RiM, Interstate Hotels Rise; Carnival, Palm Fall

Mayank Mehta
18 Dec, 2009
New York City

Interstate Hotels & Resorts surges 73% after it agrees to be acquired by a joint venture that has a stake from China based hotel group. Nike, Inc second quarter net income drops 4% but still beats estimates. Palm drops after reporting wider loss than analysts predicted.

[R]11:30 AM New York – Interstate Hotels & Resorts surges 73% after it agrees to be acquired by a joint venture that has a stake from China based hotel group. Nike, Inc second quarter net income drops 4% but still beats estimates. Palm drops after reporting wider loss than analysts predicted. RiM profits rise sharply in quarter. CarMax, Inc turns to profit in third quarter.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 368 increased, 124 declined and 8 were unchanged.

C. R. Bard, Inc led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 6.8% followed by losses in Carnival Corporation of 3.0% and in Walgreen Co of 2.5%, in KB Home of 2.4% and in SunTrust Banks, Inc of 2.0%.

Celgene Corporation led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 7.5% followed by gains in Oracle Corporation 6.3%, in VeriSign, Inc of 5.2% and in Chesapeake Energy Corporation of 3.7%.

Other Movers

Accenture plc ((ACN)) decreased 2.7% or $1.16 to $40.50 after the consulting and outsourcing firm said first quarter revenues fell 11% to $5.38 billion from $6.02 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 7.3% to $444.8 million or 67 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $479.9 million or 74 cents per share a year ago.

CarMax, Inc ((KMX)) increased 4.0% or 88 cents to $22.70 after the car dealership chain reported third quarter sales rose 18.5% to $1.73 billion from $1.46 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter was $74.6 million or 33 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $21.9 million or 10 cents per share a year ago.

C. R. Bard, Inc ((BCR)) fell 7.2% or $6.10 to $78.06 after the maker of surgical and patient-care devices was downgraded to “underweight” from “neutral” at Piper Jaffray.

Dana Holding Corporation ((DAN)) gained 8.4% or 81 cents to $10.46 after the truck axle and frame maker was upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” at JPMorgan.

Darden Restaurants, Inc ((DRI)) declined 2.9% or 96 cents to $31.79 after the full-service restaurant company said second quarter sales fell 2% to $1.64 billion from $1.67 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 1% to $60.3 million or 43 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $59.7 million or 43 cents per share a year ago.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Inc ((IHR)) surged 73% to $2.20 after the company agreed to be acquired by a joint venture between Thayer Lodging Group and Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotel Group Company for $307 million or $2.25 a share in all cash transaction.

Luby’s, Inc ((LUB)) fell 7.0% or 26 cents to $3.45 after the restaurant operator said first quarter revenues fell 14% to $51.7 million from $60.0 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $3.7 million or 13 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $2.2 million or 8 cents per share a year ago.

NetApp, Inc ((NTAP)) dropped 2.5% or 87 cents to $32.96 after the maker of storage computers for companies was downgraded to “neutral” and removed from the “Conviction Buy- List” at Goldman Sachs.

Nike, Inc ((NKE)) added 2.0% or $1.30 to $64.55 after the athletic shoe and clothing company said second quarter revenues fell 4% to $4.41 billion from $4.59 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 4% to $375.4 million or 76 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $391 million or 80 cents per share a year ago.

Oracle Corporation ((ORCL)) gained 4.0% or 92 cents to $23.80 after the software maker said second quarter revenues rose 4.5% to $5.86 billion from $5.61 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 12.3% to $1.46 billion or 29 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $1.30 billion or 25 cents per share a year ago.

Palm, Inc ((PALM)) fell 8.7% or $1.02 to $10.70 after the smart phone maker said second quarter revenues fell 59% to $78.1 million from $191.6 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $85.4 million or 54 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $508.6 million or $4.64 per share a year ago.

Research In Motion Limited ((RIMM)) surged 11.8% or $7.54 to $71.00 after the BlackBerry-maker said third quarter revenues rose 41% to $3.92 billion from $2.78 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 58.5% to $628.4 million or $1.10 per diluted share compared to net income of $396.3 million or 69 cents per share a year ago.

Stewart Enterprises, Inc ((STEI)) added 3.7% or 19 cents to $5.20 after the provider of funeral, and cemetery products and services reported fourth quarter revenues fell 5% to $124.1 million from $130.4 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter was $5.9 million or 6 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $35.6 million or 39 cents per share a year ago.

Smart Modular Technologies, Inc ((SMOD)) surged 12.2% or 59 cents to $5.42 after the chipmaker said first quarter revenues fell 12.6% to $123.1 million from $140.8 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter was $4.6 million or 7 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $6.9 million or 11 cents per share a year ago.

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc ((TTWO)) increased 11.8% or $1.09 to $9.34 after the publisher of interactive games said fourth quarter revenues of $343.4 million from $323.4 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $22 million or 28 cents a share compared to $15 million or 20 cents a share.

VeriSign, Inc ((VRSN)) rose 5.5% or $1.24 to $23.43 after the provider of Internet infrastructure services and domain name registry manager said that it plans to increase domain name registration fees from July 1.