magicJack VocalTec Reports 3rd Quarter Financial Results

Tallahassee, FL 11/1/11 (StreetBeat) -- magicJack VocalTec, Ltd. (Nasdaq: CALL), the company that invented voice over IP (VoIP) and sold over eight million magicJacks(R), reported financial results on Friday for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 ended September 30, 2011.

Record quarterly net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 was $3.9 million, or $0.35 per share, compared to $0.8 million, or $0.09 per share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 while revenue from renewals increased 73% and operating income grew 175% for the same comparative quarters. Revenue for the third quarter was $28.9 million. As previously announced, revenue is expected to grow at 20% - 30 % from full year 2011 to 2012.

Daniel Borislow, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer, gives a brief update: "The new magicJack PLUS has been selling very well in our first retail outlet, Radio Shack, and on our internet site www.magicJack.com. The magicJack APP(TM) for Apple devices has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times since BETA was introduced last month, without any advertising spend. Various marketing and media outlets have been proven efficient, and we expect even more efficiency in first quarter 2012. Needless to say, I am quite pleased with the progress we have been making. We also expect to bring to market new products and services quicker and more frequently in the future, contributing to the top and bottom line. It continues to be an honor to serve magicJack VocalTec and its investors."

The stock is currently trading at $24.91, up $1.01 or 4.23%.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

A Look at Cable TV Earnings Reports

Tallahassee, FL 11/1/11 (StreetBeat) - Comcast Corp (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) reported stronger quarterly results on Wednesday, confirming that it pays to have a strong lineup of cable networks -- at least while advertisers keep spending.

Against all odds, advertisers continue to scoop up commercial time on television, and cable networks such as Time Warner's TNT or Comcast's USA have been major beneficiaries. Subscription fees have only helped. That point was driven home on Wednesday when Time Warner reported revenue from its cable networks rose 7 percent. Comcast, whose cable business is run through its majority interest in NBC Universal, showed a 12 percent increase.

"As you know, cable networks drive the profitability of NBC Universal and they continue to perform well," said Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts, who has staked his reputation on last year's $30 billion deal for NBC Universal. "We are investing in programing to make them even more valuable to customers and distributors."

Comcast's cable network results stand out even more when compared to the performance of its flagship broadcast TV network NBC, whose prime-time schedule has struggled for years. Already NBC has canceled two shows it just rolled out for the new TV season, "Playboy Club" and "Free Agents."

At Time Warner, where CEO Jeff Bewkes wants to cut costs and focus the company squarely on creating content for TV, movies and magazines, advertising sales climbed 6 percent. It cited strong pricing at its Turner networks, home to original shows such as "The Closer," the late-night host Conan O'Brien, news on CNN and sports including baseball and auto racing. Overall, Time Warner reported third quarter income of $822 million, or 78 cents a share, up from $522 million, or 46 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings rose a better-than-expected 27 percent to 79 cents a share.

Along with its cable business, the company got a big lift from the latest installment of the Harry Potter movie series. Its stock slipped 1 percent to $33.48, however, on what analysts described as concerns about future growth prospects.

To many observers, the continued strength of national advertising comes as a surprise. Just two years ago, in reaction to the recession, overall U.S. ad spending dropped by percent to $163 billion. Today's stubbornly bad jobs and housing markets -- couple with Europe's debt crisis -- would seem the sort of troubles that would have advertisers once more slashing budgets. Advertisers instead appear to be betting that the best way to jump-start sales is to keep their brands in front of consumers with billboards, digital campaigns and, particularly, TV commercials.

Heading into Wednesday, the economy was a major question facing media companies, particularly Comcast. Not only does Comcast rely on advertising from its TV networks, its chief business of selling broadband, video and telephone services relies heavily on the housing market and consumer confidence.
Overall, it added 229,000 telephone, video and Internet customers. That satisfied Wall Street and calmed worries that arose last week when Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems Corp, two rivals, posted disappointing subscriber numbers.

Comcast reported third-quarter net income of $908 million, or 33 cents a share, up from $867 million, or 31 cents a share, in the period a year ago. Shares of Comcast rose 2.2 percent to $23.50.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Career Education Corp. Shares Plunge, CEO Out

Tallahassee, FL 11/1/11 (StreetBeat) --Shares of Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO) are getting hammered, falling more than 40% after the for-profit school’s chief executive resigned and the company reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter results.

Career Education Corp. on Tuesday said that CEO Gary McCullough has resigned. The company also reported its latest quarterly financials, which fell short of analysts' expectations, as enrollment shrank.

Career Education and other operators of for-profit colleges have come under increasing scrutiny about their aggressive recruitment practices, low job-placement rates for graduates and other business policies. Some in Congress, including Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, have criticized students’ heavy debt loads and low graduation rates.
The schools offer programs that train older and other non-traditional students in fields ranging from mechanical engineering and hospitality management.

The Schaumberg, Ill.-based company did not provide a reason for McCullough's resignation other than a comment from Chairman Steven Lesnik that because of the "complexities of the regulatory environment and other issues that have arisen over the last year" the company is "moving towards a new phase and the board views it as the appropriate time to start the process of putting in place fresh leadership at the CEO level."

One pressing issue is complying with a subpoena from New York's attorney general in that office's investigation of whether Career Education schools violated consumer-protection laws. Career Education says it is cooperating with the investigation.
Lesnik will serve as CEO while a search for a replacement is under way, the company said.

Career Education also reported its latest financials on Tuesday..

The company's net income was $10.6 million, or 14 cents per share, versus $26.1 million, or 33 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Analysts had expected 34 cents per share, according to FactSet. Revenue fell to $431.3 million, from $524.1 million in the year-ago period. Analysts had expected $455.5 million, according to FactSet. The company's total student population shrank to 104,000, from 118,000 a year ago.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Novatel Wireless Shares Plunge on Disappointing Q4 Outlook

Tallahassee, FL 11/1/11 (StreetBeat) Novatel Wireless (NASDAQ: NVTL) shares are trading sharply lower Wednesday morning as a disappointing Q4 forecast offsets better-than-expected results for the third quarter.

The wireless modem company posted Q3 revenue of $113.3 million, up from $75.6 million a year ago, down from $118 million in Q2, and a bit ahead of the Street at $113 million. The company roughly broken even on a non-GAAP basis, while the Street had expected a loss of 8 cents a share.

For Q4, the company expects revenue of $105 million to $120 million, with EPS ranging from a loss of 10 cents a share to break even. The Street had been expecting $122.7 million and a profit of 2 cents a share.

NVTL is down 72 cents, or 17%, to $3.50.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) + 15%

Tallahassee, FL 11/1/2011 (StreetBeat) --Shares of Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP), the parent of the Cricket cellular service, rose Tuesday morning after the company reported gaining subscribers in the third quarter. Analysts expected a loss. Currently, the stock is trading at $8.00, up 15% on the day.

The gain of subscribers was small, at a net 10,000 subscribers, but was a big improvement over the net loss of nearly 200,000 recorded in the third quarter of last year. Most of the gains were due to Leap subscribers being more inclined to keep their service, rather than an inflow of new customers. Executives said users with smartphones, a new phone category for Leap, are less inclined to cancel. Average monthly fees per user were also up.

"To be sure, a single quarter is hardly a definitive reading, but it is striking that Leap outperformed on every key metric, both financial and operational," said Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett. The shares rose 45 cents, or 6.5 percent, at $7.40 in premarket trading.

On Monday Leap reported a net loss of $68.8 million, or 90 cents per share. That compares with a net loss of $536.3 million, or $7.06 per share, in the year-ago quarter, when it took goodwill impairment charges and charges for the write-off of network expansion costs. Revenue rose 20 percent to $763.3 million.

Leap ended the quarter with 5.8 million subscribers, making it the seventh-largest cellular phone company in the U.S.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Yahoo Falls On $270 million Interclick Deal

Tallahassee, FL 11/1/11 (StreetBeat) --Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO), announced today it will buy online advertising technology firm interclick inc for $270 million in cash. The $9 a share offer represents a 22% premium over interclick shares’ closing price on Monday on Nasdaq. Yahoo shares fell 5.56% to $14.77 after the company unveiled the news, while shares of InterClick (NASDAQ: ICLK) soared 21% to $8.96. In a statement, Yahoo said InterClick would give the company a “unique data targeting capabilities, optimization technologies and new premium supply, as well as a team experienced in selling audiences across disparate sources of pooled supply.”

The acquisition comes amid speculation that the Yahoo board is exploring the possibility of selling the company. Private equity firms, as well as Google Inc and Alibaba, have reportedly been looking into making a bid for the company.

About interclick inc.
interclick, inc. (Nasdaq:ICLK), headquartered in New York, was founded in 2006 and became a NASDAQ-listed company in 2009. Powered by OSM, interclick offers proprietary data-valuation capabilities combining analytical expertise and media fulfillment to help marketers navigate the complex data ecosystem to drive successful online display and video campaigns. OSM is a powerful solution which aggregates and organizes billions of data points from 3rd party providers - delivering actionable consumer insights, scalable audiences and the most effective campaign execution.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) Suffers From Lower Forecast

Tallahassee, FL 11/1/11 (StreetBeat) -- An extensive write-down reported in its third-quarter earnings, and the announcement that two key executives are leaving, sent shares of home health care company Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) plunging by more than 20% at one point Tuesday.

Amedisys Inc posted an adjusted quarterly profit below estimates hurt by new Medicare regulations, and the home healthcare provider cut its 2011 earnings outlook. The company cut its full-year earnings forecast to $1.90-$2.00 a share from its earlier outlook of $2.20-$2.40. It backed its forecast for net service revenue of $1.47-$1.50 billion.
Analysts were looking for earnings of $2.30 a share, on revenue of $1.48 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Amedisys also said Dale Redman will resign as chief financial officer on January 1 and Ronald LaBorde will replace him. Chief Operating Officer Mike Snow will quit and about 50 care centers will be closed, consolidated or sold.

Third-quarter net loss was $423 million, compared with a net income of $21.6 million. Excluding items, the company earned 36 cents a share. Net service revenue fell 6.5 pct to $374.9 million. Analysts on average had expected earnings of 50 cents a share, on revenue of $372 million.

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company's shares, which have lost two-third of their value in one year, closed 6 percent down at $13.13 on Monday on Nasdaq. Currently, it is trading at $10.30, down 21% in midday trade.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Wave Systems Corp. Announces Global Distribution Agreement

Tallahassee, FL 11/1/11 (StreetBeat) -- Wave Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: WAVX) today announced a strategic distribution agreement with Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM), the world's largest distributor of information technology (IT) solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Wave's EMBASSY® security software for managing hardware-based data protection and authentication will be available worldwide through Ingram Micro beginning November 1.

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with such an established global leader as Ingram Micro and look forward to offering our management tools for trusted computing around the world," said Brian Berger, Wave's Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales.

Ingram Micro is the world's largest technology distributor and a leading technology, sales, marketing and logistics company for the IT industry worldwide. As a vital link in the technology value chain, Ingram Micro connects technology solution providers with vendors worldwide, supporting global operations through an extensive sales and distribution network throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Ingram Micro serves more than 150 countries on six continents and maintains the world's most comprehensive portfolio of IT products and services.

Ingram Micro is authorized to distribute Wave's EMBASSY management software, including EMBASSY Remote Administration Server (ERAS), an enterprise-grade console for the centralized management of endpoint security for data protection and authentication. Wave enables organizations to remotely set up Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs) for strengthening wireless network security and VPN access. Wave's EMBASSY client software also includes functions for managing the pre-boot environment on select OEM platforms.

For data protection, ERAS manages the full lifecycle of self-encrypting drives (SEDs), where encryption is built into the drive itself for better security and minimal impact on performance compared with software encryption. Wave supports commercially available SEDs from Seagate, Hitachi and Toshiba, as well as solid-state versions from Samsung and Micron. Wave also provides Cloud management for self-encrypting drives. For organizations that have not transitioned to hardware-based encryption, Wave for BitLocker® Management facilitates the deployment and activation of Microsoft's native encryption feature on Windows 7 and is included in the same management console as ERAS.

Wave software is available on leading PC OEMs purchased via Ingram Micro.

"This agreement allows us to offer Wave's comprehensive management for data protection and authentication to more IT resellers around the world," said Eric Kohl, Director, Ingram Micro Advanced Technology Division. "Ingram Micro is very excited to offer Wave's robust management tools for embedded hardware security -- SEDs for protecting data and TPMs for strengthening authentication -- to its network of partners and our partners' customers."

Wave counts among its customers the world's largest chemical company, one of the largest automotive manufacturers, healthcare systems, financial institutions and government agencies.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

3 Midday Market Losers (Nasdaq: NPSP, DWA) (NYSE: L)

Tallahassee, FL 10/31/11 (StreetBeat) --Nps Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: NPSP), a maker of drugs for gastrointestinal illnesses, plunged as much as 38 percent after saying three people in a clinical trial for its Gattex drug got cancer and two of them died. The shares are currently down $2.67, trading at $5.09 per share.

Shares of DreamWorks Animation SKG (Nasdaq: DWA) fell 10% Monday after the company's latest theatrical film, "Puss In Boots," turned in the worst opening weekend for a DreamWorks movie since "Antz" in 1998. The film earned $34 million at the U.S. box office. Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz wrote to client that the film's underperformance "is further evidence that increasing competition in the animated film space has significantly degraded the domestic box office otential for individual animated films." Creutz, who rates DreamWorks Animation neutral, noted that this is the fifth of the studio's films in a row to open to lackluster business "despite generally positive reviews."

Loews Corp's (NYSE: L) third-quarter earnings surged as its CNA Financial Corp. insurance unit swung to the black. But shares dropped 2.4% as the conglomerate's earnings results fell short of analysts' expectations. It is currently trading at $40.46 per share.

StreetBeat DIsclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) Trading +24%

Tallahassee, FL 10/31/2011 (StreetBeat) --Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: MNTA) won a federal court ruling Friday that temporarily blocks other companies from selling a generic version of its anti-clotting drug. As a result, its shares surged in after-hours trading, and have continued to grow today. Currently, MNTA is trading at $15.17, up 24% or $2.93 for the day.

Since July 2010, Momenta has made the only approved generic version of Lovenox, a drug used to prevent deep-vein blood clots from forming in the legs of patients on bed rest, including those having hip replacement or knee replacement surgery.

The company claims that a version developed by Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc. and recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration infringes on a Momenta patent. The judge granted Momenta's request for an injunction blocking Amphastar, Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. and an Amphastar subsidiary, International Medication Systems Ltd., from selling their version until the end of the patent lawsuit.

Shares of Cambridge-based Momenta fell 6 cents to close at $12.24 but jumped $2.36, or 19.3 percent, to $14.60 after hours after the ruling was announced. Watson shares fell 21 cents to $69.35 in regular trading, and lost another 18 cents, to $69.17, in extended trading.

Momenta is slated to report its fiscal third-quarter results on Nov. 7. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters is for earnings of $1.29 a share in the September-ended quarter on revenue of $90.2 million.

StreetBeat DIsclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Samsung Takes the #1 Spot in Smart Phone Sales

Tallahassee, FL 10/31/2011 (StreetBeat) -- Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNLF.PK) overtook Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) in the third quarter to become the world's largest seller of smartphones, data released Friday by market research firm Strategy Analytics show.

Samsung, the world's largest technology firm by revenue, sold a total of 27.8 million smartphone during the quarter, while Apple shipped 17.1 million. Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) held third place with 16.8 million units.

Samsung's share of the smartphone market rose to 23.8% in the third quarter from 9.3% a year earlier, while Apple's market share fell to 14.6% from 17.4%, the research firm said in a statement. Nokia saw its share fall sharply to 14.4% from 32.7%.

The global smartphone shipments in the third quarter grew 44% on year to reach a record 117 million units, the research firm added.

The report came after Samsung released its third-quarter earning results earlier in the day. Samsung's net profit fell 23% in the third quarter from a year earlier because of weakness at its ailing display unit. But the result was better than expected as strong sales of its smartphones offset weakness in other consumer products and electronic components.

Samsung's telecom division, which accounted for 36% of revenue, provided more than half of the firm's operating profit and posted its best profit margin since 2004.

"After just one quarter in the top spot, Apple slipped behind Samsung to second position and captured 15 percent share. Apple's global smartphone growth rate slowed to just 21 percent annually in Q3 2011, its lowest level for two years," said Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics.

"We believe Apple's growth during the third quarter was affected by consumers and operators awaiting the launch of the new iPhone 4S in the fourth quarter, volatile economic conditions in several key countries, and tougher competition from Samsung's popular Galaxy S2 model," he added.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

China BAK Battery, Inc.(NASDAQ: CBAK ) Up Over 20% on the Day

Tallahassee, FL October 28, 2011 (PennyPayDay) -- Investorideas.com, a leader in renewable energy stock research, releases a trading alert for China BAK Battery, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBAK ). The stock is trading up at $1.02, up 0.1750 (20.71%) 1:40PM EDT.

The stock is up just in time as the company reported today it has received a staff deficiency notice from The NASDAQ Stock Market informing the Company that its common stock has not met the $1.00 minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on The NASDAQ Global Market under NASDAQ Listing Rule 5450(a)(1). The Company did not meet NASDAQ's minimum bid price requirement because the closing bid price for its common stock for each trading day in the 30-business day period from September 12, 2011 to October 21, 2011 was less than $1.00 per share. The notification letter stated that China BAK will receive 180 calendar days, or until April 23, 2012, to regain compliance with the NASDAQ listing requirements. During this compliance period, the closing bid price for China BAK's common stock must be at least $1.00 for a minimum of ten consecutive business days for the Company to regain compliance. In the event that the Company does not regain compliance within this period, it may be eligible for additional time to regain compliance by filing a listing application to transfer its common stock to the NASDAQ Capital Market and satisfying certain other requirements. The notification letter has no effect at this time on the listing of the Company's common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market. China BAK's common stock will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "CBAK."

Use the renewable energy stocks directory to research 1300 green stocks on global stock exchanges http://www.investorideas.com/Companies/RenewableEnergy/Stock_List.asp

About Investorideas.com – a leader in cleantech investor research
Investorideas.com was on the of the first investor sites covering investing in water and renewable energy stocks and has become a global go-to destination for investors researching the cleantech sector, with stock directories, company news, commentary from experts, research reports and industry resources and links. Investors can follow solar stocks commentary on our site with solar expert, J. Peter Lynch.

Visit Investorideas.com green and renewable showcase stocks and more investor research in the sector: http://www.investorideas.com/Companies/RenewableEnergy/ or
www.renewableenergystocks.com

Investors - sign up for free green stocks trading alerts and news
http://www.investorideas.com/Resources/Newsletter.asp

Follow Renewable Energy Stocks on Facebook.com
http://www.facebook.com/renewableenergystocks

Disclaimer/ Disclosure: Our sites do not make recommendations. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. We attempt to research thoroughly, but we offer no guarantees as to the accuracy of information presented. All Information relating to featured companies is sourced from public documents and/ or the company and its management and is not the opinion of Investorideas.com. Learn more: www.InvestorIdeas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp
BC Residents and Investor Disclaimer : Effective September 15 2008 - all BC investors should review all OTC and Pink sheet listed companies for adherence in new disclosure filings and filing appropriate documents with Sedar. Read for more info: http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.aspx?id=6894
Investorideas.com is not compensated by CBAK

For more information about Investorideas.com contact:
800.665.0411

PennyPayDay Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN) Trading +27% Following Q3 Results

Tallahassee, FL 10/28/11 (PennyPayDay) -- Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN) is currently trading + 27% at $22.66 per share. Yesterday, the company posted a quarterly profit that beat market expectations, helped by strong sales of its invisible braces for aligning teeth, and forecast a strong fourth quarter. Shares of the company were trading up 12 percent at $20 in extended trade. They closed at $17.81 on Thursday on Nasdaq.

Separately, the maker of teeth-alignment systems authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $150 million, representing about 11 percent of its market valuation, effective immediately.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings of 20-22 cents a share vs. estimated $0.18/share, on sales of $124.0-$128.5 million. Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to earn 18 cents a share, on revenue of $122.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 31 percent to $125.9 million, helped by a 19 percent increase in sales of its removable teeth aligners, Invisalign.

For the third quarter, net income rose to $19.3 million, or 24 cents a share, from $16.8 million, or 22 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding items, the company earned 27 cents a share.

PennyPayDay Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Raises Forecast Less Than Expected, Shares Fall

Tallahassee, FL 10/28/11 (PennyPayDay) -- Electronic Arts Inc's (Nasdaq: ERTS) second-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates and the video game maker raised its earnings forecast because of the upcoming holiday title "Star Wars: The Old Republic," which it expects to be a hit. But EA's shares fell more than 4 percent in after-hours trading because investors were puzzled the company did not raise its earnings outlook by more.

For the full year, the company raised its outlook to a range of 75 cents to 90 cents per share, compared with a previous range of 70 cents to 90 cents. Raising the low-end of its outlook by a nickel was not enough for Wall Street, which had hoped EA would post a stellar second-half of the year. Some analysts are expecting full year EPS to be as high as $1.13 per share, according to Thomson-Reuters I/B/E/S. "People were expecting a bit more and wondering what is happening in the ongoing quarter, so they are taking the stock down," said Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia. For the full-year, the company now expects revenue of $4.050 billion to $4.20 billion, ahead of analysts' expectations of $4.1 billion.

The company's finance chief Eric Brown said in an interview the company is raising its earnings outlook on the strength of digital revenue, which comes from online games that can be played on PCs such as "Star Wars. "We're quite confident that we're going to easily clear $1 billion in overall digital revenue in our full fiscal year 2012," Brown said. "Hundreds of thousands" of people have pre-ordered "Star Wars," the online game that EA hopes will rival Activision Blizzard's "World of Warcraft," which has more than 12 million subscribers. EA is said to be spending more than $100 million to develop "Star Wars." The game comes out on December 20.

EA, like many video games companies, is starting to offer a wide range of games played over the Internet and on Facebook, to compete with upstarts such as Zynga, which develops simple, casual games. The company wants to sell more digital content to consumers because it has higher margins than selling games to consumers on discs and does not have to give a cut to brick and mortar stores such as GameStop Corp.

EA said on Thursday that six million customers have downloaded the digital platform it unveiled earlier this year, where users can download full-PC games directly from EA. Gamers will be able to download the Star Wars game over that system.

Brown, the CFO, also said EA's highly anticipated shooter game, "Battlefield 3," which came out earlier this week, "is meeting expectations." "We think the title will do well, not just in the launch week, but into the holiday season and into next year as well," he said. EA's aim is to gradually chip away at Activision Blizzard Inc's (Nasdaq: ATVI) "Call of Duty" series and gain enough momentum to take the crown back from its rival in the next few years.

In the quarter ended September 30, the second-largest U.S. video game publisher's adjusted revenue rose 17 percent to $1.03 billion, which beat analysts' expectations for $966.56 million. The main drivers were sales of EA's sports games such as "FIFA 12" and "Madden NFL 12," which were up 20 percent from a year earlier. Taking into account the deferral of digital revenue from online games, EA's adjusted earnings per share was 5 cents per share, which breezed past Wall Street's expectations of a loss of 4 cents per share.

EA shares were trading more than 4 percent lower at $23.30 in after-hours trading.

PennyPayDay Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATRC) +18% After Winning FDA Panel Backing

Tallahassee, FL 10/27/11 (PennyPayDay) – On Wednesday, U.S. health advisers gave their nod to a label revision for AtriCure Inc's (NASDAQ: ATRC) device for treating a heart rhythm disorder. A panel of outside experts convened by the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously that the Synergy Ablation System was effective in treating persistent and long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation during open-heart surgery.

Votes were divided over safety concerns and, with the panel chairman stepping in, the final vote was 5-4 with one abstention that the device was safe. The panel voted 5-3 with one abstention that benefits outweighed risks.

AtriCure's ablation device is already approved for heart tissue ablation during surgery. It uses radiofrequency energy to remove or destroy problem-causing heart tissue. The company hopes to expand the label to add the use of the device to restore normal heart rhythm in patients with persistent or long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation who require open-heart surgery. If approved for a new label, the AtriCure device would be the first surgical ablation treatment for atrial fibrillation, and third ablation treatment for afib overall.

Atrial fibrillation is the most prevalent heart rhythm disorder. It affects more than 2 million Americans and is a major cause of stroke. In the condition, the heart's upper two chambers contract rapidly and irregularly and don't properly pump blood into the lower chambers. Persistent afib is one that does not go away after seven days or requires intervention to stop; the long-standing persistent kind continues longer than a year.

"The AtriCure team has been working on this project for almost ten years ... We're very proud," CEO Drachman said.

The FDA will make a final decision on the label. It usually follows the advice of its advisers but does not have to.

PennyPayDay Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) shares fall as PlayBook OS is delayed

Tallahassee, FL 10/26/2011 (PennyPayDay) --Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) won't upgrade the software for its PlayBook tablet computer until February, months behind schedule, and the new version still won't feature the popular BlackBerry Messenger application.

Shares of RIM dropped fell nearly 6 percent to $20.99 by midday Wednesday as investors digested the latest in a string of disappointments as RIM struggles to compete with Apple Inc's category-defining iPad tablet.

The Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry introduced the PlayBook last April. But technology writers, financial analysts and consumers alike scorned the tablet because it could not handle the in-built email, calendar and contact applications that made BlackBerry a household name.

At the time of the launch, RIM said it would add email and other features within 60 days. It later pushed that deadline back to the summer months and then to October.

The latest delay was announced on RIM's official blog late Tuesday.

"As much as we'd love to have it in your hands today, we've made the difficult decision to wait to launch BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 until we are confident we have fully met the expectations of our developers, enterprise customers and end-users," wrote David Smith, a senior vice-president for the PlayBook.

PennyPayDay Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Panera (NASDAQ:PNRA) Serves Up Significant Profits

Tallahassee, FL 10/26/2011 (PennyPayDay) --Last month, Panera Bread Company (NASDAQ: PNRA) was named one of the favorites among consumers in an annual survey of quick-service restaurants. On Tuesday, it became the latest quick service restaurant to report healthy revenue and comparable sales gains this earnings season.

Panera, better known locally as St. Louis Bread Co., reported a profit of $28.8 million in the third quarter, up 27 percent from $22.8 million a year earlier, as the restaurant chain continued to perform better than other eateries. Total revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 27 rose 22 percent to $453.1 million, compared with $372 million in the prior-year third quarter. Comparable bakery-cafe sales increased 4 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period in fiscal 2010. The company’s margins also got a solid boost from price increases that were not enough to deter customers from the company’s fresh baked menu offerings.

CEO Bill Moreton commented, “We are very pleased with both our strong 6.0% comparable store sales growth and our 29% earnings growth in the third quarter. We have now been able to grow our earnings per share at a rate of 20% plus for 13 out of the last 14 quarters. We continue to believe that our consistent performance has been driven by the investments that we have made in the quality of our food, people and customer experience to drive competitive differentiation. We have also been able to deploy a meaningful amount of our excess cash to drive earnings growth and shareholder returns through high ROI acquisitions and share repurchases. We look forward to another strong year in 2012 with our earnings target falling within our long-term target range of 15-20% annual earnings growth."

The company opened eight new bakery-cafes and its franchisees opened 17 new bakery-cafes in the most recent quarter. As a result, there were 1,504 bakery-cafes open system-wide as of Sept. 27. In 2012, it plans to open about 110 new bakery cafes, on par with 2011's growth figures. The stock is up 15%, year-to-date.

Panera Bread’s stock is up 15% year-to-date. The bakery/coffee chop chain topped third-quarter analyst earnings and revenue forecasts. It lifted fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 guidance above expectations. It is currently trading up 15.5% at $133.67 per share, near its 52 week high of $138.58.

PennyPayDay Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) Surges 20% After Sprint Agreement

Tallahassee, FL 10/26/11 (PennyPayDay) --Clearwire Corp (NASDAQ: CLWR), the money-losing wireless broadband provider, surges 20 percent after Sprint CEO Dan Hesse disclosed a tentative deal between the two companies that appears to show a strengthened relationship between them. In particular, Sprint said it has agreed to work closely with Clearwire on its planned LTE network roll out.

While Sprint owns a majority stake in Clearwire, there has been tension between the two companies in recent months, and it was not clear whether Clearwire was going to figure into Sprint’s long-term network strategy. Sprint may use Clearwire’s network to handle traffic from customers using Long-Term Evolution, or LTE, technology beginning in 2013, Hesse explained. The talks are continuing, though a deal isn’t completed.

“We’re pleased to announce that we have signed a nonbinding cooperation agreement with Clearwire, to work together on the technical specifications of the Clearwire LTE network and to ensure a superb customer experience for Sprint customers on the Clearwire LTE network,” Hesse said on a post-earnings report call with investors this morning. “The cooperation extends to the design and operations of the network, and ensure seamless hand-off and service layer control that needs Sprint customer experience requirements.”

He said the deal covers the selection and timing of site nodes and involves working with manufacturers to design devices and certain chip sets for devices.

Clearwire, based in Kirkland, Washington, rose as high as $2.11 after its news release today, and is currently trading +20% at $1.99. The stock had lost 68% this year before today.

PennyPayDay Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) trading down 20% after reported 3Q loss

Tallahassee, FL 10/26/11 (PennyPayDay) -- Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) is currently trading down 19.56% at $10.24 per share. Shares of the biotech drugmaker fell 12 percent Tuesday in afterhours trading after the company reported disappointing sales for its highly anticipated lupus drug Benlysta.

The company's loss for the third quarter widened to $88.4 million, or 45 cents per share, from $40.9 million, or 22 cents in the prior-year period. Revenue fell to $34 million from $50.8 million. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of 41 cents per share on sales of $36.8 million.

The company said net sales of Benlysta in the last quarter totaled $18.8 million. Benlysta is the first new treatment approved in the U.S. for lupus in 50 years. The disease is a little-understood and potentially fatal ailment in which the body attacks its own tissue and organs. When Benlysta was first launched in March, analysts speculated that the drug could grow into a billion-dollar-per-year blockbuster within five years.

Human Genome Science's results for third-quarter 2010 benefited from milestone payments for the investigational drug Zalbin, which the company is co-developing with Novartis. The company did not receive any payments from the agreement in the most recent quarter.

The company lowered its full-year cash and investments guidance to between $440 million and $470 million for 2011, down from between $550 million and $650 million. Furthermore, its shares were down $1.53 to $11.20 in extended trading following the release of the earnings report.

PennyPayDay Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) Redefines TelePresence: Delivers In-Person Experiences to All

Tallahassee, FL 10/26/11 (PennyPayDay) --Just five years ago, Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) introduced Cisco TelePresence® technology, which delivered a video experience so intuitive, so lifelike and natural that it felt as if people were in the same room even when they were miles apart. But what started out as a way to save travel costs and optimize employee time at large companies has evolved into a way of accelerating time to market, expanding access to experts and transforming how companies do business. Today, Cisco is introducing new and expanded offerings -- from value-priced endpoints to an HD video software client to a hosted solution -- that are designed specifically to make the TelePresence experience available to everyone, everywhere, including small and medium-sized businesses.

Today's announcements highlight how Cisco is delivering people-centric collaboration to more individuals and businesses around the world. Cisco is also expanding the community of users that can share in-person experiences with co-workers, customers and suppliers in the following ways:
1) Extending Cisco TelePresence solutions to companies of all sizes
2) Driving TelePresence solutions from the boardroom to the desktop and beyond
3) Expanding TelePresence technology beyond just meetings

“With 52 percent global market share, Cisco TelePresence has been forging the path for new ways of working together, where everyone, everywhere can be 'present' to make better and faster decisions. The next phase of TelePresence will democratize the in-person experience for people in all sizes and types of organizations." stated OJ Winge, senior VP and GM of TelePresence Technology Group, Cisco.

About Cisco Collaboration
From award-winning IP communications to mobility, customer care, Web conferencing, messaging, enterprise social software, and interoperable TelePresence experiences, Cisco brings together network-based, integrated collaboration solutions based on open standards. These solutions offered across on-premise, cloud-based or virtualized platforms, as well as services from Cisco and our partners, are designed to help promote business growth, innovation and productivity. They are also designed to help accelerate team performance, protect investments, and simplify the process of finding the right people and information.

PennyPayDay Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly