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CNNfn market movers
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February 17, 1999: 11:14 a.m. ET
Big Oil gains with BPAmoco but earnings jitters drown Fluor, Orbital Sciences
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A shaky morning on Wall Street produced its share of losers Wednesday as skittish investors took care to punish any company with less than the most solid earnings fundamentals.
Computer systems contractor Atlantic Data Services (ADSC) fell 4-13/32 to 4-31/32 after warning that a weak market climate would push fiscal fourth-quarter earnings far below expectations.
Shareholders punished construction firm Fluor (FLR) for its own slightly disappointing profits, knocking shares down 15/16 to 35-5/8. The company also warned of "challenging" conditions in many of its markets, but offered reassuring hints of a strategic retrenchment to come next month.
Orbital Sciences (ORB) fell 3-1/16 to 26-9/16 after one-time accounting charges caused the company to report fourth-quarter earnings that, in the words of Chairman and CEO David W. Thompson, were "plainly disappointing." Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "outperform."
Seed supplier AgriBioTech (ABTX) fell out of favor on its own sharp earnings disappointment, in this case a fiscal second-quarter loss of 26 cents per share when analysts had expected a per-share loss of 6 cents. Despite company vows to lay off up to 40 percent of its work force, shares still fell 11/16 to 5-5/16.
Mixed tone for oil
Remarkably, oil stocks remained firm, buoyed by continuing profit strength at global giant BPAmoco even though the price of crude oil plunged overnight to less than $10 per barrel.
BPAmoco (BPA) shares climbed 3/4 to 83 in New York, while Exxon (XON) crept up 1/4 to 68-13/16 and U.S. receipts of French industry player Total (TOT) surged 1-1/16 to 52-9/16.
However, oilfield service firms found stark comfort in the news, falling instead with crude prices. Halliburton (HAL) lost 5/8 to 29-5/8 and exploration supplier Smith International (SII) fell 7/8 to 24-7/16, while Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO) shed 1/2 to 21-1/2.
The technology bright side
Despite a severe morning stumble led by big name computer makers like Dell (DELL) and Hewlett Packard (HWP), many stocks in the technology sector provided Wall Street with some good news.
Chip maker Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) inched up 1/16 to 30-15/16 after announcing dented fiscal first-quarter sales but sharply higher profits of 18 cents per share. Wall Street had expected per-share earnings of only 17 cents, spurring investors to take another look at the stock.
Semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials (AMAT) offered a less ambivalent enticement to buyers by boasting that its fiscal second-quarter profit should blow analysts' estimates away, lifting shares 3 to 70-7/8.
Communications equipment powerhouse Lucent (LU) also surged, gaining 1 to 99 on the strength of a 2-for-1 stock split announcement. 
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