|
CNNfn market movers
|
 |
April 21, 1999: 2:43 p.m. ET
Health, drug firms find cure for what ails them while technology continues to soar
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Technology remained a hot ticket for investors Wednesday afternoon while the recently skittish drug and health-care stocks were able to calm their nerves, at least temporarily.
The healthcare and drug sector heated up by early afternoon after several strong earnings reports and the prospect of a future union.
Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) found a ready cure for what's been ailing its stock, which rose 3-1/4 to 62-1/2 after beating analysts' earnings expectations by a penny and projecting "middle-teen" percentage growth in its 1999 research and development budget.
The diagnosis was just as good for Columbia Healthcare (COL), which rose 2 to 26-3/8 after beating Wall Street's earnings estimate by 11 cents, and HCIA Inc. (HCIA), which increased 11/16 to 4-7/16, after announcing it had hired BT Alex. Brown to explore the company's strategic alternatives.
Medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) provided investors with a nice recovery, rising 6-1/16 to 42-3/4 after the company received four ratings upgrades on its stock.
Technology overload
When it came to technology firms, investors had no shortage of hot stocks to choose from.
Online brokers quickly showed their return to prominence Tuesday was no fluke.
E*Trade Group (EGRP) led the way, climbing 9-1/16 to 99-3/8 after announcing it had beat analysts' expectations by a nickel. Fellow Internet brokers quickly followed suit, including Charles Schwab (SCH), up 8-3/4 to 115-1/2 and National Discount Brokers (NDB), up 5-3/8 to 60-5/8.
Lycos Inc. (LCOS) clearly didn't mind the extra traffic around its stock after announcing it had surpassed the Yahoo! sites as the most-visited hub on the Web with a 51.8 percent audience reach. Lycos' stock then gained some ground on Yahoo! as well, climbing 17-3/8 to 91-1/4 while Yahoo (YHOO) climbed 3-1/4 to 174-1/4.
And Network Solutions Inc. (NSOL) continued to soar after announcing five new testbed registrars, including America Online (AOL). That sent its stock up 29-3/4 to 89-3/4.
Those looking for something more concrete to trade on found much to like about Lattice Semiconductor Corp.'s (LSCC) earnings report, which closed two cents above analysts' expectations. The company 9 to 56-11/16
Also climbing was information technology firm Safeguard Scientifics (SFE), which rose 12 to 85-1/2 after announcing first-quarter earnings of 76 cents a share.
Investors were clearly secure with ISS Corp. (ISSX), which climbed 10-7/16 to 54-7/16 after the security software manufacturer received an upgrade from Goldman Sachs.
Other technology firms upgraded Wednesday included inTest Corp. (INTT), up 2-5/16 to 6-3/8, and RF Micro Devices (RFMD), up 11 to 62-7/8.
But investors' analysis of SkyTel Communications Inc.'s (SKYT) earnings results -- which beat Wall Street's estimates by a penny -- was more skeptical sending that stock down 2-1/8 to 14-3/16.
And a top-level shake-up at Borders Group (BGP) certainly didn't sit well. The global distributor of books, music and videos saw its stock suffer 2-1/2 to 14-9/16. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
