Stocks To Watch For March 18 (NKE, LDK, PERY, CPWM, PLL)

Some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are:

Nike Inc NKE reported its FQ3 profit at $523 million, or $1.08 per share, up from $497 million, or $1.01 per share, in the year-ago period. The company's sales increased 7% to $5 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.12 per share on revenue of $5.18 billion. Nike's gross margin dropped 110 basis points to 45.8%. NKE shares tumbled 5.34% to $80.85 in after-hours trading.

LDK Solar Co Ltd LDK swung to a Q4 profit of $145.2 million, or $1.09 per American Depositary share (ADS), compared with a loss of $24.3 million, or $0.22 per ADS, in the year-ago period. LDK's revenue increased to $920.9 million from $304.6 million. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.91 per share on revenue of $838.2 million. LDK shares fell 2.56% to $12.18 in the after-hours trading session.

Wall Street expects Perry Ellis International Inc PERY to report its Q4 EPS at $0.67 on revenue of $207.94 million. PERY shares declined 1.22% to $12.18 in after-hours trading.

Cost Plus Inc CPWM reported its Q4 profit at $28.5 million, or $1.23 per share, versus $21.1 million, or $0.95 per share, in the year-earlier quarter. The company's revenue surged to $341.6 million from $319 million. CPWM projects a Q1 loss from continuing operations of $0.22 to $0.28 per share on revenue of $196 million to $200 million. CPWM shares dipped 7.41% to $10.00 in the after-hours trading session.

Pall Corp PLL reported that its board of directors separated the roles of chairman and CEO. The company also named Ronald Hoffman as its non-executive chairman. PLL shares gained 1.20% to close at $55.84 yesterday.

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