Bank of America, SMTX, SFD, IMAX, YUII, WG, BPAX, GEOY Popular Stocks
U.S. stocks trading lower Thursday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8 points to 10559, the Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 1.8 points to 1144 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 3.7 point to 2355.
Bloomberg reported, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC, $17.23, +$0.12, 0.70%) Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said the lender, the biggest in the U.S., can absorb losses on its $149 billion home-equity loan portfolio even after the four-year slump in housing prices.
SMTC (NASDAQ:SMTX, $2.38, +$0.73, 44.24%) reported fourth-quarter revenue of $51.2 million, down 7.4% year-over-year but up 16% sequentially. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the electronics manufacturing services provider reported net earnings from continuing operations of $2.4 million, up 380% from the third quarter and 140% from last year. Net earnings after discontinued operations were $2.2 million, up 1000% sequentially and reversing a loss of $100,000 in 2008. Net earnings included a $500,000 income tax recovery.
Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE:SFD, $18.96, -$0.03, -0.16%) posted its first quarterly profit in more than a year as cost-cutting and herd reduction efforts paid off. For the third quarter ended January 31, Smithfield posted net income of $37.3 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with a loss of $105.7 million, or 74 cents a share, a year before.
Entertainment technology company IMAX Corporation (NASDAQ:IMAX, $16.32, +$0.30, 1.87%) posted a profit for the fourth quarter against prior year’s loss. fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was $20.9 million, compared to $2.6 million for the fourth quarter last year. Total revenue for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009, increased 98% to $54.2 million, a record for a single quarter for the Company, compared to total revenue of $27.4 million in the same period last year.
Shares of Yuhe International Inc. (NASDAQ:YUII, $9.77, -$2.23, -18.58%) fell on Thursday after the Chinese company said in a regulatory filing that its accounting firm resigned, Grant Thornton, resigned.
An engineering and construction company, Willbros Group Inc. (NYSE:WG, $13.10, -$1.93, -12.84%), reported Thursday a narrower fourth-quarter loss as it cut costs as its revenue fell by more than half. Its fourth-quarter net loss attributable to the company was $8.23 million or $0.21 per share, compared to a loss of $15.60 million or $0.41 per share in the same quarter last year. Willbros Group agreed to acquire peer InfrastruX Group Inc. for at least $470 million.
Shares of BioSante Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BPAX, $1.81, +$0.10, 5.85%) rose after it said Thursday that its GVAX cancer treatment led to a reduction of cancer cells in leukemia patients who had been taking the cancer drug Gleevec for at least one year.
GeoEye Inc (NASDAQ:GEOY, $28.75, +$4.02, 16.26%) entered into a financing deal with Cerberus Capital Management. Under the terms of the agreement, private equity firm Cerberus will purchase $115 million in GeoEye’s preferred stock and provide debt financing of up to $100 million, drawable at the company’s option. Under the pact with Cerberus, the imagery services company will sell preferred stock representing a 15.4% stake if converted into common stock.