Intrepid Potash, CF Industries and Mosaic Soar on Corn Outlook

Devan Biswas
08 Oct, 2010
New York City

U.S. stocks trade higher after the release of jobs report. Retailers edge up for the second day after the release of same store sales data. Agro-complex stocks soar after the release of weaker than expected corn crop outlook.

[R]11:30 AM New York – U.S. stocks trade higher after the release of jobs report. Retailers edge up for the second day after the release of same store sales data. Agro-complex stocks declined after the release of weaker than expected corn crop outlook.[/R]

Of the stocks in the Dow, 15 increased, 15 decreased and none were unchanged.

Of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, General Electric Company led the gainers with a rise of 2.67% followed by increase in Alcoa Inc. of 2.06%, in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. of 0.93%, in Cisco Systems, Inc. of 0.84%, Pfizer Inc. of 0.63%.

AT&T Inc. led the decliners with a fall of 1.98% followed by decline in Verizon Communications Inc. of 1.61%, in Bank of America Corporation of 0.59%, in The Travelers Companies, Inc. of 0.42%, in The Home Depot, Inc. of 0.41%.

Other Movers

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ((ANF)) rose 0.1% or 8 cent to $42.11 after the specialty retailer reported that comparable store sales for the month of September increased 13%. The company posted net sales of $305.3 million for the five-week period ended October 2, 2010, up 25% from $244.0 million for the five-week period ended October 3, 2009.

Alcoa Inc. ((AA)) surged 6.1% or 75 cent to $12.95 after the aluminum producer said third quarter sales rose 15% to $5.29 billion from $4.62 billion in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter fell 21% to $61 million or 6 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $77 million or 8 cents per share for the year-ago quarter.

AngioDynamics, Inc. ((ANGO)) fell 0.07% or 1 cent to $14.32 after the therapeutic and diagnostic device maker stated first quarter net sales increased 3% to $51.51 million from $50.09 million last year. Net income for the quarter declined 10.4% to $1.89 million or 8 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $2.11 million or 9 cents per share in the previous year.

BJ''s Wholesale Club, Inc ((BJ)) gain 0.4% or 19 cent to $41.46 after the warehouse club operator reported that comparable club sales for September grew by 1.5%, including a contribution of 0.7% from sales of gasoline. Excluding gasoline, merchandise comparable club sales improved by 0.8%.

The company''s sales for September increased 3.6% to $961.60 million from $928.1 million in September 2009.

CF Industries Holdings, Inc ((CF)) jumped 9.4% or $9.29 to $107.93 after the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its corn crop outlook. The revised outlook for the corn production is 4% lower from the September outlook to 12.7 billion bushel and down 3% from the last year’s 13.1 billion bushels.

DragonWave Inc. ((DRWI)) soared 5.1% or 34 cent to $7.00 after the Ethernet microwave solutions provider reported first quarter revenue of $27.2 million from $32.4 million last year. Net income was $1.2 million or 3 cents per diluted share compared to a net income of $5.7 million or 19 cents per share a year ago.

F5 Networks, Inc ((FFIV)) dropped 6% or $5.91 to $93.01 after negative comments from Goldman Sachs and “sell” rating from the broker.

Fortune Brands, Inc ((FO)) surges 7.6% to $55.95 after an activist investor William Ackman controlled Pershing Square acquired 11% stake in the company. Various media reports confirmed the story.

Kohl''s Corporation ((KSS)) rose 0.8% or 47 cent to $53.25 after the department store chain reported that its comparable store sales for the month of September increased 3.0%. Total sales for the five-week month ended October 2 increased 5.3% over the five-week month ended October 3, 2009.

Interpid Potash, Inc ((IPI)) soared 9% to $29.23 after the release of weak agriculture crop report from the government. Mosaic ((MOS)) gained 7% and Terra Nitrogen ((TNH)) also rose 3.3%.

Limited Brands, Inc. ((LTD)) rose 0.5% or 17 cent to $28.81 after the women''s apparel, beauty and personal care products retailer reported a 12% upturn in its comparable store sales for the month of September, versus a 1% improvement a year ago, reflecting strong performance of its brands, primarily Victoria''s Secret Stores.

Micron Technology Inc. ((MU)) spurted 4.5% or 32 cent to $7.43 after the memory chipmaker reported fourth quarter net sales surged 92% to $2.5 billion from $1.3 billion in the same quarter of fiscal 2009. Net income generated in the quarter was $342 million or 32 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $100 million or 12 cents per share in the prior-year quarter.

NaviSite, Inc. ((NAVI)) declined 1.7% or 6 cent to $3.35 after the information-technology (IT) provider of enterprise-hosting and application services stated fourth quarter total revenue gained 7.5% to $32.68 million, compared to $30.39 million in the same quarter last year. Net loss in the quarter narrowed 84% to $1.4 million or 4 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $8.6 million or 24 cents per share in the previous year quarter.

99 Cents Only Stores ((NDN)) plunged 10% or $1.77 to $15.91 after the retailer of primarily consumable general merchandise reported a 0.6% increase in same-store sales for the second quarter, with a 2.7% rise in total sales. Total sales for the second quarter were $333.6 million, up 2.7% from $324.7 million in the same quarter last year.

Nordstrom, Inc. ((JWN)) rose 0.3% or 14 cent to $38.62 after the fashion specialty retailer reported a 7.5% increase in same-store sales for the five-week period ended October 2 compared with the five-week period ended October 3, 2009. Preliminary total retail sales were $810 million, up 12.5% from total retail sales of $720 million for the same period in fiscal 2009.

PriceSmart, Inc. ((PSMT)) fell 0.1% or 5 cent to $29.05 after the company engaged in international membership shopping warehouse clubs said its September comparable warehouse sales for the warehouse clubs open at least 12 full months grew 16.8%, compared with last year.

For the month of September 2010, net sales increased 21.7% to $116.6 million from $95.8 million in September a year earlier.

Regis Corporation ((RGS)) fell 0.4% or 8 cent to $18.91 after the largest hair salon chain in the world reported that its first quarter total same-store sales decreased 1.5%. Consolidated revenues decreased 4.5% to $578 million, from $606 million a year ago.

ScanSource, Inc. ((SCSC)) soared 7.2% or $2.04 to $30.24 after the wholesale distributor of specialty technology products raised its sales outlook for the first quarter. For the first quarter, the company now expects sales of $623 million to $633 million, compared to $488 million for the same period one year ago. Earlier, the company estimated sales of $555 million to $575 million for the first quarter.

Stein Mart, Inc. ((SMRT)) rose 0.9% or 9 cent to $9.41 after the discount department store reported a 0.4% increase in its comparable store sales for the five-week period ended October 2, 2010 compared with a 5.4% decline in the previous year. Total sales for the period were $101.4 million, down 0.6% from $101.9 million in the five week period ended October 3, 2009.

The Cato Corporation ((CATO)) rose 0.4% or 13 cent to $27.44 after the operator of women’s fashion specialty stores reported that the same-store sales for the month of September increased 2% over the prior year. The company reported sales of $72.1 million for the five weeks ended October 2, 2010, a 3% increase over sales of $70.0 million for the five weeks ended October 3, 2009.

Village Super Market, Inc. ((VLGEA)) fell 0.6% or 18 cent to $28.14 after the supermarket operator reported fiscal fourth quarter sales increased 10.2 $342.7 million compared to $422.6 million for the same period a year ago. Net income was $8.90 million or 51 cent per diluted share compared to net income of $6.68 million or 39 cent per diluted share in the same quarter a year ago.

For the fiscal year revenue was $1,261.8 million compared to $1,208.1 million for the same period a year ago. Net income was $25.4 million or $1.47 per diluted share compared to net come of $27.2 million or $1.59 per diluted share same period a year ago.