Equity Movers: Amazon, AT&T, Cisco, Nortel
Amazon.com, AT&T, Ask Jeeves, Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks are among the companies expected to move in the markets Wednesday.
Amazon (AMZN): The e-tailer reported losses that beat analyst expectations. The company said it lost 25 cents per share, while analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial expected a loss of 33 cents. Shares of Amazon rose $4.16, or about 14 percent, to $33.72.
AT&T (T): The long distance phone giant confirmed that it will break itself up, creating separate companies for its broadband unit and business unit, and having its consumer services listed under a tracking stock with its own chief executive. Shares of AT&T fell $2.56, or a little more than 9 percent, to $24.31.
Ask Jeeves (ASKJ): The online natural language search engine announced that its chief financial officer, Tom Low, resigned. Shares of Ask Jeeves fell 88 cents, or about 7 percent, to $11.25.
Cisco Systems (CSCO): The San Jose (Calif.) City Council approved the company's plans for a $1.3 billion office campus. Shares of Cisco fell $2.56, or almost 5 percent, to $52.31.
Computer Associates (CA): The software maker said its fiscal second-quarter profit fell 59 percent as corporations reduced spending on mainframe computers. Net income fell to $138 million, or 54 cents a share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, from $334 million, or 75 cents, a year earlier, excluding goodwill amortization, the company said in a statement. Analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial were expecting 52 cents a share. Shares of Computer Associates fell 81 cents, or 3 percent, to $25.88.
Hewlett-Packard (HWP): Hewlett-Packard bought Bluestone Software (BLSW) for an estimated $470 million Tuesday, as the computing giant continues to make inroads into the exploding e-business software market. In the all-stock deal, Bluestone shareholders will receive 0.24 shares of HP common stock for every Bluestone share they own. Shares of HP fell $3.56, or almost 4 percent, to $88.94. Shares of BlueStone Software fell $2.06, or about 9 percent, to $21.13.
Nortel Networks (NT): The maker of telecommunications equipment reported a 64 percent jump in earnings, but sales figures that fell short of some expectations. The company said it earned 18 cents per share, beating analyst expectations by one penny. Revenue totaled $7.31 billion, compared with $5.15 billion from a year ago. Some analysts expected the company to post sales of more than $7.5 billion in the third quarter. Shares of Nortel fell $17.81, or about 28 percent, to $45.50.