U.S. Movers: Akamai, Herman Miller, Mead Johnson, Micron, Tibco, Yahoo

Devan Biswas
22 Dec, 2011
New York City

Akamai soared after it acquired Internet infrastructure provider for $268 million. Herman Miller declined 9% on weak estimate of third quarter sales. Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to settle charges stemming from Countrywide. WCA Waste agreed to a merger deal. Mead Johnson dropped 8%.

[R]11:50 AM New York – Akamai Technologies soared after it agreed to acquire cloud and Internet infrastructure provider for $268 million. Herman Miller declined 9% after it estimated weaker third quarter sales. Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to settle charges stemming from Countrywide. WCA Waste agreed to a merger deal. Mead Johnson dropped on product recall scare.[/R]

Akamai Technologies Inc ((AKAM)) soared $4.87 or 19% to $31.54 after the Internet infrastructure provider agreed to acquire privately held Cotendo for $268 million in cash. Juniper Network ((JNPR)) that held stake in Cotendo jumped 6.4% to $20.70.

Alaska Communications Systems Group Inc ((ALSK)) decreased 22% or 98 cents to $3.41 after the Alaska’s largest telecom carrier cut its quarterly dividend to 5 cents a share from 21.5 cents a share.

The company cut the dividend to retain cash of $29.8 million on an annual basis as the government rebate for wireless communication decline and the entry of the fourth competitor in the market may need more capital expenditure.

American Greetings Corporation ((AM)) decreased $3.61 to $13.35 after the greeting card company said third quarter total revenue rose 8% to $463.6 million compared with $430.1 million in the year earlier period.

Net income in the quarter fell 37% to $20.25 million or 50 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $32.16 million or 78 cents per share in the prior year.

Bank of America Corp ((BAC)) added 13 cents to $5.36 after the company agreed to pay $335 million to settle allegations stemming from its racial bias at its subsidiary Countrywide Financial.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. ((BBBY)) dropped $3.91 to $57.52 after the home furnishings retailer reported third quarter sales rose 6.8% to $2.34 billion from $2.19 billion last year.

Comparable store sales grew 4.1% in the quarter compared to a 7% increase in the prior year. Net income in the quarter soared 21% to $228.5 million or 95 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $188.6 million or 74 cents per share last year.

Corporate Office Properties Trust ((OFC)) increased 10 cents to $22.30 after the specialty office real estate investment trust, estimates fourth quarter loss in the range of $1.22 to $1.25 per share, while the earlier forecast estimated earnings between $0.10 and $0.13.

Herman Miller, Inc ((MLHR)) declined 9% to $19.91 after the furniture maker reported second quarter revenues increased 8.1% to $445.6 million and earnings per share of 41 cents compared to 26 cents in the previous year quarter and 42 cents in the first quarter.

Earnings in the quarter increased to $23.7 million from $17.9 million a year ago quarter and order backlog declined to $280.8 million at the end of the quarter and new orders received fell to $440 million.

Net sales increased 4.7% from the previous quarter after adjusting for calendar. The stock declined after the company guided third quarter sales between $400 million and $420 million.

Mead Johnson Nutrition Co ((MJN)) dropped 8.3% or $6.33 to $70.14 on a sharply higher volume after Wal-Mart pulled its baby food formula Enfamil after a baby died. Wal-Mart said that it pulled the powdered formula “out of abundant caution” and there is no link between the death and the baby food and the government has not ordered a recall.

Micron Technology, Inc ((MU)) jumped 18% to $6.54 after the semiconductor chip maker reported fiscal first quarter revenues of $2.1 billion and loss per share of 19 cents.

RAM Energy Resources, Inc ((RAM)) soared 83% to $2.01 after the independent oil and energy explorer said it reached an investment agreement with Halcon Resources led by Floyd C. Wilson, former Chairman and chief executive of Petrohawk Energy Corporation for $275 million in new common stock and $275 million in five year convertible note.
The company also said it regained NASDAQ compliance.

TIBCO Software Inc. ((TIBX)) increased $1.73 to $23.73 after the financial risk management software reported fourth quarter revenues rose 20% to $289.5 million from $241.2 million in the year-ago quarter.

Net income in the quarter rose 38.4% to $51.9 million or 30 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $37.5 million or 22 cents per share in the year-ago period.

Yahoo! Inc ((YHOO)) increased 19 cents to $16.18 after the Internet media company is reported to lower its stake in the China focused Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to 15% from 40%. The company is also pursued by Alibaba and Japan based Softbank for the acquisition of its Asian assets.

WCA Waste Corp ((WCAA)) soared 29.8% or $1.46 to $6.37 after the garbage collection company agreed to be acquired by Australia based Macquarie Infrastructure Partners Inc for $526 million or $6.50 a share.