Legg Mason, Calamos Drop; Tidewater Rises

Mayank Mehta
28 Jan, 2009
New York City

Legg Mason and Calamos Asset Management fell after reporting losses. Citigroup jumped on the speculation that its Japanese brokerage unit may be sold to Mizuho Financial Group. Tyco Electronics fell on a quarterly loss. Tidewater Inc rose on 31% rise in earnings.

[R]1:00PM New York – Legg Mason and Calamos Asset Management fell after reporting losses. Citigroup jumped on the speculation that its Japanese brokerage unit may be sold to Mizuho Financial Group. Tyco Electronics fell on a quarterly loss.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 427 increased, 72 declined and 1was unchanged.

Legg Mason Inc led decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 10% followed losses in Tyco Electronics with a loss of 8.3%, in Tellabs Inc of 6.1%, in Becton Dickinson of 5.1% and in Qwest Communication of 4.9%.

State Street Corp led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 32% followed by increase in Fifth Third Bancorp of 27%, in Wells Fargo & Company of 25.4%, in Huntington Banc of 24.6% and Prudential Financial of 22.4%.

Other Movers

Calamos Asset Management, Inc ((CLMS)) added 3.6% or 20 cents to $5.75 after the investment advisory services provider said fourth quarter revenues fell 46% to $66.9 million from $124.5 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $26.1 million or $1.24 per diluted share compared to net income of $9.3 million or 42 cents per share a year ago.

Citigroup Inc ((C)) jumped 19.7% or 70 cents to $4.25 after the second largest bank in Japan, Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said it may consider acquiring Citigroup’s domestic brokerage and asset-management units.

ConocoPhillips ((COP)) added 4.4% or $2.19 to $51.70 an international, integrated energy company posted a fourth quarter loss of $31.76 billion or $21.37 a share compared to net income of $4.37 billion or $2.71 a share in the year-ago period. Revenue fell to $44.5 billion from $52.7 billion.

Legg Mason, Inc ((LM)) fell as much as 13.8% or $2.69 to $16.75 after the asset manager posted a worse-than-expected fiscal third quarter loss compared to a small profit from a year ago. Revenues declined as asset under management fell.

Newmont Mining Corporation ((NEM)) dropped 5.4% or $2.28 to $39.43 after the world’s second-largest gold miner agreed to pay $1billon to purchase minority stake of Anglo Gold Ashanti in the largest Australian gold mine.

The company lost $1.49 billion or $10.55 per share compared with profit of $154.6 million or $1.07 per share in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 39% to $720 million from $1.19 billion in the year-ago quarter.

RF Micro Devices, Inc ((RFMD)) dropped 18.0% or 22 cents to $1.00 after the maker of chips for mobile phones reported a wider loss in the third quarter hurt by charges and lower revenues reflecting declining demand amid deepening economic slowdown.

RF Micro Devices currently expects March quarterly revenue to decline more than normal decline in a season as handset makers continue to reduce their inventory levels.

Sun Microsystems, Inc ((JAVA)) added 8.2% or 33 cents to $4.32. The company yesterday released weaker than expected results and in November announced a plan to eliminate 6,000 jobs.

Tyco Electronics Limited ((TEL)) fell 8.0% or $1.26 to $14.48 after the electronic components and wireless equipment maker reported a fiscal first quarter loss of $37 million or 8 cents per share compared with a profit of $949 million or $1.90 per share a year earlier. The weak demand and one restructuring charges weighed on the results.

Tidewater Inc ((TDW)) jumped 7.2% or $2.89 to $42.98 after the provider offshore supply vessels and marine support services for oil and gas exploration that its third quarter net income ending in December rose to $117 million or $2.28 a share from $89.40 million or $1.66 a share in the year ago period.

United States Steel Corporation ((X)) rose 6.8% or $2.03 to $31.49 an integrated steel producer said fourth quarter sales rose 0.7% to $4.57 billion from $4.54 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 780% to $308 million or $2.65 per diluted share compared to net income of $35 million or 29 cents per share a year ago.

VistaPrint Limited ((VPRT)) gained 34.7% or $5.62 to $21.83 after the online printing services provider was upgraded by Citi group from “hold” to “buy” and price target was raised to $28 from $19.80.

VistaPrint predicted an adjusted profit of $1.52 to $1.61 per share on $495 million to $515 million in sales higher than consensus earnings estimates according to Thomson Reuters of $1.41 per share on $491 million in sales.

Wells Fargo & Company ((WFC)) climbed 18.8% or $3.05 to $19.24 after the financial company swung to a loss in the fourth quarter as it took charges related to its purchase of Wachovia.

The San Francisco, California based bank lost $2.83 billion or 79 cents per share after paying preferred dividends. This compares with earnings of $1.36 billion or 41 cents per share a year earlier.