General Mills Falls, Adobe Rises

123jump.com Staff
18 Mar, 2009
New York City

Sun Microsystems, Inc led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 64.4%. Adobe Systems Incorporated first quarter earnings falls but above the estimates. Darden Restaurants third quarter net drops 15%. General Mills falls on lower than expected earnings guidance.

[R]11:00AM New York – Sun Microsystems, Inc led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 64.4%. Adobe Systems Incorporated first quarter earnings fall yet top estimate. Darden Restaurants third quarter net drops 15%. General Mills falls on lower than expected earnings guidance.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 101 increased, 390 declined and 9 were unchanged.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 93 gained, 403 increased and 4 were unchanged. General Mills led the decliners in the index with a loss of 9% followed by losses in Lincoln National Corp of 7.3%, in Capital One Financial of 6.5%, in Jacobs Engineering of 6.4% and in DR Horton of 6.3%.

Sun Microsystems surged 66% and led the gainers in the S&P 500 index stocks followed by gains in AIG of 25%, in E*Trade Financial of 19%, in Darden Restaurant of 15% and in Citigroup of 11%.

Other Movers

AAR CORP ((AIR)) declined 4.3% or 51 cents to $11.24 after the aerospace supplier said third quarter sales fell 10% to $338.8 million from $376.6 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 0.5% to $20 million or 48 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $20.1 million or 47 cents per share a year ago.

Adobe Systems Incorporated ((ADBE)) added 3.6% or 68 cents to $19.13 after the diversified software company said first quarter sales fell 12% to $786.4 million from $890.4 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 29% to $156.4 million or 30 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $219.4 million or 38 cents per share a year ago.

Capital One Financial Corporation ((COF)) dropped 7.1% or 95 cents to $12.42 after the diversified banking company surprised analysts by saying the percentage of uncollectible auto loans fell to 4.44% in February, down from 6.09% in January.

Citigroup Inc ((C)) surged 11.1% or 28 cents to $2.79.

Darden Restaurants, Inc ((DRI)) gained 10% or $3.00 to $32.90 after the casual dining chain operator reported third quarter revenues fell 1% to $1.80 billion from $1.81 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 15% to $107.5 million or 78 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $126 million or 88 cents per share a year ago.

Developers Diversified Realty Corporation ((DDR)) a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust lost 7.2% or 16 cents to $2.04.

E*TRADE Financial Corporation ((ETFC)) climbed 17.6% or 16 cents to $1.07 after the financial services company loan delinquencies in its home equity portfolio rose only slightly over the first two months of this year and early-stage cases declined helping to lift shares of the U.S. online broker 11%.

General Mills, Inc ((GIS)) fell 4.2% or $2.26 to $51.40 after the food company reported third quarter revenues rose 4% to $3.54 billion from $3.41 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 33% to $288.9 million or 85 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $430.1 million or $1.23 per share a year ago.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc ((JEC)) slid 6.6% or $2.77 to $38.98 after the providing a range of technical, professional, and construction services a Crude Distillation/Vacuum Distillation project as part of the Phase III expansion program at MRPL''s refining complex in Mangalore, India.

Lincoln National Corporation ((LNC)) dropped 8.4% or 69 cents to $7.47 after the multiple insurance and investment management businesses said it is likely to make a second round of job cuts this year to reduce expenses by an additional $100 million, for a total of $250 million a year in savings from recent cutbacks.

Sun Microsystems, Inc ((JAVA)) jumped 65.8% or $3.27 to $8.24 after the Wall Street Journal reported that the computing giant was in merger talks with IBM. Both companies denied merger talks when contacted by 123jump.com.

Ultrapetrol (Bahamas) Limited ((ULTR)) rose 19.5% or 42 cents to $2.57 after the industrial shipping company said fourth quarter revenues rose 30% to $71.4 million from $54.8 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 46% to $3.4 million or 11 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $6.3 million or 20 cents per share a year ago.