Abercrombie Rises; Marriott, Immucor Fall

Devan Biswas
07 Oct, 2010
New York City

U.S. stocks edged lower as the dollar bounced around. Retailers traded higher after the September same store sales were ahead of expectations. Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters and Dillard gained. Immucor, Inc plunged 18% after it reported flat earnings.

[R]1:25 PM New York – U.S. stocks edged lower as the dollar bounced around. Retailers traded higher after the September same store sales were ahead of expectations. Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters and Dillard gained. Immucor, Inc plunged 18% after it reported flat earnings.[/R]

Retailers traded higher after better than expected same store sales in September. The back-to-school sales were ahead of expectations.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co ((ANF)) soared 9.8%, The Buckle, Inc ((BKE)) increased 9.4%, Dillard’s, Inc ((DDS)) gained 7.5%, American Eagle Outfitters advanced 7.5% and Limited Brands ((LTD)) traded up 3%.

Other Movers

Constellation Brands, Inc. ((STZ)) added 0.7% to $18.66 after the wine maker said second quarter net sales decreased 2% to $862.8 million from $876.8 million last year. Net profit declined 8% to $91.3 million or 43 cents per diluted share compared to a net profit of $99.7 million or 45 cents per share last year.

DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. ((DFT)) increased 3.3% to $25.50 after the real estate investment trust reaffirmed its earnings per share and Funds from Operations guidance ranges both for the third quarter of 2010 and for the full year 2010.

The company said it expected FFO for the third quarter to be in the range of $0.33 to $0.36 per share and earnings per share were expected between $0.15 per share and $0.18 per share.

For the full year, the company had lifted its FFO guidance range to $1.30 to $1.40 per share from the prior guidance range of $1.25 to $1.35 per share and earnings per share between $0.49 per share and $0.57 per share.

Epicor Software Corporation ((EPIC)) increased 2.5% to $9.11 after the software solutions provider expects third quarter preliminary results to exceed the previously provided guidance. The company noted that driven by strong sales of Epicor 9, it expects third quarter software license revenue to be in the range of $19 million to $20 million, an increase of around 40% to 45% over $13.7 million reported last year.

Helen of Troy Limited ((HELE)) declined 4.6% to $24.72 after the personal care products maker reported second quarter sales revenue increased 7.8% to $174.82 million from $162.19 million in the prior year. Net income in the quarter soared 48% to $23.47 million or 75 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $15.91 million or 51 cents per share for the same period a year earlier.

Immucor, Inc. ((BLUD)) plunged 18.4% to $16.68 after the blood-testing equipments maker reported first quarter net sales rose 1% to $83.64 million from $83.07 million in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter grew 0.5% to $21.4 million or 30 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $21.3 million or 30 cents per share for the year-ago quarter.

Marriott International, Inc. ((MAR)) dropped 6.7% to $35.31 after the hospitality service provider reported third quarter revenues increased 7.2% to $2.65 billion from $2.47 billion in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter was $83 million or 22 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $466 million or $1.31 per share in the prior year quarter.

PepsiCo, Inc. ((PEP)) declined 3.7% to $65.60 after the food and beverages maker stated third quarter net revenue surged 40% to $15.51 billion from $11.08 billion in the comparable period. Net income attributable to the company increased 12% to $1.92 billion or $1.19 per share from $1.72 billion or $1.09 per share in the prior-year period.

Robbins & Myers, Inc. ((RBN)) increased 4.2% to $26.37 after the engineered equipments maker said fourth quarter sales increased 15% to $178.40 million from $155.19 million in the comparable period. Net income in the quarter grew 15.6% to $14.81 million or 45 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $12.81 million or 39 cents per share last year.

RPM International Inc. ((RPM)) decreased 0.2% to $20.39 after the specialty chemical products company said first quarter net sales declined 2.3% to $894.81 million from $915.95 million in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter fell 5.5% to $69 million or 53 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $73.03 million or 57 cents per share in the previous year.

Ruby Tuesday, Inc. ((RT)) declined 5.6% to $11.96 after the casual dining restaurant chain operator said first quarter total revenue increased 0.7% to $302.7 million from $300.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Same-restaurant sales for company-owned restaurants increased 1.2% over last year. Net income in the quarter soared 103% to $12.4 million or 19 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $6.1 million or 11 cents per share in the prior-year quarter.