Weak Start For Stocks
Stocks appear set to open lower
Thursday as the United States deploys troops to the Middle East.
Drug maker Ivax
(
IVX |
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PowerRating) said it
expects Q2 revenues to be lower for its generic drug paclitaxel. The company is
citing pricing pressures by competitors.
GTECH Holdings
(
GTK |
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PowerRating) reported Q2
earnings of 55 cents a share, beating estimates by 2 cents.
Former high-flyer Metromedia Fiber
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MFNX |
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PowerRating)
signed a $231 million vendor financing agreement.
Robertson Stephens upgraded Guidant
Corp
(
GDT |
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PowerRating) from Market Perform to Buy.
Credit Suisse First Boston downgraded a
number of commercial aircraft part suppliers. Ladish
(
LDSH |
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PowerRating) and Precision
Castparts
(
PCP |
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PowerRating) were downgraded to Hold from Buy, and BE Aerospace
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BEAV |
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PowerRating)
was lowered to Hold from Strong Buy.
JDS Uniphase
(
JDSU |
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PowerRating) was upgraded
by Credit Suisse First Boston from Hold to Buy.
Retail giant Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
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PowerRating) was
upgraded to Goldman Sachs’ Recommend List from Market Outperform.
Pharmaceutical Product Development
(
PPDI |
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PowerRating)
raised the company’s outlook for Q3 to 22 cents a share. Analysts were expecting
earnings of 20 cents a share.
Acute care hospital operator Tenet
Healthcare
(
THC |
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PowerRating) raised its Q1 outlook to come in between 65 – 67 cents a
share vs. analysts’ consensus of 60 cents a share.
Battery maker Rayovac
(
ROV |
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PowerRating)
lowered its forecasts for Q4 to come in between 25 – 27 cents a share. Analysts’
consensus was for 50 cents a share. The company citied a slowdown of battery
sales in both U.S. and Latin American markets.
Jobless claims fell for the week of
Sept. 15, by 49,000 jobs to 387,000. The Labor Department cited the large
decline was due to seasonal adjustments.
Housing starts fell 6.9% for the month
of August.