By Michael Baron, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 12:14 PM ET March 17, 2003
Advancers
Charles Schwab (SCH: news, chart, profile) added more 3 percent after the company said it plans to repurchase up to $250 million of its stock. Together with $100 million remaining under an earlier plan, the company now has the authority to repurchase a total of $350 million of its own stock. Shares may be repurchased through open market or privately negotiated transactions based on prevailing market conditions, the company said. As of Dec. 31, the brokerage firm had 1.34 billion weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding.
CBS MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS
U.S. , Britain set stage for Iraq attack
Fed unlikely to cut overnight rate now, but stay tuned
Signs of war boost stocks
Oil futures slip as stage set for conflict
Free! Sign up here to receive our After the Bell Report e-Newsletter!
TRACK THESE TOPICS
My Portfolio Alerts
Company: Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Add
Create
Column: Movers & Shakers
Create
Company: Dan Riv Inc Ga Add
Create
Company: Dollar General Corporation Add
Create
Get Breaking News sent directly to your inbox
Edit My Portfolio / Edit Alerts
Dan River (DRF: news, chart, profile) rose more than 5 percent after the company unveiled a $200 million refinancing. The deal includes a five-year revolving credit facility, a five-year term loan, and a $150 million offering of senior notes due 2009. The Danville, Va., firm plans to use the proceeds of the offering to repay debt under its existing credit agreement, redeem outstanding notes due 2003, and pay related fees and expenses.
Dollar General (DG: news, chart, profile) leapt more than 11 percent after the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $108.1 million, or 32 cents a share, up from 29 cents a share in the year-earlier period. Excluding non-recurring items, earnings were 33 cents a share, versus the average analyst estimate compiled by Thomson First Call of 31 cents. Revenue for the quarter ending January increased 11 percent to $1.76 billion, and same-store sales rose 2.1 percent. Looking ahead, the discount retailer expects to grow earnings, excluding one-time items, in the 13 to 15 percent range. Total sales are expected to rise 11 to 15 percent and same-store sales are anticipated to rise 4 to 6 percent.
Shares of Genesis Microchip (GNSS: news, chart, profile) surged more than 8 percent after the company announced an agreement to merge with Pixelworks (PXLW: news, chart, profile) with a total value of about $600 million. Under terms of the deal, each Genesis stock will be exchanged for 2.3366 Pixelworks shares. Based on Friday's closing price, the deal values Genesis shares at $17.87 each, a 36 percent premium. Genesis shareholders will own 62.5 percent of the merged company, and Pixelworks shareholders will own 37.5 percent. Pixelworks' shares dropped more than 19 percent.
InterDigital Communications (IDCC: news, chart, profile) rose more than 30 percent after the company inked royalty-bearing licensing agreements with Ericsson (ERICY: news, chart, profile) and Sony Ericsson for sales of terminal units and wireless infrastructure products compliant with 2G and 2.5G standards. The deals resolve long-standing patent infringement litigation between the companies. InterDigital also said the agreements establish financial terms for the royalty obligations of Nokia (NOK: news, chart, profile) and Samsung under the 'most favored licensee' provision of their respective existing licensing deals.
Longview Fibre (LFB: news, chart, profile) shares tacked on more than 5 percent after the company said late Friday that its board reinstated a dividend, payable in April, of 2 cents a share. Dividends were suspended after January 2002.
Midwest Express Holdings (MEH: news, chart, profile) leapt more than 3 percent after the company said late Friday that it met with creditors to present a plan for restructuring its aircraft leases. The airline a week earlier had suspended lease and debt payments while it renegotiates terms.
Retek (RETK: news, chart, profile) surged more than 11 percent after the company named Marty Leestma president and chief executive officer. Leestma replaces Steve Ladwig, who resigned to pursue other opportunities. Leestma most recently served as global managing partner, retail and consumer goods and services, with Accenture (ACN: news, chart, profile).
Riverstone Networks (RSTN: news, chart, profile) rallied more than 14 percent after the company received a contract to supply its RS routers to Telia, the largest telecommunications operator in Scandinavia. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
UnumProvident (UNM: news, chart, profile) gained more than 14 percent after SunTrust Robinson Humphrey boosted its assessment of the stock to "overweight" from "equal weight." The firm said it believes the recent sell-off in the shares due to March 7 warning from Moody's of a possible credit downgrade was an "excessive over-reaction." Fitch and Standard & Poor's lowered their respective debt ratings on the company on March 13.
Decliners
Shares of Altria (MO: news, chart, profile) slumped to a 52-week low after Analyst Bonnie Herzog at Salomon Smith Barney lowered her rating on the tobacco industry to "underweight" from "market weight," citing the "looming potential negative ruling in the Miles Light lawsuit" against the company. She left her "outperform" rating on the company intact, but said the near-term reward-versus-risk ratio in owning the stock is negative, and believes the Dow industrials component could trade down to as low as $30.44 in the next few months
CACI International (CAI: news, chart, profile) dipped more than 3 percent after the company reaffirmed its previously disclosed outlook for earnings of 37 to 40 cents per share in the third quarter, and earnings of 40 to 42 cents per share in the fourth quarter. The Arlington, Va., provider of information technology and networking products said that its financial fundamentals remain strong, and that "there has been no material change in its business operations since the end of January."
Fresh Del Monte Produce (FDP: news, chart, profile) shares sank more than 5 percent after Bear Stearns lowered its rating on the stock to "peer perform" after "outperform." The firm said it believes the stock will continue to face downward pressure due to speculation on litigation and a possible probe by Securities and Exchange Commission. On Friday, the company denied it's been contacted by the SEC for a preliminary inquiry.
FloridaFirst Bancorp (FFBK: news, chart, profile) tumbled almost 10 percent after the BB&T Corp. (BBT: news, chart, profile) withdrew its application with the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision for approval to acquire the company. BB&T said it decided to withdraw the application after receiving feedback from the OTS. The application was necessary because FloridaFirst had converted from a mutual to stock form of ownership within the previous three years.
Isis Pharmaceuticals' (ISIS: news, chart, profile) shares cratered more than 34 percent after the biotech firm said its experimental cancer treatment had failed to meet its primary effectiveness goal in late-stage testing on cancer patients. The goal of the testing was to improve overall survival rates. Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly (LLY: news, chart, profile) has been collaborating with Isis on development of the experimental drug, called Affinitak.
Mohawk Industries (MHK: news, chart, profile) shares lost more than 7 percent after the company lowered its first-quarter earnings outlook due to weaker-than-expected demand. The floor-covering manufacturer now expects first-quarter EPS of 60 to 63 cents, down from a previous estimate of 82 cents. For the second quarter, Mohawk estimated a $1.05 to $1.15 range, below its previous $1.18 estimate. Mohawk said that at the end of March it would raise prices 5 to 8 percent, and will cut costs and reduce capital expenditures.
PEC Solutions (PECS: news, chart, profile) dropped almost 36 percent after the Fairfax, Va., provider of professional technology services lowered its outlook for the first quarter to reflect anticipated delays in new government awards due to the late passage of the 2003 Federal civilian agency budgets. Results were also hurt by a discontinuity in certain engagements related to application of biometric identification technologies. The company is now looking for earnings of 12 cents per share on revenue of between $43 million and $44 million for the first quarter. Eleven analysts polled by Thomson First Call are currently looking for earnings of 17 cents per share in the period, on average. For the full year, PEC sees earnings of 63 to 81 cents per share on revenue ranging from $200 million and $220 million.
Silicon Image (SIMG: news, chart, profile) shares fell more than 14 percent after Wachovia Securities dropped its rating on the stock to "market perform" from "outperform." The firm cited a challenging macro economic environment and valuation for the downgrade. In the past year Silicon Image shares have pinballed between a high of $10.70 on April 17 and a low of $2.20 on October 10.
Michael Baron is a reporter
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
