgan Stanley cut its rating on
BJ Services
(BJS)
to neutral from outperform. Shares lost 2 3/8 to 46 9/16.
ABN Amro
initiated coverage of
Bell Atlantic
(BEL)
with a buy rating and set a 12-month price target of 85. Bell Atlantic rose 1 1/4 to 58 7/8.
ABN Amro downgraded
Boston Scientific
(BSX) - Get Report
to outperform from buy. Shares lost 1 1/8 to 21 9/16.
J.P. Morgan
initiated coverage of
Commerce One
(CMRC)
with a buy rating and set a 12-month price target of 250 on the stock. Commerce One climbed 6 15/16 to 183 7/8.
Credit Suisse First Boston
raised its 2000 earnings-per-share view on
i2 Technologies
(ITWO)
to 71 cents from 65 cents. Shares soared 30 1/2, or 14.2%, to 246
US Bancorp Piper Jaffrey
upped its price target on
Metris
(MXT)
to 43 from 38. Metris moved up 2 1/16, or 5.3%, to 40 15/16.
CSFB initiated coverage of
Millennium Pharmaceuticals
(MLNM)
with a buy rating and set a 12-month price target of 200. Shares jumped 14 3/16, or 9.1%, to 171 5/8.
Salomon Smith Barney
upgraded
PaineWebber
(PWJ)
to buy from outperform. PaineWebber shares inched up 7/16 to 38 1/16.
Gruntal upped
Warner-Lambert's
(WLA)
2000 earnings estimates to $2.49 from $2.39. Warner-Lambert slipped 3/16 to 94 5/16.
Goldman Sachs
cuts its 2000 earnings estimate for
Washington Mutual
(WM) - Get Report
to $3.65 from $3.75. Washington Mutual lost 1 9/16, or 6.7%, to 21 11/16.
Morgan Stanley started coverage of
StarTek
(SRT) - Get Report
with an outperform rating and a price target of 37. StarTek sailed up 3 5/8, or 12.5%, to 32 9/16.
Miscellany
The
Chicago Board of Trade
is ditching its member-owned structure and splitting itself into two companies: open outcry and electronic trading,
Reuters
reports. The news agency said the exchange's Chairman, David Brennan, wrote in a letter to CBOT members that current members will become shareholders in the two new companies.
Sunterra
(OWN)
lost 2 3/8, or 39.3%, to 3 3/4 after saying it expects fourth-quarter profits will range from 1 to 8 cents a share before a special charge, sharply below last year's 31 cents a share, due to unspecified adverse factors. The company also appointed Richard Harrington CEO, replacing Steven Miller, who will remain as an adviser.
The Heard on the Street column in
The Wall Street Journal
reports that some on Wall Street say lately there's been a change of attitude among investors toward the Internet sector, which could signal the beginning of the long-anticipated winnowing of Net companies by investors. The column quotes widely followed Internet analyst Henry Blodget at
Merrill Lynch
as saying: "Now investors can pick and choose carefully and decide which companies are around for the long haul and which only came public because there was such a rage for anything Internet. There is not a reason to own the stock of a weak Internet company anymore."
