Bank of America, SJM, DELL, DHI, KIRK, INO, BCRX, DBRN Popular Stocks
U.S. stocks declined Friday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 52 points to 10281, the S&P 500 lost 6 points to 1089 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 17 points to 2140.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC, $16.13, +$0.05, 0.31%) wants to quickly end the ongoing embarrassment over its inability to settle internal disputes and pick a sucessor to chief executive Ken Lewis. So it’s aiming to make a decision on its next CEO as early as Sunday, Charlie Gasparino writes at the Daily Beast.
J.M. Smucker Co. (NYSE:SJM, $56.24, +$2.76, 5.16%), maker of jams, jellies and Jif peanut butter, reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that soared amid the addition of the Folgers coffee brand, while lower commodities prices boosted margins at its other businesses.
Dell’s (NASDAQ:DELL, $14.28, -$1.59, -10.03%) fiscal third-quarter profit fell 54% as the economic downturn led to a double-digit drop in revenue, but the computer giant said it is seeing improving demand. Results fell short of expectations.
D.R. Horton Inc.’s (NYSE:DHI, $10.43, -$1.82, -14.86%) fiscal fourth-quarter loss narrowed sharply amid huge year-earlier write-downs as results were weaker than expected. While orders at the No. 2 home builder in the U.S. jumped 26% on a unit basis, Chairman Donald R. Horton said that “market conditions in the homebuilding industry are still challenging” amid still-rising foreclosures and unemployment, high inventory levels and weak consumer confidence.
Kirkland’s Inc. (NASDAQ:KIRK, $15.24, +$1.96, 14.76%) swung to a fiscal third-quarter profit as the retailer saw increased sales and said it has “greater confidence” in its fourth-quarter performance, raising its full-year revenue forecast. The company now expects slight growth in sales, with pretax earnings “significantly above” last year. The company had projected no better than flat sales.
Inovio Biomedical Corporation (AMEX:INO, $1.53, +$0.33, 27.50%) announced today that a combination of its synthetic consensus H1N1, H2N2, H3N2, and H5N1 influenza vaccine candidates achieved protective antibody responses against several different influenza sub-types and strains in ferrets.
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX, $9.68, -$0.72, -6.92%) priced its offering of 5 million shares at $9.75 a share, a 6.3% discount to Thursday’s closing price.
Dress Barn Inc.’s (NASDAQ:DBRN, $21.64, +$1.12, 5.46%) fiscal first-quarter profit rose 9.9% and the women’s clothing chain raised its fiscal-year earnings target by 10 cents. Results topped analysts’ expectations.
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