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Stocks to watch Tuesday
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April 24, 2000: 7:42 p.m. ET
Drugstore.com posts narrower-than-expected loss, Regis salons meets estimates
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - After the bell Monday, online health products retailer Drugstore.com reported a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss. In other news, Regis Corp., the giant hair salon franchise that owns the Supercuts chain, met first-quarter expectations because of a slight increase in sales.
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Regis Corp.
Regis Corp., one of the largest hair salon franchises, including the Supercuts chain, reported third-quarter results that met Wall Street expectations on the strength of a slight increase in sales.
But weather-related problems and the shift of the Easter holiday to April offset profit from the sales increase, officials said.
Excluding one-time items, the Minneapolis-based company reported third-quarter net income of $11.6 million, or 28 cents a share, matching the Wall Street consensus forecast of 28 a share, according to First Call/Thomson Financial and exceeding the net income of $9.5 million, or 23 cents a share in the year-earlier period.
Revenue for the quarter grew 15 percent to $288.1 million from $249.7 million in the year-ago period.
Revenue for the first nine months of fiscal 2000 increased 16 percent to $840 million from $726.9 million for the same period a year ago.
Shares of Regis (RGIS: Research, Estimates), which operates more than 5,500 salons nationwide, fell 5/16 to close at 15-3/4 on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange Monday.
Corning Inc.
Fiber optic maker Corning Inc., on Monday reported a 78 percent rise in its first-quarter profit exceeding Wall Street's expectations as strong demand for optical networking equipment drove sales sharply higher.
Corning said its profit, excluding one-time items, rose to $178.1 million, or 64 cents per share, from $92.5 million million, or 36 cents, a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts had expected a profit of 55 cents per share, according to earnings tracker First Call/Thomson Financial.
Revenue rose 36 percent to $1.35 billion, from $997 million a year earlier.
Corning said first quarter net income, including one-time items, fell to $76.9 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with $92.5 million, or 36 cents a share, a year ago.
Corning said first-quarter sales of optical fiber remained strong with overall demand increasing more than 50 percent.
Shares of Corning (GLW: Research, Estimates) fell 3-7/8 to 148-1/4 on the New York Stock Exchange Monday.
Sybron International Corp.
Laboratory and dental products maker Sybron International Corp. said Monday its board of directors had decided to spin off the company's dental group and rename itself Apogent Technologies after the spin-off.
The spin-off by the Milwaukee-based company will take the form of a pro rata dividend of Sybron Dental Specialties Inc. (SDS) stock to Sybron International shareholders.
The spin-off is subject to the receipt of a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service that the transaction will be tax-free, and the effectiveness of a registration statement registering the SDS stock under applicable securities laws.
The spin-off process is expected to take six to eight months, the company said. Frank Jellinek, currently president of Sybron Laboratory Products Corp., will become president and chief operating officer of Sybron International, which will be renamed Apogent Technologies, upon approval by shareholders.
Kenneth Yontz, currently chairman, president and chief executive of Sybron International, will become chairman and CEO of Apogent Technologies and also chairman of SDS. Floyd Pickrell, currently president of SDS, will become president and CEO of the newly spun-off dental unit.
The company also said it had net income of $39.0 million in the fiscal second quarter ended March 31, up 19.9 percent from net income from continuing operations in the same period a year ago.
Diluted earnings per share for the second quarter were 37 cents, an increase of 19.4 percent from 31 cents earned from continuing operations in the second quarter of 1999.
Net sales for the second quarter totaled $326.4 million, compared to $272.0 million in second-quarter 1999, an increase of 20.0 percent.
Shares of Sybron (SYB: Research, Estimates) fell 3/4 to close at 28-9/16 on the New York Stock Exchange Monday.
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At 10 a.m. Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors is expected to release a report on the number of existing home sales for the month of March. Last month, the association reported that existing home sales rose 6.7 percent to a 4.75 million annual rate in February.
Also at 10 a.m., the Conference Board is scheduled to release its consumer confidence survey for the month of April. Last month, the Conference Board reported fell to 136.7 in March from 140.8 in February.
 
-- compiled from staff and wire reports
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