Market Roundup

Shares of C.R. Bard Inc BCR gained about 4.7% after the firm projects its 2011 sales growth of 5% to 8%, with a rise of 14% in EPS, excluding one-time items. BCR also reiterated its earnings profit guidance for full year profit in the range of $5.50 to $5.54 per share, excluding one-time items. Sanderson Farms SAFM reported better-than-expected FQ4 profit. The company's earnings came in at $2.08 per share, versus $0.95 per share, in the year-ago period. However, analysts were expecting earnings at $1.68 per share. The company's sales increased 13% y/y to $529 million. SAFM shares were down about 2.8%. First Republic Bank FRC raised net $109.8 million through its initial public offering (IPO) by selling 12.65 million common shares at $25.50 per share. FRC said, "First Republic did not receive any proceeds from the sale of common stock by the selling shareholders, none of whom sold more than 7.5% of their total shares." FRC shares were down about 0.2%. US Technology stocks rose slightly, with the Nasdaq Composite Index gaining about 0.36%. Shares of Best Buy Co BBY dropped about 14.8% after the company reported weaker-than-expected FQ3 results. The gainers in the list included Microsoft Corp MSFT and Cisco Systems Inc CSCO. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.