Pre-Open Movers 7/10: Rohm and Haas (ROH) Soars On Dow Buyout, FCStone (FCSX) Killed On Weaker Earnings

July 10, 2008 9:32 AM EDT

StreetInsider.com Pre-Open Movers:

Rohm and Haas Company (NYSE: ROH) 64% HIGHER; entered into an agreement with The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), under which Dow will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Rohm and Haas common stock for $78.00 per share in cash. Shares of ROH closed at $44.83 yesterday.

Excel Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: XLTC) 37% HIGHER; entered into a definitive agreement for GSI Group Inc., (Nasdaq: GSIG) to acquire Excel in an all-cash transaction for $32.00 per share, or approximately $360 million.

FCStone Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: FCSX) 30% LOWER; reports Q3 EPS of $0.42, 5 cents lower than the analyst estimate of $0.47. Revenues for the quarter were $83.4 million, versus the consensus of $82.53 million.

Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT) 21% HIGHER; reports Q4 EPS of $0.27, 7 cents better than the analyst estimate of $0.20. Revenues for the quarter were $341.35 million, versus the consensus of $341.75 million. Same store sales for the quarter fell 10.3% from the same quarter last year. Sees FY09 EPS in the range of $0.50-$0.70, versus the Street consensus of $0.51. Also, same store sales for Q1 are expected to be down 8-9%

Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) 16% LOWER; Former St. Louis Federal Reserve President William Poole said, "Congress ought to recognize that these firms are insolvent, that it is allowing these firms to continue to exist as bastions of privilege, financed by the taxpayer."

Wachovia (NYSE: WB) 11% LOWER; Board of Directors appointed Robert K. Steel, 56, as the company's new Chief Executive Officer, President and member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Wachovia (NYSE: WB) expects to report an after-tax loss available to common stockholders of $2.6 - $2.8 billion or $1.23 - $1.33 on a per share basis for the second quarter, excluding goodwill impairment charges. The Wall Street consensus is a profit of $0.17.

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) 11% LOWER; Former St. Louis Federal Reserve President William Poole said, "Congress ought to recognize that these firms are insolvent, that it is allowing these firms to continue to exist as bastions of privilege, financed by the taxpayer."

Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN) 8% HIGHER; Delaware Court Grants Huntsman (HUN) Request for Expedited Proceeding

California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPKI) 8% HIGHER; said Q2 revenues increased 11.3% to $176.6 million. Comparable restaurant sales increased approximately 1.4%. California Pizza now expects earnings of $0.25-$0.26 per diluted share, versus prior guidance of $0.16 to $0.17. The consensus is $0.17. California Pizza cited second quarter revenues, positive comparable restaurant sales from the Company’s Thank You Card Program and a continued focus on operating efficiencies. California Pizza Kitchen also announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $50.0 million of common stock over the next two years.

Triquint Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TQNT) 7% LOWER; second quarter revenue are expected to be approximately $120 million, below prior guidance of $130-$135 million. GAAP net income is expected to be between three and four cents per diluted share, versus prior guidance of five to seven cents. Gross margin is expected to be approximately 35%.

Pacific Sunwear Of California (NASDAQ: PSUN) 5% HIGHER; $50 buyback, June comps up 3%

Shaw Group, Inc. (NYSE: SGR) 5% HIGHER; reports Q3 EPS of $0.70, ex-items, 7 cents better than the analyst estimate of $0.63. Revenues for the quarter were $1.82 billion, versus the consensus of $1.89 billion.

Verasun Energy, Corp. (NYSE: VSE) 5% LOWER; Piper cuts to Sell

Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW) 4.9% LOWER; sees Q2 adjusted diluted EPS to be in a range of $0.70 to $0.74, versus prior guidance of $0.75 to $0.79.

Intervoice, Inc. (NASDAQ: INTV) 4% HIGHER; reports Q1 non-GAAP EPS of $0.13, 8 cents better than the analyst estimate of $0.05. Revenues for the quarter were $51.5 million, versus the consensus of $53.20 million.

Ross Stores, Inc. (Nasdaq: ROST) 4% HIGHER; reports June sales of $628 million, a 15% increase compared to the $545 million reported in the same month last year. Comparable store sales rose 8% during June. Sees same store sales for the July month in the range of up 2-4%. Ross Stores raised its Q2 EPS guidance from $0.43-$0.47 to $0.51-$0.53, compared to the Street estimate of $0.46.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) 3.2% HIGHER; CEO sees no reason to cut dividend, raise cash

The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) 3% HIGHER; reports June sales rose 9% from $1.7 billion last year to $1.8 billion this year. Consolidated same store sales for the month rose 5%. Raises its Q2 EPS guidance from $0.40-$0.42 to $0.44-$0.45, versus the consensus of $0.42.

Opnext, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPXT) 2.5% HIGHER; reached a definitive agreement to acquire privately held StrataLight Communications, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Opnext will acquire StrataLight Communications for a total consideration of approximately 26.55 million common shares and $30 million in cash. Based on Opnext's closing share price of $5.35 on July 8, 2008, this represents a value of approximately $172 million.

Harleysville Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HGIC) 2.5% LOWER; announced that estimated catastrophe losses incurred during the second quarter will reduce operating income(1) by $0.52 to $0.57 per share after taxes, and will impact the company's statutory combined ratio between 10 and 11 points for the quarter. In the second quarter of 2007, when Harleysville Group reported operating income of $0.81 per share after taxes, the company experienced net catastrophe losses of $0.09 per share after taxes, which had a 2.2 point impact on the combined ratio. Over the past eight quarters, the company's net catastrophe losses have averaged $0.06 per share after taxes. Harleysville Group plans to announce its second quarter results on August 4.

Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE) 2.2% HIGHER; announced that its Q2 '08 revenues will exceed the high end of forecasts for revenue growth of 12% to 15%. Revenue growth for the second quarter is now expected to be approximately 18%. Earnings per share was previously forecasted to increase to $.86 to $.90 in the second quarter, including a $.02 to $.03 impact from severance costs associated with the downsizing of a Tools Segment international facility. Earnings per share in the second quarter are now expected to slightly exceed the high end of the forecast range of $.90 inclusive of a slightly higher income tax rate and $.01 to $.02 impact from currency-related losses, as well as the aforementioned impact from severance costs.

Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE: ARO) 2% HIGHER; June same store sales increased 12%. Total net sales for the five-week period ended July 5, 2008 increased 22% to $136.0 million. Based on the better than expected sales and gross margins for the month, the Company now believes it will achieve second quarter earnings of $0.25 to $0.26 per share, versus its previously issued guidance of $0.22 to $0.24 per share. The Wall Street consensus is $0.24.

Greenhill & Co. Inc. (NYSE: GHL) 1.4% HIGHER; will replace Philadelphia Consolidated Holding in the S&P SmallCap 600

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PHLY) 1% HIGHER; will replace Aquila Inc. (NYSE: ILA) in the S&P MidCap 400.

LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) 1% HIGHER; will replace USANA Health Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: USNA) in the S&P SmallCap 600.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) 0.5% HIGHER; June comps (without fuel) rose 5.8%, 6.1% at Wal-Mart Stores and 4.6% at Sam's Club. "Because of our improved sales results during the quarter, we have updated our guidance estimate for earnings per share for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009 to a range of $0.82 to $0.84" The Wall Street consensus is $0.82.

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