Palm, SanDisk, Sapient Drop; Baidu Rises

Mayank Mehta
19 Mar, 2010
New York City

SanDisk Corporation led the decliners in the S&P 500 index. Palm reduces net loss after sales surge but the stock drops 14%. SunPower plunges. Boeing accelerates production to meet demands. Sapient Corp reports quarterly net and revenues above expectations.

[R]11:40 AM New York – SanDisk Corporation led the decliners in the S&P 500 index. Palm reduces net loss after sales surge but the stock drops 14%. SunPower plunges. Boeing accelerates production to meet demands. Sapient Corp reports quarterly net and revenues above expectations.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 264 increased, 228 declined and 8 were unchanged.

SanDisk Corporation led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 2.1% followed by losses in Sprint Nextel Corporation of 2.1% and in Tesoro Corporation of 2.0%, in Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation of 1.9% and in Baker Hughes Incorporated of 1.8%.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 2.9% followed by gains in Best Buy Co., Inc 2.8%, in Aetna Inc of 2.7% and in Boeing Company 2.4%.

Other Movers

ACE Limited ((ACE)) fell 0.1% or 7 cents to $51.45 after the insurer estimated net after-tax losses in the first quarter for the group of insurance and reinsurance companies from natural catastrophes, including the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti, European windstorm Xynthia, the Madeira floods in Portugal, the Australian hailstorms, U.S. winter storms and other catastrophic events globally, will be approximately $125 million, including reinstatement premiums.

Addus HomeCare Corporation ((ADUS)) plunged 12.3% or $1.10 to $7.80 after the home-based social and medical service said fourth quarter revenues rose 5% to $65.70 million from $62.7 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $3.7 million or 48 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $63,000 or 6 cents per share a year ago.

Aurizon Mines Ltd ((AZK)) closed unchanged at $4.70 after the gold producer reported fourth quarter revenues rose 12% to $42.0 million from $37.5 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter was $9.9 million or 6 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $4.1 million or 3 cents per share a year ago.

Baidu, Inc ((BIDU)) the China’s search engine rose 1.7% or $9.82 to $574.16 after China Business News noted that Google is expected to shut its China operation on April 10.

Best Buy Co., Inc ((BBY)) rose 3.2% or $1.31 to $41.76 after the electronics retailer was upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Boston Scientific Corporation ((BSX)) rose 1.1% or 8 cents to $7.17 after the medical device maker announced that the Circulatory System Devices Panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended approval of an expanded indication for its cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators.

The Boeing Company ((BA)) increased 2.0% or $1.47 to $72.29 after the commercial-plane maker today announced that it will accelerate planned rate increases on both the 777 and 747 programs. The accelerated rate increases will support increasing customer demand in the recovering airplane market.

Cintas Corporation ((CTAS)) fell 0.6% or 19 cents to $27.60 after the provider of workplace uniforms and other business supplies and services said third quarter revenues fell 5% to $861.8 million from $908.6 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 32% to $49.0 million or 32 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $71.8 million or 47 cents per share a year ago.

Cerner Corporation ((CERN)) the provider of medical-record technology advanced 1.9% or $1.74 to $89.18.

Computer Sciences Corporation ((CSC)) rose 0.4% or 29 cents to $54.73 after the IT and professional services industry announced a five-year extension to its global information technology outsourcing agreement with United Technologies Corporation. The extension adds over $1.5 billion in value to the existing contract, which now runs until December 2019.

DirecTV Group Inc ((DTV)) fell 1.8% or 65 cents to $33.95 after satellite-television was downgraded to “hold” from “buy” at Citigroup Inc.

Eldorado Gold Corporation ((EGO)) rose 0.02% or 2 cents to $93.30 after the gold producer said full year revenues rose 25% to $360.7 million from $288.2 million a year ago. Net income for the year fell 37.4% to $102.4 million or 26 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $163.7 million or 46 cents per share a year ago.

Google Inc ((GOOG)) the popular Internet search engine fell 0.2% or $1.53 to $564.87 on the speculation that the company may close its China operations on April 10.

Haemonetics Corporation ((HAE)) dropped 1.0% or 50 cents to $56.28 after the maker of blood processing systems announced that it is extending its previously announced cash tender offer, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Atlas Acquisition Corp., for all outstanding shares of common and preferred stock of Global Med Technologies, Inc.

Humana Inc ((HUM)) fell 0.6% or 36 cents to $49.73 after the health insurer was downgraded to “hold” from “buy” at Argus Research Corp.

ICx Technologies, Inc ((ICXT)) climbed 0.6% or 5 cents to $7.50 after the sensor technology manufacturer said fourth quarter revenues fell 8.5% to $48.2 million from $52.7 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $2.1 million or 6 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $2.0 million or 6 cents per share a year ago.

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc ((MLM)) fell 1.9% or $1.67 to $85.78 after the supplier of crushed stone for the construction industry was downgraded to “equal-weight” from “overweight at Stephens Inc.

McKesson Corporation ((MCK)) rose 0.9% or 65 cents to $63.96 after the pharmaceutical distributor was lifted to “overweight” from “equal-weight” at Morgan Stanley.

Netlist, Inc ((NLST)) dropped 7.3% or 25 cents to $3.98 after the computer-memory systems maker today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 4 million shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $3.85 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $15.38 million.

Palm, Inc ((PALM)) plunged 15.9% or 90 cents to $4.75 after the provider of mobile products said third quarter revenues rose 286% to $349.9 million from $90.6 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $22.0 million or 13 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $98.0 million or 89 cents per share a year ago.

Perry Ellis International, Inc ((PERY)) rose 1.0% or 23 cents to $23.20 and the apparel company reported fourth quarter sales rose 3% to $196.4 million from $191.2 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter was $8.5 million or 64 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $21.6 million or $1.58 per share a year ago.

PolyOne Corporation ((POL)) increased 5.8% or 52 cents to $9.46 after the maker of plastic compounds announces anticipate earnings per share before special items and tax adjustments of approximately 15 cents for first quarter 2010.

Sapient Corp ((SAPE)) declined 1.3% to $9.63 after adding 9% in the previous session. The company reported fourth quarter net if $70.10 million or 51 cents a share compared to $25.72 million or 20 cents a share.

SunPower Corporation ((SPWRA)) plunged 9.9% or $2.19 to $19.85 after the solar cells and panels maker said fourth quarter revenues rose 37.6% to $547.9 million from $398.1 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 69.5% to $8.7 million or 9 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $28.5 million or 33 cents per share a year ago.

Team, Inc ((TISI)) decreased 7.5% or $1.37 to $16.85 after the provider of industrial services announced that it is lowering its pro-forma earnings guidance for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2010 to between 80 cents and 90 cents a fully diluted share.