Eye On Stocks
Eye On Stocks For Wednesday, Sept. 22
Peter Kang, 09.21.04, 6:35 PM ET
Fourth-quarter earnings for Jabil Circuit (nyse: JBL - news - people ) came in a penny above Wall Street estimates. The electronics manufacturing services company reported quarterly revenue of $1.626 billion and earnings of 27 cents per share, on a non-GAAP basis. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected quarterly revenue of $1.630 billion and earnings of 26 cents per share. Last week, Credit Suisse First Boston downgraded the company to "neutral" from "outperform" and said a weaker near-term outlook will likely leave shares range-bound. "Our caution on Jabil extends beyond the next two quarters," it said. "We do think Jabil is leading its EMS peers in winning diversified non-core business, but it will be some time before it's enough to offset the deleterious effect the consumer and final assembly businesses are having on margins." CSFB noted that Celestica (nyse: CLS - news - people ) and Flextronics International (nasdaq: FLEX - news - people ) were "better risk-reward options within the EMS sector at this point." Both Celestica and Flextronics were up more than 3% in after-hours trading while Sanmina-SCI (nasdaq: SANM - news - people ) was seen up 4%. Jabil shares closed up 29 cents, or 1.32%, to $22.18. In after-hours trading, shares lifted $1.57, or 7.08%, to $23.75.
JPMorgan Chase (nyse: JPM - news - people ) said its chief financial officer would step down at the end of the year. The company said Michael Cavanagh, currently head of middle market banking, would replace Dina Dublon as the company's top finance officer. Dublon said in a statement, "I have decided to step off the treadmill and take some time to explore the next stage of my professional career." Shares ended higher, up 72 cents, or 1.83%, to $40.10.
Citizens Communications (nyse: CZN - news - people ) named a former Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) executive its new president and chief executive. The wireline telecommunications firm said former Microsoft senior vice president Maggie Wilderotter would head up the company starting Nov. 1. Yesterday, Deutsche Bank Securities reiterated its "sell" rating for Citizens, saying the equity market is currently underpricing risk in the company. Shares closed up 26 cents, or 1.98%, to $13.38.
Priceline.com (nasdaq: PCLN - news - people ) issued guidance for the third and fourth quarter and announced it acquired Active Hotels, an Internet hotel reservation services firm, for approximately $161 million. The company said it expects quarterly earnings, on a pro forma basis, to range from 26 cents and 28 cents per share, compared with previous guidance of 25 cents to 30 cents per share. For the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings of 14 cents to 18 cents per share, compared with previous guidance of 13 cents to 17 cents per share. The Wall Street consensus calls for third-quarter earnings of 28 cents per share and fourth-quarter earnings of 14 cents per share. Yesterday, Goldman Sachs maintained its "in-line" rating on Priceline.com but lowered earnings estimates, citing recent hurricanes and lower levels of consumer spending. The research firm Sachs lowered 2004 per-share earnings guidance for Priceline.com to 84 cents, down from a previous estimate of 88 cents; for 2005, it cut the estimate to $1.10 from $1.20. "The impact of the hurricanes has exacerbated the slowdown in third-party online travel demand that began in late June and early July," Goldman Sachs said. "As such, we do not believe that a rebound in September has occurred." Shares closed up 10 cents, or 0.51%, to $19.60 and moved higher in extended trading, up 60 cents, or 3.06%, to $20.20.
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