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

Affymax

19/03/2013 13:21

March 19 (Reuters) - Some U.S. stocks to watch on Tuesday:

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FUTURES GAIN BEFORE DATA, FOCUS SHIFTS FROM CYPRUS

U.S. stock index futures edged up on Tuesday, after two days of declines, as investors' focus shifted away from developments in Cyprus that may lead the country into default.

S&P 500 futures  SPc1  added 3.7 points. Dow Jones industrial average futures  DJc1  added 20 points and Nasdaq 100 futures  NDc1  gained 9 points. .N

** AMERISOURCEBERGEN  ABC.N , Monday close $51.27, up 6 pct premarket

** WALGREEN CO  WAG.N , Monday close $42.43, up 2 pct premarket

** CARDINAL HEALTH INC  CAH.N , Monday close $46.13, down 5 pct premarket

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 in premarket trade on news of the contract.  ID:nL3N0CBQC7

** AFFYMAX INC  AFFY.O , Monday close $2.92, down 58 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $5.49, down 40 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $5.02, down 35 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $4, down 12.5 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $9.04, up 10 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $67.05, down 8 pct premarket

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  LLL.TO   LULU.O , Monday close $65.90, down 8 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $27.19, down 7 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $5.33, up 6 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $24.85, down 4.6 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $42.28, down 4 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $33.03, up 4 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $20.21, down 3.5 pct premarket

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.

** 8X8 INC  EGHT.O , Monday close $6.90, up 3.2 pct premarket

The Internet telephone company launched a new softphone app integrating Internet phone calls with one-on-one video calling, web and video conferencing, and visual voicemail.

ID:nBwcfp4MMa

** EBAY INC  EBAY.O , Monday close $50.11, up 1.8 pct premarket

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.

** ELECTRONIC ARTS  EA.O , Monday close $18.71, up 1.5 pct premarket

The company behind the "Sims" and "Medal of Honor" franchises said on Monday Chief Executive John Riccitiello had resigned after six years at the helm of the video games publisher.  ID:nL1N0CACFK

** BANK OF AMERICA CORP  BAC.N , Monday close $12.56, up 1.4 pct premarket

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

** CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS INC  CHTR.O , Monday close 98.04, down 1 pct premarket

** LIBERTY MEDIA CORP  LMCA.O , Monday close $110.66

Liberty Media Corp will buy a 27.3 percent stake in cable operator Charter Communications Inc for about $2.62 billion. Liberty will pay $95.50 for each Charter share, a discount of 2.6 percent to Charter's Monday close of $98.04.  ID:nL3N0CBTF3

** HUNTSMAN CORP  HUN.N , Monday close $19.26, up 1 pct premarket

The chemical maker said its facilities in Port Neches, Texas, which were under maintenance, are now operating at normal rates. The company added that its first-quarter EBITDA would be hurt by $10 million as a result of delays in maintenance activity.  ID:nPnLA79496

** TWO HARBORS INVESTMENT CORP  TWO.N , Monday close $13.87, down 1 pct premarket

The REIT, which invests in residential mortgage-backed securities and residential mortgage loans, said it plans to offer 50 million shares to raise funds for acquisitions.

ID:nBw186551a

** CHESAPEAKE ENERGY CORP  CHK.N , Monday close $22.17, down 1 pct premarket

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 , Monday close $11.05, down 14 pct after market

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 , Monday close $13.66, down 9 pct after market

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 , Monday close $12.74, down 5 pct after market

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 , Monday close $7.39, up 3 pct after market

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