AmEx, Talbots Fall; Visa, MasterCard Rise

Bikram Pandey
05 Oct, 2010
New York City

American Express declined after it decided to challenge the Justice Department suit. Visa and MasterCard gained after they settled the suit with the agency. The Talbots, Inc. dropped more than 12% after it offered earnings outlook that was lower than expected.

[R]10:20 AM New York – American Express declined after it decided to challenge the Justice Department suit. Visa and MasterCard gained after they settled the suit with the agency. The Talbots, Inc. dropped more than 12% after it offered earnings outlook that was lower than expected.[/R]

Of the stocks in the Dow, 5 increased, 24 decreased and 1 were unchanged.

Of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Verizon Communications Inc. led the gainers with a rise of 0.43% followed by increase in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. of 0.39%, in JPMorgan Chase & Co. of 0.36%, in AT&T Inc. of 0.17%, McDonald’s Corporation of 0.04%.

American Express Company led the decliners with a fall of 6.53% followed by decline in Alcoa Inc. of 2.53%, in Intel Corporation of 2.33%, in Microsoft Corporatio of 1.93%, in Pfizer Inc. of 1.63%.

Other Movers

American Express ((AXP)) declined 3.3% to $37.74 after the credit card company said it plans to challenge the Justice Department suit that alleges antitrust violations over two years. Visa Inc ((V)) gained 1.8% and MasterCard ((MA)) added 2.2% after both companies settled suits and agreed to let merchants offer discounts based on customer use of cash or other modes.

Coach Inc ((COH)) increased more than 1% to $43.25 after the leather hand bag maker and Luxottica Group entered in a licensing partnership to make eyewear under several company brands.

Chevron Corp ((CVX)) increased more than 1.1% to $81.96 after the company said it will initiate the stock repurchase in the current quarter that were previously approved.

Datalink Corporation ((DTLK)) surged 8.3% or 25 cent to $3.25 after company projected third quarter revenues to be in the range of $69 million to $70 million, compared to its earlier revenue outlook of $42.7 million in the third quarter of 2009, up 62%.

Electro Rent Corporation ((ELRC)) soared 8.3% or $1.08 to $13.99 after rental company stated first quarter revenues rose 58% to $50.8 million from $32.2 million for the same period last year. Net income in the quarter soared 152% to $5.2 million or 22 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $2.1 million or 9 cents per share in the year-ago period.

Iron Mountain Inc ((IRM)) dropped 7.4% to $20.72 and traded at the five year low.

MasTec Inc ((MTZ)) increased 1% to $10.23 after the company’s subsidiary won an engineering contract to build ethanol plant at Bluefire Ethanol Fuels Inc.

MaxLinear, Inc. ((MXL)) plunged 9.7% or $1.11 to $10.25 after the provider of integrated radio-frequency analog and mixed-signal semiconductor solutions for broadband communications applications said that it currently expects revenue for the third quarter to be between $18.4 million and $18.6 million, compared with prior guidance between $20.0 million and $20.5 million.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc ((WFR)) increased 5% to $12.35 after it agreed to the sale of power plant in north Italy that uses solar panels.

New Oriental Education & Tech Group Inc ((EDU)) declined 5.5% or $5.37 to $91.28.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc ((RMCF)) rose 0.6% or 6 cent to $9.61 after the confectionery manufacturer reported second quarter revenue increased 8.9% to $6.6 million from $6.1 million last year. Same store sales decreased 0.7%. Net income for the period rose 6.9% to $0.94 million or 15 cents per diluted share compared to a net income of $0.88 million or 14 cents per share a year ago.

The Mosaic Company ((MOS)) gained 2.6% or $1.55 to $60.34 after the fertilizer producer said first quarter net sales rose 50% to $2.19 billion from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter surged 196% to $297.7 million or 67 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $100.6 million or 23 cents per share for the year-ago quarter.

The Talbots, Inc. ((TLB)) declined 12.2% or $1.49 to $11.05 after the specialty retailer and direct marketer of women’s apparel, accessories and shoes reiterated its third-quarter expectations for adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations in the range of about $0.22 to $0.28 per share, excluding special items.

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. ((WWW)) increased 2.6% or 76 cent to $29.57 after the footwear manufacturer stated third quarter revenue increased 11.7% to $320.4 million versus $286.76 million in the prior year. Net earnings in the quarter increased 27.4% to $34.14 million or 70 cents per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $26.79 million or 54 cents per share last year.