Market Pulse: Amerisource, Affymax, Sarepta, BofA, Ebay, Lululemon

Affymax

19/03/2013 13:54

March 19 (Reuters) - Some U.S. stocks on the move on Tuesday:

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FUTURES GAIN BEFORE DATA, FOCUS SHIFTS FROM CYPRUS

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday after a two-day drop, helped by signs that the U.S. housing market recovery is gathering pace, as investors shrugged off developments in Cyprus that may lead the country into default. The Dow Jones industrial average  .DJI  gained 38.89 points, or 0.27 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index  .SPX  rose 4.26 points, or 0.27 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index  .IXIC  added 10.20 points, or 0.32 percent.  .N

** AMERISOURCEBERGEN  ABC.N , $51.32, up 6 pct (0950 ET)

** WALGREEN CO  WAG.N , $45.15, up 6 pct (0950 ET)

** CARDINAL HEALTH INC  CAH.N , $42.95, down 7 pct (0950 ET)

Drug distributor AmerisourceBergen signed a 10-year distribution deal with Walgreen Co and partner Alliance Boots ABN.UL that it said would deliver $28 billion in incremental revenue in fiscal 2014 and give the pharmacy chains the right to acquire up to 23 percent of the company. Shares of AmerisourceBergen rival, Cardinal Health, fell on news of the contract.  ID:nL3N0CBQC7

** AFFYMAX INC  AFFY.O , $1.23, down 58 pct (0949 ET)

The drugmaker said on Monday that it was considering selling itself or filing for bankruptcy among a range of alternatives, as it struggles to stay afloat following the recent recall of its sole commercial product, anemia drug Omontys.

ID:nL3N0CADM0

** HARVEST NATURAL RESOURCES INC  HNR.N , $3.19, down 42 pct (0948 ET)

The oil and gas producer said it had identified some accounting errors and it might have to restate results for some periods in the last three years.  ID:nL3N0CBQHI

Harvest Natural also estimated a full-year loss of about $9.6 million, or 26 cents per share, for 2012.

** MER TELEMANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS LTD  MTSL.O , $3.32, down 34 pct (0948 ET)

The company, which provides products and services to manage telecommunications expenses, said one of its customers, Simple Mobile, intends to migrate its hosted billing services to its own platform.

MTS had last year entered into a one-year agreement with the company, a part of TracFone, to provide hosted billing services for minimum monthly payments of $300,000 for 2013. "It is unlikely that we will receive significant revenues from TracFone in 2014," MTS said in a release.  ID:nPn3197519

** GMX RESOURCES INC  GMXR.N , $3.55, down 11 pct (0947 ET)

The oil and gas producer reiterated that it may seek bankruptcy protection if it is not able to reach a consensual alternative for restructuring its balance sheet. The company also said it had not been able to file its annual report as it had been focused on discussions with lenders and finding financing alternatives. ((http://link.reuters.com/wuk76t))

** NPS PHARMACEUTICALS INC  NPSP.O , $10.65, up 18 pct (0947 ET)

NPS has regained full worldwide rights to a pair of drugs from Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co  4502.T  in exchange for $50 million in NPS common shares, the companies announced on Tuesday.  ID:nN9E8KD023

Under the deal, NPS will have worldwide rights to develop and sell teduglutide, a treatment for a rare condition called short bowel syndrome, sold in Europe as Revestive and in the United States as Gattex, and for an osteoporosis drug sold in Europe under the brand name Preotact.

** DSW INC  DSW.N , $60.86, down 9 pct (0947 ET)

The footwear retailer said it was off to a slow start in 2013 as it experienced weak sales trends in the first six weeks of the year, prompting it to forecast flat same-store sales for the first half of the year. The company also posted fourth-quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations.

ID:nPnCL79344

** LULULEMON ATHLETICA INC  LULU.O , $62.73, down 5 pct (0946 ET)

The Canadian company is pulling shipments of unexpectedly sheer women's yoga pants from its stores, in a move the athletic clothing maker said would hurt its bottom line.  ID:nL1N0CAFCC

** HOSPITALITY PROPERTIES TRUST  HPT.N , $25.82, down 5 pct (0946 ET)

The owner of hotels and travel centers said it was raising money through an offering of 10 million shares to pay down debt.

ID:nBw186472a

** SKULLCANDY INC  SKUL.O , $5.58, up 5 pct (0945 ET)

The maker of trendy headphones named the head of Nike Inc's

NKE.N  Nike+ Digital Sport as its chief executive, as it deals with the loss of a major customer and looks to rein in costs related to international expansion.  ID:nL3N0CAAP1

** CRESTWOOD MIDSTREAM PARTNERS LP  CMLP.N , $23.73, down 4.6 pct (0945 ET)

The company, which transports natural gas and related liquids, said it has started a public offering of 4.5 million common units and will use the proceeds to repay debt.

ID:nMKW97754a

** HOLLY ENERGY PARTNERS LP  HEP.N , $40.19, down 5 pct (0944 ET)

The company, which operates petroleum product and crude pipelines, said it plans to offer 1.87 million common units and use the proceeds to repay debt.  ID:nBw186546a

** SAREPTA THERAPEUTICS INC  SRPT.O , $34.20, up 3 pct (0944 ET)

Deutsche Bank analyst Robyn Karnauskas initiated coverage on the company with a "buy" rating, saying its experimental drug to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that causes progressive muscle loss, is likely to get U.S. approval by mid-2015.

"We see eteplirsen as having a better safety profile versus its competitor Drisapersen that will allow it to take majority share," Karnauskas wrote in a note to clients. Drisapersen is being tested by GlasxoSmithKline Plc  GSK.L  in a late-stage trial, while eteplirsen is in a mid-stage study.

** JUNIPER NETWORKS INC  JNPR.N , $19.20, down 5 pct (0943 ET)

Goldman Sachs downgraded the network equipment maker to "sell" from "neutral", saying Alcatel-Lucent and Cisco Systems Inc  CSCO.O  are expected to take market share from Juniper.

"We see continued share loss to Palo Alto Networks  PANW.N  and others, as Juniper's products still have certain gaps compared to the competition, such as the reporting features," analyst Simona Jankowski wrote in a note.

The company's expected transition to a software model may have a cannibalistic effect as Juniper begins to sell software licenses on an as-needed basis as opposed to the traditional model of up-front hardware sales, the note said. The brokerage also cut its price target on the stock to $17 from $21.

** EBAY INC  EBAY.O , $50.94, up 1.6 pct (0943 ET)

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded the e-commerce company's stock    to "buy" from "hold", saying it expects the number of active users of its online marketplace to increase as it adds branded retailers and other features.

"We expect to see a positive impact on growth in international markets as many of these changes are rolled out outside the U.S.," analyst Youssef Squali said in a note. The impact of the new "digital wallet" fee on the company's PayPal business was also likely to be "manageable", Squali added.

** BANK OF AMERICA CORP  BAC.N , $12.75, up 1.5 pct (0942 ET)

Bank of America's shares recovered slightly after Cyprus's government proposed on Tuesday to spare small savers from a tax on bank deposits, in a last-minute attempt to win parliamentary backing for an international bailout and avoid a default and a banking collapse.  ID:nL6N0CB53I

** CHESAPEAKE ENERGY CORP  CHK.N , $21.72, down 2 pct (0941 ET)

The second-largest U.S. natural gas company gave more details about its plan to raise $2.3 billion by selling senior notes. It will use the proceeds to buy some of its debt due 2013 and 2018.  ID:nBwb633tka

** INTERSECTIONS INC  INTX.O , $9.27, down 16 pct (0939 ET)

The provider of indentity theft protection said on Monday its full-year revenue will fall as much as 15 percent as regulatory scrutiny causes financial services companies to pull back on marketing its products.  ID:nL3N0CAEQD

** FUTUREFUEL CORP  FF.N , $12.25, down 10 pct (0939 ET)

The chemicals and biofuels maker posted a fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts' estimates as revenue from two of its largest customers fell due to the expiration of a $1-per-gallon tax credit for biodiesel.  ID:nGNXUXJAIa

** USA MOBILITY INC  USMO.O , $12.32, down 3 pct (0938 ET)

The paging and wireless services provider on Monday delayed the reporting of its fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 results, citing a "material weakness" related to its software revenue recognition process.  ID:nBwbkJ0QVa

The company did not provide a new date for reporting its fourth-quarter and full-year results.

** CHIQUITA BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC  CQB.N , $7.73, up 5 pct (0938 ET)

The fruit and vegetable distributor's chief executive, Ed Lonergan, revealed in a regulatory filing that he had acquired 50,800 shares of the company for about $367,000. The price implies an average purchase value of $7.22 per share.

ID:nWSA27W7lq

(Compiled by Pallavi Ail in Bangalore; Editing by Sreejiraj Eluvangal)

((pallavi.ail@thomsonreuters.com)(within U.S. +1 646 223 8780, outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800)(Reuters Messaging:  pallavi.ail.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: MARKETS USA STOCKS/PULSE