Month: September 2011

The latest rumor is that Yahoo Inc ( YHOO ), which remains one of the biggest names in Internet business and online search, is seeing a growing number of bids for the whole or a part of its business. The suitors appear to be a number of private equity funds, including Silver Lake Partners, the fund that made a huge profit from buying a stake in Skype from eBay Inc ( EBAY ) and subsequently selling it to Microsoft Corp ( MSFT ). A consortium of Yahoo shareholders could also be interested in buying out the company, according to media reports […]

Diamond Foods Inc. 's ( DMND ) fourth-quarter fiscal 2011 earnings of 52 cents per share grew a robust 53% from the prior-year earnings of 34 cents per share, primarily driven by strong top-line growth and improved margins. […]

We maintain our long-term Outperform recommendation on Avis Budget Group Inc. ( CAR ). Avis Budget Group is the leading general-use vehicle rental company in North America, Australia and New Zealand […]

We maintain our long-term Neutral recommendation on Capella Education Company ( CPLA ), aprovider of online education. The company’s strong focus on working adults and exclusive online education has enabled it to establish a healthy position in the for-profit post-secondary education industry. Capella Education had delivered better-than-expected second-quarter 2011 results. […]

Theravance Inc. ( THRX ) and partner Astellas Pharma recently announced that their drug Vibativ received marketing approval in the European Union (EU) for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia (NP), also known as hospital-acquired pneumonia including ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Vibativ, Theravance’s only commercialized drug, is an injectable antibiotic, which is currently marketed in the US and Canada for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI) caused by gram-positive bacteria, including resistant pathogens such as MRSA […]

Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation ( GD ), has received a sizeable contract from the U.S. Navy worth $1.8 billion for the construction of DDG 1001 and DDG 1002. The two ships DDG 1001 and DDG 1002, under the Zumwalt-class program, are expected to be delivered in December 2015 and February 2018, respectively […]

Yesterday, home and auto insurer Allstate Corp. ( ALL ) projected about $735 million in pre-tax catastrophe (CAT) losses for August 2011. Including the July and August estimates, to date the company is expected to incur about $865 million in CAT losses in the third quarter of 2011 […]

On Thursday, American Capital Ltd. ( ACAS ) announced the buyback of its $75 million common stock in open market since early August. Common stock of 9.1 million shares has been repurchased at an average price of $8.21 per share. […]

Leading dental laser maker BIOLASE Technology ( BLTI ) has won the approval of the Federal Service of Health Care and Social Development Control in Russia to market its WaterLase iPlus all-tissue dental laser and iLase dental laser in that country. The approval of these novel products in the key Russian market represents a major milestone for BIOLASE. Russia is highly receptive to the latest dental laser technologies. […]