NEW YORK (CNNfn) - After the closing bell Monday, insulin pump maker MiniMed Inc. said its fourth-quarter earnings will fall short of estimates, Chordiant Software agreed to acquire PrimeResponse in a stock-swap deal, and online delivery service firm Kozmo.com said it has shut down operations in two cities.
In other after-the-bell news, Amazon.com (AMZN: Research, Estimates) stock surged nearly 1 percent to $15.06 after the company reported that sales for the fourth quarter rose more than 40 percent, i2 Technologies (ITWO: Research, Estimates) shares jumped $4.31 to $46.25 on news that the software maker said it sees a better-than-anticipated result in its fourth quarter, and wireless telecom firm Ericsson (ERICY: Research, Estimates) stock continued to gain momentum after winning a $100 million exclusive contract from Kyivstar in Ukraine.
Shares of Exabyte (EXBT: Research, Estimates) made a 17-percent jump to $2.75 in after-hours trading after the company shares plunged nearly 36 percent during Monday's regular trading. The network back-up systems provider said it expects to report fourth-quarter pretax loss narrower than a year ago.
Looking ahead to some of the key economic indicators due out later in the week, the Labor Department is scheduled to release the Producer Price Index on Friday. Given the ongoing weakening in the manufacturing sector, core finished goods prices are expected to have been flat for the second consecutive month in December, according to analysts at Bear Stearns.
Also on Friday, the Commerce Department is expected to report December retail sales numbers. The monthly retail sales report is a measure of the total receipts of retail stores. The changes in retail sales are widely followed as the most-timely indicator of broad consumer spending patterns.
MiniMed Inc.
The insulin pump maker warned that its fourth-quarter revenue and earnings would not live up to expectations due to slow December sales of the pumps.
The Sylmar, Calif.-based company, however, said it has been notified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that its pending application for the consumer version of its continuous glucose monitoring will be subject to FDA panel review which will delay the review process.
MiniMed (MNMD: Research, Estimates) said it expects revenue for the latest quarter to be 17 cents per share, two cents below Wall Street's forecasts.
In after-hours trading, MiniMed stock dropped $6.00, or 18 percent, to $27.00.
Airgas
The welding equipment distributor said it expects fiscal third-quarter earnings to miss expectations, saying poor weather hurt sales in December.
Radnor, Penn.-based Airgas (ARG: Research, Estimates) said it expects an earnings of between 10 cents and 12 cents per share and a cost-reduction announce, which could result in a fourth-quarter charge to cover related costs.
Wall Street analysts estimated earnings of 15 cents per share for Airgas' latest quarter.
Chordiant Software
The e-business software maker said it had signed an agreement to acquire business-to-consumer marketing software company PrimeResponse (PRME: Research, Estimates) for $33 million.
Under the terms of the agreement, each share of PrimeResponse would be traded for 0.6 of a share of Chordiant common stock.
Shares of Cupertino, Calif.-based Chordiant (CHRD: Research, Estimates) were halted on the news in after-hours trading.
Kozmo.com
The Internet company said it has closed operations in Houston and San Diego, where its online services package failed to establish itself as well as it had in other cities.
Kozmo.com, where consumers can order products for home delivery, said it trims about 120 of its 2,000 workers as a result of its exiting those two markets.
The company, however, said it has about 400,000 customer nationwide, and remains pleased with its growth in the nine cities where it is still operating.
7-Eleven
Ezra Shashous, CFO of the convenience store operator, decided to resign to take the CFO post at construction equipment rental company NationsRent Inc. (NRI: Research, Estimates).
The resignation takes effect Jan. 26. Shashoua joined 7-Eleven as an attorney in 1982, was later appointed 7-Eleven's treasurer and was named chief financial officer in 2000.
7-Eleven (SE: Research, Estimates) so far has no candidate for the top seat. 
-- compiled by Staff Writer Joseph Lee
|
INVESTORS' HOT LINKS
