Allstate - (ALL) $31.86 +$1.92
Shares of the insurer were up as were other insurers, which were mostly up in the day, probably on the auto industry bailout that was announced by President Bush.
Apache – (APA) $74.57 +$4.76
Shares of oil and gas producer Apache were up after crude oil managed to eek out very modest gains on Friday.
Baker Hughes - (BHI) $29.99 +$1.74
Baker Hughes is a service provider to the oil and gas exploration industry and the shares were up in tandem with crude oil prices.
Darden Restaurants – (DRI) $28.55 +$4.57
Darden Restaurants, which among its holdings operates Olive Garden and Red Lobster, on Thursday, reported that its second quarter 2009 diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations were $0.42 cents, an increase of 40%, versus 30 cents in the prior year.
With analysts looking for just $0.31 per share, Wall Street must have been impressed that the company’s earnings beat estimates so handily, in an economic environment where the consumer is hurting.
Fuel Systems Solutions – (FSYS) $34.52 +$3.28
FSYS shares were up after the company announced on Friday, that it’s Italian division, will be buying Distribuidora Shopping SA of Argentina for $22 million after which coverage of its stock was initiated with a buy rating, by Janney Montgomery Scott. Fuel Systems is a manufacturer of alternative fuel systems for vehicles and the company is looking to expand its product line and market, with the purchase of Distribuidora Shopping, which makes components and systems for the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles market.
Oracle – (ORCL) $17.78 +$1.17
Shares of Oracle posted their biggest one day gain in over three months, by rallying 7.04% today, after the company reported that Q2 2009 earnings per share came in at $0.25, which was in line with what analysts were looking for.
Revenues for the period was up 6% to $5.6 billion, while quarterly GAAP net income saw a 1% decline to $1.3 billion.
Broken down, software revenues were up 8% to $4.5 billion with new software license revenues down 3% to $1.6 billion. Software license updates and product support revenues were up 14% to $2.9 billion and services revenues were down 2% to $1.1 billion.
Operating income was up 11% to $2.0 billion and operating margin on a GAAP basis, was up 1.66%, to 35%. Cash flow for the period was $8.1 billion.
In the second quarter, there was a $0.04 per share negative impact on the bottom line, as the dollar rallied against other major currencies. As such, without the foreign currency effect, EPS would have come in at $0.29.
Provident Bankshares Corporation- $9.33 +$3.53
Shares of Baltimore, Maryland’s largest independent bank rallied 60.86% after M&T Bank agreed to buy Provident for $401 million in an all-stock deal. Provident Bankshares Corporation shareholders will receive $10.50 for each share they own when the deal closes in the second quarter of 2009. The
Research In Motion – (RIMM) $42.83 +$4.39
Shares of the Research In Motion, the mobile communications device company, which makes the Blackberry, were on a tear on Friday, after the company on Thursday December 18, reported third quarter 2009 earnings that came in in-line with analysts forecasts.
Q3 revenue came in at $2.78 billion, which was up 7.9% consequentially from the $2.58 billion that the company realized in the previous quarter and up 66.3% from the $1.67 billion in the same period a year ago. Breakdown for the company’s revenue in the quarter, was roughly 81% for devices, 13% for service, 2% for software and 4% for other revenue. The company shipped approximately 6.7 million devices during the quarter and added 2.6 million new subscribers, bringing the subscriber account base to about 21 million, a sequential 14% increase from the second quarter.
Earnings per share came in at $0.83, after special items are ex-ed out. For the Q4 2009 period, the company is providing EPS guidance in the range of $0.83-$0.91. Wall Street analysts are looking for a EPS to come in at $0.83.
