BMC Industries (BMM) 5.78 -0.34: Company warns Q2 (Jun) will be $0.09-0.12 per share, current First Call estimate is $0.19; businesses continue to be impacted by the slowing global economy and by external market factors similar to those affecting the businesses in the first quarter; Buckbee-Mears group is experiencing significant pricing pressure in its computer monitor mask business as a result of continuing weakness in worldwide demand for computer monitors; see press release.
FreeMarkets (FMKT) 15 +0.45: Adams Harkness upgrades to STRONG BUY from MARKET PERFORM following company's termination of its merger agreement with privately-held Adexa; believes the shares offer a compelling value, even if the business model and strategy remain in an evolutionary stage.
BEFORE THE OPEN (Updated throughout the hour)******
Exide Corp (EX) 11.15: Stored electrical energy solution provider warns Q1 (Jun) will be a loss of $0.39-0.44, current First Call estimate is for a loss of $0.18; company says the current economic environment is challenging; see press release.
EMCORE (EMKR) 30.70: Wit SoundView reiterates BUY rating and price target of $52 following trip to Taiwan to gather information regarding company's various product lines; started shipping production units of their fiber optic parallel array modules to several customers; other sectors such as wireless products continue to be flat and stable and SoundView now has indications that the MOCVD reactor products are booked out to December.
Charming Shoppes (CHRS) 6.07: Reports May total sales decreased 13% to $128.6 mln from $147.8 mln year-ago; comparable store sales decreased 10% for the month, as compared with an increase of 8% in comparable store sales for the corresponding period last year; company warns Q2 (Jul) wll be $0.20-0.24 per share, current First Call estimate is $0.27; see press release.
Kmart Corp (KM) 10.74: Reports May net sales decreased 1.0% on a same-store basis; total net sales were $2.85 bln, a decline of 2.3% from $2.91 bln in the year-ago period; company says sales were slightly less than plan despite major disruptions in operations caused by resetting 20% of store base, reducing reliance on advertising and experiencing significantly unfavorable weather conditions; see press release.
Talbots (TLB) 37.50: Reports sales for May increased 10% to $113.5 mln from $103.6 mln for the year-ago period; comparable store sales decreased 0.3% for the month; anticipates Q2 (Jul) earnings to be $0.25-0.27 per share, current First Call estimate is $0.26; see press release.
Pacific Sunwear (PSUN) 22.27: Apparel retailer warns Q2 (Jul) will be $0.13-0.17 per share, current First Call estimate is $0.26; May sales were significantly below plan; company will aggressively clear spring and summer merchandise during the next two months which will impact merchandise margins; see press release.
Gap Inc (GPS) 31.39: Reports May sales of $1.0 bln, an increase of 10% over sales of $921 mln year-ago; comparable store sales were down 10%, compared to a 2% decrease in the year-ago period; expects the Q2 (Jul) comp to be bellow the negative mid-single digit guidance previously given; summer fashion product performed above the more basic inventory, but fell short of projections; see press release.
Check Point Sftwr (CHKP) 49.19: First Union Securities upgrades to STRONG BUY from BUY but lowers 12-month price target to $70 from $90; says stock's valuation is compelling at current levels, concerns regarding hardware-based VPN gateway competition are valid, but First Union believes they are overblown and fully discounted in the stock price; company is working aggressively to improve the performance and scalability of its firewall/VPN solutions and will have products shipping in the third quarter that deliver far greater VPN acceleration.
Chrstphr & Bnks (CHBS) 38.95: Reports flat May same-store sales; total sales for the period rose 26% to $18.3 mln from $14.5 mln year-ago; expects to report record Q1 (May) earnings of $0.37-0.38 per share compared to $0.29 year-ago, current First Call estimate is $0.37; see press release.
Caldera Intl (CALD) 1.71: Announces the availability of its OpenLinux Server 64 preview, a fully functional snapshot of 64-bit Linux for Intel Itanium based systems; general availability of OpenLinux Server 64 is scheduled for late third quarter; see press release.
Dollar General (DG) 18.75: Reports retail sales for May of $375.5 mln, an increase of 19.1% over the year-ago of $315.4 mln; company's financial staff and its outside professional consultants will complete a comprehensive review of the company's reporting, record keeping, accounting and internal control policies and practices; until this review is concluded the company does not expect to be in a position to update its prior financial guidance; see press release.
Gillette (G) 28: Merrill Lynch downgrades near-term outlook to NEUTRAL from ACCUMULATE following analyst meeting yesterday, cites uncertainty as to the timetable needed to accomplish company goals of stabilizing market share, reducing costs and upgrading the organization; Salomon Smith Barney downgrades to NEUTRAL from OUTPERFORM and lowers price target to $25 from $32.
Wal-Mart (WMT) 50.75: Reports net sales for May of $16.44 bln, an increase of 12.5% over the year-ago sales of $14.61 bln; sales for the seventeen-week period were $66.26 bln, an increase of 12.3% over the $58.99 bln in the year-ago period; see press release.
Goody's Family (GDYS) 4.19: Reports sales for May of $91.7 mln, a decrease of 5.8% from year-ago sales of $97.3 mln; comparable store sales for May decreased 12.4% from year-ago; company says sales were well below business plan for the month and inventories are higher than plan; cautious about near-term performance. |
