Morning Movers 4/2: TOPS, MGM, AIB, EXM, LM, FAS Higher; MANH, LNN, PPD, MSM Lower

April 2, 2009 9:53 AM EDT

TOP Ships Inc. (Nasdaq: TOPS) 27.6% HIGHER; reports Q4 EPS of $0.30, compared to a loss of $2.67 in the same quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter was $36.962 million, versus $51.789 million in Q407.

MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM) 22.8% HIGHER; The WSJ is reporting that Colony Capital is discussing a possible investment in MGM MIRAGE's City Center project in Las Vegas. The other casino stocks are also trading higher: Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) up 5.6%, Wynn (Nasdaq: WYNN) up 9.5%.

Allied Irish Banks (NYSE: AIB) 21.9% HIGHER; trading higher on strong performance overseas yesterday. See the FAS entry for more details on the strength in financials.

Excel Maritime (NYSE: EXM) 16.5% HIGHER; secured all the appropriate covenant waivers in the Nordea Bank Syndicated Facility and the Credit Suisse Bilateral Facility, valid until the beginning of 2011. Click here for the full report. Also trading higher on strong earnings out of TOP Ships and promising data points out of China's manufacturing sector.

Manhattan Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: MANH) 14.5% LOWER; lowers its Q1 adj-EPS guidance from $0.20-$0.30 to $0.05-$0.07, versus the Street estimate of $0.22.

Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE: LM) 12.5% HIGHER; today announced that it has repaid debt and amended its debt agreements with its lenders, allowing the Company to sell the $49 million in carrying value of Structured Investment Vehicles that had remained on its balance sheet after Legg Mason removed all SIVs from money market funds on March 5, 2009. Click here for the full report.

Lindsay Corporation (NYSE: LNN) 12.6% LOWER; reports Q2 EPS of $0.01, versus the analyst estimate of $0.21 and compared to $0.79 in the same quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter was $65.1 million, versus the consensus of $73.48 million.

Direxion Financial Bull 3x ETF (NYSE: FAS) 12.3% HIGHER; financials are rallying today following rallies in markets worldwide and in response to the easing of the mark-to-market rule by the FASB. Around the sector: Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), which was started at Outperform by Credit Suisse, is up 4%, Citigroup (NYSE: C) up 9.7%, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) up 10.2% following comments by the CEO, Ken Lewis, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) up 7.7%, JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) up 5%.

CarMax, Inc. (NYSE: KMX) 10.4% HIGHER; reports Q4 EPS of $0.17, compared to $0.10 in the same quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter was $1.47 billion, versus the consensus of $1.62 billion. Sees Fy10 EPS of $0.14-$0.24, versus the consensus of $0.25.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) 10.4% HIGHER; upgraded at Deutsche Bank to Buy.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) 9.4% HIGHER; automakers are rallying amid the broader strength in the markets. Ford (NYSE: F) up 6% for similar reasons.

CommScope (NYSE: CTV) 8.3% HIGHER; Baird upgrades CommScope from Neutral to Outperform. Price target increased to $19.

DryShips (Nasdaq: DRYS) 8.2% HIGHER; trading higher on better-than-expected earnings out of TOP Ships, as well as promising news out of China's manufacturing sector. Other drybulk shippers rallying this morning: Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX), Genco Shipping (NYSE: GNK) up 6.4%, FreeSeas (Nasdaq: FREE) up 9.4%, Navios Maritime (NYSE: NM) up 5%, Eagle Bulk Shipping (Nasdaq: EGLE) up 10%.

Blackstone (NYSE: BX) 8% HIGHER; started at Outperform by Credit Suisse. Also likely seeing upside given the strength in financials.

Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) 7.2% HIGHER; upgraded at Deutsche Bank to Buy.

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (NYSE: PPD) 7% LOWER; reported new memberships produced and new sales associates enrolled for the 2009 first quarter. During the 1st quarter of 2009, new sales associates enrolled decreased 7.5% compared to the first quarter of 2008. Memberships produced decreased by 12.6% while new membership fees written decreased by 13.0% and our active membership base decreased 2.5% compared to the comparable period of the previous year. On a sequential quarterly basis, new associates enrolled decreased 26.6%, new memberships produced decreased 7.6%, new membership fees written decreased 7.9% and our active membership base decreased by 32,091 memberships.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) 6.3% HIGHER; rallying with the broader markets on the back of strong performance in overseas markets and reports that the FASB may have eased mark-to-market rules.

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) 5.5% HIGHER; today announced that Rohm and Haas, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the stock of Morton International, Inc., the salt business of Rohm and Haas, to K+S Aktiengesellschaft. Click here for the full report.

Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLE) 4% HIGHER; commodities are surging this morning on reports out of China that its manufacturing output expanded in March. Around the sector: Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) up 6%, Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) up 5%, Alcoa (NYSE: AA) up 7%, Foster Wheeler (Nasdaq: FWLT) up 7.3%, Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) up 5%, Vale (NYSE: RIO) up 6%, PetroChina (NYSE: PTR) up 4.4%, BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) up 7%.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE: MSM) 3.6% LOWER; reports Q2 EPS of $0.42, 2 cents better than the analyst estimate of $0.40. Revenue for the quarter was $351.9 million, versus the consensus of $357.69 million. Sees Q3 sales of $339-$351 million, versus the consensus of $379.35 million. EPS for the quarter are expected to be $0.37-$0.41, versus the Street estimate of $0.43.

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