Top Radar Stocks That Moved Markets Week

Avon Products Inc.’s (NYSE:AVP) board is said to have considered the second indication of interest in two weeks from Coty, Inc., for its acquisition by that company. Coty’s unsolicited, non-binding offer of $23.25 per share was basically unchanged from its first bid.

AEterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ:AEZS) reports that its Phase 3 “X-PECT” clinical trial evaluating perifosine + capecitabine in patients with refractory advanced colorectal cancer did not meet the primary objective of improving the odds of overall survival versus capecitabine + placebo. However, AEterna says that it retains the necessary cash to pursue its other ongoing late-stage programs with AEZS-108 and AEZS-130 for longer than the next 12 months.

Express Scripts Inc. (NASDAQ:ESRX) closes on its $29.1 billion acquisition of Medco Health (NYSE:MHS) Monday. The new Express Scripts is a holding company which owns 100 percent of the existing Express Scripts and Medco. Each share of the former company’s common stock was converted into a share of the new Express Scripts common stock, and each share of Medco was converted into the right to receive $28.80 in cash, without interest and 0.81 shares of common stock of the new Express Scripts.

Willbros Group Inc. (NYSE:WG) says that the revenues opportunities lost with its divestiture of its cross-country pipeline construction in Canada, will be replaced with accretions from continued expansion of its operations in the Canadian oil sands. Meanwhile in Willbros’ U.S. operations, increased future construction activities are expected as inquiries for fabrication and manufacturing services are rising, plus the fact that manpower levels in both its upstream and downstream engineering units have increased during the past year. Further, continued expansion is projected in the mid-stream markets for field gathering, processing, terminal and small diameter pipeline projects.

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) reported Friday that it requested the FTC to “dismiss or deny” an application from Liberty Media (LMCA) to take “de facto” control. Liberty loaned SIRIUS several hundred million dollars in 2009 and possesses preferred stock convertible into 40 percent, which it received as collateral. SIRIUS now fears a takeover, thus the FTC request.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s (NYSE:FCX) average analyst target price increased from $53.56 to $53.83.

E Commerce China Dangdang Inc (ADR) (NYSE:DANG) has secured an agreement in which it will offer Gome Online’s products in its online marketplace.

Vringo, Inc. (AMEX:VRNG) filed a registration statement (S-3) with the SEC, to allow the sale of up to 2.67 million shares of its common stock on behalf of its current shareholders.

TowerStream Corporation (NASDAQ:TWER) said on Friday that it completed a deal with a national wireless carrier that utilizes its current and future rooftop assets, in regards to Wi-Fi.

Vringo, Inc. (AMEX:VRNG) shares are benefiting dramatically from a weekend article by James Altucher, which explored the financial possibilities the company could reap in its patent infringement lawsuit against Google (NASDAQ:GOOG). The speculation from Altucher that Vringo could land a settlement or ruling in the billions of dollars sent its shares up 86 percent on Monday, and more of the same seems to be the trend Tuesday.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE:RF) has closed on Raymond James Financial’s acquisition of its Morgan Keegan & Co. brokerage division.

Conns Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) reveals the factors it used to develop its guidance. They include the retail gross margin which is projected to hit between 30.0 percent and 32.0 percent; a rising credit portfolio balance; its new store openings projected to be between five and seven new locations in new markets, with same store sales increasing towards 10 percent; its provision for bad debts that is projected to be between 5.0 percent and 6.0 percent of the average portfolio balance outstanding; and, its selling, general and administrative expense, as a percent of revenues, should be between 28.5 percent and 29.5 percent of total revenues.

Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM), which produces biofuels, agrees to a joint venture with Brazilian agribusiness and food company Bunge (NYSE:BG), the purpose of which will be to build, own and operate a commercial-scale renewable tailored oils production facility. After partnering, Solazyme’s renewable tailored oil production technology, plus Bunge’s sugarcane supply and processing capabilities could annually produce up to 100,000 metric tons of sustainable tailored triglyceride oils for use in oleochemical and fuel applications. The financials of the deal were undisclosed.

General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) sees its senior unsecured debt rating dropped from Aa2 to Aa3 by Moody’s, and the same category rating of its 100 percent owned finance subsidiary, General Electric Capital Corporation, downgraded from Aa2 to A1. However, the Prime-1 ratings of both companies were affirmed, and their rating outlooks are said to be stable.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK), a NAND flash memory vendor, issues a warning that it projects a first quarter revenue of $1.2 billion, which falls short of its guidance range of $1.3 billion to $1.35 billion. While reporting additionally that its gross margin will be below its guidance range of 39 percent to 42 percent, SanDisk credited weak pricing as well as weakness in demand for the gaps.

SmartHeat Inc. (NASDAQ:HEAT), which sells plate heat exchangers and is based in China, forecasts that the current slump in end-market demand will be temporary, and says that it will maintain control of its budget by initiating a “rigorous program of cost cutting”.

Magal Security Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:MAGS) shares pop following its report that its fourth quarter earnings per share jumped to 27 cents, up from 14 cents during the same period in 2011. In more good news Magal, which builds “smart barriers” and other security solutions, posted a revenue rise of 122.9 percent last quarter to a record $33.7 million, which is more than double the $15.1 million seen during the same period one year earlier.

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTH) and Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SPPI) ink an agreement allowing Spectrum to acquire all of Allos’outstanding shares at $1.82 in cash, plus one Contingent Value Right. Upon realization of certain European regulatory approval and commercialization steps for FOLOTYN, the CVR entitles Allos stockholders to an additional payment of $0.11 per share, also in cash.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) and Western Digital (NYSE:WDC), both of which develop hard disk drives, are seeing their shares slide following a move by FBN Securities which lowered its estimates for the companies. FBN says that channel checks confirm accelerating price decreases for the disk drives that are sold by third party resellers, which is bad news for both companies. Seagate receives approximately 20 percent of its revenue from the outside parties, with Western Digital at about 25 percent, prompting FBN to drop its fiscal year 2013 earnings per share estimate for Seagate to a bit below consensus.

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCM) shares plummetted following the teleconferencing products maker pre-announcement of its first quarter adjusted earnings per share guidance of 21 to 23 cents, which is 7 to 9 cents below consensus of 30 cents, plus a first quarter revenue guidance that was also below consensus. Putting the best face on the situation, Polycom CEO Andrew Miller noted that “We estimate that we grew quarterly revenues approximately 7 percent year-over-year, with each region recording increases. However, the growth rate was below our overall expectations, driven primarily by shortfalls in Asia Pacific and North America.”

Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE:AA) bows to market conditions as it decreases its yearly alumina production capacity by approximately 390,000 metric tons, which links production quantities to smelter curtailments. Also reported earlier this year by the company is that the curtailments which are currently ongoing, will reduce Alcoa’s refining capacity in the Atlantic region by about 4 percent; the region comprises about 50 percent of Alcoa’s total global annual refining capacity of 18 million metric tons.

Oracle Corp.’s (NASDAQ:ORCL) StorageTek T10000C Tape Drives have been chosen by The USC Shoah Foundation Institute, to augment its current project of cataloguing and preservation of visual testimonies from Holocaust survivors and witnesses.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lawson at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com