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CNNfn market movers
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March 10, 1999: 2:14 p.m. ET
PSS World Med joins the corporate gloomsayers, but Earthlink holds firm
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Wednesday saw Wall Street go back to basics, with investors following a steady drumbeat of mergers and earnings warnings in their eternal task of dividing the winners from the losers.
Among the losers, PSS World Medical (PSSI) set an early downbeat tone by warning that fourth-quarter earnings will fall a few cents short of analyst expectations. Shares of the medical supplier fell 2-15/16 to 9-1/16.
Paperboard maker Republic Group (RGC) suffered a similar fate, shedding 1-7/8 to 13-1/16 after announcing "underestimated difficulties" at a new production plant will hurt current-quarter profits.
Ski-resort operator Vail Resorts (MTN) slid 1/2 to 16-3/16 after earnings in the winter quarter, its key period, fell short of Wall Street expectations. Moreover, the company warned that current-quarter earnings may also slip from last year's figures, encouraging Merrill Lynch to lower the stock's near-term prospects to "neutral" from "accumulate."
Circuit maker Unitrode (UTR) told a similar story of disappointing profit, dragging shares down 1-15/16 to 12-7/16 and spurring Adams Harkness to replace its "strong buy" rating with a mere "accumulate."
Also in the downgrade doghouse, Wall Street's enthusiasm for a number of companies dulled slightly after various analysts downrated their shares from "strong buy" to buy." Micron Technology (MU) down 1-1/16 to 54-1/16, while Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) slid 1-1/2 to 85-11/16. Personnel Group (PGA) lost 1-9/16 to 7-7/8 and clothier Tommy Hilfiger (TOM) inched 1/2 lower to 74.
The merger game: losers…
Investors reacted with slightly more enthusiasm to the day's helping of acquisitions news, which drove the stocks of would-be merger partners and jilted suitors to sharply mixed destinations.
American shares of Japanese automotive giant Nissan (NSANY) fell 15/16 to 6-13/16 as its rumored tie-in with DaimlerChrysler (DCX) failed to materialize. Daimler shares slid 9/16 to 87-3/4.
Shares of Computer Associates (CA) tumbled 5-3/4 to 34-1/4 despite the backwash of its own successful merger. The company said the Tuesday expiration of its tender offer leaves it in control of 98 percent of the stock in Computer Management Sciences (CMSX) and that the merger will follow "as soon as possible."
However, Morgan Stanley sent the company a grim wedding present, downgrading Computer Associates' stock to "neutral" from "outperform" due to "concern about near-term demand trends, a shift in the business model and an intensifying competitive environment."
…winners
Both Anchor Gaming (SLOT) and Powerhouse Technologies (PWRH) saw much bigger payoffs from their $280 million casino machine merger. Anchor shares climbed 4-1/16 to 38-5/8, while Powerhouse surged 3-1/8 to 17-15/16.
Investors also rewarded Oshap Technologies (OSHSF) for giving in to the merger urge, sending shares up 2-3/4 to 13-1/4 after the Israeli software firm agreed to a $210 million stock buyout from SunGard Data Systems (SDS). SunGard shares had a rougher time of the news, down 11/16 to 39-1/4.
Texas electrical utility Reliant Energy (REI) gained 5/8 to 27-3/4 after it said its acquisition of Dutch power company NV Energieproduktiebedrijf will be a drawn-out $2.4 billion affair.
Catalog retailer Brylane (BYL) found itself in high demand as would-be merger partner Pinault-Printemp-Redoute upped its tender offer to $24.50 per share from $20 per share. In response, Brylane stock jumped 2-5/8 to 24-1/16.
Promotions and patents
Internet service provider PSINet (PSIX) was one of the day's main beneficiaries of kind words from analysts, climbing 4 to 39-1/8 after ING Baring Furman Selz rewarded the company's fourth-quarter results with a "buy" rating.
Fellow Net provider Earthlink (ELNK) surged 3 to 68-1/4 after Credit Suisse First Boston tagged the stock for bargain-hunters by calling it the "most undervalued" Internet security this month.
Century Telephone Enterprises (CTL) firmed 3-15/16 to 67-3/8 on news that it will be promoted to the S&P 500 index, sparking massive buying from index funds looking to get a head start on completing their collections. The company, which supplies telephone service to rural areas, will replace Rubbermaid (RBD) on the index after that firm merges with Newell (NWL).
On the medical front, the power of hormone secretin gave biotech firm Repligen (RGEN) a boost of 9/16 to 2-1/4. The company won exclusive global patent rights to both natural and synthetic versions of secretin as a possible treatment of autism. 
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