Amazon, Flowserve Rise; Monster, Juniper Fall

Mayank Mehta
30 Jan, 2009
New York City

U.S. stocks edged lower on weak economic growth report. Amazon.com increased on higher sales and earnings. Monster Worldwide declined on 37% decline in earnings. Chevron and ExxonMobil gained after reporting better than expected earnings.

[R]2:30PM New York – U.S. stocks edged lower on weak economic growth report. Amazon.com increased on higher sales and earnings. Monster Worldwide declined on 37% decline in earnings. Chevron and ExxonMobil gained after reporting better than expected earnings.[/R]

Stocks in the early morning dropped on weak economic data. S&P 500 index declined 1.54% or 13.30 to 832.11. Of the stocks in the index, 56 rose, 439 declined and 5 were unchanged.

Monster Worldwide led the decliners in the S&P index with a loss of 14% followed by losses in Juniper Networks of 13.7%, in PerkinElmer Inc of 12.5%, in International Paper Company of 11% and U.S. Steel Corp.

Amazon.com Inc led the gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 18% followed by gains in KLA-Tencor Corp of 8.4%, in Flowserve Corp 7.1%, in MasterCard Inc of 5.7%.

Other Movers

8x8, Inc ((EGHT)) plunged 8.7% or 49 cents to $0.511 after the Internet telephony provider said third quarter revenues rose 2.5% to $16.2 million from $15.8 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 87% to $180,000 or break even per diluted share compared to net income of $1.4 million or 2 cents per share a year ago.

Affiliated Computer Services, Inc ((ACS)) gained 6.8% or $3.07 to $47.80 after the provider of business process outsourcing said that its fiscal second quarter profit fell to $75.5 million or 77 cents a share, from $81.6 million or 81 cents a share in the year-ago period.

Alcoa Inc ((AA)) dropped 4.1% or 35 cents to $8.09 after JP Morgan Chase lifted its estimate of the 2009 loss to $1.90 per share from $1.00 a share.

Amazon.com, Inc ((AMZN)) added 3.0% or $1.44 to $51.44 after the Internet retailer said fourth quarter revenues rose 18% to $6.7 billion from $5.67 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 9% to $225 million or 52 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $207 million or 48 cents per share a year ago.

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc ((AXL)) fell 13.5% or 19 cents to $1.21 after the auto parts supplier reported a larger than estimated quarterly net loss as auto makers cut production schedule to 16-year low.

The net loss in the quarter was $112.1 million or $2.17 per share in the fourth quarter compared with a loss of $26.8 million or 52 cents per share a year ago on sales decline of 33% to $503 million.

CA, Inc ((CA)) jumped 4.3% or 77 cents to $18.30 after software applications maker said third quarter revenues fell 5% to $1.04 billion from $1.1 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 31% to $213 million or 40 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $163 million or 31 cents per share a year ago.

Caterpillar Inc ((CAT)) fell 4.1% or $1.32 to $30.53 after the world’s largest maker of earth moving machinery said it would cut 2,110 more workers at three manufacturing plants in Illinois beginning mid-April as demand continues to fall.

Chevron Corp ((CVX)) gained 3.0% or $1.88 to $72.50 after the second-largest U.S. oil company earned $4.9 billion in the fourth quarter on revenues decline of 28%.

The Chubb Corporation ((CB)) increased 3.2% or $1.41 to $44.23 after the insurance company said fourth quarter underwriting income fell 8% to $443 million from $480 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 37% to $407 million or $1.13 per diluted share compared to net income of $650 million or $1.68 per share a year ago.

Columbia Sportswear Company ((COLM)) dropped 10.9% or $3.52 to $28.54 after the outdoor apparel maker reported lower than expected revenues and earnings.

CyberSource Corporation ((CYBS)) gained 21.3% or $2.10 to $11.94 after an analyst estimated for the Internet retailer payment processor earnings of 17 cents per share on $60.90 million revenues.

Data Domain, Inc ((DDUP)) fell 27.3% or $5.23 to $13.90 after the Internet storage software services provider for the government estimated earnings to be near break even.

Flowserve Corporation ((FLS)) increased 7.3% or $3.69 to $53.96 after the provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure markets estimated its 2009 earnings per share target range between $6.75 and $7.50, including a total cost of 50 cents per share or $40 million of restructuring costs.

Juniper Networks, Inc ((JNPR)) slid 10.6% or $1.81 to $15.16 after the computer network infrastructure technology provider reported fourth quarter net income increased to $132.5 million or 25 cents a share from $122.9 million or 22 cents a share in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 14% to $923.5 million.

KLA-Tencor Corporation ((KLAC)) rose 9.4% or $1.80 to $20.83 after the chip manufacturing equipment maker reported a fiscal second quarter loss, hurt by sharply lower sales and a large goodwill impairment charge.

Monster Worldwide, Inc ((MWW)) fell 13.9% or $1.46 to $9.00 after the online job placement company’s net dropped 37% to $28.6 million or 24 cents per share from $45 million or 36 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

PerkinElmer Inc ((PKI)) lost 11.0% or $1.62 to $13.00 after the health and industrial sciences company said that it earned $30.7 million or 26 cents per share, compared with profit of $52.6 million or 44 cents per share during the same period a year prior. Revenue rose 3% to $495 million from $480.7 million.

PACCAR Inc ((PCAR)) increased 9.2% to $27.21 after the truck maker fourth quarter earnings fell to $113 million or 31 cents a share from $261 million or 71 cents a share in the same period a year ago.

The Procter & Gamble Company ((PG)) declined 3.3% or $1.92 to $56.30 after the consumer-products maker reported Friday that its second quarter profits jumped 53% on one-time gain on the sale of Folgers coffee business.

P&G earned $5 billion for the quarter compared with $3.27 billion a year earlier and earnings per share were $1.58 meeting the expectations of analysts.

SunPower Corporation ((SPWRA)) gained 12.0% or $3.39 to $32.15 after the second-biggest U.S. solar module manufacturer reported fourth quarter profit of 35 cents a share.

United States Steel Corporation ((X)) slumped 7.7% or $2.54 to $30.32 after the largest U.S. based steelmaker by 2007 sales was cut to “conviction sell” from “neutral” at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The labor union at the company may call for a strike if their recent demands for the contract are not met.