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Monday's biggest stock gainers and decliners
Monday November 6, 2:17 pm ET

By Michael Baron


Advancers
Shares of Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. (NASDAQ:LEND - News) gained after the mortgage company specializing in non-prime residential mortgage loans said quarterly profit fell to $18.4 million, or 83 cents a share, from $41.3 million, or $1.87 a share a year earlier. Revenue fell to $114.3 million from $151.8 million.


AES Corp. (NYSE:AES - News) reported a third-quarter loss as massive restructuring in its Brazilian utility operations took a big bite out of the bottom line, but underlying results from ongoing operations turned in a strong performance.

Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE:BRL - News) said its Duramed Pharmaceuticals unit has begun shipments of dual-label Plan B emergency contraceptive. The Woodcliff Lake, N.J., company said the over-the-counter/prescriptiuon product will be available in pharmacies across the U.S. by mid-November. Barr also said the Food and Drug Administration has granted Duramed three-year exclusivity for Plan B, valid until August 2009. Plan B will be sold over the counter to customers age 18 or older, and prescription-only for women 17 and younger. It replaces prescription-only Plan B, which has been sold in the U.S. since 1999.

Bema Gold (NYSE:BGO - News) agreed to be acquired by Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE:KGC - News) in a $3.1 billion deal. Under the terms of the deal, each Bema common share will be exchanged for 0.441 of a Kinross common share. After the deal closes, 61% of the combined company will be owned by existing Kinross shareholders and 39% by existing Bema shareholders. The new company would be lead by Kinross' management team. The combined company would have mineral reserves and resources of 50 million ounces of gold; 80 million ounces of silver and 2.9 billion pounds of copper. Bema shareholders will vote on the deal in mid January. Bema would be required to pay a breakup fee of C$79 million under certain circumstances.

Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX - News) shares surged Monday after the medical device maker issued a 2007 sales range forecast above Wall Street's average expectations.

Chattem (NASDAQ:CHTT - News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - News) shares got a nice boost in midday trades. The networking giant is expected to report its fiscal first-quarter results on Wednesday.

Columbia Equity Trust (NYSE:COE - News) agreed to be acquired by a fund owned by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co for $502 million in cash. The deal, which includes the assumption of $213 million in debt, represents a 12.4% premium over Columbia's closing share price on Friday. Columbia Equity's real-estate portfolio includes over 3 million square feet of office space mostly in Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

CombinatoRx Inc. (NASDAQ:CRXX - News) shares jumped after the Cambridge, Mass.-based company announced positive preliminary results of its Phase II clinical trial of CRx-102 in rheumatoid arthritis. CRx-102 demonstrated statistically significant improvements on primary and secondary endpoints, the company said. "We are extremely pleased with the results of CRx-102 in this third proof-of-concept clinical study," said Alexis Borisy, president and chief executive, in a statement.

Corrections Corp. of America (NYSE:CXW - News) said third-quarter earnings rose to $26.1 million, or 42 cents a share, from $20.8 million, or 34 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue increased to $339.3 million from last year's $304.4 million, with total compensated man-days rising to 6.3 million from 5.9 million, and revenue per compensated man-day growing to $52.81 from $50.82. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been expecting earnings of 40 cents a share and $333.8 million, on average. For the fourth quarter, the Nashville prison facility operator expects earnings of 42 to 45 cents a share vs. analyst forecasts of 42 cents a share.

Elkcorp (NYSE:ELK - News) said its management and board are engaged in a review of the company's strategic options, including a possible sale or merger. The Dallas-based maker of roofing and building products has hired UBS Investment Bank to assist with the process.

El Paso Corp. (NYSE:EP - News) said it swung to a third-quarter profit as it exited the domestic power business and restructured its bank facilities.

Four Seasons Hotels Inc. (NYSE:FS - News) said it's received a $3.7 billion takeover offer from a group of private investors including its current CEO, Saudi prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Microsoft's Bill Gates.

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. [s; gishares rose 5% to $9.25 in Monday morning trade after the Israel-based company reported third-quarter net earnings of $2.71 million, or 11 cents a share. Excluding certain items, Gilat's per-share profit came in at 1 4 cents. In the same quarter last year, the company posted a net loss of $1.73 million, or 8 cents a share. Revenues rose to $63.8 million from $49 million.

Genlyte Group (NASDAQ:GLYT - News) reported third-quarter earnings of $38 million, or $1.32 a share, up from a year-ago profit of $21.9 million, or 77 cents a share. Sales jumped 26% in the three months ended Sept. 30 to $410.4 million from $325.6 million in the same period a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was looking for a profit of $1.11 per share from the Louisville, Ky., maker of lighting fixture in the September period.

Houston Wire & Cable Co. (NASDAQ:HWCC - News) shares rose after the company said its third-quarter earnings doubled to $9.47 million, or 45 cents a share, from $3.9 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $90 million from $58.3 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had forecast a per-share profit of 32 cents. The company expects 2006 earnings of $1.47 to $1.54 a share on organic revenue growth of 48% to 52%. Houston Wire also said it is still looking to achieve its long-term earnings target of 15% to 20% growth.

Kos Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KOSP - News) agreed to be acquired by Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - News) for $3.7 billion.

L-1 Identity Solutions (NYSE:ID - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Needham & Co. The firm kept intact its $17 price target.

Macrovision (NASDAQ:MVSN - News) was initiated with an outperform rating at Cowen & Co.

Marvel Entertainment (NYSE:MVL - News) said third-quarter net income fell 44% to $13.2 million, or 16 cents a share, from $23.4 million, or 23 cents a share in the year-ago period. Sales rose to $92.1 million from $81.1 million. The latest quarter includes a charge of $700,000 for stock compensation expenses. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call forecast earnings of 12 cents a share and revenue of $85.5 million, on average. The company now expects 2006 net income of 61 to 64 cents a share, up from the earlier estimate of 50 cents to 60 cents a share. The company also said it expects 2007 earnings of $1.35 to $1.55 a share. Wall Street analysts are expecting 2006 earnings of 59 cents a share and 2007 earnings of $1.22 a share.

Medarex (NASDAQ:MEDX - News) said Donald Drakeman has resigned from its board and left the president and chief executive officer positions, effective immediately. The Princeton, N.J., biopharmaceutical firm named Irwin Lerner, its chairman, to serve as interim CEO and president as it looks for a permanent replacement. In addition, Medarex said an internal investigation of its historical stock options practices has found the option grants were dated in many instances on dates when the stock price was relatively low but it did not find evidence of fraud or willful misconduct on the part of the company. However, the board has determined that members who received misdated grants, which includes all current directors appointed before 2001, and specified special officers involved in the granting process must repay any gains realized from the grants if the options were exercised and re-price their outstanding stock options as prescribed.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - News) reported third-quarter earnings of $68.2 million, or $1.25 a share, down from a year-ago profit of $73 million, or $1.33 a share. Net premiums for the Los Angeles-based insurance firm rose 1.7% to $776.2 million for the quarter. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for a profit of $1.13 a share in the September period.

Metretek Technologies (AMEX:MEK - News) said its third-quarter net profit rose to $2.9 million, or 17 cents a share, from $0.2 million, or 1 cent a share, a year ago, after all business segments performed well. Sales rose to $33.4 million, from $10.2 million last year. The supplier to the natural gas and electricity industry was expected to post earnings of 8 cents a share, according to consensus estimates supplied by Thomson First Call. The company said that its on track to meet its 2006 financial goals and also said that it expects to report earnings per share of 89 cents in 2007.

Minrad International (AMEX:BUF - News) was initiated with a buy rating at WR Hambrecht.

Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - News) reported a third-quarter net loss of $778,000, or 5 cents a share, narrower than its year-earlier loss of $1 million, or 6 cents a share. The Israel-based producer of integrated process-control systems used in the semiconductor manufacturing had nearly 5% more shares outstanding in the latest quarter. Quarterly revenue jumped 40%, reaching $12.5 million from $8.9 million. Nova's gross margin for the latest quarter stood at 41%, compared with 39% a year earlier and 43% for the 2006 second quarter.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA - News) said it will buy PortalPlayer Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY - News) for $357 million in stock to accelerate its offering for chips used in portable music players and other hand-held electronic devices.

OSI Restaurant Partners (NYSE:OSI - News), the operator of the Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill -- said it has agreed to be taken private by an investor group in a deal valued at $3.2 billion, including debt.

Per-Se Technologies (NASDAQ:PSTI - News) agreed to be acquired by McKesson Corp. (NYSE:MCK - News) for $1.8 billion. The deal values shares of Per-Se at $28 each.

Phazar Corp. (NASDAQ:ANTP - News) said its Antenna Products unit has received a contract worth about $798,617 from the General Services Administration of Fort Worth, Texas. The deal calls for the delivery and installation of remote transmitter/receiver towers and antennas at four sites in the U.S. The deal puts Phazar's backlog at $2.8 million as of Sept. 30.

Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:PNK - News) said third-quarter profit more than quadrupled from the year earlier. The Las Vegas-based casino operator said net income rose to $22.4 million, or 45 cents a share, in the third quarter from $5 million, of 12 cents a share, the year earlier. The results included a gain from an asset sale in the latest quarter and income tax benefits the year earlier. Income from continuing operations rose to 25 cents a share compared with a loss of 9 cents. Revenue rose to $236.7 million from $174.4 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call on average expected earnings of 32 cents a share, on revenue of $234.4 million.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN - News) posted a loss of $27.4 million, or 48 cents a share, for the third quarter, narrower than its year-ago loss of $34.7 million, or 62 cents a share. The company was also initiated with an outperform rating and a $32 price target at Credit Suisse.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - News) conceded that its 1.48 billion euro takeover offer for Irish rival Aer Lingus Group was unlikely to succeed while it reported a 24% improvement in quarterly profit and lifted its outlook for the year.

Swift Transportation (NASDAQ:SWFT - News) shares surged after Jerry Moyes, its largest shareholder and former top executive, offered to buy the company in a deal that values the trucker at $2.17 billion.

Traffic.com (NASDAQ:TRFC - News) agreed to be acquired by Navteq (NYSE:NVT - News) for an equity value of about $179 million. The Chicago provider of digital maps said it's aiming to acquire traffic content along with the technology to deliver it to clients across a range of industries. Navteq said the deal will dilute earnings in 2007 to a range of 11 to 17 cents a share but will boost earnings from 2009. The company is expecting the deal to close in the first quarter.

UAL Corp. (NASDAQ:UAUA - News) said its October traffic rose 2.3% to 9.67 billion revenue passenger miles from 9.45 billion in the same month in 2005. The company's United Airlines unit said capacity, or available seat miles, rose by the same percentage to 11.99 billion from 11.72 billion. That made its load factor for the month unchanged at 80.6%.

Unilever (NYSE:UN - News) was upgraded to neutral at Merrill Lynch.

U.S. Steel (NYSE:X - News) was among a number of metals stocks in rally mode following a bullish call on the steel industry from Banc of America Securities. Other stocks on the move included Nucor (NYSE:NUE - News), Allegheny Technologies (NYSE:ATI - News), Reliance Steel (NYSE:RS - News), and Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS - News).

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - News) was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Lehman Bros.

XM Satellite Radio Holdings (NASDAQ:XMSR - News) said its third-quarter loss fell by 36% to $84 million, or 32 cents a share, compared to a loss of $132 million, or 60 cents a share in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 57% to $240.4 million from $153 million. XM ended the third quarter with 7.185 million subscribers, an increase of 43%. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call forecast a loss of 46 cents a share and revenue of $235.3 million, on average. XM expects to end the year with total subscribers of 7.7 million to 7.9 million, within its previously announced range.


Decliners
3D Systems Corp. (NASDAQ:TDSC - News) said it plans to restate its unaudited quarterly financial statements for the first and second quarters of fiscal 2006 to reflect errors in recording customer credits and deposits. The company expects the restatement to lead to an increased net loss available to common shareholders for both periods. The Rock Hill, S.C., provider of three dimensional printing and manufacturing products also now expects to report a loss for the third quarter.
Adolor Corp. (NASDAQ:ADLR - News) shares plummeted after the company and partner GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK - News) received an approvable letter for their new drug application for Entereg, a proposed treatment for post-operative ileus, from the Food and Drug Administration that requests 12-month safety data from an ongoing study. The companies expect to be able to provide the data by the second quarter.

Alesco Financial Inc. (NYSE:AFN - News) launched a public offering of 22 million common shares under the specialty finance real-estate investment trust's existing shelf registration. Philadelphia-based also Alesco expects to grant underwriters an option to purchase up to another 3.3 million shares to cover over-allotments.

American Science and Engineering (NASDAQ:ASEI - News) reported fiscal-second-quarter net earnings of $4.75 million, or 49 cents a share, down from $8.4 million, or 93 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The results for the Billerica, Mass.-based supplier of X-ray inspection and screening systems included 20 cents a share in stock-based compensation expenses. Revenue fell to $29.6 million from $49.1 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had forecast a per-share profit of 63 cents on revenue of $37.2 million.

Arris Group (NASDAQ:ARRS - News) shares fell after the Suwanee, Ga.-based provider of broadband local access networks said it plans to offer $225 million of convertible senior notes due 2026 through a public offering. In addition, Arris said it will grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $33.75 million of the notes. The company expects to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes.

Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CTIC - News) shares slumped after the company said it's temporarily suspended enrollment in its Pioneer lung cancer clinical trial. The company said it's awaiting follow-up data for recently enrolled patients, and that it agreed to suspend the trial following a recommendation from the Data Safety Monitoring Board to allow maturity of the data and to assess differences in early cycle deaths observed between arms of the study.

Corautus Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ:VEGF - News) said President and Chief Executive Richard Otto and Chief Financial Officer Robert Atwood will no longer work for the company, effective Dec. 31. Both executives will remain on the company's board and serve as part-time consultants.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - News) was downgraded to reduce from neutral at UBS. The firm made the same call on rival Lowe's (NYSE:LOW - News).

Moldflow Corp. (NASDAQ:MFLO - News) reported fiscal first-quarter net income jumped on flat revenue. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Moldflow earned $1.7 million, or 14 cents a share, against $30,000, or break-even, in the year-earlier period. Revenue was $15.32 million against $15.28 million. Adjusted profit more than tripled to $2.1 million, or 18 cents a share. The company estimates fiscal 2007 profit of 53 cents to 60 cents a share, or an adjusted 68 cents to 75 cents, as revenue grows 5% to 7%.

Multi-Fineline Electronix (NASDAQ:MFLX - News) reported fiscal fourth-quarter net earnings of $2.19 million, or 9 cents a share, down from $11 million, or 44 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue dipped to $110.3 million from $110.9 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had forecast a per-share profit of 28 cents on revenue of $128.7 million. The company also said that its technology development and manufacturing agreements with Mobility Electronics Inc. will end this month.

Myers Industries (NYSE:MYE - News) reported third-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $4.2 million, or 12 cents a share, edging higher from a year-ago equivalent total of $4.1 million, or 12 cents a share. The Akron, Ohio-based maker of polymer products said it doesn't plan to hold a conference call to discuss the results.

NAPCO Security Systems (NASDAQ:NSSC - News) reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of $952,000, or 5 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $815,000, or 4 cents a share.

Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK - News) reported a third-quarter loss of $24.5 million, or $1.19 per share, wider than a year-ago loss of $12.4 million, or 66 cents a share. Revenue fell 6% in the latest three months to $158.7 million from $169.3 million in the same period a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for a loss of 82 cents a share on revenue of $185 million in the September period. Looking ahead, the Salt Lake City online closeout retailer said it expects to end the year with an inventory balance under $50 million and that, depending on how the next few quarters play out, "we may or may not have a need to raise cash in 2007."

Palm Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM - News) shares fell after NTP Inc. said its has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the company. Richmond, Va.-based NTP said its complaint relates to Palm products that are primarily used in "electronic mail systems with radio frequency communications to mobile processors and related services, and methods." The complaint also seeks the recovery of monetary damages.

TXU Corp. (NYSE:TXU - News) backed its outlook for operational earnings of $5.50 to $5.75 per share for 2006 and said it expects operational earnings of $5.25 to $5.55 per share for 2007. The current average estimates of analysts polled by Thomson First Call are for earnings of $5.62 a share in 2006 and $5.49 a share in 2007. The Dallas-based energy provider also said its board has extended authorization for the remaining 3.4 million common shares left under its 2006 buyback program and that it's approved plans to repurchase up to an additional 20 million common shares in 2007. The board also approved a 5% boost in the company's quarterly dividend to 43.25 cents a share.

Wild Oats Markets (NASDAQ:OATS - News) tumbled after Citigroup cut its rating on the natural foods grocer to hold from buy, citing valuation and possible disruption from management
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