Stocks in focus for Thursday

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Thursday's session are Take-Two Interactive, Ciena, Toll Brothers and Ford.

 

Take-Two Interactive Software is projected to post third-quarter earnings of 53 cents a share, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

 

Ciena Corp. is expected to report third-quarter earnings of 37 cents a share, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

 

Toll Brothers is likely to report a third-quarter loss of 36 cents a share, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

 

ADC Telecommunications is forecast to post third-quarter earnings of 27 cents a share, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

 

After Wednesday's closing bell, H&R Block Inc. reported its first-quarter net loss narrowed to $132.7 million, or 41 cents a share, from a net loss of $302.6 million, or 93 cents a share, a year earlier. Improved results from its tax services business were offset by a loss in the consumer financial services segment, due to an about $20.4 million increase in loss reserves and asset write-downs at H&R Block Bank, said the tax services company. On an adjusted basis, the company's net loss was 40 cents a share. Revenue slid to $339.6 million from $381.2 million a year earlier.

Watch list

Traffic and capacity at both American Airlines and American Eagle carriers fell in August, AMR Corp. said. American reported a 2.9% drop in August traffic to 12.16 billion revenue passenger miles while American Eagle traffic fell 13.6% to 704.2 million revenue passenger miles. A revenue passenger mile equals one passenger flown one mile. Capacity at the two airlines also fell with American down 1.1% to 14.57 billion available seat miles from August 2007, and American Eagle sliding 4.5% to 1.01 billion available seat miles. Load factor, or the percentage of available seats filled with passengers, fell 1.5 percentage points to 83.5% at American. At American Eagle, load factor declined by 7.3 percentage points to 69.7%.

American Eagle Outfitters said sales at stores open at least one year declined 5% in August, compared to a 9% increase during the same period a year earlier. The company maintained its third quarter earnings guidance of 31 cents a share to 36 cents a share. That compares to 45 cents a share in the same quarter last year.

Clothing and apparel maker Guess Inc. reported its second-quarter profit rose almost 44% to $53.8 million, or 57 cents a share, up from net income of $37.5 million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 33% to $515.2 million. Same store sales -- or sales at stores open at least one year -- rose 8.8% from last year's same period. Guess pegged its 2008 earnings between $2.47 and $2.53 a share. Five Wall Street analysts are looking for Guess to earn $2.48 a share, according to FactSet Research.

Hot Topic said its August sales at stores open at least one year fell 2.7%. Analysts, on average, had expected same-store sales to fall 5.1%, according to Thomson Reuters. Total sales for the four weeks ended Aug. 30 rose 0.8% to $71.6 million.

Hovnanian Enterprises said after-tax losses available to common stockholders were $202.5 million, or $2.67 per common share, in the third quarter, compared with a net loss of $80.5 million, or $1.27 per common share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2007. The company generated cash flow of $192.2 million in its latest fiscal quarter and forecast positive cash flow for the rest of the year. Hovnanian's homebuilding business will likely have roughly $800 million in cash by the end of October, the company said. "As we continue to compete against record foreclosures, higher than normal levels of resale listings and poor consumer confidence, the housing market remains challenging," Ara Hovnanian, chief executive of the company, said in a statement.

Microsoft will offer Xbox consoles as low as $199.99 starting on Friday, in a bid to attract new customers who until now may have been discouraged by a high price tag. The price on Xbox Arcade, the most basic version, will be reduced to $199.99 from about $279.99 while Xbox 360 will retail at $299.99, down from $349.99 and Xbox 360 Elite will go on sale at $399.99, compared with the usual price of $449.99. Microsoft had announced similar price cuts in Japan earlier this week.

SAIC Inc. said second-quarter net income fell to $109 million, or 27 cents a share, from $131 million, or 31 cents a share, from a year ago. Revenue rose to $2.56 billion from $2.22 billion last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimated a profit of 26 cents a share on revenue of $2.44 billion.

Japan's Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ is poised to bid for a "substantial" stake in Lehman Brothers , and may even seek control of the Wall Street investment bank, The Times of London reported, citing banking industry sources in Tokyo. According to sources close to Tokyo Mitsubishi, the Japanese bank is treating the possible acquisition as a "once in a lifetime" opportunity but it is expected to approach the deal with extreme caution, the newspaper said. However, Tokyo Mitsubishi is not expected to make a concrete offer until after Lehman announces its quarterly results next week which could mark another drop in its share prices, according to the article.

United Airlines, a unit of UAL Corp. , said August traffic fell 5.1% to 10.29 billion passenger miles from a year ago. A revenue passenger mile equals one passenger flown one mile. August capacity fell 3.1% to 12.18 billion available seat miles. Load factor, or the percentage of seats filled with passengers, fell to 84.5% from 86.3% last year.

Zumiez Inc. reported sales at stores open at least one year rose 0.2% in August, compared with an increase of 17.4% a year ago. Net sales rose 13.1% to $53.2 million, up from $47 million a year earlier.

 

 

[ 本帖最后由 zzzzzh 于 2008-9-3 21:35 编辑 ]