Mixed Opening
Stocks appear set to open mixed
Friday.
Privately held aviation company Airbus
has won a bid over Boeing Co.
(
BA |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to supply Go Fly Ltd. with 75 passenger
planes. The deal is worth approximately $3 billion.
Immunex
(
IMNX |
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News |
PowerRating) said it will sell
the company’s Leukine business to Schering AG
(
SHR |
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PowerRating) for $380 million in cash.
Rehab Care Group
(
RHB |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported Q1
earnings of 22 cents a share, beating analysts’ estimates by a penny according to
a survey taken by Multex. Revenues rose to $138.2 million, or 5.7%, on a year-over-year basis.
Akzo Nobel
(
AKZOY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) have filed a
patent infringement suite against Barr Labs
(
BRL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). The lawsuit alleges that
BRL has infringed on Remeron SolTab which is used to treat depression.
Sonic Solutions
(
SNIC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported
Q4 operating income of 4 cents a share, beating analysts’ estimates by 3 cents.
Revenues rose to $6.8 million, or 68%.
Andrx
(
ADRX |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was downgraded by
UBS Warburg from Strong Buy to Hold based on valuation. The firm’s price target
for ADRX is $50.
Merrill Lynch made some positive
comments on auto dealers. The firm recommends Sonic Automotive
(
SAH |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
Group
1 Automotive
(
GPI |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Asbury Automotive Group
(
ABG |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
AutoNation
(
AN |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and United Auto Group
(
UAG |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) citing attractive valuations, limited inventory
risk and high real cash flows.
Serologicals
(
SERO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) has settled
with the Securities and Exchange Commission with regard to the investigation of
the company’s 1999 financial reporting.
Non-Farm payrolls rose 43,000 for the
month of April.
The unemployment rate rose to 6%,
higher than expected, while Average hourly earnings rose 0.1%.