E-House, Lennar Rise; Clearwire, Sara Lee Fall

Mayank Mehta
12 Aug, 2009
New York City

Home builders surged after Toll Brothers net new home orders increased in the third quarter. Applied Materials quarterly loss was better than expected. Sara Lee plunged more than 8% after it reported quarterly loss. E-House China surged 20% after quarterly net soared 65%.

[R]11:00AM New York – Home builders surged after Toll Brothers net new home orders increased in the third quarter. Applied Materials quarterly loss was better than expected. Sara Lee plunged more than 8% after it reported quarterly loss. E-House China surged 20% after quarterly net soared 65%.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 333 increased, 158 declined and 8 were unchanged.

Sara Lee Corp led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 7.2% followed by losses in Duke Energy Corporation of 2.3%, in CenterPoint Energy, Inc of 2.1%, in Zions Bancorporation of 2.0% and in E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company of 1.6%.

Lennar Corporation led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 5.3% followed by gains in Centex Corporation 5.2%, in Genworth Financial, Inc of 4.9% and Janus Capital Group Inc of 4.7 %.

Other Movers

The Allstate Corporation ((ALL)) increased 6.6% or $1.77 to $28.51 after the home and auto insurer was upgraded to “buy” from “neutral at Bank of America Corp.

Applied Materials, Inc ((AMAT)) added 2.3% or 31 cents to $13.53 after the maker of equipment used to produce semiconductors said third quarter revenues fell 39% to $1.13 billion from $1.85 billion a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $54.9 million or 4 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $164.8 million or 12 cents per share a year ago.

Bob Evans Farms, Inc ((BOBE)) decreased 7.6% or $2.16 to $26.00 after the restaurant chain operator and meat products producer said first quarter sales fell 2.5% to $429.5 million from $440.3 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 16.7% to $16.1 million or 52 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $13.8 million or 45 cents per share a year ago.

Celadon Group, Inc ((CLDN)) declined 2.0% or 17 cents to $8.75 after the transportation company said fourth quarter revenues fell 24% to $116.9 million from $154.6 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 92% to $167,000 or 1 cent per diluted share compared to net income of $2.2 million or 10 cents per share a year ago.

Clearwire Corporation ((CLWR)) dropped 10.4% or 88 cents to $7.55 after the high-speed WiMax network operator said it maintained its business outlook for 2009 and 2010 and expects average revenues per subscriber to remain near the current level in the years.

Cree, Inc ((CREE)) surged 8.1% or $2.58 to $34.41 after the maker of semiconductors said its first quarter of fiscal 2010 ending September 27, 2009, Cree targets revenue in a range of $160 million to $166 million with GAAP earnings of 14 cents to 16 cents per diluted share and non-GAAP earnings of 21 cents to 23 cents per diluted share

E-House (China) Holdings Limited ((EJ)) surged 20.8% or $4.18 to $24.24 after the real estate services company reported second quarter revenues rose 48% to $63.5 million from $43.0 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 65% to $19.3 million or 24 cents per ADS compared to net income of $11.7 million or 14 cents per ADS a year ago.

FMC Corporation ((FMC)) the producer of natural soda ash rose 4.2% or $2.11 to $51.86.

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd ((JASO)) slipped 10.4% or 55 cents to $4.70 after the manufacturer of high-performance solar products reported second quarter revenues fell 51.4% to Rmb 600.7 million from Rmb 1.2 billion a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was Rmb 194.7 million or Rmb 1.21 cents per ADS compared to net income of Rmb 318.6 million or Rmb 0.04 per ADS a year ago.

Macy''s, Inc ((M)) dropped 0.4% or 7 cents to $15.40 after the department store operator reported second quarter sales fell 9.8% to $5.16 billion from $5.72 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 90.4% to $7 million or 2 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $73 million or 17 cents per share a year ago.

Sara Lee Corp ((SLE)) the global manufacturer and marketer of brand-name products fell 8.7% or 94 cents to $9.87.

Toll Brothers, Inc ((TOL)) climbed 11.3% or $2.33 to $22.81 after the U.S. luxury homebuilder company''s fiscal year 2009 third quarter home building deliveries and revenues of approximately 792 units and approximately $461.3 million declined 36% in units and 42% in dollars.

The number of net new home contracts signed increased 3% to 837 units from 812 a year ago and in dollar terms declined to $447.7 million from $469.9 million. The surprise increase in net new orders lifted stocks in the sector.

Lennar Corp, Pulte Home, Centex Corp and Ryland Group surged more than 4% and DR Horton, KB Home, Meritage Homes and NVR Inc added more than 2%.