Wells Fargo, Nordstrom, Excel Marine Surge

123jump.com Staff
09 Apr, 2009
New York City

Banks rallied sharply after Wells Fargo estimate of the first quarter earnings of 55 cents a share. Retailers traded broadly lower after reporting another weak monthly sale in March. Warehouse retailers surprisingly reported weak performance.

[R]4:25PM New York – Banks rallied sharply after Wells Fargo estimate of the first quarter earnings of 55 cents a share. Retailers traded broadly lower after reporting another weak monthly sale in March. Warehouse retailers surprisingly reported weak performance.[/R]

Banks rallied after Wells Fargo reported better than expected earnings for the first quarter after it acquired Wachovia and earned $3 billion. The positive comments regarding Wachovia lifted stocks of banks in trading.

Wells Fargo ((WFC)) surged 29.5% or $4.40 to $19.31, Bank of America ((BAC)) soared 36% or $2.55 to $9.61 and JP Morgan Chase ((JPM)) leapt 18% to $32.30.

A-Power energy Generations Ltd ((APWR)) soared 29.8% or $1.34 to $5.81 after it reported fourth quarter revenue surge of 93.5% to $81.4 million and net income increase of 199% to $10 million. Diluted earnings per share increased to 30 cents from 25 cents a year ago quarter.

Cash America International, Inc ((CSH)) added 19.8% to $20.68 after it increased its first quarter earnings per share estimate between 76 cents and 78 cents compared to previous estimate of 61 cents and 65 cents. Last year in the quarter the company earned 86 cents. The company left its guidance for the annual earnings per share between $3.10 and $3.30.

Charlotte Russe Holding ((CHIC)) rose 13% or $1.23 to $10.39 after it lifted its quarterly adjusted earnings outlook to between 2 cents and 5 cents a share from earlier estimate of loss of 10 cents a share.

Costco Wholesale Corporation ((COST)) declined 1.7% or 80 cents to $46.90 after it reported weak same store sales results in March. Sales in five weeks ending in April 5 declined 3% to $6.57 billion and same store sales excluding gasoline sales rose 3% at domestic locations and at international locations increased 9%. Across the company same store sales rose 4%.

Excel Marine Carriers Ltd ((EXM)) surged 14% or 83 cents to $6.77 after the dry bulk carrier reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.71 in the fourth quarter and GAAP loss of $7.49 per share on 81% rise in sales. The quarterly loss included one-time impairment charge of $335.4 million related to an acquisition.

Movado Group, Inc ((MOV)) declined 5.8% to $7.48 after it reported fourth quarter loss per share of 92 cents a share compared to income of 72 cents a share. For the full year fiscal 2009 ending in January the watch retailer earned 9 cent a share compared to $2.23 a share. The company also issued weak outlook for the rest of the year and in the first half of 2010.

Nordstrom Inc ((JWN)) added $3.24 or 17% to $21.91 after it reported same store sales decline in March of 13.5%. The less than expected sales decline lifted the stock. Sales in March declined 10.1% and in the quarter fell 10.5% with the rise in gross retail footage to 22.15 million from 21.07 million.

Textron Inc ((TXT)) soared 49% or $4.45 to $13.56 after Kuwait based newspaper reported that UAE based investment group is preparing to acquire aviation and defense contractor.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc ((WMT)) declined 3.7% or $1.95 to $50.66 after it reported March same-store sales rise of 1.4% on a constant currency basis and excluding gasoline sales. Net total sales in the five weeks period for the company declined 1.9% with domestic sales at Wal-Mart stores rising 2.6%.

Wells Fargo & Company ((WFC)) surged 31.7% to $19.61 after it estimated first quarter earnings of $3 billion or 55 cents a share after paying dividend on preferred stock to the U.S. Treasury of $372 million. Of the $20 billion in estimated revenue in the quarter Wachovia represents 40%. The company reiterated $5 billion of merger related savings beginning in the second quarter of this year.