Morning Movers 10/09: Financials Up Even As Short Selling Ban Ends; Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) Down On SSS/EPS Guidance

October 9, 2008 9:29 AM EDT

StreetInsider.com Morning Movers:

Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN) 40% HIGHER; Hexion Specialty Chemicals said it is proceeding expeditiously to seek to close its merger with Huntsman. Hexion said, to assist it in closing the merger, affiliates of Apollo Management, L.P. have agreed to make a capital contribution of $540 million to Hexion.

National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC) 22% HIGHER; Reports National City (NCC) is in merger talks with a number of banks.

Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT) 12% LOWER; reports Q1 EPS of $0.01, versus the analyst estimate of $0.11. Revenues for the quarter were $324 million, versus the consensus of $329.81 million. Same store sales for the quarter fell 10.8% at company-owned restaurants and 7.9% at domestic franchises. Sees FY09 EPS in the range of $0.30-$0.35, versus the consensus of $0.54. Comps for the year are expected to fall at a rate in the mid-single digits.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) 11% LOWER; today reported net sales of $275.4 million for the month of September. Same store sales fell 14% during the month. Abercrombie sees Q3 EPS in the range of $0.74-$0.76, versus the consensus of $1.12.

Quest Software Inc. (Nasdaq: QSFT) 11% HIGHER; To buyback up to $400 million in stock in tender offer.

Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW) 11% LOWER; lowers its Q3 non-GAAP EPS estimate from $0.36-$0.40 to $0.22-$0.26, versus the consensus of $0.37.

TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) 10% LOWER; Reports September same store sales fell 1%. Lowers its Q3 EPS guidance to $0.55-$0.58, versus the consensus of $0.61. For FY09, TJX sees EPS in the range of $2.25-$2.31, versus the consensus of $2.29.

bebe stores, inc. (Nasdaq: BEBE) 8% LOWER; Q1 same store sales decreased 10.8%. bebe stores now sees EPS in the range of $0.09 to $0.13, versus prior guidance of $0.12 to $0.16.

Wachovia (NYSE: WB) 6% HIGHER; CNBC's Charlie Gasparino reports that the government is pushing Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and Citi (NYSE: C) to finish a deal for Wachovia (NYSE: WB) by tonight.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) 4.8% HIGHER; Financials higher this AM, even as short selling ban ends

AIG (NYSE: AIG) 4.7% HIGHER; Gets another $38B In Liquidity From the Fed.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) 3.5% HIGHER; announced third-quarter 2008 diluted earnings of $2.05 per share from continuing operations. The consensus is $2.02. Revenue increased 5 percent, including 3 points of currency benefit, to $25.3 billion. The consensus is $26.5 billion. IBM said it continues to expect full-year 2008 earnings per share of at least $8.75, or year-to-year growth of 22 percent. The consensus is $8.76.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) 3% HIGHER; HIGHER; Financials higher this AM, even as short selling ban ends

Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. (NYSE: EYE) INDICATED LOWER; lowered 2008 revenue guidance to a range of $1.17 billion to $1.20 billion and EPS to a range of $0.70 to $0.80. Prior guidance was $1.22 billion to $1.24 billion and EPS of $1.00 to $1.15. The consensus is $1.23 billion and $1.03.

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Related Entities

• Charles Gasparino
• JPMorgan
• Citi
• Wachovia
• Apollo Management

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