(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks fell on Friday as weaker than expected durable goods orders data and housing data rekindled worries about economic recovery.
Below we highlight few stocks that witnessed heightened activity on Friday.
KB Home (NYSE:
KBH): Shares of homebuilder plunged over 8% on Friday after it reported quarterly results that missed analyst expectations. KB Home said that its fiscal third-quarter net loss narrowed to $66 million, or 87 cents a share, from $144.7 million, or $1.87 a share, in the prior year period. Analysts were looking for a loss of 58 cents per share. Total revenue plunged 33% to $458.5 million. The average selling price tumbled 15% from the same quarter last year. Net orders jumped 62% to 2,158 homes, but fell 26% from 2,910 in the previous quarter. The company said further that cancellation rate dropped to 27% from 51% a year earlier, but was up from 20% in the prior quarter. Housing gross margin improved to 11.1% in the third quarter, from 3.9% in the fiscal second quarter. Backlog slipped 22% to 3,722 homes from 4,774 a year earlier. The current backlog represents potential revenue of $734.1 million, compared to a revenue $1.13 billion a year earlier. "It will likely be some time before we see meaningful improvement in the economic conditions that are essential to our industry's future growth," said CEO Jeff Mezger. Though there are few signs of stabilizations in the housing market, a sustained recovery still remains elusive amid lackluster job market. A government release on Friday showed that new home sales rose by a meager 0.7% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 429,000 compared to consensus estimates of 440,000 annual pace. The National Association of Realtors reported Thursday that existing home sales fell 2.7% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million, the first decline in five months. Economists expected existing home sales to rise to 5.40 million annual rate from 5.24 million in July.
Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE:
SLE): The company announced on Friday that it has agreed to sell personal care unit including its Sanex and Duschdas brands to Anglo-Dutch food and household goods giant Unilever NV (NYSE: UL) for 1.28 billion euros ($1.88 billion) in cash. The brands generated annual sales of $1.1 billion (€750 million) for the year ended June 2009. Sara Lee said in a statement that will probably close "more to the latter part" of 2010. Sara Lee Chief Executive Brenda Barnes said she was "quite pleased" with the deal price. She added that the proceeds will allow the company to proceed with growing its core food and beverage businesses and to repurchase stock.
