Apple, RedHat, SunPower Rise; Copart Falls

Bikram Pandey
23 Sep, 2010
New York City

Apple Inc gained more than 1% after analyst revised iPad sales estimate. Copart, Inc dropped 8% after the auto junk yard operator reported lower than expected sales. Scholastic Corp gained 5% on stock repurchase plan. SunPower Corp surged 8% on a new order.

[R]2:30 PM New York – Apple Inc gained more than 1% after analyst revised iPad sales estimate. Copart, Inc dropped 8% after the auto junk yard operator reported lower than expected sales. Scholastic Corp gained 5% on stock repurchase plan. SunPower Corp surged 8% on a new order.[/R]

Of the stocks in the Dow, 13 increased, 17 decreased and none were unchanged.

Of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Caterpillar Inc. led the gainers with a rise of 1.25% followed by increase in Hewlett-Packard Company of 2.00%, in Alcoa Inc. of 2.05%, in Intel Corporation of 1.17%, Kraft Foods Inc. of 0.48%.

The Walt Disney Company led the decliners with a fall of 1.29% followed by decline in The Boeing Company of 1.24%, in JPMorgan Chase & Co. of 1.18%, in General Electric Company of 1.15%, in Pfizer Inc of 0.70%.

Other Movers

Apple Inc ((AAPL)) surged close to 1.5% to $292.10 after Piper Jaffray analyst boosted 2011 iPad sales forecast to 21.5 million from 14.5 million.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. ((BBBY)) increased 3.5% or $1.51 to $43.56 after the home goods retailer second quarter stated net sales increased 11.6% to $2.137 billion from $1.915 billion in the same quarter last year. Comparable store sales rose 7.4%. Net earnings in the quarter soared 34% to $181.8 million or 70 cents per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $135.5 million or 52 cents per share in the prior-year quarter.

Copart, Inc. ((CPRT)) fell 7.8% or $2.84 to $33.22 after the junk car auctioneer said fourth quarter total revenues climbed 3.3% to $190.47 million from $184.33 million in the prior-year quarter. Net income in the quarter improved 4.6% to $36.23 million or 43 cents per diluted share, compared to net income o f$34.63 million or 41 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

For the full year, the company reported net income of $151.63 million or $1.80 per share, compared to $141.10 million or $1.69 per share for the same period last year.

IHS Inc. ((IHS)) rose 1.4% or 98 cent to $66.83 after the critical information and insight product service provider reported third quarter revenue increased 14% to $272 million from $239 million in the prior-year quarter. Net income in the quarter edged higher 0.3% to $34.6 million or 53 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $34.7 million or 54 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Intuit Inc. ((INTU)) decreased 0.5% or 24 cent $45.45 after the provider of business and financial management solutions reaffirmed its financial guidance for first quarter and its fiscal year 2011. The company reiterated its outlook for GAAP net loss for the first quarter in a range of $0.25 to $0.23 per share and revenue growth of 9% to 11%, or revenues in a range of $515 million to $525 million.

Leap Wireless International Inc ((LEAP)) surged 7% after the pre-paid wireless carrier said its customer churn rate is declining.

McDonald''s Corporation ((MCD)) increased 0.09% or 7 cent $75.21 after the chain of hamburger fast food restaurants reported its board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.61 per common share, representing an 11% increase over the company''s previous quarterly dividend rate and thereby brings the fourth quarter dividend payout to around $650 million.

For fiscal year 2011, Intuit continues to expect GAAP earnings in a range of $1.88 to $1.95 per share and revenue growth of 8% to 11%, or revenues in a range of $3.74 billion to $3.84 billion.

pSivida Corp. ((PSDV)) increased 0.4% or 2 cent to $4.30 after the developer of drug delivery products stated fourth quarter revenues edged higher 388% to $15.72 million from $3.22 million in the prior-year quarter. Net income generated in the quarter was $13.07 million or 68 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $534 thousand or 3 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Red Hat, Inc. ((RHT)) rose 10.5% or $3.85 to $40.61 after the world''s largest seller of Linux software said second quarter revenue rose 20% to $219.76 million from $183.63 million in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter declined 18% to $23.7 million or 12 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $28.9 million or 15 cents per share for the year-ago quarter.

Rite Aid Corporation ((RAD)) declined 12.3% or 13 cent to $0.96 after the retail drugstore chain reported second quarter revenues declined 2.5% to $6.16 billion from $6.32 billion in the prior year second quarter on same store sales fall of 1.5%. Net loss in the quarter widened 66% to $199.32 million or 23 cents per diluted share compared with net loss of $120.38 million or 14 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Scholastic Corp ((SCHL)) added more than 5.3% to $26.81 after the education and children’s book publisher announced a plan to repurchase as much as $150 million.

Starbucks Corporation ((SBUX)) increased 0.6% or 16 cent to $26.09 after the roaster and retailer of specialty coffee reaffirmed its previously announced fiscal year 2011 earnings forecast in a range of $1.36 to $1.41 per share.

Steelcase Inc. ((SCS)) increased 18.8 % or $1.24 to $7.78 after the office furniture maker reported second quarter revenue climbed 3.8% to $599.8 million from $578.1 million in the previous year. Net income in the quarter rose to $2.8 million or 2 cents per diluted share from breakeven results last year.

SunPower Corp ((SPWRA)) jumped more than 8% to $13.65 after it won 10 megawatts of panels contract to a privately held company LS Group.