 |
| Southwest Airlines |
Shares of General Dynamics ($73.30, -$4.12, -5.32%) fell after a test flight for its Gulfstream G650 business jet ended in a fiery crash Saturday that killed all four people aboard. The accident, which occurred in Roswell, N.M., is under investigation by the Savannah, Ga., business-jet producer, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration. The G650 is set to become the Gulfstream unit's largest business jet, accommodating up to 18 people. Gulfstream hopes to certify the jet this year, with first deliveries scheduled for early next year.
Southwest Airlines ($12.32, -$0.35, -2.76%) canceled more than 50 flights Monday as it continued to inspect for fuselage cracks in its fleet of Boeing Co. (BA, $73.79, -$0.22, -0.30%) 737-300 jetliners. Cracks have been found in at least three other 737-300 jets, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is supervising the inspections. The safety checks follow an emergency landing Friday of a Southwest 737-300 jet after a three-foot hole ripped open in its roof.
Molycorp ($65.67, +$6.42, +10.84%) acquired a 90% stake in rare-earth processing company AS Silmet in a deal valued at about $89 million, giving Molycorp a foothold in Europe and doubling its production capacity.
Software providers Epicor Software Corp. (EPIC, $12.51, +$1.27, +11.30%) and Activant Solutions Inc. agreed to buyout offers from funds affiliated with private-equity firm Apax Partners in a combined deal worth about $2 billion. Epicor's deal, worth $12.50 a share, represents an 11% premium to Friday's close. Epicor said the total value of its deal, which likely includes debt, is about $976 million.
Vivus Inc. (VVUS, $6.93, +$0.62, +9.83%) said a two-year study found its weight-loss drug Qnexa also reduces blood pressure and the required use of antihypertension medications, while rival Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. (OREX, $3.36, +$0.48, +16.67%) said a separate one-year study showed patients using its obesity drug Contrave maintained normal blood pressure levels for a 24-hour period.
Other Stocks In Focus:Epsilon, Alliance Data Systems Corp.'s (ADS, $82.72, -$3.21, -3.74%) email-marketing segment, said in a release that "an unauthorized entry" into its system exposed some of its clients' customer names and email addresses. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM, $46.23, +$0.13, +0.28%), which uses Epsilon as a marketing vendor, said that files on some Chase customers were among those accessed. Kroger Co. (KR, $23.81, +$0.06, +0.25%) sent an email to customers notifying them of the same.
Ambassadors International Inc. (AMIE, $0.78, -$2.02, -72.15%) is looking to sell its Windstar Cruises, a luxury line of yachts that sail to swanky destinations such as the Greek Isles, in a fast-track bankruptcy sale to its lender or a higher bidder.
AutoNation Inc. (AN, $34.96, -$0.66, -1.85%) said new vehicle sales continued to rise in March. The automotive retailer warned its expects significant production disruption from Japanese auto manufacturers in the second and third quarters of 2011, but said it believes the auto retail market and underlying consumer demand will continue to recover throughout 2011.
Cache Inc.'s (CACH, $4.45, -$0.17, -3.68%) fourth-quarter loss widened and its adjusted bottom line swung to a surprise loss on a worse-than-expected decline in revenue, though it sounded an optimistic note about the first quarter's sales trends.
Benchmark Research increased its price target on Ceradyne Inc. (CRDN, $48.12, +$2.34, +5.11%) to $56, and also increased its fiscal-year 2011 estimates to the high-end of guidance, noting that Ceradyne still has upside if it ships all the body armor in its backlog this year, as well as potential upside from energy.
Many restaurant operators have endured years of struggle as consumers cut back on the amount of out-of-home eating. But Janney says the recent momentum seen in the casual-dining sector could continue as "the back half of March apparently got off to a great start." The firm upgraded its stock-investment rating on Cheesecake Factory Inc. (CAKE, $29.90, +$0.08, +0.27%) and PF Chang's China Bistro Inc. (PFCB, $46.70, +$0.76, +1.65%) to buy, adding, "As this is a sector call, other casual dining stocks may also benefit" from the signs of an upturn. They include Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI, $48.45, -$0.20, -0.41%) and Brinker International Inc. (EAT, $25.04, -$0.40, -1.55%).
Denny's Corp. (DENN, $4.17, +$0.05, +1.21%) said it got approval to repurchase up to 6 million shares of its common stock after the restaurant chain owner closed a previous buyback program from last year.
DG FastChannel Inc. (DGIT, $33.32, +$1.05, +3.25%) on Monday said it acquired privately held Mijo Corp. for C$39.5 million ($41 million) in cash, expanding the media company's reach into Canada. The provider of digital media services to the advertising, entertainment and broadcast industries said the deal with Mijo will allow it to use its servers to distribute advertising, direct response and syndication content to 50 to 60 Canadian television broadcast sites as well as all Canadian radio stations.
Jefferies upgraded its stock-investment rating on Dollar Financial Corp. (DLLR, $22.58, +$1.75, +8.40%) to buy from hold, noting that its expected acquisition of Purpose U.K. Holdings Ltd., the parent company of Month End Money, will add 7 cents to Dollar Financial's earnings-per-share for fiscal year 2011 and another 32 cents to per-share earnings in fiscal year 2012. The firm also said it expects Dollar Financial to use the Month End Money platform to penetrate other markets in Europe by leveraging its technology and management team.
EMC Corp. (EMC, $26.07, -$0.48, -1.81%) on Monday announced it has acquired NetWitness Corp., a privately held network security analysis company. EMC said the acquisition of the Virginia company isn't expected to have a material impact on revenue or earnings per share in fiscal 2011.
Sterne Agee upgraded its stock-investment rating on Encore Wire Corp. (WIRE, $25.31, +$0.89, +3.64%), which manufactures copper electrical building wire and cable, to buy from neutral, noting that Encore is poised to significantly increase earnings over the next couple of years. The firm cited moves made over the last couple of years, including expanding its commercial and industrial product offerings and increased market share of commercial building wire.
Credit Suisse raised its stock-investment rating on Ford Motor Co. (F, $15.61, +$0.45, +2.97%) to neutral from underweight. The stock has slid 20% since late January, making shares more reasonably priced by the investment bank's view.
GSI Technology Inc. (GSIT, $8.32, -$0.59, -6.62%) disclosed Friday that Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (CY, $18.97, -$0.16, -0.84%) filed a lawsuit against it, alleging five counts of patent infringement.
Hub Group Inc. (HUBG, $38.29, +$2.08, +5.74%) acquired privately held Exel Transportation Services for $83 million, in a deal that combines intermodal transportation companies with complementary services.
Ducommun Inc. (DCO, $25.17, +$1.11, +4.60%) agreed to acquire electronics-manufacturing services company LaBarge Inc. (LB, $19.05, +$1.62, +9.29%) for about $304.7 million in cash as the engineering and manufacturing services firm looks to boost its technology business. Including assumed debt, Ducommun said the deal is worth $340 million. The deal is also boosting shares of TTM Technologies Inc. (TTMI, $19.02, +$0.93, +5.14%), which, like LaBarge, has exposure to the military and aerospace market, said Longbow Research analyst Shawn Harrison.
Landry's Restaurants Inc. founder and Chief Executive Tilman J. Fertitta offered to buy McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants Inc. (MSSR, $9.19, +$2.07, +29.07%) in a deal valuing the casual-dining company at $137.2 million. The offer price of $9.25 a share compares with the target's Friday close of $7.12.
LCA-Vision Inc. (LCAV, $6.82, +$0.24, +3.65%), which provides laser vision-correction services, said it performed 18,857 procedures in the first quarter, compared with 19,066 procedures in the year-ago period. Same-store procedures rose by 8% year-over-year, the second consecutive quarter of year-over-year same-store growth, the company said.
Wells Fargo cut its stock-investment rating on NYSE Euronext (NYX, $38.94, -$0.66, -1.67%) to market perform after last week's takeover bid from ICE and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ, $27.73, -$0.50, -1.77%), saying it's "unlikely" a counteroffer from Deutsche Boerse will come. Meanwhile, Jefferies cut Nasdaq to hold from buy on valuation after Friday's 9.3% post-bid pop. It called the stock fairly valued.
Sony Corp. (SNE, $31.57, -$0.30, -0.94%) CEO Howard Stringer casually mentioned late Friday that his company was supplying camera components to Apple Inc. (AAPL, $340.22, -$4.34, -1.26%), which may mean bad news for OmniVision Technologies Inc. (OVTI, $32.82, -$3.37, -9.31%). OmniVision has traditionally supplied image sensors to Apple's iPhone, and Sony moving in may mean the loss of Apple's business. Stringer added that the crisis in Japan has stalled Sony's supply of components, so it's unclear what the impact on OmniVision's business is.
U.S. industrial company Pentair Inc. (PNR, $38.77, +$0.77, +2.03%) said Monday it has agreed to buy Clean Process Technologies from Netherlands-based Norit, a clean technology company owned by buyout firm Doughty Hanson for $705 million (EUR503 million).
SodaStream International Ltd. (SODA, $42.26, -$4.54, -9.71%) said it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed follow-on public offering of five million ordinary shares, consisting of 1.2 million ordinary shares to be issued and sold by SodaStream and 3.8 million ordinary shares to be sold by certain selling shareholders. The home-beverage carbonation system company said it intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes.
Sources: http://online.wsj.com
